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In a couple of weeks both the box you recognise & the Experimental Purple Water K Wigham loco will be winging their way to Seattle. They have just been bought by the Regatta Chair of the Seattle Yacht Club for £550 plus postage. Maurice is still looking after us 😇

Just a few pics of Elizabeth ll no 70 thrilling the happy throng! The Highley approach! Here she comes!!!! Very nice tender detailing!! Taking a break! Interesting buffer pattern! Lovely Bullied Firth Brown wheels! Traditional Southern howler!! Yet another icon named after our illustrious queen!! Struggling up the Highley bank, slipping on the wet tracks!! After a long day it’s time for bed!!!!

A big layout in a small garden!!!!! Testing the layout on the weekend! All hunky dory!!!

Well,, I'm back with an update as promised. The following pics shows the extent to which the heat from the locos have affected the Hornby track as fitted to the outside loop. The damage is evident where the locos stand for extended periods both for warm up and pausing in public running. it would seem the Hornby flexi track is somewhat inferior to the Peco Code100 in the heat resistance department. So naturally, Peco has been the product to replace the damaged trackwork. After the track was lifted and the cork removed the track bed was given a good clean and New 3mm cork has been laid wall to wall along the length on the front public loop to give a much better appearance and stop dirt trappage in the gullies. Thence, the New Peco SL-100 has been cut to 300mm approx lengths to incorporate the very important expansion gaps needed to stop buckling in hot environments. And after the droppers have been added to each 300mm length……….. ………..the track sections were duly installed, Glued down with the trusty Copydex adhesive and straightened up along the running length before the glue set using various secret methods. The finished job is up to par and should keep the ‘front of house’ happy for a few seasons to come. All left for me to do, is a little more cork trimming, a refresh of the surface finish to the layout sections and a few adjustments to the transport cases to eradicate any form of damage being caused to the sections in transit and when being deployed and returned after a show. The layout is being tested this weekend in my garden along with George, so lets hope we have some grand weather to see it all through. All Aboard!!!!

Well Folks, we had a call from Sam at hornby on Monday re the spares/repairs made available to us and I was able to shoot down and collect all the contents of John Humphrys 'Desk'!!!! I even have his original controllers he used to run and set up folks locos!!!! It all fitted easily in my trusty 'Bentley'!!! After Gaydon, I will set about collating all the stock onto a spreadsheet so we all know whats there and the condition thereof. Much of it is returned locos in peices so a lot of used but possibly useable parts which will enable the servicing department as and where needed. This sheet will be viewable on the committee website in the usual place (Reports) so all the committee can have a look to see what's available should they need a tricky part. End of an era for Hornby and Live Steam!!!! Never will they revisit this range of the most exquisite models they ever made, so it all down to us now to nurture our members and keep these locos running!!

I think we do that very well, and I am always in contact with Phil and Carl on the design team and George who is in charge of product technical development. I know what they have in china and its not going anywhere.. Live steam is a distant memory for them now and as TT120 gathers pace with more manufacturers joining in the supply stream recently it can only be good for them. Oxford Rail/Diecast has gone back to the Davis family freeing up time and money. I can see more culling of non productive hornby sub companies as time rolls on. Trimming the company to shed flab seems the way there going. The Hersden distribution site is to shut and move up north, probably to save rental money outlay and staff wages so its all very dynamic at the moment. At least Live steam wont come back as it is so we dont need to worry, our niche is all ours.

We do need to take into consideration the advantages to the club of selling locos to club members at a reasonable price. The follow on shop sales can be very lucrative to the club so should not be ignored. Any income gained from loco sales can easily be doubled when shop sales are factored in. This also promotes the benefits of being a club member. Val x

Managed to start sorting out the OOLS items. As you can see it will take a little while to work through and catalogue everything . . .

It sounds like you are advocating a tried and tested marketing policy of "Loss Leader" Val. If you want something lucrative then increase the price of locos we sell. If we want to be fair to customers and not make excessive profits from them then reduce the price of spares which as you say Val is lucrative to us. It seems we cant have it both ways. As I say, can we have an AGM agenda item, Sale Price Policy for Locos Sold. And maybe we should discuss our policy for spares margin too.

Some thoughts: I would like to vounteer to have a go at a small heap of chassis, tenders and assorted bits/pieces to see how many working locos I can rebuild. Once something is working, we can take a view on whether it's good enough to be sold or whether it should become a roadshow loco. I suggest we take a "dud" loco/tender and cutaway sections of all the key inner working parts to create a display model, mounted on a suitable plinth to be shown at roadshows as a way to explain how the magic happens. They do it on the full size locos at certain museums, so I think we should follow their example. I like Adrian's idea of a "practice" loco for improving dismantling and re-assembly skills. The box of bits might produce a few of these (non-runners). Two further thoughts on this theme - firstly, we could offer the "practice" loco as a short-term loan to club members (for a modest fee) for them to hone their skills on; secondly, we could have one on the repair bench at events for members to sit down and spend an hour or so dismantling/rebuilding a loco, with expert help close at hand in case they get stuck. David

Ooohhhhh I recognise a certain wooden box!!!!!

Listen to the recording of the AGM and hear what Nigel actually said about his pricing policy ref ebay