Crisis Rail

Good Lord.

Reading all this we've come a long long way and should be enough to end the bickering.

Anyone remember Lima?

1 hour ago, Zomboid said:

I suppose it depends what preparation they did for the APT. If it was properly researched and predicted and any calculations needed were done and so on then that's responsible enough, but if someone just said "oh it'll be fine" then that's probably a bit reckless.

Probably the latter.

Lets "crank up" and whizz along a less than proven non production prototype on less than quality nick track in urgent need of a decent upgrade. 

I'm not saying life was more expendable back then.

On 18/06/2021 at 10:22, Zomboid said:

They might not have beaten the record, but to get so close without the permission to exceed the speed limits that the APT had is pretty impressive.

 

It also shows that things are pretty much as good as they can get with the existing infrastructure.

 

 

Well looking back - doesn't it cross your mind that the APT attempt was bordering on recklessness?

Mr Biro -  a new member looking at his posts.

Obviously not sure of how things can sometimes work on here but I am sure he is well aware now.

I would like to think he was not just expressing disappointment over the Guildex cancellation and more concerned over the general tardiness of all things in the country getting back to some sort of life  normality.

But we have to come out of the Trench at some point.

I’ll have one. I’m at the wrong end of 50 and finish employment at the end of the year. Also my lifespan is finite. 
 

Want want want. We’re an impatient lot. 

Well done Jim - a job that most of us on here would like is a massive thing to lose.

Ian

15 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

Oh haha. Not in the mood for worn-out tropes taking up screen space.

He has a point - maybe exhibitions might be back on then too? 

On 09/06/2021 at 10:44, Michael Hodgson said:

Are we saying that the 45 is cheap tat?       

All will be revealed....!

Hopefully not as i've preordered -  but tune in on here for the long awaited scything analytical dissertations.

9 hours ago, Monkersson said:

To get a model produced in the UK, to the specification expected these days, we would be paying close to 6 or 7 times what we are paying at the moment.  Possibly more.

 

I work for a company who produce (amongst many other things) cheap injection moulded toys for babies.  All our tooling/moulding/assembly/packaging is done in China.  When the reality of the pandemic took hold, we looked at getting the same toys tooled and moulded in the UK.  For very basic 2/3 final-colour moulded toys we were looking at a minimum 3-fold increase in cost, so a £3 toy would then be selling for £9 minimum.  That's before we added on costs for assembly and packaging, plus the cost of getting the packaging printed and assembled.

 

These extra costs came from, in the main, the factories who would do the tooling and manufacturing (and costs remained the same as pre-pandemic).  Another factor in the uplift of costs was transportation from said factories to our distribution centre.    More expensive for a 250 mile journey in the UK than a 13,000 mile journey from China.

 

If we were to bring manufacturing (back) in house, we would have to increase costs to cover factory space, machine costs for tooling/moulding (of multiple designs), purchase and transportation of raw materials (metals, plastics, solvents), source a packaging supplier and of course staffing costs.  That £3 toy would be selling for £25 just to cover our costs.

 

This example above is for one of our toys which has 8 parts (if I can remember there are 6 moulds), 4 of those the same and is extremely basic, with no painting or printing.   These sell by the hundreds of thousands so I would hate to see the costs of a relatively low-volume UK produced item of stock with the variations and standard of printing which we demand these days.

 

Of course I would love to see models made in the UK, however is its just not feasible now for larger/established manufacturers to bring production back from the far east.  

From an ethical point of view it’s not just China with all its tat. You said it with a “cheap plastic toys” point of view. Do we really need it? 
As for Primark and it’s questionable supply chain sources...... 

Maybe we are due a “reset”. 

5 minutes ago, 61661 said:

We are promised new samples soon. Unfortunately the factory handling this project has been badly affected by Coronavirus, not just with lockdowns but also with subsequent staff shortages. Apologies for the delay - we are extremely frustrated by the situation but there's very little we can do at the moment. Once we have the next set of samples we'll have a better idea of the timescales. 

So easy to say but we really have to stop relying on China. Yes it all boils down to business and corporate profit even in Toy Train Land. I would be prepared (and am) to pay extra for something UK produced.

Just to mention nothing  Sinophobic in any way including the events of the last 15 months.

As regards the 45 - no real rush Ben.

On 31/05/2021 at 00:55, PMP said:

A rare sighting of BRCW’s together 

Proper ground cover.

On 21/02/2021 at 19:10, Grimleygrid said:

 

We have just posted a few more photos of the EP samples in our February update:

 

https://www.cavalexmodels.com/february-2021-update

 

 

Aircraft Primer

BTCC season now up and running for those who seek an alternative.

18 hours ago, melmerby said:

Especially without the china clay deposits on the beach, which you got in the 50s & 60s brought down by the St Austell ("White") River.

It used to get between the toes!

Yes.

First visit I thought CC was the industry quite a few giveaway clues left about in the village but the bay view on the Mevagissy road is exceptional early mornings.

Bike trail up the disused Pentewan valley line and all the Birds of Prey in the forest.

Happy times.

On 13/04/2021 at 21:47, toolongtoremember said:

Sorry to drag this old topic up, but did this layout progress any further? 

7 Years 

Moved on to new owner - looking at it I like to think I have done too.

Cheers for asking.

Ian

On 31/03/2021 at 16:30, Rivercider said:

There are a few sections of narrow gauge track around Pentewan harbour. The line was used to bring china clay down to the harbour. Unfortunately the harbour was very prone to silting up.

The original Pentewan Railway ceased operating in 1918, though a later railway here used beach sand for making concrete blocks.

 

A single rail visible beside Pentewan harbour photographed by shadowman is part of the original railway. 9/10/2018.

 

 Lines leading to the old loco shed. On the left it can be seen that the harbour entrance channel is completely silted up. 9/10/2018

 

cheers

Pentewan.

Lovely place.

On 08/05/2021 at 06:32, great central said:

Apparently the whole fleet of Hitachi trains across the country have been pulled out of service for safety checks, that's LNER, GWR, TPE and Hull Trains services all down the pan.

Due to cracks in the body being found I understand.

Going to be an 'interesting' day for those of us still running

MAZAK?

On 11/04/2021 at 17:54, Oldddudders said:

What a load of baloney. CEOs of model manufacturing companies are not elected politicians, or others earning squillions, who deserve to be Paxman-ed. Magazines need some degree of co-operation from manufacturers but that is very different from describing their relationship as cosy. If a mag reviews a model and says it's a pile of poo then they are going to miss out on future releases, but emphasising the good points and gently noting the downside issues is what we all want to read and I see plenty of that across the mag spectrum.

 

Case not proven.  

It's called being tactful with common sense.

The phenomenon of Railway Modelling.

Probably the hardest genre of hobbyists to please in a genre fast approaching near watchmaking standards.

Things have got tougher for the manufacturers "aided"  by the social media attachments where you can post "out there" and be critical in seconds  - they really have to be on top of the game today. Who'd be a CEO not earning "squillion's"?

On 24/04/2021 at 01:32, Cowley 47521 said:

A bit of black and white 20th century action...

 

 

 

Decent 50 on CC  - reminds me of holidays past St Blazey  - Par and the likes.

May be me but road vehicles never seem to cut it in the realism stakes.

1 hour ago, caradoc said:

 

Surely the reason for vaccine passports (should they be introduced, which has not actually been decreed yet) is to allow mass gatherings of people to resume safely ? Saving lives and avoiding hospitalisation is the purpose of the vaccines themselves !

 

I am not particularly keen to have to carry a vaccine passport, but if that is the price of allowing events such as the Steve Hackett concert I have a ticket for, or Warley ditto, to go ahead, so be it. 

 

I have sympathy for those unable to be vaccinated, but for those who refuse, none; That is their choice and they will reap the consequences. 

 

Like

10 die of coronavirus in the UK in a day.

New cases also fall by 27% in a week to 3,423

On 20/11/2020 at 18:04, woodenhead said:

This was 31 BC, in those days people were allowed out whenever and wherever they wanted to go, no electronic tags on them that registered everyone they have been within 2 metres of for 15 minutes.

 

People didn't even have to wash back then.

Steady on.

Anyone would think this was all a plan 

On 16/03/2021 at 11:56, 70000 Britannia said:

 

I reckon that is the first ever, photographic evidence of a formation of low-lying UFOs in Nottingham.

 

......or some sort of a decent odour extraction system?

Count me in.

On 15/03/2021 at 07:12, arran said:

That has to be the most stupid comment yet .

 

Regards Arran

 

 

He's not far wrong.