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Indeed, especially when the earliest I will be cutting timber is October 2017

Great to meet so many RMweb members yesterday at Yate. It was my first time as either an exhibitor or punter at the show and I was impressed how well organised the show was, with a nice friendly atmosphere. We had a few niggling problems in the morning and the 3 link god was obviously displeased as I was struggling with them but it calmed down by the afternoon. Alan and I agreed in the car on the way home that as there are 2 independant tracks and 2 controllers, that the wiring should be modified to let 2 of us operate the layout at the same time (at the moment only one controller can work either level). I will probably look to do this sooner rather than later as Trainwest is only 8 weeks away. Being a glutton for punishment I also agreed with Mike Walker that I will have my next layout ready for Cheltenham April 2019... Oh and it will be in a scale I have never dabbled in before so it's going to be an interesting 3 years.

Interesting reading, my thoughts on the situation: - The £1m stock loss is a worrying, this could be through loss of stock from the ERP changes or write down of stock value. One hopes it is the latter as part of a "get all the bad news out in one set of results" strategy but more likely the former - Hornby are in this limbo land of selling to trade and selling direct, quite simply they either need to do one or the other. If Hornby had decided that the best returns were to be had selling direct then they needed to have put a proper plan in place to do so as opposed to a plan which clearly hasn't worked and has alienated the current customer base (i.e independent retailers). The new management appear to have completely misunderstood their route to market as they have lost their key contact route with their customer so have limited end user feedback, something which is essential for any business to survive - Where do they go now? Well clearly they have some immediate financial issues to resolve with the banks if they are in danger of breaking their banking covenants. They will no doubt be preparing or have prepared a turnaround plan for the bank as to how they will resolve the financial issues they have and return to profitability. This will likely include a sell off of some sort and commitment to cut costs (although unfortunately this will almost certainly be people). The strength and viability of this plan will be critical to Barclays saying "yes we are happy and will agree new terms" or "Sorry we don't think your plan will work". - What is their brand strategy? When Hornby released the Railroad brand I thought it was a cracking idea. They could use the brand for the older Hornby and Lima tooling, priced accordingly aimed at the younger/new market entrant at an affordable price, then keep the Top Link brand for premium products like the Merchant Navy and the Class 50. They started off well but seem to have failed to capitalise on it with quite a confusing picture with thing like the A1 sitting in both ranges. The other thing that strikes me is the lack of ability to sell "projects" to customers, as an example there have been a number of examples of HST power cars being released in one catalogue with coaches following in the next year. As for not allowing magazines free review samples; really??? I can't believe anybody thought that was a good idea, never mind signed it off. Hornby need to make it easier for customers to buy product and part of that is having a credible marketing strategy which I don't think they currently have. Interesting times ahead, I just feel for those who work for Hornby and are worried about the long term survival of the company

Great Neil, it will be good to put a face to the name!

Thanks Confirmed dates this year are: Corsham (Trainwest) 9th and 10th April Thornbury (The Chantry) 19th and 20th November

25191 on the scrap train at Peafore Yard

All packed up ready for Saturday now, Alan came round for a last minute practice and to help me load the car up so I took a few photos while he was driving:

Thanks for your comment, welcome to RMweb. The short answer is nothing planned for the top level yet, I am sure one day I will think of something.

I have got a set of Faller figures (the type that come in the black box with no windows) in the cupboard I could place at the back of the railway arch that would prove a distraction. Ironically it was my wife who spotted them in the model shop in Skipton...

You did a good job with the trees though Rob.

Thanks Pete. Originally I wanted to model part of the GPO building on the frontcorner of the layout so the parcel conveyor could have formed the scenic break but when I drew it out the plan didn't work so the hoardings are a good compromise. Ironically the scenic break was an area I struggled with on Pallet Lane so will be something I plan properly on the next layout.

I wonder how many Skoda jokes I will hear (none of them will be new to me)? :-)

Thanks Adrian, I had a cigarette advert on Pallet Lane (albeit the design was a bit more subtle) and didn't have many comments, and I agree they were an ever present part of the 1970s. I did deliberately place the Skoda advert at the front partly to make the cigratte advert less visible.

Managed to grab 5 minutes earlier to fit the advertising hoardings, as desired they do a very good job of hiding the fiddle yard exit at the lower level. The ads really build on the 70's theme of the layout, I never recall seeing many of those type of Skoda's though. Although I am generally pleased with the layout if I was to do it again I would put more thought into better hiding the fiddle yard exits:

Hi Neil, I will post a few photos later this week, I have been working on the advertising hoardings so hoping to have them fitted before the show this weekend. Other than that my spare time has been spent on this piece of 1977 history:

Lovely layout Pete, thanks for sharing the stippled concrete tip.

Nice work Neil, I need to do the same on one of my 08's to be truly accurate, on the list to do this year.

Wow, quick progress and looks fantastic.

Thanks Tony, look forward to meeting you and your brother!

Quick reminder, Peafore Yard is out at Yate exhibition on the 13th Feb, both Alan and myself will be there say hi if you pass by: http://www.sodburyvalemrc.co.uk/_mgxroot/page_10800.html

The chassis seeing of the SLW 24 gives a clue of a future 25/3 in the offering with the mouldings on the chassis blocks whic h appear to coincide with the engine room window locations...

And following on from my last post it looks like 37057/116 were together yesterday. Rather annoyingly if they were doing this trip tomorrow rather than yesterday I would have seen them as I am going to Worksop: https://www.flickr.com/photos/66202473@N04/24605158386/

Amazingly a pairing still possible and entirely likely 25 years on with both owned by Colas

A few more from Peafore Yard: A few more from Peafore Yard:

I managed to wangle leaving the layout up in the back room after Thursday night and with my good lady out with the girlie mates, I got the role of designated baby sitter. With the layout at the ready and a stash of real ale it would have been rude not to have a go at some shunting puzzle. My daughter was keen to play trains so she had a go, her loco of choice being 25185, while I gave 03382 a go: Now I know black and white photos aren't to everyones taste but I thought I would have a go with the B&W mode: