Ironroad

Customs valuation for vat and or duties (if applicable) is "Landed Cost". So their assessment will take account of the invoiced value plus any associated shipping, courier, or postage costs.

Thinks he's Captain America now !!!!!!!!!!!!

There is a precedent for everything. Way back in the depths of time, the Rev Awdry (creator of Thomas the Tank) operated trains on his Tidmouth layout that carried different liveries on either side of the coaches. This worked quite well because the layout (an out and back branch terminus) was built around three walls of a room and exited into a return loop in an adjacent room. So since only one side of a train was visible at any time, as a train returned it appeared to be a different train.

Has me wondering about who took the picture.

It is very difficult to comprehend what motivated this act of wanton destruction. However without pretending I can read their minds it seems to me that the perpetrators (their age makes no difference) are worlds apart from the owners of the destroyed property. It is a act of resentment against a segment of society they see as privileged and engaged in a seemingly worthless pursuit, by people who see themselves as deprived by society. This is not something new. I don't excuse the vandalism, but we are in a time where there seems to be less tolerance of the underprivileged and that is exacerbating the problem. Politicians everywhere seem to be losing sight of the fact that addressing the root causes and spending money on education, sports etc, and ensuring there is inclusiveness and opportunity for all makes a lot more sense than being reactive and building prisons. I do accept that we will always have a subculture that is apart but it is the current scale of it that is alarming.

This is very sad news, I met Ken briefly in Bray a few years ago, without realising I was in the presence of greatness. He was a master craftsman and his passing is an enormous loss to all of us.

odd socks, a kindred spirit

600 mm is just under 24". I don't know of any proprietary OO/HO rolling stock that would not be very comfortable on curves with that radius. Many of us are constrained for space and can only dream of much better let alone a minimun radius of 1100 mm which is just over 43". It is likely that there is something wrong with the Lima Railcar you refer to. As regards isolating sections, it is easier to install these when laying the track but nonetheless, it should be possible to cut the track at the desired locations (a Dremel would be useful for this) and inserting isolating track connectors with a little wiggling.

Respectfully, I would suggest you consider converting your existing stock to Kadee couplings, tension locks are a legacy Triang abomination.

I believe that according to the scrap iron control act of 1938, it was actually illegal to export scrap iron at the point steam locos were being withdrawn and scrapped. There seems to have been a little white lie (with official connivance) when it came to the export of steam locos, IE they were supposedly going to Spain for continued use there. But as witnessed on the quayside as these locos were being loaded on a ship, it was quite clear from the liberal use of acetylene torches that they were headed to a scrap yard.

This is common practice on the part of all couriers, Over here they drop parcels on the doorstep and take a photo as proof of delivery.

Hmm, who lives in a odd place?

I will be the first to acknowledge that reserving a spot in the warehouse for orders that are being consolidated and pending delivery is an inconvenience that needs to be managed and controlled but the opposite side of the coin is that it's about customer service and potentially beneficial to sales. Additionally as DJ suggests the volumes involved are likely to be low if it is a service only for those outside the EU and UK who do not enjoy free shipping. I'd be quite happy with an arrangement that required upfront full payment on items being held and a time limit of say six months for dispatch.

Seriously though, for those of us outside the EU and UK, some form of consolidation would be helpful a la Hattons' trunk concept. I have four separate small orders for Bullied wagons, with total shipping costs of $112, and would be happy to wait a bit longer and even buy more of them in exchange for consolidation of the orders and consequent reduction of the shipping costs.

Be glad to see that gone, hopefully the new facilities will have more architectural merit

Excellent question, the cost of shipping mounts up considerably on multiple orders

Ballyfermot by reason of population

I think this would have been a non runner considering this was in the middle of the 1930's Anglo-Irish Economic War.

Conditions are also quite different since the age of steam when embankment fires were quite common. Those fires served to curtail line side vegetation and accordingly did not present a serious concern. But since then that vegetation has become quite dense in places with lots of accumulated deadwood so not an ideal environment for running steam locos. No doubt this will be an issue in the choice of routes going forward.

Builders sand usually has a high moisture content, so he's drying rather than cooking it. If going down this route I would suggest using washed sand as is used in kids' sand boxes. A 15 kg bag is probably the smallest quantity you can buy but it is a very cheap. eg https://www.landscapedepot.ie/product/glenview-playsand-15kg/

The cost of "attic stock" as you call it is something that should and is normally factored into the full cost of production and as such that cost is recouped in the selling price of the delivered order. In effect any money recovered subsequently from such stock is 100% profit.

Well maybe not in case of Rita or rather Meta Davies the maid who issued a ticket to Paul McCartney. Privatisation adds another layer of strangeness to all of this. I would have thought that that would result in a more rigorous approach to revenue generating enforcement. That is certainly the case with car clamping in Dublin.

so Rita has been made redundant

Sounds "Irish" but for once it isn't, very strange

Didn't you call "Lovely Rita Meter Maid" no respect there for double yellow lines or parking on pavements