Saturday Variety

Hattons, one of the largest retailers of Model Railways is closing down; the biggest annual model railway exhibition at the NEC will not happen for the foreseeable future; Hornby is ceasing production of its Playtains range for very young children …

All the time the prices get dafter. At the head of this posting is a Hornby Stockton and Darlington posh carriage from the very early days of passenger carrying railways. The price is high, but typical of what some modellers are prepared to pay, even for a featherweight plastic model!

You can easily pay £300 for a locomotive!

Bur oddly, Hornby and its retailers are offering this in their cheaper (well, a bit less expensive) range.

A loco at the same price as a wagon? Crackers.

Meanwhile, Rails of Sheffield, soon to be the leading big model store in the UK, struggles occasionally with proof reading. Its a bit like fbb but without the excuse of eyeball problems!

This item appeared on line recently.

No. they didn’t. They bought a locomotive (engine would do, steam engine would be better!). Their new acquisition may be used to haul a train, but without coaches or wagons behind it is is not, nor ever will be a train.

The pedantic may claim that, technically, an engine with nothing to haul (a light engine) is a “train” for signalling purposes as it chuffs along the track – but that would be a step too far into the Great Grimpen Mire of pedantry.

That is not at all fbb’s style (?).

The very worst offenders for this misuse of language are the antiques programmes which always get excited about e.g a vintage Triang “train”.

The version above is on sale on EBay for £395.   OUCH!

Readers may remember that the railway line from Liverpool to Kirkby (pause to whistle the Z-Cars theme tune) has been extended to a shiny new station named Headbolt Lane.

Now any sensible organisation would lay a few extra yards of “third rail” to match the existing Merseyside network and all would be well.

But that would be too simple. Notwork Rail has decreed that after 120 years of service on suburban lines., notably south of London, third rail is DANGEROUS. Someone might accidentally step on the rail and, literally, fry themselves from the inside. 750 volts DC is, indeed, nasty stuff. But is it any nastier than being run over when foolishly crossing a busy road; or being crushed when trespassing on ANY railway line?

So the line from Kirkby to Headbolt Lane has no electricity. That’s easy, say the Health and Safety police, you run battery trains on that bit of line.

So, for one short length of line (just over a mile), a batch of trains is being equipped expensively with battery packs and all the extra gubbins to make it work.

BUT …

The report continues with a very sorry tale …

It’s all going very well, then; but, as we say …

Let’s hope it will works even if it isn’t entirely “wonderful”.

We are fully aware that nobody is concerned about the pollution from power stations and the challenge of re-cycling the batteries; but is anyone concerned about Mr Putin turning off the gas in one of his petulant sulks?

And then there are the Houthi terrorists who may start blowing up oil tankers.

What happend when the power cuts start?

Coming Soon

But where is it and what is it? Answer on Monday.

fbb has a nearly complete collection of OO tank wagons from 1938 to the present day. But he is thrown into puce and blotchy despair by modern marketing. Firstly, companies were offering sets of three and, more to the point, NOT offering single wagons.

That was too expensive and too wasteful for your saged modelling bodger.

But it gets worse!

Who wants FOUR of a very specialised wagon? Maybe someone could make do with three and sell one on to fbb? [Contact fbb@xephos.com]. PLEASE, pretty please.

This is the real 12 inches to the foot version …

… and this is a whole train of them.

Perhaps Revolution Trains should only sell and whole train set plus appropriate locomotive?

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 21st January