Canadian Cylindrical Grain Cars

[armchairmodeller]

Hello again, just thought I'd pop my head in for a moment before I get zapped again by the Admin/Moderator. 

The 6 grain cars I ordered back in July have arrived. The parcel was a "re-send" which was posted on 1st September and arrived with me 12th September. 11 days US to UK. Pretty good.

I e-mailed the supplier and shopatron to confirm I had them.

It begs the question as to where the first consignment went. Because there was no tracking number the supplier, the post office (US and UK) and myself have no idea where it is but it must be somewhere.

Surely it must be to the benefit of both the supplier and the customer for parcels to be tracked. It proves where the parcel was last, and when and if it was delivered. This protects the customer and protects the supplier from fraudulent customers. I do not need to draw a picture I am sure you all know what I mean. 

Anyway, now a happy bunny, and thank you to all who joined the debate with advice and comment before I was declared persona non grata probably through my own fault. Mea Culpa

Must go now I've got grain to deliver and flour to mill.

Armchair

[Jim Banner]

Glad to hear you got your grain cars.  I guess persistence really does pay off.  I hope that the grain you are hauling off to the mill includes some good, hard spring wheat from Saskatchewan.

Up here in Canada, parcel tracking does not seem to be much help.  When a parcel is lost, the United States Postal Service points a finger at Canada Post and says "They did it.  Talk to them."  But when you contact Canada Post, they point a finger and say "we have no record of ever receiving it.  At far as we are concerned, USPS lost it."  Most of the time, I don't bother with tracking or insurance.  Over all, the mail service is pretty good and the few items that have not arrived cost me less than insurance and tracking would have.

______________________________________ 

Your signature line reminds me of a time spent in a lineup at a bank, standing behind two old guys and listening to them talk:

first o.g. "Do you go up to your lake much anymore?"
second o.g. "Yeah, we still go up there once in a while."
first o.g. "Do you still go fishing on the lake?"
second o.g. "Not so much anymore."
first o.g. "How come?"
second o.g. " We used to catch a hundred a day but now we hardly catch any."
me, thinking out loud  "Do you think there might be a connection?"
both o.g.'s  -  blank stares.

Jim

[armchairmodeller]

Hello Jim, thanks for the response. Sadly my Grain Train will not be hauling wheat from Saskatchewan, whether it is hard spring or winter wheat. Remember my query of 8th July and your response of 18th July about PCRS/Intermountain Sask. hopper livery? Furthermore  I have seen elsewhere some comments about PCRS wheels being very good scale wheels but not suitable for "indifferent" track work. The PCRS are more expensive than the Bach. product and as you pointed out, there is also the "exclusive" agreement between the Sask. provincial government and PCRS re the use/licensing of the livery. I would really like the Sask. livery hoppers but I am not sure my modelling standards are good enough to run them.

I take your point about tracking/insurance cost for the customer, but as I said it provides  benefits to the supplier by proveably ensuring the correct goods go to the correct customer. Where goods are "lost" it can be established where.

Re. Signature, my favourite Groucho Marx quote. "Remember men, we are fighting for this woman's honour, which is probably more than she ever did" Rufus T Firefly. Duck Soup.

Regards
Armchair 

[ACY]

It ultimately comes down to the fact that tracking numbers and insurance for a parcel going to another country or especially that will have multiple carriers do not really accomplish much.

Armchair, in you case all that would have happened is the two delivery companies would have pointed their fingers at each other. in most cases, it would not be able to determine where the package was lost unless it was sent with an Express service, unless you feel like paying a ton for Express delivery, then you'll just have to settle for the status-quo.