Claude_Dreyfus

I have built this very kit. It is quite a good kit to build; however sometimes I find Auhagen kits don't fit together 100%, so some fettling is required...especially on this one where you have the fascias, which need to match on the corner angles. This is a H0 layout, but if you are happy to wait until Friday (when I am next at the club), I can do some comparisons between this and some 00.

Well, someone is feasting on Wood Pigeon in our garden, in deepest Sussex. The tell-tale pile of feathers indicated as such the other morning. In terms of any legacy, my own attempt is gathering up all of the oak saplings (presumably a forgotten squirrel or bird cache) growing in random parts of the garden, potting them and tending them, with the eventual aim of planting them. Where, or when, I have no idea...but I currently have eight apparently healthy baby oak trees (some have been potted for a couple of years and they're not dead yet!) ready and waiting.

Facing an uncertain future, 322484 heads the 2H47 4:17 Skipton - Leeds into its destination. Also 15 June 2019.

333015 arrives at Leeds with the 2V29 12:10 Ilkley - Leeds. 15 June 2019

More a lessons learned for me, so yes, very much in hindsight. The last point, I have amended my post for clarity... You're right, more often than not the defenders have invested themselves. My point was that even perfectly reasonable queries were being shouted down. Those attacking just for the sake of it, especially without providing evidence, or some constructive ways of resolving the situation, do get challenged...and there are enough who are circumspect enough to identify when a genuine concern is being shouted down and when someone is just being a PITA. Just to add, this hasn't put me off crowd funding...I have one other on order, and if/when funds allow potentially one of from another manufacturer/sponsor.

For me, I have a few take-aways from the whole sorry saga: 1- Use a credit card for any larger, or potentially risky purchases. As has been said, you don't need to use it for the full amount. The protection you get is invaluable. 2- Do the due diligence on future crowd-funders. There are those who have a proven track-record of delivery and those who don't. If they don't (i.e. they are new), then they have to be prepared for tough questioning on their business plans and product designs. Kind of like Dragons Den! 3- Ignore the fan-boys, cheerleaders and the 'at least they are trying' or 'if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing' brigade. There have been too many people who have been shot down for expressing genuine, and ultimately prescient, reservations about this manufacturer. Remember, they (the sponsor) are not putting their money where their mouth is, they're putting your money where their mouth is. 4- If the sponsor gets the a##s-ache with persistent questions and flounces off, then avoid. It may seem harsh, but you are giving them your money on a promise; they need you more than you need them. If they cannot, or will not give a straight answer, then why are should you invest? 5- Accept that even the best-laid plans can go awry. Ultimately accept it is a risk and you may end up with nothing. 6- Avoid anything involving DJ like the plague in the future! Dave has, in a roundabout way, done us all a service. He has shown us all how not to run a business and how not to interact with his customers. He has made most of us more cautious and more questioning. He has provided a salutary lesson for other companies following similar (although thankfully not identical!) funding models. There are plenty of others who show how this funding model can and should be done, and their deliveries give me hope that crowd-funding, and other 'contributary' funding approaches, have a future.

I wonder how much this will effect Ashley's attempt to sell the club? The amount of damage he has inflicted to the club, yet he still expects to make a profit selling it on... Interesting to see who comes in to replace Benitez, but whoever it is, they have a tough season ahead.

A few taken at Skipton, back in August 1994. Yorkshire PTE red and cream rule the day! 144001 on a morning service to Leeds Not too sure where 142067 was off to. 142067 on a Bradford service 3-car 144017 also on a Leeds service, later in the day. 144007 stabled for the night A couple of days later, a day trip to the North Yorkshire Moors line presented 142020 on a Whitby - Middlesborough service.

Or vapour...

Another Cross Country service. 43321 heads the 1V58 09:00 Glasgow Central - Penzance into Leeds station. Already running nearly 30 minutes late, it got as far as Plymouth before expiring. 43384 was the trailing power car.

142088 seems somewhat overwhelmed by the mass of wires and greenery on the approach to Leeds station - 15 June 2019

A few taken at Leeds station - Saturday 15th June. 142016 departs with the 2F13 11:58 Leeds to Knottingley 144012 forms another Knottingley services - the 2A15 12:28 departure. 142093 leaves with the 2N13 12:30 Leeds - Sheffield. Yet another Knottingley services (the 2F15 12:58 departure) is formed by the double act of 142018 and 153358.

A couple from me from a day trip to Leeds on Saturday. First up, 66706 heads the 6D75 11:45 Hunslet Tilcon - Rylstone through Leeds station. Later in the day - in more typical Pennine weather - 66108 passes through Sowerby Bridge with the 11:42 Knowsley - Tees Yard.

I get what you mean, but all of these photo threads are there to show your pictures. Irrespective of perceived quality (I have posted a couple which wouldn't be anywhere near publishable quality), each of them are a record worth sharing...many never to be repeated. Even if you link a few from your gallery, it would be good to see them linked to the thread. You posted a fair few interesting shots on the 3rd Rail EMU thread. I'd be more than happy to see this, and other picture threads, clogged up with pictures...so clog away!

Wow...what are the chances of getting four in the same photo out on the 'open rails'?!

I suspect if my hypothesis about trying to secure asset ownership, then any trip to China (I seem to recall that's where he went) had probably the same purpose...or at the least a final attempt to provide clarity on the matter. I very much doubt it was anything close to being a holiday.

Without doubt, but they won't be front of the queue. I believe first in line is HMRC, no doubt there will be tax liabilities. Banks (if any loans were taken by the company) will be next.

Sad news, and devastating for those who have invested some considerable sums in these ventures. It does, however, put some perspective in the May announcement. Perhaps this was a way to try to claim some asset ownership - even if it is just the intellectual property/CADs. Picking through the pieces will be a nightmare.

So the reuse of expired rolling stock for other uses is a bad idea? If this is a "sick example of Tory thinking", perhaps you can consider why Melbourne did something similar with their retired trams, or we see the reuse of old trains for other uses in the US, or Japan, or Australia, or Continental Europe, or in the UK? If nobody wants them, they'll be binned, but I reckon some creative type will seize the opportunity.

The end of the line in probably more ways than one. This is Knysna, the terminus of the Garden route coastal branch from Mossel Bay and George, in South Africa. It features that famous coastal viaduct seen in so many pictures of trains in South Africa. Sadly the line is disused, out of use following a landslip, and whilst there is a group actively looking to restore the line, the is a significant chance the line will never operate again; at least according to a number of locals I spoke with. There is work going on, and the station site itself looks to be in good order. The three carriages here, including an articulated example, look to be in need of some tender loving care though.

The end of the line... Trem do Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro

Just check out the number of posts with immediate edits after initial posting; a fair number of them mine I'd admit. Spell check is a wonderful thing when it knows what it is doing, however predictive text is a #@!? nightmare, as it renders entire posts gibberish without you entirely realising until you have typed several paragraphs (no change there I hear you say)... normally after you have hit the submit button, but often when you see the quotation notification... It's particularly bad at the moment for me as my phone has just had a software update, and the 'keyboard' function has changed...smaller, and the letters are closer together (enhancement?) making it even trickier to write a post without going off on some predictive text induced deviation, or inserting some imbecilic emoticon. Doesn't help that a large number of typos are still words their own right...form/from, there/their/they're, course/coarse etc.

Strictly speaking it is Sekisui Metal Co. Ltd, but the name comes from Mr Kato the founder, so Kah-toh (hard o) is the correct way of pronunciation. That said, Kayto seems universal enough...a certain film involving pink felines has probably not helped matters of pronunciation...

Some really interesting pictures there. Don't worry about quality...prints in particular fade and don't always scan brilliantly. What is more important is the subject; day-to-day normality...plus some Jaffa cake livery

I don't know. I am a club secretary myself, and I would be having probably more sleepless nights now than before if I were in their situation . This is a huge amount of money, raised very publicly. Given the amount, there will inevitably be greater scrutiny around the fate of the funds. It is too early for the club to make those decisions, there is a myriad of other things going on...not least the huge media interest. How their committee and their membership is coping is something to be admired. There was been a huge amount of support shown to the club, but giving the money is the 'easy' bit. Their support needs to be emotional as well, these are not professional fund-raisers and they will need the support of the model railway community more than ever when the hype dies down and decisions need to be made.