Garden Railway Forum

Hi all!

I don't know if anyone has noticed but RM have brought in a new prohibited goods list, which now includes Butane gas. I used to buy my canisters off ebay, but it looks like this is a thing of the past! Does this list apply to other couriers as well?

I wonder how long before paper is on the banned list as risk of injury from paper cuts....

I buy mine from QD. Sunni stove gas. Neefs a different adaptor - chuffed to bits- but its cheaper gas.

I used to buy mine from B&M, but it wasn't there all year round, and we have since moved, the closest store being in the middle of the tram works. Hence why I purchased it online. But it would appear that no one, except a courier company that specialises in hazardous materials, will now carry it.

Amazon. Sherwood agencies. Gas. £.5.13. 4 cannisters.

Ah! But I thought amazon used Royal Mail? I can find plenty of people who sell it but they all list couriers who no longer carry the goods!

Tried to email 3 companies on amazon to ask. No emails went. Stuffy lot.! I can pnly suggest planning ahead. Next time you know youre going somewhere with a QD/BM etc. buy a whole box of them!

The new regulations came in to effect on 15th July. Interestingly, the prohibition on sending gas has been in effect for much longer than that. For example, this page http://web.archive.org/web/201305090849 ... ited-Goods dates from May 2013 (the oldest one I could find) and says that sending gases is prohibited, yet I bought some off ebay in June and it was delivered by my postman.
My view is that I will let the shipper worry about it. If they send by Royal Mail and they choose not to deliver it then I can use ebay's buyer protection to get my money back. However, I think the sellers may just be a bit more clever than this and they'll use some of the cheaper couriers (MyHermes, etc.) to deliver.

I might try ebay one last time. However, I've noticed that alot of the courier companys (including myHermes) have adopted the same list as Royal Mail, which means that the only couriers I could find that carry gas are specialists in hazardous materials, with hazardous prices I'm sure!

I'll keep traipsing to B&M, just a pity they don't stock it all year round. Mind you, last time I went there, I was only allowed to buy one pack of four. When I asked the manager why they refused me she didn't give me a straight answer and said if they saw me buying more again that day they would throw me out. Not great on customer service some times....

I wouldn't rely on ebay sellers following the rules. I've had numerous substances sent through the post that have been absolutely prohibited for many years. I don't do it now, of course, because some of the packaging used was highly questionable, and I should have known better. Examples include flammables like propanone, corrosives like concentrated hydrochloric acid and oxidisers like 100vol hydrogen peroxide.

vjoneslong5040:86223 wrote:I used to buy mine from B&M, but it wasn't there all year round, and we have since moved, the closest store being in the middle of the tram works. Hence why I purchased it online. But it would appear that no one, except a courier company that specialises in hazardous materials, will now carry it.

Pardon my ignorance but what does B&M stand for?

Mind you, if it's in the middle of the tram works it can whistle for now, took me nearly an hour to get from Trent Jct to Nottingham on Friday morning!

B&M is almost certainly B&M Bargains, a discount store that seems to have moved in to a lot of old Woolworths stores. In the summer they sell cans of butane at 4 for £4, but they need a special adapter (not a screw top one) to impart gas into a loco.

Cheers Laal ratty. I'll look out for them - but not in Beeston!

[quote="laalratty:103201"]B&M is almost certainly B&M Bargains, a discount store that seems to have moved in to a lot of old Woolworths stores. In the summer they sell cans of butane at 4 for £4, but they need a special adapter (not a screw top one) to impart gas into a loco.[/quote
I get my gas from a QD store that replaced a Woolworths and bought the adapter from Chuffed 2 bits.

halfords sell the gas..
most cheap stores sell it for £1 a can.
I never been told of a limit at my local B&M as i have bought 12 in a go before now

Difficult to get hold of in Portugal a lot of places you would expect to find it don't because the insurance is so high. I did find some in a DIY place that did camping stuff, and bought up a dozen!

I'd heard about this cheap gas at B&M before but it has never been available in my local branch. Turns out that different B&M stores have a different stock range so got it from another branch.

I use one of those eBay China/Hong Kong adapters (there are two versions on sale - make sure you get the version with the non return valve) and then just screw in my standard EN417 adapter.

Chris Cairns

Here is a short video which highlights the difference between those eBay China/Hong Kong camping gas adapters - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0K0oMPZjsE

Chris Cairns