Huw Griffiths

6 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:

Good to have a waffle with fellow RMwebbers and others this afternoon… feels like it has been too long. A very good show once again…

Sorry I missed everyone - this might have had something to do with people from a club in my part of the world having a layout there.

(Although the club is only a few miles from where I live, "as the crow flies", with the way public transport is "organised" where I am, it might as well be on another planet!)

This is the second Cheltenham show I've been to (the first was last October) - and probably a bit "borderline" for me due to distance - but I've enjoyed both times. As for future shows, I'll probably decide on the day, like I've done so far.

1 hour ago, Philou said:

I missed the grand re-opening yesterday. Well done and thanks for the all the hard work you've put into getting the site up and running again.

 

I noted what you said about avatars and the question for me is do I re-up my old one or go for something new - decisions, decisions.

I suspect that my avatar might also be about to be replaced.

I'm not exactly losing much sleep over this. Let's face it - this photo was taken 7 years ago, in a building on Muswell Hill, using an Android tablet that's since gone the way of the dodo.

1 hour ago, 4630 said:

I’ve been out of circulation this past week with infrequent internet access, so it was with relief and pleasure that I can now see that RMweb has returned. 
 

My heartfelt thanks to Andy and team for all the hard work these past few days to rebuild what Dediserve, a supposedly professional business, managed to so comprehensively trash.

Recently, there's been some talk about "dedication". This might strike some people as interesting - especially in view of the RTS Awards ceremony 8 years ago, in which one teacher offered to "dedicate" an award to England's then Education Secretary, Michael Gove.

Apparently, this reference to "dedication" was no compliment ... .

I liked Andy's observation: "Yes, we should have dumped them sooner."

2 hours ago, meil said:

It's the Hadrian's wall edition. Apparently it can get quite boring patrolling the moors of Northumbria.

It sounds like this might be a case of: "Nil illegitimi carborundum."

Of course, I might be very much mistaken. Let's face it - I never did Latin at school.

3 hours ago, Merfyn Jones said:

I wonder if this was the same train (Cardiff - Holyhead) I was waiting for at Chester, which was shown as "Delayed due to Emergency Services dealing with an incident"  left Chester 40 down ?

The train I travelled on from was timetabled to leave Newport at 2109 on Saturday - I'd imagine it would have been due at Chester about half past midnight (give or take the odd few minutes hours).

I also enjoyed my visit yesterday.

This was the first big show I've been able to visit for several years.

I liked seeing a good selection of layouts - traders - demonstrators - and societies.

I also enjoyed the chance to chat with a number of people - some traders - some visitors - some demonstrators - some people from a number of societies (I wonder how long it'll be before I join more of these).

Whilst I think of it, I also had a most enjoyable chat with Howard.

As for getting to and from the venue, the journey there went remarkably smoothly except for having to change Circle Line trains at Edgware Road.

The journey home was rather more "interesting" - the short hop from Kings Cross to Paddington (supposedly one line!) involving a string of changes, followed by a mad dash to just catch a train to South Wales. As this train consisted of two short trains joined together, I found myself stood in a vestibule until Reading, chatting with some very likeable guy from the Rhondda. The moment the train reached Reading, we followed the train guard's advice and moved to the front half of the train.

We then had a table - and continued our conversation until I left this train at Newport, where my journey home stalled.

The station screens, plus a long  stream of announcements, described a train to Chester as "delayed" - how long for was anyone's guess - certainly nobody working at the station had been given any meaningful information - not a good sign. Eventually though (probably about an hour later), the northbound train appeared, with loads of passengers (plus a few British Transport Police officers) already on board.

Once a number of people disembarked, I was able to board. I didn't see much point trying to push my way into a seat in the middle of the car - especially as I was only going one stop and had some "baggage" - so I spent this part of my journey chatting with several people standing in the vestibule.

As for the people travelling on this train, most seemed to be sports enthusiasts - slightly noisy perhaps - some of them might also have had one or two "shandies" - but they seemed decent enough people. I certainly doubt if the police on this train would have been kept too busy.

After leaving the train at Cwmbran, another pause whilst I spent the next half an hour trying to find a taxi firm actually answering the phone. After another half an hour, there then followed a short taxi ride, with a very pleasant driver.

On arrival at home, I thought I'd sit down for a few minutes before turning in - well that was the theory. In practice, what actually happened was that I slumped into a reclining armchair - and didn't wake up until about lunchtime - then back to "business as usual".

I'm also glad to be able to say that model railway shows appear to be back.

On 18/03/2022 at 12:44, 5 C said:

Google Maps reckons 12 minutes for the walk from Ally Pally station to AP itself ...

Yes. Right ... .

55 minutes ago, col.stephens said:

Did Google also mention that it is uphill all the way?  

There might have been a small clue inside Ally Pally - in the form of a drawing, referring to the location as "Muswell Hill".

It's always possible that this might not have been apparent to the guys at Google.

It's also possible that their camera car / drone / satellite photos might not have told them about streams of chartered and service buses - stopping every few metres to pick up show visitors, at the point of collapse during their "short stroll" up the hill. Perhaps this might have been where they got their "12 minutes" from - who knows?

For some reason, the title of this video reminds me of those "click bait" articles that keep popping up on the internet - the ones with taglines like: "I went into Fortnum and Mason's with £10 - and didn't have much to show for it when I left."

Seriously though, I don't like it when "outfits" set up in "business" - carry on in bad faith - and then proceed to "do one". When this happens, I hope the "competent authorities" catch up with them and take appropriate action.

2 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

Thought you said garnish shirts!

AKA "French dressing"?

OK - perhaps not.

1 hour ago, AY Mod said:

I've seen a few food-adorned shirts at shows over the years.

Just as long as we don't hear about an old marketing slogan: "Go to work on an egg."

20 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

Yes, the dual facts of being on RMWeb and living within the SWAG area means that you are, by default, a SWAG member. If that doesn't suit, there's always the Independent People's Republic of Torbay.

15 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Or the Area Group of the South-West.

14 hours ago, Ramblin Rich said:

Splitters!

Are you sure you don't mean "splinters"?

5 minutes ago, Steven B said:

Batch production of models which aren't large enough or frequent enough to meet demand.

All at eye watering prices.

I wonder if it will all end in tiers.

35 minutes ago, Hroth said:

"Classic" FM.

 

(Bleeding chunks of decent music, modern undeveloped music built on a repeated simple theme and semi-literate film music.)

The worst radio station - apart from all others that have been tried. (I can take it, in small doses, which is more than can be said for that "joke" my brother insists on putting through the stereo in the hire car, whenever he visits. He seems to like a channel of miscellaneous "pop / rock", interspersed with sound-only "comedy sketches" that seem almost as funny as root canal surgery.)

"Oxford commas" - by which I mean commas immediately before the word "and" - terrible grammar.

(Just for information, I agree with the observation about music - but then I've always preferred Mozart piano concertos to the latest sampled / rehashed **##&&@@**££##!!** being plugged on the "cr@p and cackle" radio stations.)

Filled it in.

If a similar survey were to be run in future, I wonder if it might be worth splitting the "clubs / societies" question. In my case:

• Societies - yes - DEMU, MERG.
• Clubs - chance would be great; not aware of a club in Cwmbran; can't get to / from meetings for clubs elsewhere by public transport.

As for magazines, I didn't notice any mention of Warner's NG or Garden Rail titles. Also, such staples as MRJ, Continental Modeller - and even Model Railroader, Eisenbahn Kurier, MIBA and Loco Revue don't get a mention ... .

(OK - I can understand about foreign language titles, however good - but as for MRJ, Continental Modeller and Model Railroader - where are they?)

I could also mention e-zines, like Model Railroad Hobbyist (advert funded - and targeted at the larger US market - but gets some very interesting articles, some very practical indeed).

Ultimately, with surveys like this, they'll only tell publishers what they allow them to tell - so very much a case of "it is what it is".

I wonder how long it might be before we get invited to write about some of the projects we're working on. You know the sort of thing : "Readers' Workbenches"* ... .

(*OK - perhaps some people might prefer a different title - and a more accessible location in the local reading room WHS - but I suspect you get the general idea. We need to think about where the next generation of model makers might come from.)

Anyway, that's enough about that.

1 hour ago, Oldddudders said:

I think the promo video must have been played, and we were all encouraged, time and again, to chant the slogan. Some of us were more participative than others..... 

"Now then, now then, now then, now hear this ... ." (Strangled sounding scream.)

Unfortunately, a number of monsters have managed to manoeuvre themselves into positions offering them far more power than they should have.

I sometimes wonder if this is made easier for them because the "individuals" concerned are / were fundamentally bullies.

Just now, AY Mod said:

You shouldn't be getting them if you, as a Goldie, are logged in Huw. If you are doing so please send a screenshot over so I can investigate.

I don't get them when I'm logged in.

The problems arise when I'm logging in - when stuff keeps jumping around the screen - sometimes the same advert in several places at once.

Getting automatically logged out after a few minutes doesn't help, either.

Unfortunately, though, what appears on the screen keeps on changing - sometimes as just described - sometimes looks absolutely fine. If I did know how to send screenshots, I'm not sure they'd tell you very much.

Thanks, though, for the kind offer ... .

7 hours ago, Claude_Dreyfus said:

The issue we have will be people coming onto the site to see what it is like. Currently it is okay on a phone, but truly dreadful on a PC/laptop (cannot comment on tablets). There are too many distractions, intrusive flashing adverts (there was an awful one yesterday for sweaters that kept flashing a changing like some tacky amusement arcade), full screen videos etc which if I was someone visiting for the first time, would put me off immediately (there are sites I have visited briefly but no longer bother with because of such intrusive adverts).

 

When adverts interfere with the user experience, then we have an issue. I accept that adverts are needed to support the site, but oh boy do some of them give you a headache!

I often access this site - variously using an Android tablet, an Android phone or a laptop running Windows 10 and Firefox.

I've been having lots of "fun" with all of them recently - playing "hunt the password slot" when logging in - having to keep on logging in, because I keep on getting automatically logged out every few minutes (particularly irritating when I'm in the middle of typing something).

I've been wary about mentioning this stuff - I'm sure Andy is already tearing his hair out ... .

17 hours ago, rab said:

I'm sure Andy and team are doing their best to resolve this,

but the lack of info suggests they are fighting a losing battle.

I've been thinking along these lines.

I get the general impression of certain companies who "serve up" adverts behaving in a similar manner to certain parking enforcement companies (allegedly).

Obviously, I could be very much mistaken ... .

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

Tool? Or Fool?

Both, as far as I'm concerned.

Shocking.

It's a shame that there isn't a clear full-face photo of this **** - posted on a news website - somewhere his boss can see it.

I think we can all guess exactly how well it would be received ... .

4 hours ago, RichardT said:

I can’t remember if this was in a later RM, or an earlier MRN article, but Cyril Fry has always stuck in my mind for his (absolutely serious) recommendation that one way to gain extra room for your model railway is to replace your live-in house maid with a “daily”, which he had done.  Different times… 

1 hour ago, eldomtom2 said:

That was indeed RM  1 - I suppose one can hardly expect poverty from someone with an O gauge layout of that size!

Returning to the present day, some people appear to question whether certain well known RTR model train manufacturers actually expect it from the average enthusiast.

Some cynics might wonder if this could end in tiers. I could not possibly comment ... .

On 14/02/2022 at 01:54, Michael Hodgson said:

We'll have to see if they'll do railtours once covid is over !

Could create a "buzz" ... .

OK, I know the drill:  hard hat - "hi-viz" coat - site boots  ... well, you get the general idea.

49 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

However, I will be extremely annoyed if that emergency reboot in the data centre of one of the drives was the solution as I've been badgering the hosts for weeks about issues with anything from straight denials that there's a problem through to obfuscation in pointing the finger elsewhere hence me getting through boxes of Elastoplast to keep things limping along whilst discussing big migration projects.

I wonder if they'd admit if the emergency reboot had anything to do with it - especially if there might be talk of migration projects.

Anyway, time will tell ... .

8 hours ago, Welchester said:

Arguably it was in England until 1974.

5 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

And the county town of Monmouthshire used to be Monmouth, not Newport.   

Until it was hi-jacked by the taffia - nobody asked the locals whether they considered themselves English or Welsh, there's a good proportion of the population, albeit probably now a minority, who don't consider themselves Welsh, and certainly don't want the language rammed down their throats, it now being compulsory in the schools.

I remember official mention of "Wales and Mon".

As for locals not being asked whether they considered themselves English or Welsh, one of my ancestors was born between Pontypool and Blaenavon - despite an official line to the contrary, she definitely regarded herself as Welsh.

Meanwhile, I was born in Glamorgan - so there's no question about my nationality.

(Note to moderators: I've never had any "truck" with fanatical elements, intent on ramming their intolerant views down everyone else's throats. I've got a "live and let live" mindset - and mainstream political opinions.)

I would have welcomed the chance to learn the Welsh language when I was at school - however, at the time, it wasn't offered at lots of schools, in a number of areas of Wales. Towards the end of my time at school, there was talk about all children being taught the language in schools throughout Wales - which got me wondering exactly where all the newly required Welsh teachers were going to come from ... .

Anyway, back to the trains (I hope) ... .

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

Ah, you go to the east of Wales.

I don't.

I live in what used to be Gwent - so very close to the border with Engl*nd ... .

(Not that you'd know it if you're trying to get anywhere by public transport.)

8 hours ago, Not Jeremy said:

Apart from the gap in the teeth he is more than a bit on the "Mungo Jerry" side of things. (Ray Dorset) 

Next you'll be telling us that photo was taken in the summertime ... .

14 hours ago, Farang said:

Key is offering the Hornby 2022 Catalogue to subscribers at £6.99 inc. postage.

The February issue was in W H Smith in Kingston on Tuesday but I have not yet received my copy.

My local WHS did not have the magazine today but it did have the Hornby catalogue.

I wouldn't be too surprised if there were plenty of catalogues left over at my local WHS after this month's Hornby magazine disappears. After all, what's the point in paying good money for a catalogue which showcases models that might not even be available at any model shops in the area?

Edit:  More to the point, even if all these models were to appear in your local preferred model shop, I wonder how many people would actually be able to afford a lot of the quoted prices.

2 hours ago, ngtrains.com said:

More recently I think they have lost the plot and as a result lost the modellers. Contrast this….

 

the Mogul was a plastic body on a really smooth running chassis which could be had for well under a hundred quid. It had no fancy electronics, just plain old DC. It came to bits easily, if you wanted to modify it a scalpel and file sufficed. Lots of small traders made kits to modify and alter them.

 

the recent stuff. Odd prototypes. Die cast metal. Stuffed full of electronics. Price the wrong side of 300 quid.  If you could afford one dare you modify it? You’d need a hacksaw anyway.

This strikes me as fair comment.

Around the turn of the millennium, I was drawn to On30 by the Spectrum (ie Bachmann) On30 streetcar - also the short "Wild West" style carriages from the same stable. They were available - affordable - easy to adapt - but also looked great straight out of the box. I got some at the time - I really wish I'd got lots more.

Fast forward to the last few years - they seem to be made of "unotainium" - even if anyone could afford them, that is.

I've actually got a number of planned build projects that have suddenly got a lot more difficult - and extremely expensive, if I use commercially made parts, like roofs for instance (I haven't even seen them secondhand for ages).

Time will tell if I find some "work round" - or if I end up being forced to abandon my plans.