The Hawk

I have to admit, this whole tier system has put me off Hornby. I'm relatively new to modelling and my first Hornby pre-order has turned out to be a bit of a farce. Item due June 2021, currently scheduled for 2023 and I've no idea which tier my chosen supplier is in and whether or not they will get any stock if and when it eventually turns up. Its not so much the 2 year delay that bothers me, it's more not knowing whether or not I will receive the item at the end of it. I am tempted to cancel my pre-order and choose an alternative item. I certainly won't be rushing to pre-order another Hornby item and, even for in stock items, if it's a straight choice between a Hornby item or another manufacturer, then I'm much more likely to opt for the other manufacturer as, at the present time, I just don't have confidence in Hornby.

I have just purchased 5 of these and installed one to replace a different make that was faulty. I have one one particularly difficult point, that I'll only get away with if I angle the motor somewhat, something I know isn't recommended. Given your comment that they work at other than right angles, I'll give it a go sometime.

There is so much significance in that picture. It's one of my favourite photos.

The amount of rolling stock I would like to purchase is far in excess of that required for my size of layout. That means I have to carefully pick and choose which items to purchase. I have a Hornby locomotive on pre-order from a shop (who will be doing lots of extras that Hornby won't do themselves). If Hornby cause my pre-order to be cancelled, then I'll just remove Hornby from my future plans and I'll still have more than enough, from other suppliers, to select from.

As a complete beginner, I have had a go at converting a couple of OO coaches for my British Railways (Midland) 1960 layout that I am working on (my first layout).

Perhaps not the works, but I have had a go at renumbering a Bachmann 3F 'Jinty' to one made by Bagnall's and added the relevant works plates, plus a lttle bit of light weathering. As you can see, I've not made the best of jobs on the numbering but, I suppose, it could have been worse.

Hello everyone, I am fairly new to this, so please bear with me. I started building a model railway 2 or 3 years ago as something to do indoors, mostly during the peak summer months when my asthma often stops me from pursuing outdoor activities. I had made little progress until the pandemic struck, when the need for indoor hobbies became a much bigger priority. My layout, which is in a spare bedroom, is approximately 2.4m x 1.6m (roughly 8 feet x 5 feet) and is OO gauge. It will consist of a main line oval and a branch line, which will rise on an incline. I am basing very loosely on the Stafford area in 1960. The mainline will, therefore, be a British Railways (Midland Region) affair, whilst the branch line (partly inspired by the Stafford to Uttoxeter line) will be an ex LNER, British Railways (Eastern Region) affair. There will be one main station (at the point the branch line leaves the main line) and one station at the end of the branch line. I am also hoping to incorporate a salt works, again based on the Stafford salt works, which ceased production in 1970 due to problems with subsidence. I have to admit I know very little about railways, other than being a regular rail user for many years, so I am trying to research as much as possible. As I said at the beginning, I am fairly new to all this, so I hope everyone will bear with me if I ask any silly questions. So far, I have been learning by mistakes, which is a good way of learning, but I thought now was the time to start enjoying the benefit of other people's knowledge and experience.