Mike at C&M

Which is one promise that they made to we retailers. So agreed that this is a good sign.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. We have many issues with the T&Cs as originally released, and many of us have let Hornby know this. Thankfully, what was the impregnible wall of "Fortress Margate" is now more foregiving, and there has been some 'give and take' between us. But the trust that was completely lost between us over the recent years and months will take a lot of getting back. Promises were made and regularly broken, now is the time for Mr.Cooke and his employees to prove that the tide has turned and that they value us, and not simply use us.

Both the maroon (32-991) and Engineers yellow with wasp stripes (32-993) are on their way to retailers.

Depends if you are a Redskins supporter. (Green Bay 24 - 42 Washington, for those who do not follow American Football too closely) Downside, if you are a Redskins supporter is that we are in the NFC East. Winning record for the season thus far, and firmly stuck in 3rd place in the division.

Geology is often thought to be a long drawn out process. What this proves is that it can be the result of something that happens in the blink of an eye. I am fascinated by natural disasters, and as 'jukebox' says, the scale of the various events shown on this map is beyond belief. never underestimate the power of Mother Nature.

All these wonderful old electrics make me weak at the knees, so please allow me to add another shot at Pfaffikon, an Ae4/7 in June 1984. Even the parcels vans behind the Sputnik brake van look old.

Judge Dread, Yes, they are the old EM2s which used to work the Woodhead line. 6 out of the 7 ended up working for Dutch Railways for many years, and I wasn't the only one who spent many days travelling behind them somewhere between Venlo and Den Haag, the route upon which they spent most time.

The Erstfeld pictures really hit the spot. When Swiss railways were not overrun by locomotives from other countries or private operators. And as for that train of Schlieren coaches.... lovely!

There are two lakes at the top of the Bernina Pass, Lago Bianco (the 'White Lake', as discussed), and Lago Nero/Lej Nair - the 'Black Lake'. The two are shown to the left of this screenshot taken from Google Earth, no adjustment has been made to the colouring, they really do differ in colour that much. Lago Bianco drains to the south, via a dam. The water from here ends up in the river Po and then the Adriatic Sea. Lago Nero drains to the north, into the River Inn, then the Danube and ultimately the Black Sea. I would like to put forward an alternative theory as to why Lago Bianco is white, and that is the amount of ice that there is in it. I visited Ozpizio Bernina in July, and the lake was still full of ice even in high summer. The blackness of Lago Nero could be due to a number of reasons - shallower lake which thaws more quickly, and possibly sitting in a peaty landscape which will retain heat and give it a darker colour.

backofanenvelope, I can answer this one for you. The station at Tarvisio Boscaverde is where the 15kV a.c. of the Austrian railway system meets the Italian voltage - which I believe is 3kV d.c, even though this is one of the recently built high speed lines. The Austrian 1116s are not fitted for 3kV d.c, and so must NOT draw current from the overhead wires when under these wires. As luck would have it, the junction between the voltages is indicated by the various signs within the overhead on the third picture. As the train approaches this junction between the voltages, the pantographs are dropped. There is sufficient power in the batteries to power the brakes to bring the train to a halt. The batteries are then recharged once the 1116s are back under Austrian wires. This is a standard procedure across much of Europe where differing voltages meet at a border station. The following photo shows a similar scenario at Venlo, where the Dutch 1500V d.c. meets the 15kV of German railways. The German 110 is under the 15kV and is backing on to its' train under power, the Dutch locos are being pushed back to the other end of the station where they raise their pantographs under the d.c. voltage.

Couldn't resist this photograph which is taken a couple of kilometres outside St.Moritz, on the line to Samedan. This is what the Cresta run looks like from the train...... in summer.

To make the hole for the track pin to go into, I hold the pin in a pair of small pliers and warm the pin on a candle. Immediately, push the pin gently down on to the sleeper, and tap gently into place with a small hammer.

The Bernina is one of the lesser known journeys in Switzerland, as people look to do the major routes. But in my opinion, it is one of the most spectacular, with impressive scenery and engineering the whole way. From memory, the drop from Lago Bernina to Tirano is over a mile in altitude, with a ruling gradient of 1 in 14, and adhesion worked. Definitely a trip to remember.

A wonderful trip down memory lane with the 1980s shots of Switzerland. When locos and coaches were still green, and the most modern electric was an Re6/6. You are making me all nostalgic!

In recent times, Hornby have been announcing models for the year ahead, and then a few months later producing a long list of what won't appear until next year. The number of items in the 2016 range now put back to 2017 is almost a range in itself. So the fact that a recent announcement has been withdrawn cannot be used as an indicator of what is being re-tooled. The other side of the coin is that Dave Jones is very knowledgeable on what is going on with other manufacturers. His decision to not do the 86 and 87 will be based on hard facts. All manufacturers play their cards very close to their chest at this time of year, and rarely let out what they will announce for the following year - Hornby are an exception this year with a gradual leaking of new items across their ranges. Within the next couple of months, we should hear from all the manufacturers what they will have in their 2017 catalogues. I believe this includes Bachmann who are having their trade open days in early January, rather than the more usual middle of March.

But it worked! Yours, one frustrated Redskins fan!

And don't forget that 90.036 was painted in a pseudo-SNCF livery to effectively give a fourth international livery

First ever overtime game in the UK, let alone tie. Excellent viewing for the neutral, but both sides threw away chances to win it towards the end.

As a Redskins fan of some 34 years, this afternoon has put me through the wringer. An excellent game at Wembley this afternoon, but was the best tactic used the late time out call on that last field goal attempt? Certainly has the desired effect.

No

We have been advised that 32-992, the Wickham Trolley in BR Engineers' Yellow has now arrived at Bachmann and is being despatched to retailers over the next few days.

The one thing I don't want from a sales rep. coming into my shop is for him solely to sell. There are often many facets of their business to discuss, and most of the reps. are prepared to discuss subjects which are outside of their range, as it is often seen that a healthy overall market as a whole, means that their company will benefit. It is not unknown for a rep. to communicate what many might see as negative information, but ultimately this helps we retailers make an informed decision and will usually end up with a positive conclusion for both the retailer and the rep.s company. Good information is imperative, and I am happy to say that most of the reps. I deal with provide excellent information on a regular basis. I know that we have a new Hornby rep. as of this week, who under the new Terms & Conditions has powers to check what stock we have, which will decide what margin we get. Please, jonhall, don't let it be him that you have seen.

Last call for TEAs at C&M Models: VTG - Red - Triple Pack 3 of VTG - Grey - Triple Pack 1 of VTG - Grey - Single 1 of All TEAs now sold out from C&M. Thank to everyone for their custom.

If you were ever curious as to what 300 TEAs look like, then look no further than this picture. Orders with C&M Models being sent out over this coming weekend.

I am afraid you have to remove C&M Models from this list. Hornby have been unable and unwilling to supply the UK market since they wrenched back the distribution of these ranges from OnTracks a few years ago. Tim and Fiona did an excellent job of obtaining Jouef, Rivarossi, Lima, Electrotren and Arnold by working with the various Europe-based distributors. I am of the belief that these Europe-based distributors have now been closed down [if anyone can confirm or deny this], so all is handled from Hornby HQ. Let us hope they are doing a better job in supplying our European counterparts. C&M have committed to stocking other ranges - Roco, ACME and LS Models - and are unlikely to look again at the Hornby International ranges whilst we build up these named ranges. Mike at C&M