Carrying G scale locos by plane??

I just mail ordered a loco from Germany. Saved about 40 Euro in taxes, which paid for the shipping. HM Customs just sent me a bill for 110 $NZ. It's about 23 $ over the threshold where it would have cost nothing. :'( Still, I was lucky they classed it as "hobby parts". Toys attract duty on top of the tax. So, if I had carried it I would have been about 110$ better off.

Typical: a few days after I placed the order another shop (who I had given up on due to poor comms) offered me the same for 90 Euro less. >:(
 
Just a final note to this thread.
I`ve returned home  and Nick the railcar has circled the world.
There were no problems with `security`  or batteries.  I don`t think the suitcase was even opened in Sydney, Manchester or the USA. I had removed the batteries and labelled them in large letters as "NOT LITHIUM",
Nick suffered a little damage on the leg home from the US, but hopefully a litle glue will fix him  (more my weak construction than anything).  I packed him between pieces of Corroflute and in the centre of the suitcase, surrounded by clothes.

nick damage.JPG

Last, but not least a GIGANTIC thank you to GE_RIK and Linda for the most enjoyable time we had in UK.  I don`t think anyone, anywhere could do more for  some visitors to their country and home.


 
Thanks Greg. It was a pleasure - and a great boost having someone else to watch and play trains with on-site. Glad you and Pauline (and of course Nick) made it home in one piece (well two in Nick's case).

I recently sent some DCC stuff through internal mail and had to declare at the Post Office in the village that the batteries in the remote control were not Lithium. When I said, no they were Nickel Metal Hydride she looked baffled and said - I never took science at school .........

Rik
 
Glad you had a good time in UK Greg.
But back to air transport. I recently took a dozen circuit breakers (the modern version of household fuses) to France by air - in my hand luggage.
Stopped at security - no surprise there. They looked at them for 10 seconds and said carry on - we can se exactly what they are.
I did take the original invoice in case - god knows if it would have helped.
 
Railfan said:
If the US TSA security folks even get a wiff of alcohol from the loco, you can probably kiss it goodbye. Many of the railroaders that have to travel on an airplane to a steamup in the US will ship their loco to someone at their destination rather than possibly losing it at the airport. I wouldn't take a chance on losing one.

Did you lose yours, KandWNLR, or did you spend a lot of time trying to talk with them?
Click to expand...

The Swiss G1 Group now drive all the way to the UK and take the Chunnel rather than risk the hassle of using planes.
 
Odd that the recommendation is to remove the batteries whereas the last I recall seeing about cameras and phones was that they had to have the batteries inserted to ensure that they were what they appeared and worked.
Based on my experiences of security checks and checkers it has become clear that they are randomly interpreted, unsophisticated and many of the checkers really have little clue as to realities.
 
I am Glad you got treated well on your travels. You certainly looked after me during my short visit to your railroad.
 
KeithT said:
Odd that the recommendation is to remove the batteries whereas the last I recall seeing about cameras and phones was that they had to have the batteries inserted to ensure that they were what they appeared and worked.
Based on my experiences of security checks and checkers it has become clear that they are randomly interpreted, unsophisticated and many of the checkers really have little clue as to realities.
Click to expand...

Airport Security folks between USA and Mexico turned on my wife's SCUBA light to see if it was real. Unhappily they didn't turn it off before they returned it to the suitcase. It is to be used underwater only and runs quite hot! Luckily the batteries were weak and they ran down before we had flaming luggage in the cargo hold. We now use special 'short proof' packages to ship the batteries OUT of the underwater lamp.

If only the rules and people were consistent.
 
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