Paddy

It does look like the body is sitting a wee bit high on the chassis. It is an EP so it may just be an assembly issue at this stage. Also, not providing DCC support seems a strange choice given how popular it is. The idea of a removable section of weight that can be replaced with a decoder would seem a reasonable compromise. The wee loco seems to be running well in their video though. Kind regards Paddy

Hi @Tony Wright Glad to see your A2 does not seem to have the assembly issues endured by others. May be the poor ones are down to specific individuals within the factory? If I was Hornby, I would do causal analysis to reduce the risk of this sort of thing happening again. As you indicate, Hornby's A2 represents incredible value when compared to the cost of the equivalent locomotive built and painted from a kit. However, this does not excuse Hornby from being accountable for poor assembly and dubious (to some people) livery choices. Whilst cheaper than a kit, the ~£190 RRP is still a lot of money to many people and it is not wrong for them to expect their model to be very good. If the reality is that Hornby need to increase prices to get to this standard consistently then that is another conversation. I wish Hornby every success and I truly feel for them as I am sure they did not set out to deliver models which have left some of their valued customers feeling disappointed. Kind regards Paddy

Hi @Golden Fleece 30 Great work and the sides look really good. I have been working on a similar Night Ferry train but in N Gauge and considered printed sides at one point. To my knowledge, the CIWL cars used on the Night Ferry were all over blue and not blue/white (hope I am wrong though). In later years, there was a French railways Fourgon at the front (1 or 2) and a MK1 Blue/Grey brake at the rear. Hope this helps. Kind regards Paddy

Hi Folks, Just had a wee look at Sam’s video which shows his replacement loco. Firstly, all credit to Simon Kohler for reaching out to Sam and sending him a replacement. However, even the replacement is not perfect - the mind boggles. If that was me, I would have gone over the example I was going to send to Sam with a fine tooth Combe before releasing it. An opportunity missed a wee bit on Hornby’s part to change the narrative. Kind regards Paddy

Hi Pete Good news and I hope you get a good one. This reminds me of the time the CEO of Audi UK promised me that if they could not repair my new A4 they would replace it - and they did. I got the same promise from the CEO of VW UK and they replaced my wife’s Polo. All this was done in a mutually respectful manner and with no hard feelings on either side. Both cars had serious issues that the dealers could not put right after multiple attempts. Kind regards Paddy

A good choice of colour is Humbrol Acrylic 15 Midnight Blue Gloss. Lovely deep, rich blue that matches the CIWL livery. Hope this helps. Kind regards Paddy

Hi Folks, My heart goes out to all of you affected by these issues and also Hornby. To go to all that effort of designing a model which even @Tony Wright believes is one of the most accurate RTR models for it to be poorly assembled is heartbreaking. It also sounds like other Hornby models are suffering from manufacturing issues as well. In my humble opinion, Hornby need to get ahead of this in a proactive manner and should acknowledge the issues and offer reassurance to its loyal customers. They really do not want to get a reputation for poor workmanship as this could quickly undo all the hard work they have done as part of their recovery. It would great if one of the model railway magazines raised these issues with Hornby and helped them to manage communication etc. Kind regards Paddy

Hi @LNER4479 I believe you are right but the major difference these days is that almost anyone can reach an audience of thousands with very little effort, comeback or sense of responsibility. Kind regards Paddy

Blimey, even Mr Wright can be er... wrong on occasion! Kind regards Paddy

Hi @Roger Sunderland And there you have one of the major problems with social media. The same issue now affects all facets of modern life and does not seem to show any signs of changing. I did read the other day that Apple has concerns about this and is considering doubling down on how these platforms operate if they want to exist on the Apple ecosystem. Kind regards Paddy

Hi Tony, These were/are (?) a great series of videos and I purchased most of them on DVD at the time. I will never forget you trying to spray a loco (black if memory serves) as the can squirted paint all over you. Every time I think of that bit I have a chuckle. Kind regards Paddy

Ah, great thing about YT is that you can just skip past the boring bits. Kind regards Paddy

Very true @Northmoor. Unfortunately, that is not the world we seem to inhabit anymore. People like Sam have the ability to materially affect the market, companies for the good and not so good. Think about it, as many people watch Sam’s videos as buy the most popular model railway magazines... Kind regards Paddy

Hi Folks, I believe Sam gets too hard a time. There is no doubting his enthusiasm and he seems to be reasonably capable when it comes to mechanics of model locomotives. What does surprise me, is that given this he does not have a proper test layout. Even if it was just a board with the most common track components on it, this would add credibility to his reviews. Sam has obviously chosen to lay his track on the carpet for a reason - I do not think it is something done from ignorance. Having watched some of Sam’s reviews, one cannot dismiss the poor assembly/finish issues his close up photos highlight. There is definitely improvements to be made by various manufacturers. Finally, I would say do not underestimate Sam’s influence. With close to 100K followers and high viewing figures he has the ability to impact the wider market. Kind regards Paddy

Bit of a funny shade of green too... Shame Hornby cannot stamp out these wee construction issues. Kind regards Paddy

Today's catalogues have very high production values but the content lacks the "wow" factor and/or narrative. It is simply page upon page of model photographs - why purchase something like this when you can get the same information from the web? I totally understand that people collect catalogues and good luck to them but I would like to see a return to the early Tri-ang and other brand catalogues which seem to be full of wonder and excitement. May be it is a case of less is more? In the 1960s, the range of models was much less so manufacturers had to work harder to make their products desirable? Alternatively, may be I am just being overly nostalgic... Kind regards Paddy

My wife and I are convinced Google, Facebook etc. are listening to us. We can be having a conversation about something boring like pillows and then she gets a link on her feed for pillow retailers! Kind regards Paddy

Come on Andy, use the right term "merch"! Kind regards Paddy

From Sam's Train's to Donald Trump in two pages of posts. It is like 3 degrees of separation! Kind regards Paddy

Ouch, that is one hell of a can of worms there John... Kind regards Paddy

Thanks Andy. I am dyslexic and despite trying my best, I do select the wrong "spelling" on occasion. Kind regards Paddy

You got me to respond again Woodenhead - you are good! And all we're doing here is disagreeing with him and giving our opinion without insulting him which I think is fair. Come on, there have been some posts which a sailing VERY close to insulting Sam and his approach. Free speech is tolerated on all platforms, it is people who are censoring free speech not the social media giants... Again, it comes down to an individuals definition of what constitutes "free speech". Everyone should have the right to offend someone else. I am not saying I always like it but progress in thought/ideas requires strong discussion and disagreement. Edit: That is me done or Andy will wrap my knuckles again. Kind regards Paddy

Hi Woodenhead, Thank you for your reply. I will try to address your detailed response... Paddy, I hate to break it to you - you're in Social Media - a web forum is just an older design of Social Media, whether you care to admit it or not, you are in it. It's just here you are in the moderated end of the spectrum with people who have a vested interest in having truth being spoken or opinions shared which will not harm others. I know, I am just a wee bit more selective in my choices but point taken. Facebook is not evil, it's misguided and driven by the need to accumulate wealth through knowledge but it is not peddling extremist views, but there are such places and it's where people driven off Twitter, Facebook etc reside. Never said FB was "evil" - I chose the word "bad" carefully. As for FB not peddling extremist views - that is very subjective. They may not be extreme to you but I can assure you there is content that will cause offence and strong responses from others. Anyway, enough of this as we are definitely venturing off suitable topics for a toy train forum. The good news is that places like Facebook and Youtube offer options similar to RMWeb - you can choose to ignore content, ask not to be shown stuff you don't want to see and you only need to share an email address with Facebook to then get access to the many forums on there that chat about model and real railways. That said I've not seen anything on Facebook that has anything like the depth or detail of RMWeb so it's here I spend most time and only briefly scan Facebook sites to see what trains images people are sharing. We are in agreement here - many people seem to forget that there is always the off, change channel, close tab button! Kind regards Paddy

The recorded game play is primarily down to finding out "tips" on how to progress in games. I bit like using cheat POKEs back on your ZX Spectrum in the 1980s. Kind regards Paddy

I asked my daughter this and she is equated live game streaming to watching any other sport... Kind regards Paddy