John Isherwood

..... and ELDORADO icecream - often available in cinemas, too. CJI.

The two PRESFLOs with large Blue Circle boards were owned by BC and are painted grey - which superceded yellow as the corporate colour. The PRESFLOs with smaller Blue Circle logos were BR owned, and were painted bauxite. Transfers for most / all PRESFLO pre-TOPS liveries can be found at https://www.cctrans.org.uk/products.htm ; just do a page search on PRESFLO. John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers.

Why not change this thread title to 'DO NOT USE GREENWOOD MODEL RAILWAY COMPANY' ; the thread content would fully justify that? CJI.

Ditto - ad blocker activated, but no immunity from glacial operation periods. CJI.

Look closer - the casing twists between one end of the nameplate and the other. You'd need a non-linear taper wedge at the LH upper edge; and a similar, but not identical, taper wedge to the RH lower edge. I suspect that someone said 'Why bother'! It certainly looks odd when printed on the compound curves of the cladding. CJI.

You may well be correct - all I can say is that I found it an easy matter to convert my 'Wilton' to a pivoting truck with flanged wheels. That's not to say that an even easier conversion could not be possible if the truck wheels had outside bearings and a locking screw. John Isherwood.

When Hornby first (misguidedly) went down the flangeless trailing wheels route, the arrangement was effectively that of a pivoting truck locked rigid with a second screw. This was the best of both options - rigid / flangeless as supplied; pivoting / flanged a simple adjustment. Why this arrangement had to be progressively 'dumbed-down' is beyond me! CJI.

That photo perhaps demonstrates why the BRITISH ENTERPRISE nameplates were never applied - how could you twist the plate to fit against the contouring of the casing? John Isherwood.

I'm afraid that your questions to transfer producers betray a lack of knowledge of the production process. Using customer-designed files is more time-consuming than starting from scratch; reducing the scale of transfers is also a start-from-scratch process - not least because reducing the scale reduces the working margin around each transfer. John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers.

I was pleased to see the back of 'Design Clever'- but now we have 'Design Stupid' !!!!!!! CJI.

I have yet to encounter a 'fixed truck' Hornby Pacific that didn't yield to the attentions of a piercing saw and dental burr. Hornby could easily make thes locos convertible between fixed and pivoting trucks - they just can't be bothered! John Isherwood.

'Hopefully' is no way to run business !! Competent businesses are constantly looking for any means by which their operation can fail to deliver the planned result - and eliminate those potential failure scenarios. IMHO, too much time and effort has been expended by certain senior staff at Hornby in trumpeting their operation, and nowhere near enough in actually delivering undamaged products to the customers who pay their salaries. Have a care - it could all end in tears for those who have it in their power to remedy these failings! CJI.

It would also put the driving axles straight through the smokebox and footplate! CJI.

..... or, in the case of direct sales, Hornby may even be having the said sealed boxes delivered directly to the fulfilment sub-contractor, so that the goods in question never actually enter Hornby premises! This is the way that many companies operate nowadays - very little, if any, involvement in the manufacture and distribution process. It WILL come back and bite Hornby in the end - and keeping their heads down and hoping the furore dies down will NOT mitigate against the loss of trust which now embroils them. Their perceived failure to fulfil dealer orders in order to maximise direct sales, combined with allowing significant quantities of damaged product to come into the public arena, speaks of a company that is totally focussed on the bottom line of the company accounts, with no interest in the company reputation. Outsource as many aspects of hands-on involvement, and to hell with the customer! Stand up and be counted - this is a total b*lls-up; (and by no means the first)! You cannot keep disappointing customers for expensive products in this way, and retain your market share. CJI.

The second part of the question would be pure speculation - unless one has access to a crystal ball !! CJI.

In my experience - something of way better quality than the current product! A piece of bent wire in a minidrill should return the settled contents to an excellent paint - provided the tin lid was airtight when replaced. CJI.

Amazing, isn't it - Hornby have just enjoyed the biggest TV publicity opportunity in years; and then demonstrate that they can't even deliver their products to their customers in one piece! Would it be too much to expect Hornby to come here and explain how this debacle was allowed to occur, and what will be done to replace the damaged models? ( I'm not holding my breath - and yes, that is a challenge, Hornby)! CJI.

Nope - Hermes are by far the most efficient and caring courier in this area. As I have already posted recently, home delivery service is a function of the character of the operative. In-transit damage should rarely be possible if careful packing practices are adopted at all stages of despatch and delivery. CJI.

Entirely Hornby's fault - if you are going to outsource fulfilment, you must include a detailed packing specification in the contract documentation. I suppose there may have been such a spec. that was ignored, but ....... CJI.

You are correct - it's down to the individual driver. Around here, Hermes are far and away the best! CJI.

Only fair to report that my subs. copy arrived in today's post. CJI.

I look at the smoke deflectors - thin, nice! Then I look at the cab sides and roof - WHY??? CJI.

A call to MRJ provided the information that the subs. copies were posted at the weekend. It is a little annoying for those of us who commit to support MRJ long-term that we could obtain our copies sooner via WHS etc. Cygnet please note. CJI.

Oooooh - that's not fair !!!!! CJI.

Have subscription copies been sent out yet - 'cos I've not got mine yet? John Isherwood.