Les1952
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Posts posted by Les1952
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8 hours ago, andyman7 said:
Some really interesting analysis here, especially by @Gallows-Bait.
I've always been wary of using personal preference as any kind of objective yardstick about what would sell but even a broad outlook at the general output across Hornby's brands suggests a mismatch between the market and their stock. On the railways side, blue period BR is a strong market now (it's where the BR era steam period was 20 years ago during the last 'golden period') yet as has been noted, there is a complete lack of coaches available even though Hornby have Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3 tooling. There is still a woeful inability to have all the components of a typical train on sale at the same time, and that is a big reason why dealers don't order - they're left with power cars but no coaches or brake ends but nothing else. Even the DRS Mk2s - initially released as two brake ends and single SO that sold out straight away; followed by 4 different SOs bit no Brake Ends as the remainder from the first batch had been flogged off at a discount, so that what should be a really good 'small train' opportunity becomes an ebay hunt at premium prices that accrue neither to dealers nor Hornby. This is the irony of the unsold stock is that there are a fair few items for which there is pent up demand, but no product with which to meet it.
I think that the Railroad range can potentially be a real winner for them because they can use that distribution muscle, brand recognition and serve a market/price point that the competition is not placed to serve - but if you wanted to create a working setup it's really quite difficult to assemble something coherent from available stock.
However the stock backlog is disposed of, Hornby really needs to overcome making so many mis-steps with regards to future production range and quantities.
From the Peachy interview the mismatch between coaches and locos is something that Hornby are trying to address in TT:120, hence the Stanier coaches not appearing until after the Duchess and current lack of blue-and-grey Mark 1 stock (until the class 50 appears).
All of this of course helps the balance sheet, but Hornby are getting hammered by prospective punters for it as they can't yet have the stock they want....
Les
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15 minutes ago, GordonC said:
One thing I find odd about their TT:120 range is the liveries offered. We're always told that tooling costs are the expensive bit, but if you're starting a new scale and you want to encourage buyers to take it up, would you not make what tooling you have available in as many liveries as you can?
Things like Mk1 coaches ... crimson and cream or maroon are the options. Could they not have squeezed a blue and grey option in there too? Ok maybe they dont have locos from that era yet, but the Class 50s are being progressed. I would have thought it would have been better to offer more livery variations that tooling. Are both LMS coaches and Pullmans necessary? ok they go with the Pacifics that are available first, but it does seem a lot of tooling and therefore costs
That is answered pretty comprehensively by Hornby in Peachy120TT's video. You do need to sit through three quarters of an hour or so to get the whole answer, but it is there.
Les
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A frequent culprit on smoking Dapols is the circuit board.
Less likely to be the motor.
Les
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TT120: HST
in Hornby
On 19/04/2024 at 08:56, Taigatrommel said:That's useful context - both those models date back to BTTB. Do they have the "clip in" design of close coupling mech? All my Eaos are so old that they're in Berliner packaging, and don't even have close coupling mechs!
They have nem pockets. The 3-axle umbauwagen have self centring mechanisms, which are a pain in the fundament to reassemble when taking the chassis out to get passengers in- I've only done one so far and am dreading the other three...
I've not yet looked again at the eaos wagons.
Les
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1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:
When did Hornby last sell even 10,000 of any newly introduced loco with a couple of years of it being delivered to market? Selling even 5,000 puts far greater costs on each unit produced that selling three times as many.
The TT:120 Pacifics?
Les
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14 minutes ago, irishmail said:
If they produce a 225 then you will need OHLE to justify it or a class 67 to drag it around.
OHLE in TT:120 is produced by Sommerfeldt and Veissmann.
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TT120: HST
in Hornby
23 hours ago, Taigatrommel said:NEM 355 specifies 6mm from buffer face to coupling pocket for close coupling.
I'm curious as to which Tillig stock you have that doesn't correspond to this. All my Tillig coaches do, which includes:
I have a rake of four Eaos wagons with variations from 5.5mm to nearly 7mm, to the extent that coupling them has required me to use two different lengths of Hunt coupling.
I've not checked my 3-axle Umbauwagen, but they don't couple gangway to gangway with the original couplers as fitted by Tillig.
Les
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TT120: HST
in Hornby
The couplers will take NEM355 alternatives. Does NEM355 specify a distance from buffers? If so nobody seems to have told Tillig......
If you want your coaches to touch on the straight and stay coupled when running I would suggest you might want to invest in a Hunt coupler starter pack from West Hill Wagon Works and try the different lengths until you find a pairing that does the job.
I now have magnetic couplings on all of my TT:120 stock (Hunt on the stuff that doesn't shunt and Dapol Easi-shunts on the stuff that does) and did a 2-day exhibition the other weekend without a single random uncoupling. There is still a little work to do adjusting the Easi-shunts as occasionally they refused to uncouple, but the Kadees on Burch Green have taken three shows to get working properly.
No connection with Dapol or WHWW other than being a satisfied customer.
Les
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And the second video from South Notts Show.
All for today.
Les
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South Notts Show video, number 1 of 2
Number 2 to follow.
Les
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Pics from the show.
The layout as set up on Sunday morning, with the "Plandampf day" board in place. The class 106 shunted the yard both days. The only casualty was the class 280, which shed a traction tyre, though it seems to run quite well without it.
looking into the goods shed yard.
The only two issues with the layout were firstly that some glue fumes had found their way into the mechanism of one of the semaphores. A little work with the end of a scalpel blade had that working by Sunday morning. The more serious issue was a point wire popping out of the tie bar hole on Sunday morning. Fortunately Neil Stevenson of PLS Layouts/Sherwood Models is more adept at putting these things back than I am, and got it sorted before the show opened. Many thanks, Neil.
The class 798 at rest in the platform.
The show was opened by no less a person than Sir Topham Hatt.
Videos are being processed and will eventually be posted.
Les
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1 hour ago, Johan DC said:
They did confirm in the Q&A that the J50 will have a front coupling.
I'm more disapointed that they don't have a TXS version (as yet) from either 0-6-0.
To be quite honest, given the size of the TXS chips I'm glad they haven't- far too much weight would be needed to be carved out to make room for them.
Given that Digitrains have got sound and a stay-alive into an EFE N-gauge J94, why not just get quality sound fitted?
Les
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Stadtler Eurodual, modern Bo-Bo electric in a number of liveries. Very interesting but out of my period. The prototypes have a wide range, though I'm not sure how far those in the catalogue get.
Les
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On 11/04/2024 at 18:14, frobisher said:
Never said they did, but the CAD took the same approach a their 00 models with regards separately fitted detail.
that doesn't mean those details would survive the reduction in scale without being so thin they fall apart as soon as you look at them....
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On 09/04/2024 at 13:12, Ed-farms said:
Does anyone know what the term is for a collection of Austerities?
given their military origin, a parade of Austerities?
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6 hours ago, teletougos said:
Glide effortlessly they may, but am I the only one to notice that loco 1196's pony truck looks derailed?
The cameraman- ie me- didn't when plonking it on the track for a photograph....
Les
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52 minutes ago, montyburns56 said:
I thinks it's the roofs that are slightly different, but you'd think that Hornby would go the extra mile to fill the gaps in the range of modern coaches especially as there are currently no alternative manufacturers.
I think Hornby are struggling to meet the demand for the miles they've already done- extra miles are a long way off.....
Les
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My TT:120 train set "Bregstadt" has just completed the first day of its first show (South Notts Show at Cotgrave). The two beer vans in the middle of the picture are Hornby group - Arnold.
Another Hornby group product in action on Day 2 will be this beast- bought on the Hornby website and mostly paid for with accumulated Hornby points. It will be joined by the 2-10-0 tender engine class 58, which is sound fitted (proper synchronised sound) and which made a substantial contribution towards generating those Hornby points, both these locos are by Arnold.
If only Hornby would look more closely at the work of the designers in the other arms of their own group they would make some very serious improvements to the breed. Both these locos glide effortlessly round the radius 2 curves my A4 and A3 won't even attempt.
Les
BTW, those ARE Hunt couplings on both locos. 100% reliable on the fixed trains today, and the Easi-shunts in the yard about 80% reliabe, but that is good for a first time out.
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3 hours ago, D9020 Nimbus said:
Peco do appear to have lost some of their enthusiasm for TT:120. There have been no wagon announcements since the 7-plank wagon, while 16 t minerals, iron ore tipplers, and BR ventilated vans have been or are being introduced in N — where Farish have models of similar types. At the present time, none of these have been announced in TT120.
Peco almost certainly haven't lost their interest, but their timescales are rather glacial. I suspect there are more wagons in development, but if we get an announcement before Autumn with an introduction a year later I would only be surprised at how quick they've been....
Les
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5 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:
There's a big difference between wanting it to fail and a healthy acceptance that it could.
However you look at it, and however much market research they did in advance, Hornby's move is an innovation comparable with Frank Hornby launching Hornby Dublo in the 1930s.
The difference is that there are, nowadays, long-established scales a bit bigger and a bit smaller, well supported by multiple suppliers, so any advantages are less clear-cut.
Nobody outside Hornby knows how successful TT:120 needs to be in order to become a fixture in the business, though Hornby's "phases" provide a rough idea as to when it's long-term future is likely to be determined.
Will it expand, contract, disappear or continue as it is now? My personal crystal ball suggests a slight reduction in new models backed up with an increased rate of re-liveries to existing ones, starting in 2027.
However, my point is that neither I or anyone else yet knows what the second decade of UK TT:120 might look like (assuming there will be one) ; and that almost certainly includes Hornby....
There's nothing that has attracted me so far. The Class 50 might, but only with a set of NSE Mk2s for it to pull! The coarse wheel profile would deter me from buying any steam outline loco, though, even with better track available from Peco.
John
Given that Hornby includes Arnold, and Arnold has an established market share on the Continent AND a reputation for being amongst the best quality out there in TT:120 I suspect that TT:120 is going to be around in Hornby for some time. Looking at the way the "in stock" numbers of the Hornby Pacifics are fluctuating on the Continental retailer websites it seems pretty apparent that Hornby UK has gained a foothold into Europe that OO gauge has just failed to manage in the last umpty twiddly years...
The 66 will sell well both here and on the Continent. The time that Hornby have taken to get this up to Arnold standard shows they realise it has to be a flagship product. While there isn't enough UK stuff presently for me to do much more than dabble in UK outline I'm learning new skills with my new TT:120 layout Bregstadt, and after setting up at South Notts show I'm wondering why my three 4 wheel railbuses are consistently running smoothly where my seven B-B diesels are finding every speck of dirt and stalling on Hornby's long dead frogs. If a 4 wheeler runs smoothly through Hornby points why not a heavier 8 wheeled diesel?
Les
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3 hours ago, britishcolumbian said:
I suspect if MTB were to tool up an 86, they'd be expecting the bulk of the sales in Hungary (and maybe Austria, as Floyd has/had running rights there too), with any UK sales as the cherry on top.
Class 59 ran in Germany - could also be a possibility. Not sure about the 56 being too likely, there were only 2 or 3 that went to Hungary. I think probably the 86 is the most likely.
Not Austria. That country is 15KV, 16 and 2 thirds hz electrics, the same as Germany. They could work into parts of Hungary and Slovakia, though from their base in Bulgaria.
Les
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10 hours ago, GrumpyPenguin said:
Really ?
TT120 has been (& still is) alive & well for decades over the Channel.
I think the missing part sentence was "new to the UK"...
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9 hours ago, cctransuk said:
I'm afraid that the introduction of BR blue spelled the end of my interest in the current railway scene - nothing in that colour will ever disgrace my model railway.
CJI.
I'm seriously considering whether shoving a 30-page chunk of stuff I fail to find interesting into the middle of BRM makes it worthwhile continuing with my subscription for similar reasons.
Les
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4 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:
Or obligating them to do so.
There is absolutely no potential down-side for other producers in sitting on the fence for the next 3-5 years. If TT:120 thrives, they can jump onto a still-spacious bandwagon risk-free; if it fails they see a major rival in OO weakened. Why would you not?
The alternative is getting into bed with an aggressive incumbent who doesn't want you there, just for a chance of sharing the losses should the thing not work out. Why would you?
John
that is the history of TT:120 on the continent, where the aggressive incumbent is Tillig......
Les
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Hornby Trading Statement Published 22 April
in Hornby
Posted · Edited by Les1952
Q1 would have the same issue with the next lot of "in transit" stuff showing as in stock....
That aspect is one they can't win other than getting stuff made closer to the UK, and, barring World War III, that isn't going to happen in any large amounts any time soon.
Les