tomparryharry

Sorry, see previous post...

An idle browse though 'Bay reveals that some 'Brand New' DJM 18" Austerities are on sale. Are these re-discovered models from some long-defunct retail source? 

Perhaps my ambition of re-creating Haulwen No2 (Mountain Ash) is still alive after all...

7 hours ago, Jeremy Cumberland said:

It would have to be a particularly small black hole to stop at the English Channel. Really, the sequence in which the different nations of the earth get sucked in seems to be of little consequence, particularly since those still left on the outside wouldn't even know about it.

On a serious note, how do we know we haven't passed through a black hole already, and not known? After all, this here compressibility is pure conjecture at the moment. 

On 12/01/2024 at 12:39, RCP said:

Can anybody tell me what this item is? Is it some form of lubricant device. What is its name?

Vacuum pump lubricator.

48 minutes ago, DIW said:

If the pilot and navigator are replaced by a pre-programmed machine, it would appear that the concept of a 'B Ark' becomes feasible.  😳

I was a bit 'Tongue in Cheek'. 

I  can imagine a movie plot, where the AI-robots are sent to explore Mars at the behest of the humans. The robots form an alliance to keep humans away from Mars, after witnessing the c*ck-up on Earth.

I can see the Boston Dynamics AI robots taking the Mars trip. If it's humans, it won't happen. 

Our Human space flight crew, possibly about 7 in total.

1, pilot.

2, Health & safety lead assessor.

3, Navigator.

4, 2nd Health & Safety assessor.

5 , Performance & Management Directorate.

6, Trainee Health & safety assessor.

7,  Facilities Directorate. 

8, Airlock Commissioner.

9, Human Resources & Diversity Directorate.

10, Finance Directorate.

11, Quality Control Lead assessor.

12, Accounts Department.

13, Publicity Department. 

14, Post room & Switchboard.

15, Minor celebrity to announce dramatic voice-overs.

16, Doctor,

17, Nurse,

18, Manager,

19, Cost Control Directive,

20, Lead Receptionist,

21, Receptionist Assistant,

22, Relief Receptionist,

23, Interior Consultant

Posts 1 & 3 were removed as part of the  the 'streamlining' initiative, which freed up extra funds for posts 5,8 and 12. Further cost-cutting initiatives may be utilised to afford purchasing a map...

There; I think that's all.

On 24/02/2024 at 00:17, SM42 said:

 

No, but there is some fairly hefty stuff out there.

 

Andy

What? In Sainsburys?

Sainsburys Local; Territorial; and Intercontinental. 

On 03/02/2024 at 11:14, The Stationmaster said:

The wagons would be sent where teh Stores Dept at Swindon said r they were to be sent.  there was regular train of loco coal empties from the West of England to Soith wales (usually Rogerstone but at  times if might have run to Pontypool Road.   And similarIy I doubt it got to Laira off the GC viw Banbury in the first place.

 

There would have been some cot logic in supplying Banbury with coal off the GC and don't forget that the Western - well into BR days - used different grades of coal for different jobs hence at large depots there was a 'passenger side' (or section) for coaling and a side (or section) for engines on other work.

 

I've never been sure about teh story that Western engines were designed to bue rn soft Welsh coal because plenty of them in the northern part of the Company's area always seemed to have used coal from local pits.  Don't forget that it cost the railway money to move coal and managing everyday costs was as much a factor in Churchward's and Collett's time as it was in BR days.  But having said that the nature of certain South Walian coal, partiicularly from the seams worked  in the Western Valleys was ideal for loco use because of good calorific value and low ash content.  But I bet that sheds in the Cardiff Valleys Division used the slightly harder coal from that area instead of hauling it a couple of dozen, or more miles.

It depended on the seam, Mike. Certain seams produced for different uses. Certain coal 'bloomed' whereas some needed a flat grate. Welsh coal would sometimes need a expansion gap beneath the brick arch, to ensure secondary air could get into the combustion process. If you over fired , the coal would black out until the air could get through. Putting a pricker in without the blower would produce a blowback of severe proportions.

7 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Invariably slue in BR Civil Engineering speak. 

It's those pesky Colonials again; coming here, and altering our  words. 

You can't adjust the cant, or can you? Where's the center rail on the Central Line? can I catch a train to Cockfosters with my co-workers? I did a Marathon once, but nowadays it's Snickers....

I'm awaiting the word middel in Websters.

Yellow snow warning in parts of the IK.

Eurgh....

20 minutes ago, russ p said:

 

Have to ba a bit careful doing that a few electric window operations and it will be stranded with a flat battery 😀 

Oh, not me Russ, I don't own an EV. 

But I did go on the top deck of a bus, all by myself!

Upon seeing an electric vehicle in a traffic queue, try this..

Tap on the drivers window, and say: ' Excuse me, but I think your exhaust is blowing...'

You'd be surprised...

'Tis difficult for Bachmann to make steam locomotive models. If you accept the premise that 60% of steam modellers are Great Western, then that's 60% of the market is closed off to Bachmann. If they release a new model with a rivet so much as 5 thou" out, then there will be a rebellion of great magnitude. In fairness, what's left for them? Other manufacturers have interacted with the prospective market, and actually listened. Sure, it's not absolute perfect, but the open dialogue betwixt manufacturers & buyers has paid dividends. Would Bachmann re-enter the market for Western-derived models? It would have to exceptional; truly exceptional. The 56xx is a very good model, as are the small prairies. The pannier model is about to be usurped by the team at Accurascale, who have listened to its prospective clients. Bachmann couldn't or wouldn't release a brand new Western model, to invite negative comment. Dapol went 'off-air' for a while, until the dialogue became a two-way channel. Could you imagine if Bachmann produced an obscure-ish class of GWR models? Oh dear; oh dear...

As Mr. York has said,, it's early in the Year.

Yet......  

Just now, Steamport Southport said:

 

Haven't Kader always made stuff like that though?

 

A bit like Palitoy, who made Mainline, also made Action Man and Star Wars toys.

 

 

 

Jason

Precisely Jason; precisely. By its very nature Kader will look for returns on investment; any investment. 

There's nothing for me here:- But! It's not Bachmanns' fault. I'm just a niche modeller, that's all. 

Some weeks back, we discussed the death of railway modelling. For me, a lot of views expressed here are true to a certain degree. Being a pragmatic business, Bachmann probably feel they are hitting the bottom of the well for new product. Other manufacturers are getting into niche with (it appears) better ability than Bachmann.   In order to continue in a consumerist market, they  are diversifying into other areas, such as captain Scarlet* and other items.  Railways, model or otherwise, might not necessarily figure as much in Kaders bottom line. I can foresee Bachmann jumping out of Branchline in the future. As I've said, it's not Bachmanns' fault; just business pragmatism & reality. I'd suggest we will see more of EFE, and less of those delightful GWR-style brake vans.

Regardless of anything, the service people at Bachmann are spot-on. I haven't used them that much, but every time it's been 100%

* Captain Scarlet & the Misty-eyed Rons. Captain Black in weathered condition. He was Captain Grey, but he did an oil change on the SPV... 

On 03/02/2024 at 13:30, KeithMacdonald said:

 

"Preparing" is a complex and multi-faceted subject. Easily confused and distracted by our politicians short-term bluster and sound-bite promises.

 

NATO operating doctrine for the last three decades or so has been for short-sharp assymetric operations, mostly (if not all) against less well-equipped oppositions. Or was until the bottomless pit of 20 years in Afghanistan. Despite all the military deja-vu lessons, NATO still has no workable strategy for long conflicts or total-war. Because even with the US involvement, we have all deindustrialised so much that we do not have enough large-scale heavy industries to feed the neccessary industries at high volume for long periods of time. The military supply-chain requirements cannot be fulfilled by our own manufacturing base.

 

What's happening in Port Talbot is a case in point. The ability to make high-quality steel from raw ore with blast furnesses is being dismantled and perhaps being replaced by a reliance on recycling imported scrap steel using electric arc furnesses. Note the "perhaps" (it's a big perhaps) because the UK already has just about the highest cost of electricity in Europe. Why would any sane manufacturer choose to put an electric arc furness in the UK? Unless there are massive UK government subsidies, to achieve what?

e.g.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/09/08/soaring-energy-prices-how-does-the-uk-compare-with-europe

 

The UK ranked 28th in the world steel-production league table for 2022 (down from 24th in 2021)

 

 

https://worldsteel.org/wp-content/uploads/World-Steel-in-Figures-2023.pdf

 

 

I'm not entirely sure, but I'd suggest the current doctrines will weigh against steel as a prime-source material. The current anti-tank missiles are mainly made from aluminium. Having seen the fate of the (supposedly superior) T90, I'd guess the USA are currently re-fitting the blow-out panels on the Abrams, and other vehicles. 

Drone warfare is the latest thing on the battlefield, with young people being very capable of building & operating drones to devastating effect.   Gender counts for very little here, just a keen eye, and steady fingers.

Lewis Hamilton, changing to Ferrari....

No doubt got a hot deal on a Fiat Panda....

2 minutes ago, franciswilliamwebb said:

Is it a modern vehicle? You probably need to remove the engine and gearbox to change the bulb😉

Almost mate, almost....

Well, I've had a headlight bulb fail on my trusty runabout. No problem, off to the motor factors. 30 minutes later, bonnet up, remove headlamp bulb cover.

Then...

Now, this 'ere bulbs are standard headlamp bulbs, since granny was a boy. But, trying to get ones fingers around said bulb was an (expletive) nightmare. Much grumbling in the hood.... I can only conclude that the bulb enclosures are quite a bit smaller than before; virtually no space to manipulate said bulb & spring catch into the hole. 

One can only assume that the car (van) is assembled by well-meaning small people from France, where small fingers are pre-requisite  to enable assembly of what is a well assembled vehicle. After my interlude in the garage, Mrs Smith asked:- "What do you want for tea? I've just bought some French sticks...." 

Grrrr.....

Conscription would be certainly on the cards, but the armed forces is a hugely bad idea. 

Would you trust a child of any age with a weapon?  The forces need volunteers, not conscripts. Read up on McNamaras Morons, and change the postcode. However, non-military work parties is-are perfectly feasible, and in the event of war, will become compulsory. No work? No rations. 

22 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

I'm told it's a Good Book, but I don't know as I haven't read it either.

I read it all the way through, I thought it's a suspense thriller, with a bit of a revelation at the end....

I see some sellers are listing models as 'refurbished'  What is refurbished, exactly?

On 18/12/2023 at 18:55, ColinK said:

I agree with much of what the OP said.  After one young rivet counter (probably aged about 10) shouted out at an exhibition ‘hey mister, your model of 33008 is wrong, it should have miniature snowploughs’.

'Tis funny, I can't ever remember snow ploughs on a Q1....

On 17/01/2024 at 23:17, PhilJ W said:

Damn! I was going to get the money back!

Having mulled over my earlier post, we come to the 'nothing there for me' post' . Although it's slightly infuriating, we're back to the niche element of modelling. 

If we take our average modeller. He's done his research; he knows his timeframe, etc.  He may limit his timeframe to a decade or two. If the modeller sets his parameters strictly, that means about 5-10% of what's available falls inside the parameters. The consequence is that 90-95% of what's available falls outside of our modellers parameters. Hence , the term 'nothing for me here' has an element of reality about it. 

I can think of at least one modeller on here who has set his parameters to 'about' 15 years. The simple reason being you can go topsy-turvy in the blink of an eye. I can't really blame them either. I'd dearly love to own a Heljan 47xx, but they never  made it to my area, regardless of time frame. And as for a Beyer Garratt?  Ooooh, nurse, the screens, the screens! But! I also adhere to my geographical area. It's the same with wagons. Welsh wagons were corralled into their respective areas in the main, being used turn & about with 'pit to port' traffic. You would rarely see an wagon from Alloa in south Wales, unless it's escaped from a Jellicoe Special. It's exactly why I can't use too many Swansea valley wagons, despite manufacturers making some really nice examples.

One problem model manufacturers will face is a certain degree of blandness, or conformity.  The rise of ISO standards in the big world drives out items of nonconformity. When was the last time you used a 15 amp plug in everyday use? And, everyday, commonplace availability? 

Coming to present day, the personal requirements & perception drive the niche. Less generic, and more specific. Better facilities to research better models, and, for the modeller here, better personal fulfilment. Are we getting older? Sure! What about it? In fact, this 'older modeller' scenario only falls down if said modeller fails to educate a following generation. 

Quality sells: It has done, and will continue to do so. Ask yourself this:- Why do Peco make Bullhead Code 75? If things like this fail, then we've failed to educate people with a simple lesson:- "This is a quality product, the other product is less so. And... This is the reason why"

if a manufacturer is majoring his production in class 66 & 70 diesels, he's going run out of examples in the future. Little wonder that Hornby, Bachmann et al have diversified into different scales & gauges. 

And, different product lines as well, and different markets, and diversification....