BMacdermott

Hello again Chard I said I would come back on this... I can't give you a firm decision yet on whether or not this will go in to the 2019 Poll, but it is on the Agenda. Our guiding criterion is that we don't list anything that has been announced or made since 2000, and these types were made a few years ago, albeit in somewhat limited numbers. However, it has caused us to look at some other items and the point about Brighton Belle being listed is a case in point. Rest assured that it will get a fair hearing. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Metr0land I will, of course, put this on the Agenda, but our 'purpose' was written to give us clarity that we stay on track of just listing what models voters would like to see made. We know it doesn't cover every wish, but we delete announced items and add new ones each year. (If I recall correctly, it was your goodself who gave us a highly valid suggestion some years ago which we put in action very quickly.) The Poll has the potential to gather various other bits of 'modelling data' - is DCC increasing? What point motors do people use? Which magazines do you read? etc etc - but such extra work is outside our remit. We were tasked in 2012 to 'rationalise' The Poll and most seem to think we have done that to good effect. If someone wants to set out a case for No.53807 (and I, personally, would support that!), it could probably be done here as an RMweb thread with the summary being sent to Bachmann. Part of our hope with The Poll Results is that modelling entrepreneurs will seize on chances where they see 'gaps in the market' and that might be where 3D comes in. All the best Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello again Mark Sorry...just remembered a case in point. Bachmann has made the S&D 7F as numbers 53806 then 53808 to 53810 in BR livery. No.53807 is missing. Reason? She had a unique smokebox saddle after rebuilding with small boiler. I (personally) was involved in the R&D and production of the 7Fs and was told that they wouldn't make this loco as the tooling costs would be too high. I can see a clear-cut case to list it as it 'fills a gaping hole'. But we don't, even though sister 53808 has been made with her special tender. No.53808 is a 'celebrity loco' whereas 53807 isn't. Just one example of a myriad of similar decisions. Where does one draw a line? Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello again Mark When we first started running The Poll in 2012, we originally has a draft category entitled: Special Cases. We soon found that we couldn't define that precisely and dropped it! There are many items that aren't currently in catalogues - if we made that a criterion, The Poll would be very much bigger. The bigger it is, the harder it is for people to find what they want. And we were tasked in 2011 by Pat Hammond to make it more relevant. Rest assured, though, that your thoughts on Class 86 are already on our Agenda. Brian

Hello Mark As noted in my earlier posting, what we list - or don't - is often a matter of long debate within The Team. We can't lay certain hard and fast rules as we found they made life very difficult and created all sorts of anomalies. The 'effect' is worse than 'the cause'. However, we do stick to the year 2000 cut-off (but see later for a caveat to that!). Heljan released its Class 86 in 2010, hence it doesn't appear. We cannot take into account stock levels etc. You are right about the Brighton Belle, though. It was listed to give people the chance to vote for the only livery not yet done and - arguably - for the most popular time-frame. If you look at the listing, you will see it is specifically for c1957 to c1964. Our reasons are also given in The Guide notes. It is 'under review' for the 2019 Poll. A similar item is the LMS/LNER/BR Trestle Wagon. It could possibly 'spin-off' from TMC's Plate and Double Bolster Wagons but - as they made no mention of it - we listed it separately this year. We have re-listed the Wickham Railbus despite it having been announced, we believe, some years ago. We have been in touch with Heljan and been told it was being made - but time has moved on. A lot of time. Have we 'busted the 2000 rule'? In the technical sense, yes, but those who requested it to be re-listed will be happy. We have 778 items in the 2018 Poll. 80% of them were pretty easy to list. It's the other 20% that cause 80% of the debate! I can assure you that The Poll Team doesn't get any 'tip-off information'. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Thanks Ian - but sometimes the best ideas come from unexpected places. No idea is rejected until we have looked at it. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Ian We would never 'sharpen our knives' and are always open to suggestions or comments (positive or negative). We grapple - and I choose the verb specifically - with variations in what we could do and/or list. What you see 'on the voting slip' is the result of months of emails to-and-fro between the Team members. The main difficulty is that ideas often seem plausible, but when you start working them through, they soon become entangled in a web of difficulty and subtlety. My recycle bin is full of stuff that I or The Team have set out thinking 'this is the best idea ever' only to fail as we delve deeper. That's not to say your thoughts won't work - they will go on the Agenda and be given a full and fair hearing. The one difficulty I see immediately, though, is the 'what we think needs upgrading' scenario is subjective whereas we do our utmost to be objective - hence the year 2000 cut-off date (which is currently under review). One thing is certain despite our best efforts...we will never be 'all things to all modellers'. But we keep trying! Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Frond Sutton Locomotive Works as per link below. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team) https://www.railexclusive.com/products.php

Hello 34 Point taken. We always review the cut-off date as part of each year's Agenda and it has stood the test of time - up until now. It was always on the 'game plan' to definitely move forwards from 2020 anyway. The subject will be fully explored. Thanks again. Brian

Hello 34 The purpose of The Poll is clearly stated, with a cut-off date of 2000 so that we don't make 'subjective quality and fidelity judgments'. If I understand where you are coming from here, it would mean running a Poll - or an add-on to what currently runs - that listed all items made since 2000 and an 'upgrade' vote made against those items. Bachmann, for example, has introduced around 70 locos, DMUs and EMUs since 2000, and much in the way of coaches and wagons etc. And then there are liveries, body variations, sound fitting complications and so on to consider. Things could get massively data-centric very quickly. It could be done in bite-size chunks - say, Bachmann steam locos that need upgrading, then Hornby steam locos, then Heljan steam locos etc - but, I'm sorry to say, it won't be The Poll Team running them and that is due to the time constraints noted in Post #1. Or were you meaning that we select those that we feel need 'upgrading' no matter when they were made? Even so, it would still breach our cut-off date and 'no quality judgment' criteria. There might well be a case for stating a little more clearly what stock ran with what locos and I will look into that as part of an Agenda proposal for 2019. We already make reference where reasonable within The Guide, but it might be possible to have some sort of 'look-up table'. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello MJI The stock has been High Polling since 2012 and has been either in The Top 50 or only just outside it since then. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello everyone A big thank you to those who have downloaded The Poll posters at #1 - much appreciated! Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Chard Leave that with me. It's not my area of knowledge but I know The Team has discussed it but discounted it for (seemingly) good reasons. By chance, the two Team members I need to mainly speak to about this are on trains on their way to see me. I will speak with them, then email the rest of The Team and will get back soon. Allow three or four days, but I will probably get back sooner. Brian

Hello Chard I forgot to look there! On my screen, The Results 2016 isn't showing up, but you will find it via the 'search' box if all else fails. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Chard One way is to go to the 'search' box at the top right of the page, then enter Results - The Wishlist Poll 2016 in the Forum Index. You will find the results presented in three different ways as PDFs. Any probs, give me a shout. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello MJI Those are already in The Poll and have been for some while. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Steve If you want to drop me a PM with your email address, I will happily forward that to the person concerned. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Sir Topham Eleven of the 92 'all new items' for 2018 are post-steam era, with most from the past decade. That's nearly 12% of new entries. Class 357 didn't appear last year, but has been 'blended' with certain other Electrostars (as in Post #1). Of the 39 items announced since 2016 (from what we list), ten have been from the post-steam era or very much towards the end of it. We are always happy to take suggestions. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Stubby Our hope is that this 'Hard Nexit' will prompt a good N Team into action for the benefit of the N community. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Andy Many thanks for the comments - appreciated. As noted earlier, my list at #1 is simply what is 'new' (or amended etc). We already have the stock mentioned listed below from previous years and you will find them waiting for you when you vote: GCR Non-gangwayed & Gangwayed 60ft Stock (not 'Barnums') GCR Gangwayed Stock ('Barnums') LYR Gangwayed & Non-gangwayed Elliptical Roof Stock 54ft & 56ft GCR Wagons, Vans & Brake Vans SECR Wagons, Vans & Brake Vans When The Poll goes live on 15 October, we would ask voters to have a look at The Guide. Each category has a summary of the content in the same form as you will find it 'on the voting slip'. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Thanks Ian We did have a certain amount of help with N from some good 'N people' over the years but - despite numerous requests around the N community - we have never been able to secure a team with sufficiently broad knowledge across all the eras and categories. We did our best, but the time had come to call a halt. We hope 00 modellers will 'feel the benefit' with what we now list and we also hope that the N Team gets itself together for the benefit of N modellers. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Bomag As part of the 'handover' of our Guide notes - free, gratis and for nothing (barring a few reasonable caveats) - we suggested that we would, in future, call 'our' Poll The 00 Wishlist Poll so that they could then distinguish themselves as The N Wishlist Poll (if they so desired). We haven't yet heard back and time has moved on. Brian

Hello Chris You have read your own interpretation into that, so I re-state our reasons below. The Team felt for a long time that it couldn't do an N Poll justice - we are mainly 00. If the group noted below takes it on, you will get a much better result. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team) (Extract from #1 above) About 70% of our effort was going to the N Poll, but it was only attracting about 20% of the voters. Added to this, our ‘lead role’, Brian Macdermott, now has more restrictions placed on his available time – he is a ‘carer’ for his disabled wife – so we have taken the decision to not run N. But all is not lost! Discussions are in hand for another group to take that on in the future using our Guide notes as a basis.

Hello Johnster The list above only shows what's 'new' (or amended etc). When you go in to vote (from 15 October) you will find the Class 120 waiting for you. It may hearten you to know that not only has it been the highest-voted DMU since 2012, it has been in the overall The Top 10 since then, too. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)

Hello Andrew Thanks for the comment - I will put it on the 2019 Agenda for you. Brian (on behalf of The Poll Team)