John Isherwood

When I finally got to the point of building my garage conversion layout, age dictated that each of the ten baseboards would be hinged to the wall - underboard wiring of fixed boards was out of the question! Thus each board can we clipped in an upright position for wiring and maintenance. The penalty, of course, is that each of the fifty-four tracks that cross baseboard joints had to be cut, and rigidly fixed in order to ensure alignment. This was achieved with the thinnest of cutting discs in a 12v minidrill. Practice meant that I could complete the cut without generating excess heat, but an old- fashioned stationary spring clip, clamped onto the rail, would make a good heatsink. Brass panel pins were driven into the baseboard adjacent to each cut rail and soldered to it. Dire predictions were made about such a large number of open butt joints , frequent misalignments causing derailments were, apparently, inevitable. I am pleased to say that none of this has transpired; relative movement between rail ends is virtually unknown, and if a joint becomes slightly 'clunky' in the vertical plane, a light tap with a pin hammer, or a little leverage with a spatula used in the manner of a crowbar, restores perfect alignment. I can honestly say that the few derailments that I experience are entirely due to incorrectly set turnouts or incorrectly located couplers; (ie. buffer-locking). ...... and the many rail-joints produce wonderful clickety-clack sound effects. John Isherwood.

..... and thereby you reveal your true motives!! If you merely desire a thread in which to promote your views re Thompson, and to repudiate any contrary opinions, a new thread, accurately titled, would be ideal. Instead, you bemoan the loss of access to a deservedly popular thread, in which to bombard readers with your own hobby-horse views, which are of interest to very few of us. No doubt you realise that, confined to your own thread, you will be mostly ignored! Life here in Tony's thread should be rather more tranquil henceforth. CJI.

A D. J. DAVISON has made a BACS payment to my account on 01/07/22 - for which I am most greateful - but I have no idea why!! If you are, or know, D. J. DAVISON, please contact me via PM, so that I can fulfil the order which I assume that I was intended to receive? Many thanks, John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers.

Since you seem to dislike PMP so much - and vice versa - why not take the personal goading onto PM? CJI.

Whhhhhhhhhhat?!? The epitomy of form and function combined! CJI.

As can be seen, a BOGIE BOLSTER C; in a thread entitled ' Ratio Bogie Bolster A Kits? Clearly, I am missing something! CJI.

I believe that Hornby's current trading practices can be summed up in one word - arrogance! I publicly challenge Simon Kohler, (with no expectation of success), to explain here the company's position vis-a-vis retailer and direct sales. He has, after all, made much of the company's virtues on that most public of platforms - television. At least we would then be in a position to take a balanced view as to whether we wish to purchase Hornby products or not. John Isherwood.

OK - I'll bite! I am an avid enthusiast of CONSTRUCTIVE discussion; I see no point in ENTRENCHED combatants firing their stale opinions at each other, when there is not the slightest possibility of them being swayed by their opponents' salvos. CJI.

Sorry- I fail to see the connection with the thread title. Please could you explain? CJI.

My final post too - I haven't the slightest interest in anything related to East Coast railway traction, nor in the reputed or recorded merits of two deceased locomotive engineers. Even if the truth could be indisputably determined, it would make not one iota of difference to the current condition of our ill-used planet. CJI.

For the life of me, I can't see why Hornby don't declare themselves a Direct Sales Only Outlet. ...... or perhaps they're waiting for the retail trade to make the declaration for them?!? CJI.

Might this tedious back-and-forth exchange of rebuttals be better conducted via PM? The combatants clearly hold deeply entrenched opinions, and continual public engagements merely clog up an otherwise interesting thread. Let's face it, the subject is of no relevance in today's increasingly fraught times. CJI.

Correct - blade isolation by snipping bonding wires; blade to stock rail bonding not quite so easy, but can be done by soldering to the appropriate rivets from below. CJI.

I would guess that they are there to be loaded with bagged china clay, and will travel back to the Continent via Dover; see thread on Dover ferry traffic elsewhere on RMweb. CJI.

....... but, nowadays, few will allow you to rummage around and remove items. CJI.

On the face of it, an ideal arrangement would be a pivoting, inside-framed truck, with alternative, plug-in, scale and widened rear frames. CJI.

....... and I sincerely trust they do so. Hornby take liberties such as these precisely because not enough punters kick up a fuss. A warehouse full of returns would concentrate minds!! CJI.

So - if livery criticism is selective, why bother to produce GWR (or any other railway) sets? On that basis, all locos and stock can be to a single design in a single colour, and we'll just 'pretend'!!! If it's advertised as GWR, green and cream coaches are not fit for purpose - end of! You try to convince yourself otherwise, by all means - but most customers aren't quite so gullible. CJI.

None that I am aware of - but I would have thought that it would be a sensible practice, if only to encourage the taking-up of subscriptions. Subscriptions provide the publishers with assured sales. CJI.

Any comment from the publishers? CJI.

No-one arguing here - just an observation that flanged wheels + excessive sideplay + tight radii are a recipe for derailments; contrary to a suggestion by the OP. My views re unflanged wheels on trailing trucks are already well known! CJI.

Model shop stock before subscriptions - humph!! CJI.

That wouldn't work, would it? Model railway track has much tighter radii than the prototype - sideplay alone wouldn't work; hence the need for a radial pivot. CJI.

........ especially those modellers who, by their own admission, have a less than in-depth knowledge of freight rolling stock! 😉 John Isherwood.

I wouldn't like to see what KR class as 'major' !!!😯 CJI.