Willie Whizz

It’s called democracy and free speech. Perhaps you have a problem with that?

When I looked a few weeks ago, the Coronation coaches in BR livery were no longer being shown as available to order on the Hornby website, nor on those of other major dealers. I fear - unless anyone knows otherwise - that anybody who hasn’t already got an order in may have missed the boat. Curses!

One could, I suppose, equally well argue that since the habit of most people dwelling in cities has been overall more detrimental to the environment than most people dwelling in the countryside - as we all used to until about 250 years ago without marked damage being caused - then everyone who lives in cities should be paying additional taxes for all the harm they cause; and require a permit to breed (which would be granted only in the most exceptional circumstances) so that eventually city-dwelling dies out as a way of life; population numbers return to pre-Industrial levels over a couple of generations, and most of the so-called 'advances' in modern technology that require the use of scarce and/or polluting natural materials become redundant or die away ... However, I have begun to suspect that some recent posters have begun to "wind us up" on purpose. Either that, or we need to elect a fascist Dictator to implement all this stuff - somebody in the style of PG Wodehouse's Roderick Spode, 7th Earl of Sidcup and leader of the Black Shorts Movement in the 'Jeeves and Wooster' books - you know, the one who proposed when he won power to introduce an Act of Parliament converting all Britain's railways to the Broad Gauge so that sheep could be transported sideways in sheep vans, therefore enabling larger numbers to be moved in greater comfort for the animals than standard gauge trains where they had to be accommodated 'fore and aft'. Very environmentally-friendly, that idea. Hmmm ....

Not many contour lines on that - you can see why somebody thought it would make a good site for an airfield of some description.

Absolutely false to say that bus passes are "free". They are not; they are only "free at point of use" - there is still a cost to making that journey, and the cost is met by National and Local Government - in other words, Taxpayers. Being over 60 myself, but still being a Taxpayer, I appreciate this privilege, but I don't take it for granted. As for "raising the cost of private motoring", well ... as someone was arguing earlier, to embrace pro-environmental changes it would help if they lower prices, not raise them. Politically your notion is already getting more controversial, and anyone who remembers "Yes Minister" will know how politicians are wary of that kind of thing.

But once you have bought a car in the first place the cost of that, the depreciation, and the necessary servicing , insurance etc. are effectively “sunk costs” and will not vary much whether you use it a lot or very little. Petrol, parking etc. are then “marginal costs” which are the ones most people use, consciously or unconsciously, to determine the comparison between whether to make a discretionary trip by car, by public transport, or not at all. On that basis - and given the greater comfort and convenience - people have, certainly until recently, often found the car to be more cost-effective for such trips. To get people using public transport in the first place it must be: (a) available and convenient at all (b) attractive - or at very least not unpleasant - to use, and (c) more affordable than available alternatives. All these, but especially (c), are especially challenging outside London. The answer often suggested is “more subsidy” - but that doesn’t make it any cheaper, merely displaces the true cost to taxpayers overall rather than just those who use the service. Are we yet ready to pay that price to fund a “public good”?

There is something in that, but I suspect in many cases it is not because people “don’t want them to”, as such, but that they see it as making them bear a disproportionate and earlier burden compared to what most other countries’ populations are being asked to bear, so far. I have to ask again: I agree we must do something, but why do WE have to purport to be “leaders”? Who do we expect among the worst polluters to follow? Because if they won’t, we are just punishing ourselves.

I can perfectly well conceive of changing my behaviour; indeed to an extent I have done so. My point here is that I see next to zero merit in the entire UK opting to wear “hair shirts” about all this, and claiming “we” are setting an example for the World to follow, when actually the World seems to be taking very little notice and all we are doing is putting ourselves at a disadvantage for a minimal practical effect upon the worldwide issue. “Virtue-signalling”, in fact. As regards “our” consumption (of model railways or anything else) driving the problem - offer me a home-produced alternative of comparable or better quality at a comparable or better price and in principle at least I will take it. For that to happen, though, would require not just radical changes to our behaviour patterns, but to the World’s whole system of international trade and finance - and I don’t see that happening any time soon or without grave consequences if people try to ‘force’ change. Nobody ever said this was going to be easy. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, of course it doesn’t. But when large parts of the developed World, and those who are very nearly ‘developed’ now and are accelerating, why should Britain feel a compulsion to be a “World Leader” - a role that fell away from during the years after WWII - and voluntarily subject ourselves (and our railway modellers!) to a greater pain than others are willing to undergo. As regards my final point, by the way, the best advice in situations like these is “follow the money”. We should perhaps be asking where the organisations who demand the British Government make us accept disproportionate sacrifices compared to the ‘major polluters’, and will make no challenge to the latter, get their funding from.

I don’t claim to be “Mister Average” in this but I might well be. I attend 4-5 model railway shows a year, almost exclusively within a 60-70 mile radius. I do not wish to minimise the overall effects of climate change and global warming on our planet, but the fact is that Britain is responsible for less than 1% of global carbon emissions; therefore the proportion of that percentage caused by travel to model railway exhibitions within this country is pretty much infinitesimally small. Consequently I feel I have to ask: why should we even be worrying about it on any serious basis? If individuals feel they have to do something, by all means go by convenient public transport or bike, but don’t try to compel other folks who don’t find that realistic or affordable. Anyone who feels really strongly about these issues should consider participating in a lawful demonstration outside the Embassies of those countries which are currently the biggest and worst polluters (it being already too late to do anything about ‘historic’ situations). We all know who they are. Oh, I forgot, there aren’t any such demonstrations; how curious … why might that be?

Indeed. It doesn’t at all make it ”right” but the association between very dark colour (eg a ‘white’ person with a case of heavy sunburn) and the n-word was commonplace in my youth - and to try to be fair to that generation my recollection is it was not deliberately chosen and meant to be racially offensive by most users, however a listener might have perceived it; just ‘descriptive’. As you say, ‘different times’ and nobody with any sense would do it today; we have learned better. But it is always wise to be cautious applying today’s standards to yesterday’s norms; who knows what words and behaviours we regard as commonplace today that our own great-grandchildren will regard as heinous …?

I’ve sadly come to the conclusion the Second Coming itself is now likely to appear ‘before Banks’ … and I still wonder what has become of co-author Carter, who - assuming he is still ‘with us’, to be fair - has managed to keep a profile so low as to be submarine.

Interesting that, isn’t it, considering some people are all too willing to point out the “errors” in Vol. 1. As I’ve said before, when one or other of these ‘sperts writes and gets published a better book accessible to a mainstream audience, they will 100% have an order from me. Until then, for all its actual and alleged flaws, it remains the best we can get on the subject. One would have to hope though that any Vol. 1 reprint would contain - as a very minimum - the corrections already acknowledged as required on the Banks website. I gather such things are not always legally or practically within an author’s own control, so anyone who decides to lobby the publisher should stress that.

The “Hive” website which some of us seem to have ordered from (see above) is now showing “Out of Stock” in one place and “Publication Date 1 October” [still] in another! The wording about Vol. 2 on Mr Banks’ own website has remained unchanged for several years now. Shambolic!

Well, I suppose you could argue it prevents the item being damaged by being jumbled around in a tray full to overflowing of other random old stuff, which is the way a lot of this kind of thing are offered. It shouldn’t double the price though …

Electrification not being interrupted (long-term) by WWII? The GC was not intrinsically a “burden” as suggested, but suffered from being always cast as the Junior Partner in any version of the Grouping you care to define, plus a long-lasting collapse in the kinds of traffic it was built to cater for in the 1920s and 30s. Blame that on the Government(s) of the era, not the railway.

Though a Nottingham man, when I go I go the other side of the Trent. (C’mon you Pies!!!). But friends who are Forest fans seem to believe Cooper is their best manager since Brian Clough; and certainly their sheer faith kept him in a job last season when all seemed lost.

The East Midlands has suffered very badly with the loss of 'large' exhibitions - in the last few years Nottingham, Derby, the GCR event at Quorn and other locations along the preserved line, and the Newark (run IIRC by the Lincoln club) shows have all gone outright or been reduced to a shadow of their former selves. There didn't seem to be a shortage of bodies through the doors at any of them (pre-COVID at least), except Nottingham (East Mids) was as I understand it badly affected by an 'extreme weather event' killing the attendance on the Sunday and never recovered. All so sad ...

On the first point, I entirely agree. On the second point, the item can from the link be bought for £5, and therefore if supplied with each loco the price of said loco would presumably be £5 ((or so) higher, leading to even more complaints from those on here who already think RTR is too costly. Besides, we know, or at least we are often told, that a high percentage of purchasers are unwilling to attempt even the slightest modification to their models - so they would certainly be unwilling to arm themselves with a gadget that looks like a cross between tweezers and nail clippers and start interfering with the electrical connections between locos and tenders. Getting it all apart would be traumatic enough - getting it all back together without fear of risking serious damage would, if these suppositions are correct, be impossible to contemplate. So why would Hornby waste their money supplying something probably >95% of purchasers won’t dare use and 80% won’t even understand what it’s for. (Cynical? What, little moi? Sorry …)

I’m not so sure. Thirty years or so ago I remember distinctly that the next big “climate change”, within a century or so and therefore based on the “past hundreds of years” was going to be the onset of a new Ice Age. Look how that has turned out …

Staying for a few days with friends in Mid-Wales. Awoke to a BBC online weather forecast that promised us wall-to-wall sunshine the whole day. Dressed and went out accordingly. The reality has been wall-to-wall cloud through which the sun has never once peeked. But the BBC website still shows “Scorchio!” Wouldn’t mind so much but we had the same happen for three days in succession on a short break in Jersey in the Spring. With all the technology available in the second decade of the 21st Century, why can they not even get this stuff right in “real time”, let alone as a forecast for the day ahead. And these people want us to believe they can predict with a high degree of certainty what the climate will be like in 50 years time? Somehow I don’t think so … Bah, humbug!!!

Just to clarify then, when did V2s start to appear in lined Green, please, and by what point were the black ones largely gone? Did the change coincide with the change from ‘early’ to ‘late’ crest or was that a separate issue? Thanks.

As a veteran bureaucrat who saw the end of the paper-based era and the birth, growth and rampage of the computer era, I feel your Good Lady should be congratulated on her sagacity and wisdom. Sadly, there’ no turning that clock back …

Don’t knock my method till you’ve tried it. S’all I’m sayin …

The secret to making Brussels Sprouts more enjoyable to eat is to add a teaspoon of ground nutmeg powder to the water when boiling them. And don’t over-boil them, whatever your Wife’s Granny says. Alternatively don’t boil them at all - chop up and sauté them in a frying pan, again with a little nutmeg and some small bits of crispy bacon. Lovely with your Christmas Dinner that way!

Nothing there that couldn’t be solved by throwing a shed-load more money at the NHS, like all the ‘interested parties’ will keep telling you. (Oops, sorry, shouldn’t have said that. Fancy mentioning ‘sheds’ on here …).