Yes it was, it was even painted in the same maroon livery olton hall was painted in the it got dropped for olton hall because I think the director for the first movie said it looked to modern

Do you really get a lot of hate Jago?, what in God's name is wrong with you if you go out of your way to hate on someone like Jago Hazard??

Here here

:3 👍

Some people just don't get it.

It would be so awesome to see steam trains from the dining room. :)

I have chosen to live inside a city, and I have some drawbacks of it, including traffic noises. I don't complain to the transport company to hear their trams running down the boulevard near my building, I know this was something that might happens someday when I was buying my flat (I've just hear the bell of one of them in the distance while I was typing this text). A house with an heritage line passing near the end of the garden ? AWESOME ! I would certainly thanks the people of the line for the show !

To me, living next to a heritage railway is a best dream ever, it’s like living on the “real” Island of Sodor

Yes Anthony. You are one of my valued subscriptions with your rigorous and interesting approach and content. Recommended to all here.

I recalled spending a few nights at a campground at Durango, Colorado back in 1999, and heard an evening passenger train heading back while in bed. No one complained about it.

@barnabyjoy Or repaint Flying Scotsman in blue considering BR Brunswick can get tiring sometimes

I didn’t see the movie until December 2023. It would’ve been an ok film as it’s own thing, but it was a pretty poor sequel to the Railway Children. The title is a flat out lie.m: only one of the original children returns. One is mentioned and the other is revealed to have died during the war in a passing mention.

@barnabyjoy heard about it because J K Rowling said Taw Valley looked too “modern” for the Harry Potter films and maybe books

@@nathanchan4653 the Hall does look far more ancient. If the Dukedog was available they probably would have gone with that.

@barnabyjoy you sure you saw it at perth, because i was on its one run into scotland and it terminated at glasgow central. there was another bullied in scotland week ago when BIL went to edinburgh via Beattock and it will visit via Newcastle on this years GB as well. as you say rare as anything butif you want to see one BIL will be in Edinburgh this month coming

lionel sucks and im american

Bachmann and walthers be like *80 dollars, clearly the peasants can afford this*

Or even better, Athearn selling a Globe loco for 150 bucks. A loco who’s shell is from 1951 and a drive from the 1990s

@barnabyjoy why would i spend that on a era I don’t model. I was making a point. I scratchbuild since no product exist for what i do.

@barnabyjoy well there is ways around it and they are ones we should encourage for many reasons. A better way of getting second hand models at decent prices is a start. Train shows are great for getting models at reasonable prices but can be off putting if your not that social. There are shops that offer great prices on second hand items but not all are the most well kept places. Even then they don’t have the budget for major adverts or suffer from a lack of new items that there competition can muster. Afterall, i assume you aswell search through those parts bins to find what you need. As for new I don’t know the solution to that issue.

Subscribed to him to join in defending his right to share his interest

I've always thought it should be 5years AT LEAST for vandalism. With added televised torture.

@@robertwilloughby8050 given the state of the prison system those 5 years will probably turn that knob doing some vandalism into the drug addict or violent person that you'll probably tell me deserves 20 years. Give them a lot of community service... at least one railway i was at for a while took people on community service and put them to work around the railway, it actually resulted in quite a few coming back voluntarily because they saw the light and realised how satisfying it was to be involved in a railway.

...interesting thing though is that model railways were never really affordable for large swathes of the population, nor something they even wanted. Nor something many modellers would rush out and buy brand, nor something that could be pre ordered until relatively recently. What has really happened over the last few years is that there has been various streams of media that have decided they have some duty to promote nostalgia in the populous and this will make a documentary about anything they can spin as some how yknow inately "british". Thus the hobby has gained some extra exposure to outsiders rather than the more organic spread through family connections or friendship groups as per the past. No bad thing but this has attracted a lot of people into the hobby(or in some cases just into the show room as it were) that then scream very loudly about how expensive it is, meanwhile those of us who have been at it for 20 years or more well... its not much more expensive until you throw in the entirely optional DCC, lights, sounds, bells and whistles. It's frankly bollocks that we are talking about it this much. We are also seeing a race to the bottom from youtube model railway commentators in terms of their willingness to learn anything or present the reality of the models they review in any realistic way. Basically, the idiots are winning. But oh well, plenty more idiots to laugh at I guess...

My mind came up with the Boobvalley Stormnut. It involves the pope saving a Southern branchline. A Terrier duels a dump truck and the climax involves Old Coppernob being brought to service to save the day. Pretty epic right? At least, it should be epic enough for Hornby to make a train set out of it.

Looking back on this comment, I’ve just realised that the entire bottom paragraph makes no sense. I meant to say the repaint was inaccurate and caused controversy.

Granted it doesn’t clog the hell out of them

Torrefied biomass might be an idea

@@TheTrainMaster15 Hopefully

@@connormclernon26 Yeah

@@connormclernon26 it might work even better with some upgrades aswell.

From what I have gathered, a lot of the same "prices rising everywhere" thing is trickling down to model railroad manufacturers (I am more familiar with the US market, but we have seen the same cost creep here as well). Labor in China is no longer super cheap, and is rising in costs and there is no other cheap country to move to in favor of China anymore; shipping costs are rising, tooling costs, etc. I do agree though, when the tooling is ancient its absurd to see it go so expensive. I know Bachmann Europe is considered a pretty high quality brand, but Bachmann USA is pretty infamous for using old tooling dating back 40 years, and its getting absurd to watch these really crude looking engines being sold so high. If I am going to spend hundreds of dollars, I want a nice model with all the modern bells and whistles not a crappy ancient model that is way overpriced.

@@jacoblyman9441 Couldnt agree more. Wages need to go up EVERYWHERE in order to make it fair worldwide. And that aint ever gunna happen. I personally adore Bachmann Europe trains, I have a sizeable collection of them i have gathered over the years. Very good performers, and plenty of detail parts alongside the fair (ish) price. New tooling on most locos, very few things reused if ever. In fact on my 80s era layout I only have a single loco from Hornby and its the worst runner by a mile.

@barnabyjoy hit the nail on the head there. The thing is, adjusted fir inflation, Hornby proces aren't that far off what we've usually all paid for them. Eg a B17 was RRP £24.50 in 1980 which adjusted for inflation is just over £110 by 2021 (probably a bit more now), which you cab find new tooled B17's for around that price now. The problem is (which has already been mentioned) is that wages haven't kept up with inflation!! Totally agree with what you've said there as well

@@NathanielKempson My wages have gone up this month, thanks to my trade union 👍

@barnabyjoy oh I totally agree, inflation as a metric is basically useless since it was decoupled from house proces back in the 2000's. I was only trying to point out that, comparably, models then & now aren't as far off as you'd expect. I think you do raise some good points though, that tooling simply isn't what it was, it's like chalk & cheese. Though still can't believe what Hornby are doing; reselling old tooled models for modern proces...

That wouldn't work. You'd either need photographs or a literal truck load of batteries to make it run. That and the work needed to modify a Steam Engine to electricity heat water might not be worth the trouble. At that point, you might as well make a new build Steam Engine that is fully and intentionally designed to electricity heat water. Or maybe I'm missing some info. I just don't like the idea of modding historical engines so drastically.

@@Richardblue1963 As I said, Switzerland did it once. Look it up.

@@emilioi.valdez6680 I know. They had to use pantographs and get power from overhead wires. I'm sure another way is possible, but I wouldn't want engines like Scotsman or Dolgoch to be modified to that extent.

The UK is still complying with EU law dictating that all coal mines by banned by 2025, So it's a fairly likely possibility that anyone wanting to re-open the mines again to actually mine coal won't be allowed, and museums obviously aren't going to be mining any coal... P.S. The 1800's way to mine coal would not be enough to supply for all of the narrow-gauge and standard gauge heritage lines and give them leg room to spare. Especially if it's one or two mines at most.

Well, for France, if you want a steam engine in HO, good luck... Everything is between 300 et 500 €, if not higher, produced in low quantities by near-cottage industries, and the best way to have what you exactly want is to do it yourself by scratchbuilding it (only one steam engine at neat 600 € for the PLM before 1938, and the opposite of what I want). Second hand fortunately, you can find some goodies oldies if you're Ok for 20-30 years old models.

Well, life did flourish during those times, but the climate was very different too. Changing the climate quickly means that animal species in particular find it difficult to adapt, but larger flora are already feeling the strain too, you would know. It is thought around 260 million years ago, rapidly rising CO2 levels caused by megavolcanic eruptions destabilised the climate and led to oceanic anoxia and ocean acidification. This killed of the vast majority of maritime species and released vast quantities of hydrogen sulfide into the atmosphere which poisoned land animals. The forests also dwindled to near extinction, but managed to hold out to reflourish after the worst of the climate change. Life went on of course, just not for 90% of species on Earth.

@@chalichaligha3234 Like I said, I speak as a retired research biologist, the climate of this planet played a major role in my education and interest of of this system. As I said I am dismayed by the level of critical thought on this subject, as there are still many ways (not propaganda) to acquaint yourself Chali with some hard evidence. This is available even from NOAA if you know how to Research! Let me give you a clue, go to a couple of days ago, watch from 1:20 and you can see quite clearly from source how you are mislead kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hah6hMeZrqrGZX0.html. your comment is I know heartfelt but I'm afraid I would mark you down.

@barnabyjoy apologies reply has to be split into multiple parts, but I hope you appreciate the thought put into this: Part 1: Thank you for your considered reply, there are some valid points, very much so, but I also feel some rather more complex market factors present themselves that do need to be taken into consideration. Jumping first to a conclusion; a customer is always right, even when they’re wrong, and should they disagree, the customer base will dwindle, there’s only so far you can push on these prices and aim at enthusiasts without alienating the next generation of modellers. The real picture is far more complex, and manufacturers aren’t selling at extreme prices because they’re hoarding cash and plotting world domination, it’s because that’s what they need to survive, not prosper, just to survive. However, that is not the customer’s concern and we’re talking luxury items. Model railways are not only in competition with themselves, but as Hornby have identified, other trends have taken over, gaming in particular. A young enthusiast can choose between spending thousands upon thousands to build up a quality model railway with operational complexity and the kinds of advanced behaviour DCC affords, or, they can buy Train Sim World and play different routes, scenarios, and levels of control that are unfathomable to a modeller. Instant gratification is a major issue for more casual customers or those with less time. I appreciate this is apples and pears but we’re talking very different price ranges. What model railway firms seem to have completely missed is that; what modelling offers that no games or other distractions can offer is, well, modelling. It can be the antithesis of instant gratification but it's a hobby with a lot of small and fast wins, too. There is a huge gap in the market with so few kits out there these days for locos (which are the primary draw to the hobby, not making buildings or wagons) but what is out there is very specialist, white metal has really dropped off, and brass is a very specialist method that is certain not suitable for the same 11 year olds that might be sticking their fingers together on Spitfires and Me109s or Bond’s Aston. A key emergent technology is 3D printing whereby for significantly less than the cost of Hornby’s new DCC-ready Black 5, you can start churning out your own rolling stock or loco designs with a minimal amount of proprietary parts using freely available software that will set a new generation of engineers off in good stead. I am fortunate enough to have access to Catia but there are plenty of modellers using free software, self-teaching. Will it match a new Bachmann? No! Not even close, but you’re selling so much more than a model, it’s modelling, it’s engineering. Now, if only one of those firms owned other brands that make modelling equipment, paints, glues as well as vehicles in kit forms? That really is just an idea but I feel that’s probably one of the more sustainable directions for a hobby. Now turning to the valid points raised:

@barnabyjoy Part 2: I respect your point regarding the equivalent proportions of wage but would also highlight 18% to 30% is still a very significant rise because, forgetting the improvements in detail and accuracy (things which fall under ‘expectations’ on the customer satisfaction index rather than ‘surprise and delight’). Sticking with the 80s: we can also look at average wages, which for a male across all industries, aged 18-20 was £6224 per annum, whereas a 40-49 year old was earning £13,338 per annum (where non-manual roles most equivalent to roles today averaged just over £16k). In 2020, the 40-49 year old is now earning £36,608 and the younger 18-20 year old is now £18,408, these represent multiplications of x2.75 for a 40-49 year old, and 2.96x for the younger group. Smokey Joe in line with inflation would increase 2.8x, so about: 1987 £11 > 2020 £31, so in line with wages stacks up. In 2020 however it was already over £40 prior to the pandemic and Russian aggression, and you can add more than a quarter on top after just two further years. And that’s without counting that its manufacture is now outsourced to a location with human rights issues, low wages, and access to lower material costs. Likewise the equally long lived 4-wheel coach Generic 4-wheel coach 1987 £4 > 2020 £11 based on inflation and close to what we see in wage growth, when in actual fact even in 2020 this item was getting on for £20. As you say though, inflation alone is an overly simplistic metric by which to measure availability of spending. Even by 2022, wages have yet to triple but the latest RRP of that coach is £23.49 which is a 6x increase. There is a belief that people are largely more affluent now than they were, but in 1987, average house price was £43k, whereas by 2021 that multiplied by 6.4 to £275k. We all have tech at home that our 80s counterparts couldn’t imagine, computers, consoles, massive TVs, far more of us have cars, mobile phones, hobbies and interests, so surely we’re better off? Well, actually, no. We’re no wealthier, it’s that all of these items, mostly luxuries, have become far more attainable. Even food is actually relatively cheaper with more efficient methods of growing and distributing, and more capable of globalised supply (until Brexit anyway). We have outsourced our poverty and low wage low skill jobs abroad, but this in part skews the average wage point as it’s not just that wages have grown but the types of jobs people do now are higher paid and more skilled. What we actually find is that because the cost of rent and both duration and cost of mortgages have increased so drastically, that the disposable income has fallen relative to previous decades, but is largely masked by the fact that so much more can be acquired with the money we do retain. It’s also further corrupted by availability of finance and credit. So, for model railways, prices have risen above inflation, faster than wage rises, whilst disposable income has fallen particularly due to a greater than x6 rise in housing outpacing inflation and wage growth by 2:1. The older generations tend to be better protected even today because they bought houses back when prices were largely more reasonable, and have small or completed mortgages whereas their younger counterparts are not only having to spend vastly more on mortgage or rent, but in the instance of the former, most have to start with a 35 year mortgage (I don’t think mine ends until I’m 60) and the latter struggle to become the former as renting and rising other costs are strangling the accruement of deposit.

@barnabyjoy Part 3: New models are definitely far better and have far more features and quality of decoration, but is that what all of the market wants? Enthusiasts, yes, affluent older people, probably yes. What about the people who aren’t currently customers? What about the young children who get that first Flying Scotsman set with a trio of teak coaches? Do we need spring buffers on a model where the tension locks and track radii mean huge gaps between buffers anyway? Modern manufacturers however have access to far more tech to aid in their journey, they have access to CAD to produce geometry rather than hand drawing, additive manufacturing to validate prototypes rather than bucks and expensive tooling only to discover issues costing exponentially more to resolve at these later phases. Much better techniques for application of lining and other detail, better plastic technology, and for the same money customers will be buying other commodities that meet their expectation. Improvement in feature, function, reliability, accuracy and detail (I well recognise the diversity in the term ‘quality’ as there are many different attributes that would come under perceived quality or dependability or process control) are however, over time, expectations, not saleable characteristics. Let’s take another example of the difference between a past object and a current one and I’m looking at a 1990 Ford Escort 1.6i Finesse as a fairly average car from the start of an age where people had one or more cars; further back is a pointless test because they didn’t exist. RRP of £11870 changes in 2021 (using BofE inflation calculator, no 2022 figures yet) to £28707 where inflation has averaged 2.9% annually. Launched in 2021 was a Focus 1.0 ecoboost MHEV in Titanium spec, so fairly high spec, this version of the engine occupying similar position to the older 1.6 and has an RRP starting at £26115. Now, there’s clearly a massive difference between these two cars, so not only does the Focus cost less, but as well as a loosely equivalent (larger, stronger) steel body, Macpherson strut front, torsion beam rear suspension, the Focus meets extraordinarily stringent safety and legislative requirements, emissions equipment, a 48V hybrid system with a Li-Ion battery, 6 speed transmission, a very advanced engine with direct injection and a turbo charger, a computerised electrical network, connectivity to devices and software-over-the-air updates, touchscreen interface, sat-nav, a digital screen in place of mechanical dials, a plethora of airbags, vastly superior trim, far more complex panel form on the outside, far better paint quality and controllability such as panel gaps and superior fuel economy. The advancement in not only cars but all forms of technology has made three decades prior unrecognisable, and yet the prices in many cases have fallen. Model railways by comparison are a little more detailed, I’m ignoring the dependability and quality because as you rightly point out, there has always been an issue and quality means different things to different people, and the main advance is DCC which is not included as standard anyway. The extra complexity is that some manufacturers, Dapol and Oxford, seem to be offering some great deals for well featured models and the former even has UK manufacturing presence. Accurascale scared me with their prices early on but it was apparent they were targeting the top end of the market with products to match. They’re now looking very reasonable as more mundane models exceed their cost!

@barnabyjoy Part 4: I can’t agree outright on the discounted prices or second-hand point, it’s valid, absolutely, but because we can only really go off RRP I can’t take it as a fair counterpoint. If discounters are proportionally more generous today, it shows the level of an items price that is made up of profit rather than cost; this would support your argument that things aren’t as bad as we think, agreed, but also supports my point that manufacturing and development costs are not so great as the RRPs and manufacturers themselves are suggesting. I had felt that much more of the cost proportionally must be in other factors, as I’ve said, I don’t feel this is greed, but the realities of the cost of operating the business and development that weren’t there before. But, this sympathetic view takes a body blow if a retailer, who is able to buy off the manufacturer, the latter takes a profit, the former is then able to sell at hugely reduced price and still turns a viable profit; what is happening? Attention drawn to poor reviews? Yes, bad news is good news for content creators. Drama is better than real-life and that sells papers, magazines, TV and youtube ad revenue. That has been true for as long as media has circulated but is of far greater prevalence when anybody can sound-off on forums, youtube and review websites. A more US-inspired customer culture has also arisen where customers are empowered to call out what’s not good enough instead of shrugging. The point on quality which I believe was in respect to reliability; if an object is premium priced, has increased in price beyond inflation and wage growth, takes up an even larger portion of disposable income, and is being compared to devices which largely ‘just work’, I think people have a right to speak up when not happy and manufacturers have got to rise to match that trend if they wish to remain in business. I also agree that there was no age of golden modelling. Things are endlessly improving, the competition changes, Mainline were able to move the game on drastically in terms of aesthetic quality over their Kent rivals. Tech has vastly changed, electrical equipment has miniaturised and become more reliable and cheaper, motors, microchips and so on. The danger comparing to the past is that there wasn’t the same tech, so things weren’t better. But things being better doesn’t mean they should cost more, that pushes us back to the Escort vs Focus point, or phone with a battery backpack versus your iPhone or Galaxy. It’s the manufacturers responsibility to keep up with rivals and adjacent fields, not for the customer to pay more for it, because these better techs tend to cost less due to efficiency gains and better control, more sustainable materials and better reliability. Comparing especially to 50s or 60s is especially dangerous because the UK was still in post-war austerity and resource was not available like it is today, making the arguments inequivalent which is why I’d sooner focus on the 80s onwards.

@barnabyjoy Part 5: Tooling, I take the point it is being maintained and that there are changes of ownership in many firms, but, tooling today is produced more reliably with CNC and CAE is used to simulate behaviour of material flow before the first fleck of metal is cleaved. There are also further developments in material treatment for hardness or toughness. The cost of repairing old tools occasionally does not do enough to offset the additional costs lumped onto models designed in 1979 that I can tell, let alone the fact that its original tooling and design costs have long been paid off, and sure the current owners might not have seen that return on investment, but nor did they make said investment. The level of configurability of tooling that allows the increased number of variants is welcome from the accuracy point of view but is also indicative of how far the technology has progressed in just the last few years, but there is also far superior development afforded by CAD, CAE, AM prototyping and CNC-produced tools. If significant repairs are being regularly undertaken or replacement of vintage tooling, then this would also provide an opportunity to enhance some of these most basic and least accurate or detailed models, but instead we see Hornby able to produce a superior celebratory version of Smokey Joe for the same price as the standard model, and no difference in cost between models with and without diecast running boards or outside cylinders, differing levels of detail and decoration which hints at fairly arbitrary pricing. We haven’t touched enough on outsourced production. This was initially a like-for-like transfer of existing models to China, if we are considering Hornby, which did nothing to drop prices in the UK but certainly did for the viability of the manufacturer who weren’t exactly swimming in cash like Scrooge McDuck. Should it have dropped prices? Not really, at least not at first, what the customer was receiving was the same product from the same design but often better built. It was sad that people in Kent were now out of work, but with rivals long having moved east, and the abundance of raw materials, complicitly hard working workforce paid very little and the ability to joint venture with Chinese manufacturers who also make lots of other similar items meaning their costs are reduced comparatively with much larger economies of scale, this was the only way to go. In the guitar world we get entry-level but genuine instruments to classic authentic designs rather than copies that meet or exceed the standards of the US or Japanese or European forebears and range mates, but the reality is many of the rival instruments are being made side by side. Similar things happen with the automotive industry where the likes of SAIC with brands Roewe and MG produce a vast number of VW products, and VW products are built by several different domestic firms. What we see instead though is over time products do become more affordable, thinking phones, TVs, computers and so on. Rising costs in China have been cited as an issue, but the reduced costs were never reflected in those early prices, so again, when the cost of the products exceed cost of living rises and wages, the customer is not going to simply say ‘oh, ok’ when the manufacturer tells you Chinese production is making the item expensive. Now it’s true Chinese wages have doubled from 47593 to 97379 CNY, which is still a lowly £11244, probably shows a rapid improvement in social mobility and ignores that low paid factory jobs are still just that, low paid. It also ignores how many hours a Chinese worker is expected to be productive, and for how many days a week. It also doesn’t show the advancement in automation and equipment that is improving the efficiency and productivity nor possible labour reduction this allows. Nevertheless, It shows there is truth in what manufacturers say about rapid rise in foreign production cost, sure, but it is still a long way shy of the average £36.6k here, though. And here is a key part of the Hornby story, despite wage growth being slower than inflation, and a lot slower than the cost of home ownership or rent, UK wages are still significantly greater, and these old 1987 prices reviewed are for hand-built models in Margate, not in a state-of-the-art factory. So, whereas rapidly advancing tech has come down relatively in price (proliferation of home computing for example), Hornby have increased prices above both inflation and the average earnings. Advanced new tech can’t be cited because we’re comparing DC to DC analogue locos. So, getting back to the original point, I base my feelings on prices rising on the point that the increased costs cannot be based only on the factors given by manufacturers, and it points to a more desperate need (mostly) for businesses to remain viable, especially if more young customers are being alienated, and this outlook does not make for comfortable reading. But, ending where I began, customers cannot be expected to care for the troubles of a manufacturer, and if they don’t feel the product is offering value for money, the industry will fall into a death spiral with ever increasing costs chasing after the ageing customers with high expectations, but no longer admitting new fans into the hobby. I hope you can appreciate that these points come from taking the time to consider the issue, not simply bandwagon hopping, and even if you don't agree with the points or have contradictory experience, that I respect the points and feelings you have enough to respond as considerately as possible :)

@barnabyjoy Well for one theres loads more versitility for the Patentee then lioncause they were all over the place in the 1830s and 40s, so it'd be a goto model for era 1 modellers. not to mention the lack of singles on the market

And then Trix/Märklin would ask Hornby for their “Adler” retool

@@nathanchan4653 Ok, and?

A parody news reporter who effs and blinds alot everytime something silly happens.

Ffoss y fan. The coal washer broke, the mine was due to shut this year anyway as they weren’t allowed to expand. So they’ll not mend it. So the welsh just stopped. They are producing ovoids of Welsh dust/ bitumen which aren’t too bad, though a bit small, but no more lump coal

KZfaq randomly took CF2105's monetisation away from him for no legitimate reason. He had to go public about it in order to get it back.

I'm a mechanical engineering student, and to be frank I see no future in internal combustion, nor does the industry. The age of oil is coming to an end because the cost of oil extraction has been rising for decades, and more pressingly, we cannot afford to continue dumping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. I am completely prepared to live with cars that don't have as great a range as they used to, even with a more intermittent electricity supply - though it is likely nuclear and energy storage will fill the gap. The most important thing for us now is to design a mode of human civilisation that works in harmony with our natural environment and it's cycles. The alternative is letting nature correct our course for us...

@@chalichaligha3234 I don't like getting in political arguments but I also have some engineering background, and I still see a strong future for internal combustion engines. It's especially true in places like North America with a relatively lower population density and large travel distances. I can see dense areas of Europe and some large cities moving away from the individual internal combustion engine, but in no way is it dying out. It has too many advantages that other technologies cannot match well enough to justify replacement, especially for the high cost involved.

@@andrewreynolds4949 Unfortunately for our climate situation, I fear that's exactly how things will play out.

@@chalichaligha3234 Again I hate getting in political arguments but I don't think emissions are the biggest environmental problem

@@andrewreynolds4949 I don't find it political, but a matter of the science. There are indeed many environmental issues facing us, which do you think is the most threatening?

'So anyway, let me tell you about this new £50 Warhammer model...' Is that the new and totally unique Primaris Lieutenant? ;P I've found recently with railway models, if you're willing to wait and shop around there are some real bargains out there. I managed to get an almost new Oxford Adams Radial tank on ebay for under £60, and 3 brand new Hornby SR Ex-LSWR coaches for around £30 each which is half price of RRP. I agree that Hornby are taking the p*ss by selling decades old toolings for obscene amounts of money.

@barnabyjoy Sounds like a bargain!

@barnabyjoy It's 2022, Tamiya is still selling some of their old kits from the 70s. The prices aren't bad, if you go to a normal hobby shop rather than some fly-by-nighter in a leftover space in a shopping centre that no-one would take. The problem is manufacturers justify any markups they can imagine; Hornby still sell things from the 70s at unfathomable prices, not just the premium items. Fix that Smoky Joe tooling all you want, but if starts to cost as much as a Dapol Terrier, you may as well throw it away. It just doesn't compare. Now, if you can fix the power train, you might be talking... Being a niche modeller I am used to these prices, but the items I buy are not usually made by larger commercial manufacturers. Then there's also the Royal Mail to consider, who have put up their prices so high as to eliminate anyone outside the UK from conducting business there.. It's hard enough to live now, anything I can't do in the hobby now will have to wait.

@barnabyjoy Tamiya do often still have lower hulls moulded in one piece. Plus more than one mould is used for most kits. Of course, no-one has to assemble them, just pack... Airfix and Tamiya wouldn't have had any environmental directives when we were kids, it was mostly glass that was recyclable in a practical manner, followed by aluminium. Not hard polystyrene. Wargames Factory tried it once, but I believe they went out of business before I ever heard of it. I never heard of what the "prize" they were offering for certain lucky recycling collectors was. The price of new polystyrene would have to be unfathomable for any kitmaker to consider it. Even so, we may have all switched to bioplastics by then.

Harry Potter display in Japan