GWR-fan

Is that not what RapidoAndy seemingly sarcastically asked several posts back?

I converted four lima GWR railcars with the Peters Spares replacement wheels and the performance improved dramatically even with just the stock power pickup.

Well if that is the production standard then no more EFE Rail or associated affiliates on my future radar. I did actually read your original post where you stated that not all wheels need to be in contact with a flat surface. Nice edit.

When barely half the twelve wheels actually touch a flat surface how is that a "minor manufacturing issue", please?

I found several more "essential" items this morning to add to my final trunk. A thought has recently occurred to me with the closing of the store. Given the high demand by sites like Google seeking personal data to pinpoint you with, what will happen to the Hattons customer personal data on their site? This would be a valuable asset to an organisation. It includes names, addresses and payment details of its customers. I would hope that the data would be erased.

1 "O" gauge Terrier left (but for how long). https://www.hattons.co.uk/295234/dapol_7s_010_015_class_a1x_terrier_0_6_0t_in_plain_black/stockdetail

With every order that I placed with the store and shipped by DHL Express I would maximise the weight of goods to basically a few grams short of the maximum weight in the range selected, say 4 - 5kg or 7 - 8kg, etc.. Thus if I chose to ship goods in the 5 - 6kg range I would maximise the items to within a few grams short of the 6kg limit. I was never charged for being over the limit even though the shipping carton would have exceeded the 6kg paid for. When Royal Mail was hacked a while ago I was not aware of the restriction on using the service and had selected and paid for Royal Mail to ship the items purchased. The store actually upped the delivery service at no additional cost to me and shipped the goods by DHL Express. The customer service of the store and staff is something that I will miss. I have had dealings with Kernow and Rails and was extremely happy with the customer service of both stores, however, Hattons to me was the perfect online store, with competitive pricing, relatively inexpensive shipping for the bulky items I was having shipped and the incredible trunk service. Edit: I still have a few minor items in my trunk but am reluctant to have the trunk cleared as it will mean severing my inevitable link with the store. It is like saying goodbye to a good friend you know that you will never see again.

One feature of the Hattons website that I will sorely miss is that every item listed showed the weight of the item. Thus one could maximise a package by choosing items that fitted a particular shipping total weight range. I do not know of any other site that shows the items weight. On the rare occasion that I would purchase elsewhere I would check the weight of an item on the Hattons site prior making a purchase elsewhere. This is one way that other websites could improve their sites.

Like others I have held off having my trunk shipped hoping against all odds that something decent would be listed on the pre-owned site. However, the bottom of the barrel is being scraped with some days barely one or two items being listed. My current trunk is yet to reach the 1kg mark, whereas my normal weekly shipment was in the 7 - 8 kg range as it is more (or was) more economical to include heavier items once the trunk exceeded 1kg. What remains is of little interest to me and are items which have languished on the site for sometime, being overpriced, of little interest or non-runners. I will certainly miss those early morning (my local time) perusals of the newly added pre-owned items. One advantage for me, I suppose, is that my bankcard has heaved a sigh of relief, as last month and into this month my spend on the card has been next to nothing. There really was nothing of interest for me in the current 35% sale or in the bulk buy items. Like other momentous moments in my life, the closing of the store will be a day that I will remember and lament.

I presume by your statement that you are infering that because the majority of consumers do not actually run their models that any issues with performance are down to lack of use. Given that the model in question is a new release and issues have been reported with performance then your statement is not valid in this instance. Until recently when I "downsized" I owned numerous LGB locomotives dating back to the late 1960's that were as new mint in their boxes. They basically had received no use since originally purchased and no maintenance as they were in storage. I could guarantee though that I could remove them from their boxes and they would run faultlessly. Similarly many, many Hornby models from the early 2000's with no use at all could be taken from their packages and run flawlessly. What has changed?

Reminds me of a story that I heard over fifty years ago. Ettore Bugatti was very proud of his motor vehicles. They were extremely well designed and fast but apparently the brakes could do with some improvement. An owner of one such car who had complained about the poor braking performance, was presented to Monsieur Bugatti, who upon seeing the man retorted "So you are the man who is giving my car so much trouble". For the manufacturer, no matter how good the design, success or failure is dependent on the factory assembly line team. In the last few months I have purchased five new locomotives from two manufacturers, with three from Rapido and two from EFE Rail. The Hunslet from Rapido I am reasonably comfortable with it being a long term reliable runner, however, the other four new purchases in my opinion have a very limited lifetime without ongoing rectification. My recent experience has deterred me from any further new purchases from any manufacturer as I have no confidence in the product that I will receive. In the same period I have purchased around twenty pre-owned locomotives and bar one or two, the majority have been perfect runners out of the box and some perhaps are nearly twenty years old. If a Chinese factory could manufacture a reliable runner twenty years ago then why not now?

Many largescale manufacturers including LGB used sprung carbon brush pickups. The downside is that a combination of the dust from the carbon brushes plus any lubricant that may have been applied to the axles and had migrated out to the brush contact area on the rear face of the driving wheel, would cause the pickup to seize in its casing. The springs used were reasonably substantial and yet the pickups would still seize. As stated previously, high amperage draw will have an impact on the "elasticity" of the spring and in combination with a bit of crud could easily cause the pickup to malfunction. In my opinion a poor choice given how the simple phosphor bronze pickup strips have worked tirelessly with other manufacturer's products.

I thought the model to be lacking detail and simply boring. I was not that concerned with the model being limited to R3 minimum without modification, something that Rails apparently forgot to tell anyone. I expected more from the model and being the most expensive "OO" model that I had purchased at the time it did not represent value for money.

Further to above. To me there seemed minimal clearance on the bogies so I removed each of the bogie tower top mounts and removed barely 0.5mm from the bogie tower top mount leg that was touching the chassis. The other leg was clear of the chassis casting so did not require modifying. Even now with clearance under both legs (0.5mm - 1.0mm) on the tower top mount at each end of the chassis there is still an issue with several wheels standing proud. It is actually a lot better than was evident prior modifying the tower top mount legs. This still confirms my belief that the bogie housing is twisted torsionally. As it affects both bogie housings identically then in my opinion there is an issue with the tooling for the bogie housing. As regards running on straight and R3 curved track I have no running issues and the model does run smoothly and quietly with the body removed, however, all my points are still packed away from a house move so I am unable to test performance through points. As some of the wheels are still raised slightly clear of the railhead and others barely in contact, I am unable to comment on reliable power pickup or possible derailment through points or if either will even be an issue. With the body fitted there is a "scraping" noise on R3 curves, possibly on the outside radius. I do not run anything on R2 curves but possibly the noise could be louder on the tighter radius. I feel that more attention should have been paid to the model in the development and testing stage and unfortunately, while an extremely nice model, it is flawed. For similar or even less money one could purchase a better detailed and mechanically superior model from another manufacturer, but then others do not manufacture the "booster". I was hoping that the "booster" would lift the customer perception of the EFE Rails brandname but unfortunately it seems not. Edit #2: I have now looked at the malachite green version. I did clearance the bogie tower mount clips but even with the chassis sitting on the bogies and no tower clips fitted, the same wheels as mentioned previously were raised off the railhead. I reassembled the chassis and ran it without the body fitted and while it ran smoothly many of the driven wheels either do not contact the railhead or are in minimal contact. Upon fitting the body the "scraping" sound becomes evident on R3 curves as mentioned before on the black version. I thought that maybe the sanding pipes were too close given the amount of sideplay on each axle, but with the pipes out of the way the loco still "groans" on R3 curves. Perhaps the body becomes a sounding chamber and amplifies sounds not heard with the body removed. Note: on refitting the body mount screws I did not see the need to use an impact wrench as it seems is done in the factory. Given the tiny size of the mount screws, the amount of torque the factory uses is ridiculous and no doubt will lead to stripped out heads on the screws and being unable to remove the body for access.

I started this thread rather than adding to the existing "booster" thread as the problem would be lost in the numerous postings on that thread. There is a definite design issue with the bogies on this locomotive. On the main thread a poster has commented on the bogies not sitting correctly. On both my models less than half the wheels actually sit on the rails. The "proud" wheels riding high are diagonally opposite on each truck. When the loco is turned 180 degrees the wheels that were raised proud actually now sit flat on the surface, while those wthat were sitting flat are now raised. There does seem a design issue with how the bogies are mounted to the chassis (Edit: on further inspection I believe the issue is the bogie housing is possibly bowed and twisted torsionally along the housing longitudinal centreline). Initial running of the models showed the locomotives to derail on straight running and are noisy in R3 curves. I harken back to all the problems with the retooled Hornby class 91. Does the "booster" have an inherent design flaw? Wheel back to backs 14mm (0.555"- 0.563"). As at least half the running wheels are not even on the railhead then I do not see wheel back to back being an issue. Edit: After disassembly and inspecting the drive it appears the issue most likely is a tooling problem with the bogies. The bogies are basically clones of each other and any defect on one is manifested on the other. Not only is the bogie apparently in my opinion bowed in the centre causing the middle drivers to be clear of the rail, but the bogie is in my opinion torsionally twisted lengthwise so that the two "centre" axles (middle axle and the axle closest the centre of the loco chassis nearest the mid entry steps) when lifted on one bogie are found to be lifted if the bogie is positioned at the other end of the loco (basically rotated 180 degrees). Thus turning the bogie 180 degrees will see the same wheels raised irrespective of which end of the chassis the bogie is positioned. I initially thought that the problem was a bogie mount issue as on the Hornby class 91, but am now convinced the problem is the moulding of the bogie itself. The bogie housing is in my opinion bowed upwards in the centre adjacent the chassis mount (thus raising the centre drive wheels) and is also distorted torsionally in my opinion along the housing longitudinal centreline (raising the centre wheel and its adjacent drive wheel closest the centre entry steps). I do not see how this issue could be corrected by the consumer. The poster in the EFE thread on the "booster" reports that he fitted a shim. Perhaps he fitted the shim on the bogie/chassis interface to correct the distortion in the bogie housing. (Edit: after reading the original posting it seems the poster modified the position of the bearings by spacing them down slightly so that the affected wheels contacted the railhead.) On my models the invoice shows that the models were apparently tested prior shipping, however, while the loco may run, does at least half the driving wheels standing proud of the rails constitute a warranty repair issue? I really fail to see how such a basic flaw could not be found during initial research and manufacturing quality control. Unfortunately, I must view both my models as lemons as the defects are evident on both my models. Such a shame as they are nice models and like my illfated and disappointing Rails/Heljan gas turbine model, will remain out of sight (and out of mind) in their boxes. Further above, with barely half the wheels collecting power due the rest being raised clear of the rail, how reliable will running be through pointwork. One poster commented on the loco "hesitating" through points. Power pickup issue possibly??????????????????? Obviously my issue with both locomotives is not unique to me and quite likely should owners wish to check their models, they may find the same problem as I have. I am definitely now not impressed with my models.

My black and malachite versions arrived this afternoon barely two days after receiving the tracking email from Rails. Even Australia Post does not seem to realise that the locomotives are in the country. All I can say is that the ten years that Muz spent on research was time well spent. He is to be congratulated. Quite likely these two latest purchases will be my last new locomotive purchases and they will be an excellent finale to my model collecting. The last new loco purchase that I made prior these was the disappointing Rails gas turbine. It was the most expensive "OO" loco that I had ever purchased and it left me feeling a little jaded. After spending a lifetime working around aviation gas turbines, this loco was a novelty must have for me, but in my opinion was a bitter disappointment. The "boosters" have saved the day. I have grown tired of all the new and latest releases that we are bombarded with on an almost weekly basis and actually had decided on no more new model purchases, that is until the "boosters" were announced. They will be a fitting swansong to my other models. In a way I feel that we have become blase about all these new releases. Prior the internet it took a trip to a model railway store to see the new release. Now it is in our faces on an almost daily basis. Surprisingly, the call is for more and more and more. It seems never ending. We are never satisfied. Thus I feel that these "boosters" will more than satisfy my apparent "need" to dig deeper and deeper in my pockets.

With Hattons soon to be out of the market and in the past perhaps the largest "boxshifter", will other retailers see less need to discount to remain competitive?

At least one positive will come out of this for me and that is my bank balance will be healthier going into the future. Hattons offered a unique feature that other stores did not in that I could ship bulkier, relatively heavy items like cast resin buildings and trainsets at a modest shipping fee. Without the services offered by the store my enjoyment from the hobby would be far less. I cannot forsee any other store stepping up and replacing these features. I have been "stung" several times by comparatively much higher shipping costs for similar items from these other stores so will sorely miss the closing of the store. Without the pre-owned list to indulge myself in, in the wee early morning hours, I may have to stare at the ceiling and contemplate the loss it may have on the hobby, particularly for international customers. No doubt other stores will step in and attempt to fill the void, but in my mind it will never be the same. It seems like a good friend has passed to the other side and all that is left are the memories. My future spending in the hobby wil be far less, as apart from a few special items like the recent EFE "boosters" release, I have little to no interest in having the latest and greatest super detailed models that are now flooding the market.

It is indeed with sadness that I opened the Hattons website today to view their imminent demise. The store has been my source of basically all my "OO" scale goodies, purchased over a good many years. VAT discount and the excellent trunk service have been a blessing for the hobby downunder where words like "discounting" are not in the local vocabulary. On the extremely rare occasions where I have had to contact the store over an issue, the matter has been dealt with in a polite and professional manner. One of my few addictions was the early morning perusals, with a cup of tea inhand, as I laborisly examined the latest "OO" pre-owned listings, intent on securing a bargain. The loss of the store will impact so many who came to rely on it as the go to source of all our "OO" needs. I will certainly miss the excellent trunk service and the competitive DHL shipping. Without both my future modelling purchases will be severely curtailed in the future, as while I have dealt with several other well known stores over the years, it was not just the item pricing that attracted me but a shipping policy that allowed me to be able to purchase large and heavy items which Royal Mail did not cater for. Finally, I extend my thanks and gratitude to the store management and staff who have enabled me to enjoy this wonderful hobby over the years.

Another "victim" of the store's policy to not remove seemingly pristine models from their packaging for listing as "pre-owned". The item in question is a single Pullman "late crest" smoothside car from the R4169 "Bournemouth Belle" supplemental coach pack. The lisitng showed a single image of the coach in its original packaging. Upon removal it was obvious that at one time the coach had been used in a "Golden Arrow" rake as the coach sides were smeared with a rubberised glue in the location where the arrows would have been placed. I could not use a solvent as I did not wish to damage the finish on the coach so resorted to using tissues and kitchen detergent and elbow grease. Fortunately, this cleaned up the mess but it has left a sour taste in my mouth. Obviously, the coach was never removed from its packaging to inspect prior listing or else the glue marks would have been mentioned. While a devoted Hattons customer I am tiring of receiving "like new" items which do not match the listing description. The original packaging was pristine so perhaps I should be eternally grateful.

I trust that the wheels shown in the second image are not representative of what will be supplied by KR as the left hand wheel will run very eccentrically given that the axle hole opening looks decidedly offf centre.

After viewing the images I am pleased that malachite and black versions are currently winging their way downunder. These will be fine companions to a recent Hornby class 71 purchase picked up as part of the recent Hattons bargain sale. I paid less than one-quarter the cost of each "booster". I was actually most impressed with the performance and finish of the class 71 and feel that it may have been overlooked by many due some criticism that it received on release.

After a discussion with store staff some time ago what was apparent was that the box condition was the discerning factor in whether a locomotive would be removed from its packaging for inspection prior listing. Maintaining the condition of the packaging was a priority. The determination by the staff of what is a non-runner has me baffled. I have received mint/unused models described as untested (no doubt due the pristine condition of the packaging) that actually were non-runners even though not listed as such and models described as non-runners that I could not find fault with. Do not assume though that a "non-runner" will arrive as a functional model though, as from my experience it is a lucky dip, ranging from basket cases to simple maintenance being required. As noted previously the price of non-runners has escalated in recent times to the point that in many cases it is financially of no benefit to purchase when a fully functional model is just slightly more expensive. Barely twelve months ago one could purchase a mint functional model for what is now being asked for a non-runner of the same type. Given the general unavailability of spare parts outside the UK it is no longer feasible for me to consider models that may require replacement items such as gears or valve gear so I avoid these. If cheap enough I may consider purchasing a non-runner simply as a source of spare parts. My philosophy is that a model is the sum of its parts. An example is a recent purchase of a locomotive model with a damaged body. Costing me just GBP11.50, I did not want the body but had a need for the chassis for another project. Edit: the chassis in the above paragraph was described as a "wobbly runner". Received today and found that the motor mount screw had stripped allowing the worm to lift away from the driven gear. Fitted a slightly longer screw and tested just fine.

When one has more choice then it stands to reason that what was once an almost monopolistic market is now wide open with far more choice these days then just a few years ago. I fail to see how the company could increase market share or even remain the same when there is far greater choice for the consumer. Hornby has its hardcore followers and is still recognised as being an iconic tradename, but the consumer has a better choice now of locomotive types and rolling stock that Hornby have not manufactured previously or have been duplicated. The consumer now determines the market by exercising brand choice rather than being hamstrung previously with a limited number of manufacturers to choose from. Hornby's future relies not just on the product it manufactures but just as importantly on how that product is marketed.

Oxford Diecast Bofors 40mm gun, pre-owned for GBP13.00 or buy new for GBP9.50. Another pricing oddity. https://www.hattons.co.uk/1558897/oxford_diecast_76bf001_po28_40mm_bofors_anti_aircraft_gun_as_used_with_the_british_army_navy_1937_late_1980s/stockdetail