01/09/09: Down The Drain

With the news that Faller is insolvent the whole future of the CarSystem is thrown into doubt. If Faller is rescued it will need to be a much leaner company, and if it isn’t then would someone else pick up the pieces? To be honest the CarSystem hasn’t ste the world on fire - no one has seen fit to introduce their own version in competition so I suspect that it may just have been handed a death sentence. (For the sake of completeness I should mention the Rietze did intend to introduce their own RIBU system, but in the end they became part of the Faller range - the buses with ordinary batteries in rather than rechargeables). Here is the original press report (in German).

Whilst the Starter Set vehicles are useful I can cope without them, but the loss of the steering axles, guide arms and tyres will cause me big problems. I know that you can build equivalent items but I need quantity and consistency which points to a manufactured solution. So at the moment the whole project will need to go on hold until the picture is clearer and I can see a way forward.

Ironically I had reached the final stages of a revised plan - an early draft is shown. The trains would go off scene and UP a pair of spirals to a fiddle yard above the scenic section. The road vehicles would have their off-scene storage underneath the spirals at ground level. This would reduce the layout’s footprint so that I wouldn't loose so much storage.

I have two other layout projects in mind - and was undecided as to which to go with as a complement to Redhill. The second layout would have been below Redhill, giving effectively a triple deck structure. I suspect that the other two layouts may both get built whilst the RoadSystem sorts itself out.

No doubt both layouts will get their own websites if construction proceeds, and I'll leave this website up and update it as and when I make any progress with the various constituent parts. In the meantime, check here and on the Shake-the-Box website to see what is going on.

By the way - I mentioned David Larkin’s latest book and asked just how can you describe 1982 as Early British Rail era? - The answer is that I need to pay more attention - that's British RAIL, not British RAILWAYS. Now it all makes sense (and yes, I did buy a copy.)

WAGONS OF THE EARLY BRITISH RAIL ERA: A Pictorial Study of the 1969-1982 Period
Order from Midland Counties
Order from Amazon

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