EBay madness

[MrWolf]

6 hours ago, SteveyDee68 said:

As a long term user (since the early 1990s) of a particularly complicated* piece of music notation software called “Finale”, I was under the impression that RTFM stood for “Read The Finale Menu”, especially as it showed up so often on discussion boards discussing how to perform various functions.

 

Was a long, long time before the penny finally dropped …

 

HOURS OF RTFM!!
 

* At the time - it is now a much easier to use program in its current version, but when I purchased it back then it was £800 for the software (which made it more expensive than the Apple Macintosh LC computer I bought to run it on) and came with a manual in three volumes!

 

RTFM - military acronym: Read The F***ing Manual. Instruction given by exasperated NCOs to recruits who repeatedly fail to maintain, set up or otherwise deploy a piece of equipment or weapon and clearly weren't listening at the instruction.

Can always be passed off to COs or visiting dignitaries as: Read The Field Manual.

 

A lack of knowledge of at least some of these acronyms as a junior officer could lead to one being dismissed by other ranks as a "Rupert".

 

1 hour ago, 40152 said:

Interesting photography with this one. The pics of the box are sharp are sharp and well lit.

Got to show off those boxes to full effect, eh?

 

😉

 

Had me misunderstanding for a moment thinking that was a critique of a piece of top shelf only , "One handed literature", the purchase of which indicates to all and sundry in the newsagents that one simply isn't getting any, if ever.

 

😉

 

 

[teaky]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385125450329

 

"It ran six years ago on my layout and tries to run now but I believe it needs a good service."

 

Presumably it ran straight off the end before falling to the floor?

 

It seems that "a good service" now covers straightening, putting back missing wheels, stripping and re-painting, replacing the Letrasett with proper transfers and adding coal (what does he think it ran on?).

 

All for around £1,000 which would go a long way to paying someone to build the still-available kit (just over £500).

 

I agree it is "rare" though.  Most of the Garretts put up for sale are in much better condition and you'd get three or four for the same price!

[Allegheny1600]

11 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Anyone found anything truly cr@p or extortionate on eBay? 

 

Sorry about the thread drift! 🤪

I’d say that Rails of Sheffield have outdone their usually “enthusiastic” pricing with this one;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134241628758?hash=item1f416cb256:g:q68AAOSwBM5jKYDJ&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsJ0YSYSgvCSR7f2PtqWY1iDkQGquiJapZLeC4e6MGmNhFDQfES2wZIgKQqshMSCBrleNU22dlu2VRlFGrw1VZN4tNQhATiJCYMVOms0Yuw8yRmNmtVnw0lNVU2Cpho8TW3qiXVSrvWy6eJZFZ9z1I8RDWfgyRCx%2BMka%2BrGAHEUeFxC0j%2B85HuACvL1BmQdw77AXQArKzHTz3n%2FkfRh16tFohs0KOfHh7leKlify0cL%2FL|tkp%3ABk9SR-7z3aXrYA

 

C’mon, really?

[Hroth]

29 minutes ago, Allegheny1600 said:

I’d say that Rails of Sheffield have outdone their usually “enthusiastic” pricing with this one;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134241628758?hash=item1f416cb256:g:q68AAOSwBM5jKYDJ&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsJ0YSYSgvCSR7f2PtqWY1iDkQGquiJapZLeC4e6MGmNhFDQfES2wZIgKQqshMSCBrleNU22dlu2VRlFGrw1VZN4tNQhATiJCYMVOms0Yuw8yRmNmtVnw0lNVU2Cpho8TW3qiXVSrvWy6eJZFZ9z1I8RDWfgyRCx%2BMka%2BrGAHEUeFxC0j%2B85HuACvL1BmQdw77AXQArKzHTz3n%2FkfRh16tFohs0KOfHh7leKlify0cL%2FL|tkp%3ABk9SR-7z3aXrYA

 

C’mon, really?

 

But its a Doppelstock-Gliederzug!  You get twice as much for your money!!

 

🤣

 

[Paul H Vigor]

15 hours ago, 40152 said:

Interesting photography with this one. The pics of the box are sharp and well-lit whilst those of the loco itself, especially the broken bits, are either a bit fuzzy or in deep shadow.

 

Got to show off those boxes to full effect, eh?

 

😉

The sly fox!

[5944]

On 19/09/2022 at 23:33, MrWolf said:

 

The kiss of death for all sorts of restoration projects is often where someone doesn't know how to weld and form sheet metal, but they do know how to plug in an angle grinder. 

So they go round chopping out all of the rotten bits.

Result, one severely weakened structure and no pattern to work to when fabricating and letting in replacement metal.

I've seen it happen to so many different things and it instantly bankrupts the job.

Exhibit one - 27007 at the Mid Hants. Yes, it's a product of the Birmingham Rust and Corrosion Works, but there was absolutely no need to dismantle the loco to that extent.

 

https://flic.kr/p/23FcWoz

[ianmacc]

On 18/09/2022 at 18:18, John Besley said:

 

Shame the 2 Warships got cut up ... And none of the other North British types made it into preservation...

A loco in corporate blue on the scrap line! I believe they were encouraged actively to dispatch this one quickly for public relations purposes.

[rab]

More amusing than madness:

 

Surprised this isn't listed as rare:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304635115950?

 

ive never heard of this make of car before

Edited September 21, 2022 by rab

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, rab said:

More amusing than madness:

 

Surprised this isn't listed as rare:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304635115950?

 

ive never heard of this make of car before

The vendor might be dyslectic.

[MrWolf]

Which reminds of the hate mail Jasper Carrot said he'd received for taking the mickey out of dyslexics:

"Laev us xylliads alone you winker!"

 

I suffer from a curious form of disnumeracy that rarely gets a mention because it's not a fashionable affliction amongst celebrities. 😉

 

[Hroth]

3 hours ago, rab said:

More amusing than madness:

 

Surprised this isn't listed as rare:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304635115950?

 

ive never heard of this make of car before

 

I suppose he had a dilemma about what the starting bid should be!

[MrWolf]

Dilamier, fr. Daimlers built under licence in France by Moteurs Sur Fromages.

 

It's obviously N scale, but the item specifics list it as 1:43. I've had similar problems when eBay has decided to auto fill certain information because I used the "Sell one like this" option. I think that's dodgy because it could lead to a return under the item not as described facility.

Double check everything when selling.

 

 

 

[The Johnster]

6 hours ago, ianmacc said:

A loco in corporate blue on the scrap line! I believe they were encouraged actively to dispatch this one quickly for public relations purposes.

It was there for some time, not cut up on arrival, and I never heard that there was any 'encouragement' on Dai, not the sort of bloke who'd respond positively to that sort of thing anyway, to cut it other than when he wanted to cut it.  The 3 diesels were cut at a time when there was a shortage of wagon cutting work, and chosen because they were easier to cut than a steam loco; nobody had put any sort of bid on them backed up by hard cash, the language Dai was most fluent in, so cut they duly were. 

 

Dai is sometimes accused of hoarding steam locos in worsening conditions in order to charge inflated prices to the growning preservationist market for them, but this is simply not true.  His policy was to keep a steady income coming in and pay his men, which was best effected by cutting wagons, of which there were plenty.  Having the luxury of space to keep the steam engines, he regarded them as what he called a 'banker', a reserve of work for when the supply of wagons ran out or temporarily low.  Those locos that he did cut up were victims of this policy, and those that survived were the benificiaries.  Preservationists were, to him, a disorganised rabble who often wanted him to reserve locos for desultory deposits or on goodwill, and he had a valid point, resolved by the formation of BSLAG.  He was a scrappie through and through, and charged by weight, not rarity value.

 

I once guided a party from a preservation group restoring a 57xx around the site, having had permission from him to scout for spares for their engine.  Armed with a bag of spanners, WD40, and a big 'ammer, we removed a lump of plumbing from a donor loco, (can't recall exactly what now, it was a long time ago, possibly an injector) and took it back to his office, a brake van body full of his cigar smoke where the kettle was always on, and, scrappie that he was, he hefted it in his hand (his hands were like shovels), and said something like '£3.50, boys, that ok?', which it was, especially in comparison to the cost of having a local plumber make one up.  I got the impression that Dai was a bit of culture shock to the group...

 

I liked Dai, a classic straight shooting rough diamond who'd followed Monty through the war and took no carp from anyone.  He certainly cut a style motoring through Barry in the roller, window down and waving at anyone he knew (which was a lot of them), in his overalls and trailing cigar smoke along the road like Cheech and Chong. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by The Johnster

[big jim]

4 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I suffer from a curious form of disnumeracy that rarely gets a mention because it's not a fashionable affliction amongst celebrities. 😉

 

i think some of the listings on here suffer from the same affliction looking at the prices of some of them! 

[MarkC]

150 sheets for a Q kits NB Warship? Wow...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294943981186?hash=item44ac07fe82:g:b38AAOSwRp5iZA8a&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4A%2BhhYV1xMqaeuI0gQDw%2FVTo6830JIo%2B148%2B%2BlSUOOTA6UeT3PwNqoGQwKsGshD4JzoOvJDkcK45B8fHwj3kUAxD4o0hlroQ2bpkFQRwhfI4xxX2XfqS7jfxxJpJwRMCsQRdpJUCrqY9ENVWzk7TFjPfHn46avpUOmnc%2BruXB0U146djvrlCHTvJelo4kfrYK%2Fai2vtcHcvx0VYLN655s2I7BmLTAob65eyxbGdH9nyxqOYoIs40E9yp4cvAFJ0OCf0egXkJG5zUrG6EFH8B9uJyg%2BuAs8ajWHndOlS%2BxFyd|tkp%3ABk9SR7726o7sYA

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, big jim said:

i think some of the listings on here suffer from the same affliction looking at the prices of some of them! 

 

The difference being that I can actually sit and perform complex mathematics all day and remind myself next day how I did it. 

For some reason it doesn't stick in the mind and I have to have little memory joggers of how to do it, then I'm off again.

[Hroth]

3 hours ago, MarkC said:

150 sheets for a Q kits NB Warship? Wow...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294943981186

 

At least he said it was RARE

A pity he neglected to add L@@K and missed out the appropriate "!!!"

 

Are those motors capable of moving all that white metal, let alone any rolling stock? I suppose having two will help...

[Paul H Vigor]

12 hours ago, rab said:

More amusing than madness:

 

Surprised this isn't listed as rare:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304635115950?

 

ive never heard of this make of car before

Now, that's a dilemma!

[MarkC]

10 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

At least he said it was RARE

A pity he neglected to add L@@K and missed out the appropriate "!!!"

 

Are those motors capable of moving all that white metal, let alone any rolling stock? I suppose having two will help...

Indeed so...

 

Regarding the motors - as I have recounted before, elsewhere on this august website, some 28 years ago now I built one of Q Kits' offerings, a Class 28 Co-Bo. The etches were OK; the castings of the ends, roof etc had, as the saying goes, more holes in them than a pair of lace knickers... I used the motors as supplied; having tested them, both off load before construction & then to check the meshing before placing it on the track & trying it "in anger", the beast ran - for about 5 seconds and a distance of some 6", before expiring in a cloud of smoke. Prototypical, some might say...

 

It presently resides in a box, awaiting the day when I am inspired to fit a better power unit, which is, I have to say, in the box with the model.

 

Mark

 

Addendum:- the castings on this look better than my Co-Bo ones, although what they look like on the other side is a matter for conjecture - they could be very thin. The motors appear to be the same type as the self-immolating ones supplied with my kit...

Edited September 22, 2022 by MarkC
To add something

[Bucoops]

The motors look suspiciously like Scalextric style - so good for high speed, lightweight work. Only.

[ianmacc]

21 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Which reminds of the hate mail Jasper Carrot said he'd received for taking the mickey out of dyslexics:

"Laev us xylliads alone you winker!"

 

I suffer from a curious form of disnumeracy that rarely gets a mention because it's not a fashionable affliction amongst celebrities. 😉

 

I detest jasper carrot as one of the pioneers of railway enthusiast bashing in the 1980s. His train spotter sketches overnight turned my school days from being part of a group of friends with a shared hobby into a subject of ridicule lol

[ianmacc]

18 hours ago, The Johnster said:

It was there for some time, not cut up on arrival, and I never heard that there was any 'encouragement' on Dai, not the sort of bloke who'd respond positively to that sort of thing anyway, to cut it other than when he wanted to cut it.  The 3 diesels were cut at a time when there was a shortage of wagon cutting work, and chosen because they were easier to cut than a steam loco; nobody had put any sort of bid on them backed up by hard cash, the language Dai was most fluent in, so cut they duly were. 

 

Dai is sometimes accused of hoarding steam locos in worsening conditions in order to charge inflated prices to the growning preservationist market for them, but this is simply not true.  His policy was to keep a steady income coming in and pay his men, which was best effected by cutting wagons, of which there were plenty.  Having the luxury of space to keep the steam engines, he regarded them as what he called a 'banker', a reserve of work for when the supply of wagons ran out or temporarily low.  Those locos that he did cut up were victims of this policy, and those that survived were the benificiaries.  Preservationists were, to him, a disorganised rabble who often wanted him to reserve locos for desultory deposits or on goodwill, and he had a valid point, resolved by the formation of BSLAG.  He was a scrappie through and through, and charged by weight, not rarity value.

 

I once guided a party from a preservation group restoring a 57xx around the site, having had permission from him to scout for spares for their engine.  Armed with a bag of spanners, WD40, and a big 'ammer, we removed a lump of plumbing from a donor loco, (can't recall exactly what now, it was a long time ago, possibly an injector) and took it back to his office, a brake van body full of his cigar smoke where the kettle was always on, and, scrappie that he was, he hefted it in his hand (his hands were like shovels), and said something like '£3.50, boys, that ok?', which it was, especially in comparison to the cost of having a local plumber make one up.  I got the impression that Dai was a bit of culture shock to the group...

 

I liked Dai, a classic straight shooting rough diamond who'd followed Monty through the war and took no carp from anyone.  He certainly cut a style motoring through Barry in the roller, window down and waving at anyone he knew (which was a lot of them), in his overalls and trailing cigar smoke along the road like Cheech and Chong. 

Interesting anecdotes.

 

The blue one went in c1970 very quickly after purchase.  it was the green one and the class 21 that survived until 1980. The 21 is a fascinating story in itself.

[MarkC]

1 hour ago, Bucoops said:

The motors look suspiciously like Scalextric style - so good for high speed, lightweight work. Only.

Totally agree, Richard. That was my conclusion in 1994 - I didn't expect them to last long; they didn't let me down 🤣

[billy_anorak59]

3 hours ago, ianmacc said:

The blue one went in c1970 very quickly after purchase.  it was the green one and the class 21 that survived until 1980. The 21 is a fascinating story in itself.

FWIW (but totally off topic!) I took these in August 1978:

[The Johnster]

5 hours ago, ianmacc said:

Interesting anecdotes.

 

The blue one went in c1970 very quickly after purchase.  it was the green one and the class 21 that survived until 1980. The 21 is a fascinating story in itself.

I saw the D6xx pair being towed along the SWML, to be more correct the down relief, at Pengam Bridge, by a Hymek on their way to Barry, which was surprising as the last I’d heard of them at the time was that they’d been withdrawn at Pantyfynnon, their last allocation, and I wasn’t expecting them to appear from that side of Cardiff, or at Cardiff at all for that matter!
 

Hymeks seemed to be the go-to for towing dead locos to scrapyards, including Barry, for some reason, but at least one loco, East Dock’s 9681 (happily still with us) went to Barry under it’s own steam in the August of 1965; I saw it running through Cardiff General on the down main, light engine and bunker first, and disappearing round the curve towards Grangetown, one of the last ‘non-preservation’ steam movements I witnessed here.  
 

I had Instamatic photos of both events, sadly lost among one of my many house and flat moves over the years, and not very good anyway.  

Edited September 22, 2022 by The Johnster