Ian Stewart

Whisky Covhops, oh joy! But wait a minute, 33 codes, surely not the unimproved tooling. I need a wee dram, but more £s to spend with ? or ?, but not Bachmann. Ian.

Happy new year, 2020. I gather Hornby have made an announcement this week which has garnered a few comments on another thread! In the firework display of lovely new toys, I may have missed any reference to when Hornby is going to deliver the promised corrected model of 60015 Bow Fell to remedy their schoolboy error on the Construction logo position. I am hearing the thinking is that 60015 will not come back into stock. Surely not true. Has anyone heard any update? Ian.

I, like many others, was astonished and so disappointed that Hornby had made such a schoolboy error with the logos on the new 60. I came in off the long run and sent an email complaint to Hornby via their website. I received a reply 25/11/2019 from Hornby which stated "We will be having replacement bodies manufactured so that we can correct the product." They are currently liaising with their factory to establish timelines. I have not come across any announcement from Hornby Towers, or noted any other such confirmation on here, so I hope this is of use. I have cancelled the order with TMC for the loco, sound fitting and weathering, and received a full refund. All told, just shy of £350. This is a lot of money for me, and thus Hornby's incompetence has implications for not just their customers but also retailers. When Hornby produce a correct product I will proceed with the order, as I look forward to running a 60 in the home strip of Peak Forest that I photographed on many occasions. Ian.

Oh yes! A pleasing starter for the ordered main Ashes course, against our "friends" (and beaten Semi-finalists) from Australia. I shall be listening on Test Match Special, covering a Test Match Series at last, while building a new layout. I shall not, however, be lining out a locomotive while England are batting! Ian.

Well done Neil. On a day when commiseration is welcome, it was nice to come across Shell Island again. As the weather closes in outside, it cheers you up to see a Class 2? errrm ticking over in the sun. Back to putting my books on the Bookshelf! Ian.

Now, pay attention. Bookshelves are for books, not toy trains! Are the moderators all on half-term holiday? Ian.

Well, here we are again but in the upgraded RMweb world. Hello Paul, hope you are well. In my last post I only suggested a meaningful vote on the weathering, and they took down this site and threatened to suspend The House of Commons! I didn't realise feelings are running that high. I e/mailed the ever helpful Hattons and they advised me that the model wagon numbers have indeed been changed to more accurately refect the prototype, but the initially advertised numbers remain on the boxes. ICI006CW wagon 19052 Box 19078 ICI006DW wagon 19110 box 19087. But, just to keep us on our toes, the wagon number on 19110 isn't on the PHV panel, it's next to the data panel on the right hand sloping-in side. Yes there are letter outlines. I managed to peer through the weathering and check all this through a magnifying glass with a light angled across the wagons! I can of course see all this detail from a normal viewing distance. I now don't want a meaningful vote on the weathering, or fly to Brussels in a Spitfire. I have lost the will to live. I'm going to listen to England playing cricket. Ian.

Late Running PHV ICI Hoppers. When the PHVs came out in October 2018, I like others purchased a (short) rake for the later period, but was disappointed that the final two weathered late period ICI006CW/DW were "not produced". I checked with Hattons and discussed it with them at Warley. "Not Produced" and no likelihood of being. I was therefore surprised, not having seen any announcement or heard any whispers, to see on their website last week that the 2 "not produced" had been produced! and ordered 1of each. They arrived today and blend well with the previous later period weathered, I have looked closely at them both, peering through the weathering, and have identified anomalies with the wagon numbers on the boxes & the actual wagons. ICI006CW box 19078 wagon 19052? ICI006DW box 19087 wagon any number? I like the weathered wagons, even though it almost obscures the numbers, or no numbers! which requires remedial action. No doubt the debate about their weathering will continue to rage. Perhaps we need a meaningful vote! Ian.

Hornby Class 60 in Construction livery. It would be about time! I used to photograph them leaving Peak Forest hauling long & heavy trains to a variety of regional and national destinations. And then they came back again! Surely many layouts could justify one, or several. (Wagons already provided by the blue team.) I despair of Hornby having a strategy. Living in pale hope with no expectation. January, but which year? Ian.

I too as a regular in "The Hattons Arms" have had to drink elsewhere. I ordered the recent YAA Brill wagon which was on my wishlist but had not arrived at Hattons. (From Cheltenham Model Centre, good service. Ordered Wed, Posted confirmed Th. Delivered Fr. by Royal Mail). I like to resolve wishlist items. Hattons are losing business. I know that people bought e.g. the Europhoenix 37 at Warley as others had it on their stall and Hattons didn't have it on their website, and rumours were circulating! I think Hattons, or Hattons and Bachmann, should issue a statement clarifying the position "to calm the markets" as the business world would say. What they could say that wouldn't lead to feverish speculation I can't imagine. But I think loyal Hattons customers deserve consideration. I also think RMweb could have performed a responsible press role and clarified the situation. I wouldn't have expected full business details, but at least an assessment of the point of dispute. In the meantime let's hope that what I imagine may not be a simple issue is resolved. But will things return to normal? Perhaps Hattons and Bachmann are negotiating a "Backstop Agreement"! Oh no! I've mentioned Brexit again. But I think I got away with it. Ian (aka Basil)

Andy Y said on 01/12/2018 post 2032 "pending clarification due to legal considerations." Is the Honourable Member for RMweb prepared to publish the full Legal Advice? Imported manufactured goods - delayed delivery to major retailer - silence in the mainstream web media! Is this a covert Brexit training exercise? I mentioned Brexit, but I think I got away with it! Basil.

Hmmm. Tricky chaps these hoppers! I too grumbled when I saw the Hattons website photos of the production weathered hoppers, too grey. On opening the boxes I was surprised to see a browner "wash", more what I was hoping for my later period. I will follow the tips on here to liberate the data panels & other details. I have had them running on friends' layouts and, if truth be told, they don't look that bad from a viewing distance. Some work is needed on the coupling alignment, particularly when reversing a rake, and add some weight. With 37s growling away, I enjoyed the sight of them running. Where to now? Clocks about to go back, longer nights, fettling brushes out. I have noticed that the wagons' colour does slightly vary depending on what light is used, and even the direction it is coming from. Rule 1, always weather under the same lighting you will be running or exhibiting under. Hattons have not delivered on the expected Version 2. Modelling the later period when the hoppers ran in "Track Colour" livery I can cope with the weathered versions as supplied as a basis for some light fettling. I would imagine that earlier period modellers who seem to want lighter weathering will not be so forgiving! Will the 2 "not produced" late period hoppers be produced, and will the weathering be varied? Unless Hattons clarify the points raised on this forum, Hattons Dave is going to be a busy boy at Warley!

Two peneth thrown in. I think the photos of the soon to arrive heavily weathered "hoppers" show an even weathered wagon which is good. By the time a pair of 37s had hauled the wagons up from Tunstead and then roared them down from Chinley, there was precious little loose limestone on the frames as suggested in previous weathering options. They look heavily weathered, good. Try reading the PHV panels! They still look too grey to me. Think track colour, not weathered grey. Paul, he is The Hopperman, post 439 says the photos look like "a rainy wet day hopper look". If you couldn't see the hoppers, it was raining, If you could see the hoppers it was going to rain. I am disappointed with the 2 cancellations 6CW & 6DW, both later period. I hope this isn't due to lack of pre-orders. i think many of us have held back from pre-ordering until we see what the actual weathered wagons look like. I am now trying to select substitutes for the 2 cancelled ones. Simply more weathered late period? I like each wagon to have a different number, I know you won't see the numbers on a rake running past, but I'll know! The alternative is emerging as a rake of different liveried and differently weathered wagons. Not what I want. I think I can hear the distant rattle of a track colour can. But steady lads & lasses. Who'd have thought only a few years ago that we'd have rtr "Hoppers". Ian.

Good morning Jim. Post 4896 07/07/2018, dawn in Edale, you lucky lad. One of the prettiest valleys in England. I remember such times, usually photographing the NP 59 hauled Tunstead to Drax, including getting a "going away"! shot at Norman's Bank as I fell out of my car. Running over 2 hours early. The train, not me. Thanks again for your photos & tales, what a record they are and will increasingly become for us enthusiasts. Good luck driving your trains on your next "layout". Ian

I too missed, and would have liked, a dimensioned trackplan for Morfa Mawr (assuming there are no errors. Round up the usual double-slips!) Photographs, even seagull shots, never quite tell the full story. Thinking back to Roy Link's trackplans in the Railway Modeller they were works of art in their own right. I think trackplans give a sense of completeness to an article, not having one is lazy journalism. B..... good layout though, thanks to Bentley MRG for submitting it. Ian.