Important story embargoed until Sunday

Jane Sullivan wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@yddraiggoch.demon.co.uk:

I only hope it's better than last year...

Reply to
David Jackman
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"Fred X" wrote

It's news about the imminent release of the Farish Class 60.

Nah, that has to be a wind up ???? Hmm Clockwork N gauge ?? Lonestar was it not ?

Andy

Reply to
Andy Sollis CVMRD

Coincidence? I think not.

Reply to
MartinS

"John Turner" wrote

Wish that were funnier. Check out the editorials in the 2002 issues of Engineering In Miniature magazine about the potential liability trail (following EU pressure vessel regulations) of buying someone else's non-certified live steam project (or just the boiler thereof) and try and get it into retrospective conformity with the regulations. Pumping water into it with a gauge attached just to see if it goes bang or not? Nothing so simple. As with all these things, you'd mind less if you were actually negotiating with people who knew what they were looking at, rather than bureaucrats who are just terrified of gaps in their paperwork and thus insurance cover.

The trouble is, the less hassle actually caused, the more the technically illiterate crow "see, that's how good and necessary our rules are". Failure is your problem, success is their reward.

I got the distinct impression at recent shows that people are rapidly hoovering up lead-based solder while it's still around. Models rarely go into the waste cycle compared with consumer non-durables (computers probably being the worst offenders since anything that can't handle software beyond now-discontinued Windows 95 can't even be exported to grateful Africans, so bighearted plutocrat Bill Gates is probably causing more planetary degradation than he thinks his munificence will eliminate) but WEEE regs apply to everything so even though we don't chew our kits, make them into pipework or feed them to livestock, we've got to put up with overheating our projects just to get the gaps to fill with non-lead, non-cadmium slonk.

Tony Clarke

Reply to
Tony Clarke

But then Triang railways only came about when Lines Brothers bought Rovex. I was really referring to the generic name rather than the current holder.

Reply to
Keith Willcocks

In message , snipped-for-privacy@ntlworld.com writes

ROTFL I used to live near there - Brithdir to be exact. Try saying that to a telephone operator - they nearly sent a fire engine to Bristol when I reported a heath fire :-)))

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Reply to
Mike Hughes

I assume this legislation would be known as Part P4 ? ;-)

Reply to
airsmoothed

"Keith Willcocks" wrote

Oh indeed, I realise that, and I was only being pedantice so that the origins of the current Hornby company would not be confused with those of Meccano by those ignorant of the company's history.

John.

Reply to
John Turner

Realistically though the only real connection the current Hornby has to that of the old Tri-ang / Rovex is that they operate out of the same Margate buildings, since the time when the Lines Brothers empire went bust in the early 1970's (and thus got split up) the model railway side of things has had fare more in common with the ethics of Hornby(-Doublo) than the toy train set company of Tri-ang.

Reply to
:Jerry:

Well, gawd help the travelling public if the story isn't an April Fools gaff!

Surely MREmag could have come up with something a bit less silly and obvious, the idea that kit building would be restricted to those who have carried out a full COSSH risk assessment is plausible or that all new UK modern image models would be produced in 3.5mm scale seems truly possible by comparison (after all there is a market for EMD 66 BRE 59 or even the old EE Type1 if modelling east of the Chunnel)...

Reply to
:Jerry:

Indeed. In this context, there was an interesting (and rather scary) story in The Times last week, about how new child protection legislation has caused problems for a lot of "hobby" clubs. The two specific examples given in the article were mountaineering and model aircraft clubs, the latter of which is sufficiently similar to railway modelling for comparisons to be drawn. According to the article:

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act, which comes into force next year, requires hobby clubs to conduct Criminal Records Bureau checks on all coaches and volunteers, or face a fine of £5,000. They must also appoint a child welfare officer, who must be trained for the role. Coaches must complete forms on why they wish to work with children and provide two written references from "persons of responsibility" that must then be checked.

John Bridgett, a member of the Retford Model Flying Club in Nottinghamshire, said that almost all the under-18s had left his club. "Due to the ridiculous situation now, not only must parents remain with their children but they too must join as a member of our flying club," he said. "The net result is that junior membership has declined from fifteen down to one over a two-year period."

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Has anyone here experienced similar issues at model railway clubs? When I was a "junior member" (much longer ago than I care to admit!) of my local club, the idea that I needed any special "protection" would have seemed absurd.

Mark

Reply to
Mark Goodge

When I were a lad I looked at a local model railway club, but under-18s (or 16s?) weren't really wanted back then so I didn't join.

There was also the local scouts I could have joined, but that had problems after Akela took too much interest in the cubs' woggles (which is presumably why the rules are wanted).

Looking from another angle, my current club has some young kids, and I do sometimes feel a little unhappy about using tools &c when kids are being allowed to run around the place by their parents. I don't really fancy soldering or sawing when kids are diving between peoples' legs, and I want to play trains, not be a zoo keeper.

Reply to
Arthur Figgis

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