John Isherwood

"The latter" refers to EM2s. John Isherwood.

Be that as it may - they taste better fresh, and the texture is far superior. I'll stick with fresh. John Isherwood.

Exactly - one meal out a week at a pub / restaurant that serves 'proper' food; a roast on Sunday; a meal made from the remains of the Sunday joint on Mondays or Tuesdays; and home-cooked meals made from a good farm butcher's meat and local vegetables for the rest of the week. Most of today's younger generation wouldn't know where to start - which is why I've been astonished to find raw meat, fresh produce and baking ingredients being cleared from supermarket shelves. Regards, John Isherwood.

I was astounded yesterday, whilst in the local greengrocers, to be asked by a lady of mature years "How long do carrots keep"? Now I am 70+, and she wasn't far behind me in age; how had she managed all those years without having had to purchase and store 'real' carrots? John Isherwood.

No - it's a standard, standard gauge Motor Rail light shunter. This is a 600mm. gauge Simplex, of the 'protected' variety, I believe. Regards, John Isherwood.

You're missing my point - the wagon in question, and all HD wagons, did NOT have "massive screw heads in the bottom of the wagon"; please point me to an illustration of such a wagon with such screws. What the small holes in your HD wagon body were for was for the crimping-over of the brass rivets that pivotted the couplings and secured the body to the chassis. See https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/Hornby-dublo-couplings/bn_7024859400 ; the short ones are for tinplate bodied wagons, the long ones for plastic bodied wagons. So - NO massive screws, just the small end of a brass rivet. Did you never handle a complete HD plastic bodied open wagon? John Isherwood.

Actually, it was the Beacon greengrocers and Homebase. Regards, john isherwood.

Of the three, only *** can be described as having any relationship to quality control; * and ** were conscious design considerations. You pays yer money and you takes yer choice. John Isherwood.

.... and these are deal-breakers for modellers? I think not! * scalpel, drill, four handrail pillars, wire, dab of paint ** Markits / Gibson *** snap, glue Or am I assuming too much modelling commitment? John Isherwood.

Hornby Dublo needed to have a pivot for their couplings - Tri-ang didn't. Hornby Dublo had pre-existing cast mazak chassis which, financially they needed to reuse; Tri-ang came later on the scene and were able to design from scratch. Did Tri-ang open wagons have interior detail? Look critically at Hornby Dublo Super Detail wagons and the contemporary Tri-ang equivalents and tell me honestly - which are the more accurate? So - "it was a sensible and practical design solution" on the part of HD - it's just that it is very easy to criticise with the benefit of hindsight, if one fails to give proper consideration to the actual business realities of the time. Old models are the product of their time - almost always for very good reasons. It helps no-one to try and poor scorn on what is now perceived as old hat! Next, we'll have armchair critics dismissing the Spitfire because it wasn't a jet! There really isn't any difference, you know. John Isherwood.

I went out this morning to two shops, to buy a couple of essentials. In both, entire families were milling noisily around, making it impossible to 'social distance'; as if it were any regular Sunday morning. It was noticeable that the parents were late twenties / early thirties, and clearly affluent / self-consciously successful. I understand that this demographic are unlikely to succumb to Covid-19, but I am personally aware, (as an over-70), that they are perfectly capable of passing the virus to me whilst not exhibiting any symptoms themselves. I also understand that it is nowadays possible / common for people to become affluent / self-consciously successful, without having one iota of common sense or social responsibility - but it does say a lot about what natural selection will do to society (for the worse) in times to come. When my time comes, I'll be well out of it! Regards, John Isherwood.

The "philosophy" was, basically, the 1950s; and these plastic-bodied wagons were considered cutting edge and super-detailed by the standards of the time. The ability to injection-mould both interior and exterior detail requires technology that simply didn't exist in the 1950s. The " floor marred by 2 massive screw heads" was, in the original, 'marred' by two small holes through which the ends of a brass rivets were peened over, in order to pivot the couplings and fix the body to the chassis; a sensible and practical design solution. I am fascinated by the thinking of posters who acquire a sixty-five year old product, and then apply current day standards in order to criticise it. If you want 2020 standards; buy new, and pay 2020 prices. John Isherwood.

Just the producers covering their corporate a*ses. If we believed everything printed on packaging we'd throw away more than we use! If it's not green and moving of it's own accord, I usually eat it. Regards, John Isherwood.

Plum and spilt milk was a separate experimental livery, tried out around the time that lined blue was the offical livery for top link locos. The plum was just that; a deeper, purplish shade and the spilt milk was a whiter shade of cream. At the time, the livery was compared to the old LNWR coach livery. Regards, John Isherwood.

Careful - crimson is not maroon. Crimson in the BR context is the bright red, often called 'blood'. Regards, John Isherwood.

I would refer my honourable friend to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982; Schedule 4. Clearly, Birmingham has declared the entire city to be a controlled zone - which some authorities choose to do. It does create an awful lot of admin. work though; along with the fees from licences. The fees have to be a reflection of the costs of administering the scheme. Regards, John Isherwood.

Only applies if the local authority has declared the street in question a restricted street - very few are. (I formerly administered Cambridge City Council's Street Trading Licences). John Isherwood.

I doubt that they'd be interested - what law do you think that he is breaking? John Isherwood.

I sincerely doubt it. I buy a lot of items from China-based outlets, including via AliExpress. Some have extended projected delivery times - which are invariably adhered to or bettered. Others have delivery dates a few days ahead, and an indication that the items are in the UK - again, delivery dates are adhered to. It's easy to tell where the goods come from - packages from China are easily identified. Delays in despatch / delivery happen - especially under current world-wide conditions. Have you never had a UK-sourced order delayed? Liars and charlatans? No - just life. Regards, John Isherwood.

In wartime? Capital expenditure and strategic building materials for a factory for luxuries, and the diversion of milk supplies at a time when imported dried milk would be a future god-send. Do you have any concept of wartime priorities? Sadly, you may be about to find out !! Oh, sorry; was that too much pedantry for you? Do carry on playing make-believe - but don't insult the memory of real wartime planners with this sort of fairy story. John Isherwood.

That kind of snyde comment has just ensured that you won't get any more helpful responses from me. If you ask for help, be careful not to cast doubt on the (correct) information that you receive. The alternative is to create inaccurate models, or to stop modelling and spend the money on books, so that you can undertake research that you trust. ..... and, for your information, my "expensive" library was purchased over some fifty years and, in the early years, I could ill afford the expense. All in the cause of accurate modelling, and being able to assist (less than grateful) fellow modellers. End of conversation. John Isherwood.

I do have the book in question - though I didn't recognise the one I posted; the Maunsell-style windows distracted me. I frequently offer responses to requests for help; I just get annoyed when the OP seems to poo-poo my detailed answer. Regards, John Isherwood.

Not unconnected to the above posts, why do some people imagine that accurate railway modelling can be undertaken without investing in some basic reference publications? I know that a certain sector regards research as asking questions on the internet, and expecting those who have invested time and money in studying railway publications to provide the answers, gratis. ..... and then they have the gall to call into question the answers that they get - presumably because it will involve spending money on paint and transfers that they don't have to hand. Why do we bother !! John Isherwood.

Well - some of us saw the prototype. Secondly, it has an M suffix to it's number - which indicates that it is NPCCS, and the livery for NPCCS is as I have stated. Thirdly, if you had, as I have done, invested in a very expensive library of reference books, you would know that all of the relevant publications confirm the livery details that I have given. Why ask the question if you're not inclined to believe the answer? ..... but go ahead and paint it sky-blue-pink for all I care !! John Isherwood.

Of course - makes eminent sense. I doubt that the shedmaster would have approved, though. I'd guess that there were a few tickings-off when the load proved too much for the handrail. Regards, John Isherwood.