The Night Mail

[iL Dottore]

18 hours ago, Doncaster Green said:

This particular ex Government Servant lost count of the quiet tickings-off received for writing documents and memos in plain, understandable English instead of vague civil service, non-specific jargon with a leavening of Latin or Greek and the odd quote from Churchill or Gladstone!

 

John

 

(My emphasis). Ironic that they quote Churchill, as the great man was very much in favour of crisp, precise, exact and short texts (https://www.openculture.com/2020/08/winston-churchill-praises-the-virtue-of-brevity-in-memos-to-his-staff.html)

 

I think the current lot of Sir Humphreys in Whitehall would be most discomforted by Sir Winston 🤣

[polybear]

10 hours ago, SM42 said:

While I'm at it, what have Peco done to Parkside? 

The plastic they use is very brittle.  Not much use when you need to bend the brake levers to shape to fit properly.

 

Andy

 

I'll take a wild guess at using recycled rather than virgin plastic.....

[Happy Hippo]

53 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Please point me to the apposite thread, HH. I’d like to see what fun is all about

Try :

 

 

 

[newbryford]

21 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Try :

 

 

 

 

AY must love him......

 

Not.

[newbryford]

Not back to work properly until tomorrow.

 

In the meantime, I'm minding the golf shop as the normal staff are away on a "do".

 

As the weather is less than ideal for chasing a small white ball around a field, I expect that it will be quiet, so I'll try catching up with some filing on the laptop and maybe drawing up a couple of things to cut on my Silhouette machine later.

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

Peco has been doing a lot of compartmentalisation of their brand(s).

 

The 7 mm ex Richard Webster stuff that was branded Peco, is now branded Parkside.  Ditto the Peco wheelsets.

 

The 'Parkside' self contained buffer and coupling set which I bought recently was previously Peco and before that Webster.  The quality remains first class.

 

I was finding some time ago that Parkside (4mm scale) did not appear as crisp as it once was, so possibly there is a need for some new injection moulding tools.  Lower than optimal pressure in the mould can create weaker or only partially formed components.

 

My personal takes on rolling stock kits it that they are better as a multimedia kit where some mouldings, such as the brake gear, are replaced with etched brass or nickel silver where any manual manipulation is required for the final fit.

 

Julian and Susan at Taff Vale Models have done just this with their 7mm scale RCH coal wagon kit:  Laser cut timber; etched brass strapping, brake gear and W irons; steel buffer heads and 3 D printed  buffer shanks, and  finally a bit of white metal thrown in for good measure with the springs and journal boxes.

[Northmoor]

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

 

AY must love him......

 

Not.

Now now.

 

That thread was started by the chap concerned, it perhaps wasn't the right outlet (although if I had an out of warranty failure, I'd probably moan online) but he also admitted the delay was his own.  The thread has been closed by AY (rightly, IMO) because other posters are questioning his and other BRM staff's professionalism in terms of independent reviews.  The OP said nothing of the sort.

 

If you really want to get a thread blocked, I suspect attacking/pointing fingers/insulting another user behind their back might be quite effective.  Go on, try it. See what happens.

 

[DenysW]

26 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

If you really want to get a thread blocked, I suspect attacking/pointing fingers/insulting another user behind their back might be quite effective.  Go on, try it. See what happens.

Yes, true, but not on this thread please.

[newbryford]

1 minute ago, Northmoor said:

Now now.

 

That thread was started by the chap concerned, it perhaps wasn't the right outlet (although if I had an out of warranty failure, I'd probably moan online) but he also admitted the delay was his own.  The thread has been closed by AY (rightly, IMO) because other posters are questioning his and other BRM staff's professionalism in terms of independent reviews.  The OP said nothing of the sort.

 

If you really want to get a thread blocked, I suspect attacking/pointing fingers/insulting another user behind their back might be quite effective.  Go on, try it. See what happens.

 

 

I agree that the thread was locked for the reasons you state, but it shouldn't really have been started in the first place. 

 

The OP could have contacted the supplier - even though the item was out of warranty.

A phone call or suitably worded email can go a long way to resolve issues.

 

Part of my job is customer support, I find quite a few questions asked on forums and the like that could easily be resolved by direct contact with the supplier  - even after the warranty period has ended. Sometimes the forum answers will confuse the OP even more, making it more difficult to resolve.

Often, we will fix the customer up with a solution that is to their advantage.

 

I've already seen some threads on here that will land on my desk tomorrow......

 

 

 

Soshulmeeja has simply made it easier for people to moan. (Including me!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

I think that a certain thread illustrates the problems that can arise when someone prone to picking holes in things receives support from someone who appears to favour conspiracy theories. No names, no pack drill of course. IMHO Andy was quite justified in his action.

 

Dave 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Dave Hunt

[Dave Hunt]

5 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Are the 90s what a heady period that was. The office I was in at the time had the typing pool - remember them moved into it as we had the only spare room that could accommodate them. Nice bunch of ladies once you got to know them but they were all of the 'mature' age so treated me like the bright young thing that I was then. The rest of my colleagues treated the computer as if was some alien object which I suppose it was. They would write out any reports etc and then send it to be typed whilst I would type it out and send it across to the 'girls'. 

 

Up to the late 80s or early 90s each RAF Squadron had a typist who was trained and competent in service writing formats and rules and who would turn our scribble* into acceptable finished articles. Then came the great computer revolution when PCs suddenly appeared on all our desks and the typists disappeared. Of course, there was no provision for learning how to use the machines apart from the possibility of someone going to do a course and then the remainder learning from them by the the SNE** technique. Hence all was a bit chaotic for a time until the learning process spread by something resembling osmosis, by which time the Intranet*** had arrived and it all started again. What fun we had. 

 

*This was somewhat ameliorated by the fact that in order to be promoted beyond Flt. Lt. you had to do a correspondence course including service writing. 

**Sitting Next to an Expert (i.e., someone who knew a bit more than you did).

*** The closed internet MoD system.

 

Dave 

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Peco has been doing a lot of compartmentalisation of their brand(s).

 

The 7 mm ex Richard Webster stuff that was branded Peco, is now branded Parkside.  Ditto the Peco wheelsets.

 

The 'Parkside' self contained buffer and coupling set which I bought recently was previously Peco and before that Webster.  The quality remains first class.

 

I was finding some time ago that Parkside (4mm scale) did not appear as crisp as it once was, so possibly there is a need for some new injection moulding tools.  Lower than optimal pressure in the mould can create weaker or only partially formed components.

 

My personal takes on rolling stock kits it that they are better as a multimedia kit where some mouldings, such as the brake gear, are replaced with etched brass or nickel silver where any manual manipulation is required for the final fit.

 

Julian and Susan at Taff Vale Models have done just this with their 7mm scale RCH coal wagon kit:  Laser cut timber; etched brass strapping, brake gear and W irons; steel buffer heads and 3 D printed  buffer shanks, and  finally a bit of white metal thrown in for good measure with the springs and journal boxes.

 

I think that would work better as a multi material kit rather than multi media Big H. Unless of course they've produced the instructions for broadcast over the airwaves?

[Winslow Boy]

7 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Up to the late 80s or early 90s each RAF Squadron had a typist who was trained and competent in service writing formats and rules and who would turn our scribble* into acceptable finished articles. Then came the great computer revolution when PCs suddenly appeared on all our desks and the typists disappeared. Of course, there was no provision for learning how to use the machines apart from the possibility of someone going to do a course and then the remainder learning from them by the the SNE** technique. Hence all was a bit chaotic for a time until the learning process spread by something resembling osmosis, by which time the Intranet*** had arrived and it all started again. What fun we had. 

 

*This was somewhat ameliorated by the fact that in order to be promoted beyond Flt. Lt. you had to do a correspondence course including service writing. 

**Sitting Next to an Expert (i.e., someone who knew a bit more than you did).

*** The closed internet MoD system.

 

Dave 

 

Oh yes the internal interaweb how could one forget that. We had green lettering on a black background. What fun we had - not.

 

Have you ever noticed that all these wonderful 'improvrments' occur after some else has seen the light.

[jjb1970]

In fairness to social media whinging I find there are companies who ignore attempts to contact them or raise concerns but which are quite responsive to social media ranting. I know I shouldn't but I've resorted to it a couple of times after hitting brick walls and suddenly found the door being opened, sadly it seems to be the modern way.

[Happy Hippo]

18 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

I think that would work better as a multi material kit rather than multi media Big H. Unless of course they've produced the instructions for broadcast over the airwaves?

Thank you for highlighting the error which I have duly amended.

 

Multi media becomes multi medium which is what I should have written in the first place.

 

Like Dave, staff writing was the bane of my life. 

 

I was sent on a course entitled Junior Division of Staff College (JDSC). This was a course you went on before you took the Progressive Staff Qualification No 2 examination (PQS2*) which was required before you could be promoted to Major. We were either being lectured, running around Salisbury Plain or writing: There was a lot of writing!

 

JSP 101, if memory serves me correctly, had all the templates and examples of each style of letter, document or memorandum, so it sat on my desk.

 

It stayed pretty close for the rest of my career, along with another delightful tome called Queen's Regulations.

 

*If you could not pass PQS2 by your 16 year point of service, it was goodbye. No if's or buts, and no exceptions, even if you had connections with the big boss.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Happy Hippo

[polybear]

6 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

In fairness to social media whinging I find there are companies who ignore attempts to contact them or raise concerns but which are quite responsive to social media ranting. I know I shouldn't but I've resorted to it a couple of times after hitting brick walls and suddenly found the door being opened, sadly it seems to be the modern way.

 

For some strange reason certain Companies don't like their dirty laundry being washed in public......

[jjb1970]

I worked for one large organization who had a person employed in a rather senior pay grade whose title was 'voice of the customer', nobody (including the individual in the role) could give me a sensible answer for what a voice of the customer was.

[Happy Hippo]

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

(My emphasis). Ironic that they quote Churchill, as the great man was very much in favour of crisp, precise, exact and short texts (https://www.openculture.com/2020/08/winston-churchill-praises-the-virtue-of-brevity-in-memos-to-his-staff.html)

 

I think the current lot of Sir Humphreys in Whitehall would be most discomforted by Sir Winston 🤣

Especially with a document that comes back into their in tray with the great man's, 'Action this day', scrawled across it.

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

I think that would work better as a multi material kit rather than multi media Big H. Unless of course they've produced the instructions for broadcast over the airwaves?

 

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Multi media becomes multi medium which is what I should have written in the first place.

 

A pedant begs leave to disagree. The material is the modelling medium - be it brass, plastic, wood, card, or whatever. Therefore a kit composed of several different materials is a multi-media kit. 

 

Of course instructions can be multi-media too - for example the printed sheet might include a link to a "how to" YouTube video. Or even just good old diagrams and photos, each of which is a different medium to the printed word. 

 

Some kit manufacturers rely on the builder's mind-reading skills - in which case consulting a medium might help. However I think in that context the plural is mediums, rather than media.

[PMP]

3 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

The OP could have contacted the supplier - even though the item was out of warranty.

 

 

Yep, perhaps the first time it occurred would have been sensible..,

 

As far as the advertising conspiracy goes, there’s some truly energy efficient thought processes at work. Consider not all manufacturers advertise in every magazine, or indeed every month and frequently only take one page. However, the retail sector tends to advertise every month and across several publications..  Go figure where most ad revenue comes from :)

 

 

[SM42]

5 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

I was finding some time ago that Parkside (4mm scale) did not appear as crisp as it once was, so possibly there is a need for some new injection moulding tools.  Lower than optimal pressure in the mould can create weaker or only partially formed components.

 

My personal takes on rolling stock kits it that they are better as a multimedia kit where some mouldings, such as the brake gear, are replaced with etched brass or nickel silver where any manual manipulation is required for the final fit.

 

 

 

The 4mm mouldings aren't too bad, but some are starting to show their age. 

The Vanwide of recent experience has developed a tricky bit of flash at the centre of the bottom door runner. 

It was a starting to appear before Peco took over but was easily removed by a pass with a blade. 

 

Nowadays that will result in a broken part. 

 

I am one of those who is happy with the plastic undergubbins provided, bit it does require a double bend in the brake lever to get from the V hanger, to the outer edge of the solebar missing  the axlebox spring en route 

 

No chance now, so one end of the lever will end up floating in mid air or just broken

 

I'm hoping  I have enough original spares to see me through

 

Andy

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by SM42

[Dave Hunt]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Like Dave, staff writing was the bane of my life. 

 

I was sent on a course entitled Junior Division of Staff College (JDSC). This was a course you went on before you took the Progressive Staff Qualification No 2 examination (PQS2*) which was required before you could be promoted to Major. We were either being lectured, running around Salisbury Plain or writing: There was a lot of writing!

 

JSP 101, if memory serves me correctly, had all the templates and examples of each style of letter, document or memorandum, so it sat on my desk.

 

Ah, more happy memories courtesy of HH. Life for a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF was not dissimilar to that which he describes for an Army Captain except that the course was entitled Junior Command and Staff School (or JCSS for short) and the exam was just called the C exam. There was a third hoop before being eligible for promotion to Squadron Leader, though, which was an 18 month correspondence course called ISS (Individual Studies something or other) with an exam at the end. Naturally, being the RAF (where the art of cramming a week's course into a month was highly refined) some of the subject matter in JCSS, ISS and the C exam was repeated (and promptly forgotten). The delights of dear old JSP (Joint Services Publication) 101 cropped up in all the aforementioned trials and one was expected to be able to reproduce the different types of correspondence and other paperwork without reference to it during exams but no-one with any sense would actually try to do so in everyday life and like HH there was a copy in my office that was well thumbed. Could it just be coincidence that Room 101 has connotations of severe dislike?

 

Funnily enough, the location of the JCSS was in those days RAF Tern Hill, now an Army barracks, which is only about a mile from where I now live. I don't actually shudder when I pass it but it's a close run thing.

 

I imagine that many people in other walks of life had similar mind numbing sequences of qualification for progression. I'd hate to think that the likes of HH and I were the only ones to suffer.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, SM42 said:

I am one of those who is happy with the plastic undergubbins provided, bit it does require a double bend in the brake lever to get from the V hanger, to the outer edge of the solebar missing  the axlebox spring en route....

 

I have had success reshaping plastic components such as brake levers by holding the part close to a hot soldering iron bit until it becomes slightly soft then removing it from the heat and quickly bending it to the required shape. Admittedly I have been working in 7mm so the components are that much bigger and easier to handle but could it be worth trying in 4mm?  I should mention that the soldering iron bit should be as small as practicable to prevent too much of the component becoming soft.

 

Dave

Edited January 3, 2023 by Dave Hunt

[jamie92208]

10 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

I have had success reshaping plastic components such as brake levers by holding the part close to a hot soldering iron bit until it becomes slightly soft then removing it from the heat and quickly bending it to the required shape. Admittedly I have been working in 7mm so the components are that much bigger and easier to handle but could it be worth trying in 4mm?  I should mention that the soldering iron bit should be as small as practicable to prevent too much of the component becoming soft.

 

Dave

@SM42If you have several to do it might be worth making a wooden former that you can strap the offending lever to as hard as you dare, then immersing it in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Then repeat till formed.  Muslin bandage is excellent as a strapping and can be used time and time again.  You can justvpourvthe water over it from the kettle. A piecevof a tin can could also becused as the former.

 

Jamie

[DaveF]

This may read like shaggy dog story but there is a point to it.

 

The last post delivery before Christmas brought a letter from my solicitors confirming that they have done all their work on Mum's estate, the bills have been paid and the money from the flat sale etc. has been paid to me as sole beneficiary.  I know of one outstanding item of the things I dealt with - the gas/electricity company owe me a small amount as when the flat sold the acount was in credit.

 

As a result I have felt able to start to really relax.

 

In the last few days I have decided it is time to get back to making model railway things - which I haven't done much for several years because of caring for Mum until she died.

 

I started with something very simple, a 7mm scale resin kit for a platelayers hut.  It went together well, as I finished it yesterday I realised I need a bit of filler for a small gap where the roof fits on one of the walls.

 

I opened the drawer in the railway room which contains boxes with adhesives, fillers, solvents, fluxes and so on.  There was no model filler to be found.  Looking in the garage I found a tube of flexible decorators filler which I used, it did an acceptable job.

 

Today I decided to tidy up the drawer, on the very top were two unopened tubes of model filler.

 

So where were they when I actually needed the filler?

 

All being well the next kit will be a bit more complex.

 

I think it may be a little while though before I start on my loco kits - a MR 0-4-4T and a MR steamrailmotor.

 

David

Edited January 3, 2023 by DaveF