2E Sub Shed

16 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

Does any body know if you can get acacia trees in Cardiff. Asking for a friend.

Not in public

8 hours ago, Chris M said:

I.  Some layout exhibitors have tried to charge a lot on their expenses, for instance wanting 45p per mile for their car. If that happens they will not be invited again. Quite a few exhibition managers state a mileage rate which makes fuel costs clearer but I would often want less than that to cover my actual fuel costs.

 

The above arrangements seem to be quite equitable to me.

 

What do you base a mileage claim on ?, the Inland Revenue Business rate is 45p per mile for the first  10.000 miles.(and then 25p per mile over 10.000),  It is not just fuel but all the other costs that this payment is meant to cover. 

If people are using this figure in good faith due to  the lack of any guidance from the exhibition manager, then it may be unfair to be critical to them all. 

In my case, I have a vehicle from my employer with personal use permitted, and the only variable cost is fuel, so I am able to charge Inland Revenue Fuel only rate for it. 

If it was Mainline you were after, model shop in Swindon seemed to be able to sell new boxed Mainline well in to 2010's, I was told they bought the entire factory stock at closure, not sure if true.

14 hours ago, melmerby said:

Mmm. Talking Motorhomes.

Who's going to be the first to exhibit a layout in a Winnebago?

 

Could be a good idea, take your hobby on holiday with you!😉

Started but not finished

 https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/146826-1970s-childhood-layout-in-a-caravan/

48 minutes ago, D9020 Nimbus said:

Ruritania has featured in a model at least once, as has Tolkien's The Shire.

Even C.J.Frezzer produced a layout plan for a location he called Ruritania

2 hours ago, Sjcm said:

I wouldn't worry about it. Everytime I put on some tat that unexpectably goes through the roof, I think of  those sellers flogging tiny parts for nearly the price of the complete loco or have a quick browse of Gostude's listings. Soon kills off any sellers guilt and there is the possibility people actually want it for what it is🤔

Agree, described a lot once as "floor sweepings" and "broken bits from the waste bin"  and "rubbish you would not put on eBay", and it sold to a seller who tried to make his money back on it by listing it individually as parts.

3 hours ago, 62613 said:

They certainly like their train horns in the USA!

2 long 1 short 1 long horn blasts is a mandated requirement at grade crossings in US.

loco horn usage

I have a Cab 04R and have used it with my (US) shunting plank at exhibitions as it sits more comfortably in the hand. However have had to sacrifice the single push to change direction function which was useful, in favour of the extended Function Keys  as need to access them with sound fitted locos.

If you have a Powercab.(or PowerPro), then this may be of interest, 

http://www.wifitrax.com/products/product-WFD-31-detail.html, 

Connects to add a second or more (up to 8 using home wi-fi) controllers using Andriod or Apple Phones using an Aapp.

Both Digitrains and Coastal DCC are listed as UK stockists.

An American's take on MBK closure

https://conrail1285.com/so-what-happened-to-mb-klein/

Hi   

The Prodigy is a rebadged Model Rectifier Corporation product. 

MRC have a Service Dept in the US and accept International repair requests, see MRC Customer Service    

Hi

Had an similar issue with a QSI sound decoder in a Walthers SW1 .

You may have already found this information, but for anyone reading this thread.

In my case the solution was to wave a magnetised screwdriver near the reed relay on the circuit board which forced a hardware reset which is described on the Atlas web site.  Hardware Reset 

I hold DCC Decoder configs in JMRI so was able to reload config quite easily.

Other stuff relating to Atlas use of QSI decoders is on this page Atlas Manuals

Assuming yours is both original number and has a  factory fitted board it may date from 2009 production run, so might be too early for this manual QSI Decoder Manual 2015 .

51 minutes ago, Nick C said:

SD: "I've just sold X units to <big customer>, for installation next month. They need feature Y, I've told them it'll be ready for then"

LD: "<rude words> - you know full well we haven't even started that feature yet"

Back in 1990's I worked on a contract to replace a member of staff in a US company's UK plant where the entire development team and everyone else including production had been given redundancy notices after biggest (and nearly only) UK customer for version one of product went into liquidation. and the upgraded version 2 was binned.

Then a  salesman sold version two to a new customer in North America . Lots of money found to pay bonuses to tempt development staff to stay long enough to finish it and transfer production lines to North America.

On 01/02/2024 at 17:35, rovex said:

I had £3.50 taken from my account for an alleged Amazon prime account I don't have.

Alerted the bank, they agreed it was fraud refunded me and cancelled my bank card.

 

My wife has had same issue with Amazon payments appearing on her statement, in her case her Bank Statement showed  2 x 1 month £3.50 & 2 x 12-month subscriptions, with the 2 x 1 month subscriptions credited back.

On contacting Amazon, they stated it was fraud and gave reference, contacted Bank and a credit was generated along with new Bank Card(s)..

Pays to read through statements.

Sat March 2nd

http://www.swindonmodelrailwayclub.com/index.php/modrail-2024

Same weekend as Abingdon show

19 minutes ago, John Besley said:

Can I just ask a quwstion on DCC, this might be very obvous to some but how do you clean the wheels on a DCC loco, I use a Peco wheel cleaner wire brush and scraper running off the back of an old H&M controller... but with DCC how is this going to work, should this now be running from the track itself on croc clips....

 

Intrested to see what others do...

You could always leave the ability to run on DC set on the decoders, or connect a wheel cleaning track to the DCC system as I do.

With reference to the closure of the "physical warehouse"  with a changed business model if this post in a thread on the US based  "Model Rail Road Hobbyist Forum" is correct.

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/modeltrainstuff-com-12790462

" After a bit of research and getting the address in Nebraska  the Mystery of what they were doing in Nebraska may be solved- I had someone message me from another group as to where their last shipment came from Model Train Stuff and the address is 1101 Hills Road, Fremont NE 68025. That is the address for one of the warehouses for Heartland Hobby Wholesale. So basically Klein is now just a website that funnels traffic from Heartland Hobby Wholesale. They are dropshipping from a 3rd party. Hatton's/ Kleins  doesn't own anything there. Heartland is owned by VSA in Lincoln which owns MRC as well as an audiovisual  distributing company. Here is the building-  http://tinyurl.com/4edjvakh    (link  shortened to make it more likely to work)"

53 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

If a child was to pick up your locomotive while it was running at an exhibition or to shake your baseboard I am sure you would consider whether admitting those children to an exhibition was a good idea.

Worst incident of "shaking a baseboard" I have witnessed at an exhibition was a mobility scooter driven into a layout.      

On 02/01/2024 at 16:15, Donw said:

Sorry about this Dave  but I think the GWR used slightly smaller lettering for the name of the place you can change to.  so I would suggest 

 

BRIDPORT TOWN

CHANGE FOR

CHARMOUTH

 

GWR style at Uffington in 1951 shows UFFINGTON and FARINGDON  (Branch) in same size lettering, however several pictures of Kingham show the "Change to" stations in smaller size lettering in both !908, and 1950's but there was a lot to get on the board with "Chipping Norton, Bourton on the Water and Cheltenham Lines"

55 minutes ago, Deeps said:

More than likely, although if you had brains you’d not drive in such conditions anyway.

 

For many years I’d happily take to the road in the most extreme winter conditions in my landrover, content that the vehicle and my driving skills would keep me safe. However, regardless of chains and experience it is the idiot coming the other way who will loose control and take you out. I no longer drive in snow/ice.

Do not forget the other idiot following you, who is just as likely to totally misjudge / act incorrectly for the conditions, and ram you from behind. 

46 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

Every collector should have one of each - that way they won't have cash to buy up all the Thomas* stuff to stash away!

 

* Substitute any other outrageously priced stuff.

You can get a gold plated version a bit cheaper here,  X8848G 

16 hours ago, Halvarras said:

it is possible to create adjustable-length driveshafts, by cutting them in half and sleeving with a length of plastic tube -

If you can find them in UK, (or import), A-Line have a range of driveshafts, https://ppw-aline.com/collections/miscellaneous-re-powering-parts

32 minutes ago, johnofwessex said:

My wife remembers in the Mid 70's the vase in her mothers bedroom shattering because it had frozen

Happened to me when in quarters housing in 1970's,  glass of water by bedside cracked, slept under 22 Tog of duvets in winter.

Sheet of asbestos roofing and sheet of plasterboard between me and the sky.

16 minutes ago, SED Freightman said:

Even if the houses used solid fuel for everything other than lighting, they would probably only each need 10T of coal per year at most. Provision of rail facilities to handle 60T / 4 or 5 wagons pa would seen very unlikely.

Given that rural stations were usually in middle of nowhere, there could be a larger village (or more) at some distance served by this location.

1 hour ago, John M Upton said:

Some of the older legacy models are more tricky to convert, usually carving the whole coupling assembly off and replacing with a complete box is the only viable option.  Fortunately, Athearn Blue Box ones tend to have the metal spring clip version which is a lot easier as long as the spring cover has not got too badly bent or the plastic tabs worn off.

If you have issues with the coupler box on US outline, the following is of use A-Line Bulls Eye Jig which enables screw mounting of the coupler.

Also the metal spring covers are available as a spare.