br-nse-fan

This is the point I was trying to make in an earlier post. I do not understand how even before the closure, Hattons was even breaking even on postage. As others have suggested, they must have had one hell of a bulk rate due to the volume they sent out. But, as with @GWR-fan noted above, I've received 5 parcels to Canada and only one of them could be considered more product than packing. Two more came today (for a total of 7 so far!) that I'll need to collect as I wasn't home, but there's no way 7 parcels overseas to Canada was only £48 to post. I'm not complaining mind you, but I would have been more than happy to pay a fair shipping rate if it meant Hattons were able to continue as a business.

I will agree, that no retailer could possibly hope to compete with eBay in terms of volume and selection. The problem is us oversea modelers get absolutely shafted by exorbitant shipping fees, or the seller just not posting overseas in the first place.

Yes, there are.. but they are becoming fewer and fewer in numbers. Not 10 years ago, there was probably a half dozen retailers that you could reliably get UK outline from here in Canada. Now, with the Canadian distributor for Hornby closing their doors, there is no longer a means to get Hornby in Canada, through a Canadian retailer. I believe this has been discussed previously in this thread, but Hornby have all but refused to find or work with other shops to replace them. So while yes, there are certainly the ways and means for us overseas customers to continue to get items, it certainly won't be easy nor will the cost to do so be as consumer friendly as Hatton's has made it over the years.

The Trunk. I emptied it and ordered it all shipped together, and thus far it's been coming piecemeal over the past week.

I've begun to receive my final order from Hattons.. and this is where I am having to... shall we say... question how things were being done? Granted, this order was over 100 items, but thus far I have received five(!) parcels from Hattons over the past week, but have only received a little more than a third of the items ordered. The first parcel had 4 EFE buses. The 2nd parcel had 8(?) Oxford cars and a Base Toys BR lorry. The next three parcels arrived yesterday, and again.. they were all small/medium sized packages having only a smallish number of items... 5 more EFE buses, ten 4 wheel Bachmann wagons and the last one with some Oxford buses and some packages of Bachmann NEM couplers. A couple weeks ago I received a single package from Kernow, weighing less than the package with 5 buses, and it cost me £45 to ship. There is no way Hattons could be shipping the volume they have been to me for the £38 that I paid.

Just received mine (also in Canada) just this past week, and came here for this same reason. @Dominion You wouldn't happen to have the measurements for this small bracket by chance? The air was rather... blue... when I realized there was no Kadee compatible option. I'm guessing the mount is a little low to use the center shank.. #146 I believe? @rapidoandy, perhaps including such an adapter in future UK models might be an option, where the "normal" NEM couplers won't fit?

I saw this and almost picked it up... but decided against wanting to deal with a potential headache. I instead grabbed a couple of the Dapol LMS brown box vans, a Hornby Maroon MK1 Full Brake and a very nice, and unique Stanier sleeper for only £21 (after VAT deduction), and some Bachmann NCB wagons (£28 for 3). https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklistdatabase/stockdetail?sid=1562055 Now I just need to figure out what rake of coaches I am going to include this in.. lol

I snagged 7 of them.. lol.. and here I thought I was done.. Well done Hattons, well done.. you managed to pry my wallet open once again!

I'm wondering if these are returns that could not be sold for some reason. The LMS Princess Alexandra looks like the one that I bought a few months ago. It was in the latest release box, but it was actually a 20yr old model from one of the boxed train packs. Was in terrible condition, so Hattons asked for it back, full refund including return postage. If anyone here is looking at it, buyer beware.. it's in very rough shape.. unless Hattons fixed it up.

You may need to refresh your page, and make sure you are looking under preowned. I'm showing 87 items

A small number of used/damaged/kitbuilt items just showed up under OO

Just emptied my trunk... had been holding off on doing so since the announcement.. but nothing of any note has been showing up in the 2nd hand stock, and what's left is over priced (for what it is) or old broken tat.. I think the final count was 112 items. Mostly DCC decoders and other small accessories, but still totaled over 9000g due to several EFE buses. Shipping? A whopping £48 to Canada. In comparison, I had a pair of the EFE Bullied Boosters, one coach and one wagon from Kernow that cost £45 to ship. While I realize that Hattons is likely subsidizing the shipping to international customers, but it's not going to change the fact that they are going to be missed

The last email I got from Nigel, and I hope I am not letting anything out of the bag, was that he felt Hornby does not consider the Canadian market worth their time or effort, and are content with their being no distribution. I don't know what the current climate is here in terms of sales, etc.. I know there used to be several options to purchase UK models in Canada, but most have closed shop... and even the mainstays at the GBTS have been clearing out more and more and not continuing after their current stock is sold out. Postage is a whole other matter, and that alone will be sufficient enough for me to curb my spending. I bought a pair of the EFE SR 'Boosters' from Kernow, and the postage was £30 to Canada, in comparison, one of my last orders from Hattons was a similar size/weight and it was only £11.

As a Canadian who has been using Hatton's since the early 2000's, the news is very saddening. With the recently closing/winding down of not only Hatton's, but the Canadian distributor for Hornby (Britannia Models), there is no longer any way to get Hornby products locally. Hornby have refused to communicate with the local supplier here in Ontario, and the only other distributor being in the US, has put a huge damper on UK outline availability. Yes, there are other retailers... I've used Rails and Kernow a number of times in the past, and no disrespect to any of them.. few can come close to the level of service that Hatton's has been able to provide over the years. I hope someone else picks up the Trunk service that Hatton's offered... I've used it a lot (maybe too much?), and I currently have about 90 items dating back to October of last year, waiting to ship. I've not shipped yet as I keep watching the 2nd hand inventory on the off chance something from my wish list shows up.. lol

Hi Mike None of the coaches are cut & shut or modifications of preexisting models. These all have metal sides with a wood chassis and roof. I've seen similar kits before, but the manufacturer escapes me at this time. The 12 wheeler has LMS bogies because these are Caledonian "Grampian" coaches, at least the two large ones are. I've not been able to identify the shorter long brake, but it too is a solid metal side with preformed panels and cut/punched windows. I'm wondering if these are ancient CCW kits (or similar)?

Hi Jason It does appear that these are very likely Caledonian coaches repainted into GWR livery. The 2nd coach (12 wheel) seems to be a kit (metal sides, wood chassis, etc) of what this shows as a conversion one of those very Caledonian brake coaches: https://srmg.org.uk/an-excaledonian-railway-12wheel-taunton-brake-through-coach The third and fourth coaches may well be of Caledonian origin as well (kits, not conversions), this will at least widen the search criteria.

Comparison shot with a K12 (or similar). The two middle coaches look larger than "normal", but I don't think they are 70'

Hello All I recently picked up some alleged GWR coach kits that have been finished to a relatively good standard, but I am having difficulty identifying them. I'm not sure who the original manufacturer of the kits are (Phoenix?) but I have seen similar kits before. They have what seems to be an aluminum side with wood chassis and roof, and a metal sole bar. The bogies are mostly metal, with the exception of one that is running on a set of incorrect Hornby MK1 bogies. I've spent several days on google and every page I can find on GWR coaches, but while there are lots of written information, there is not much in the way of photo's or drawings. There are a number of coaches that are similar, but nothing that I can say are a definitive match. I've attached images showing both sides of the coaches as I know they can sometime vary from diagram to diagram. I've also attached a photo of what appears to be an outside frame Monster, but it does not quite match up. Again, I can't find much information on these online. It's been suggested that these are all fictitious flights of near-GWR fancy.. but as these are kits, and not scratch built.. I was hoping to tap into the greater hive mind for assistance!

Hi All I'm looking for a pair of Lima Class 47 bodies to replace some damaged ones. If anyone has any of the following liveries, please contact me with what one, and your asking price. Original NSE Revised NSE w/ BR Double Arrow LNER Green "Doncaster Enterprises" w/ Parcels branding BR Blue w/ Union Jack BR Blue Large Logo Not looking for the revises NSE w/o the BR Arrows as it's outside my chosen era. Many thanks in advance!

When I had originally contacted them, the products were on the site, but could not be ordered as any quantity that I tried to add returned an 'insufficient available' message. Specifically, the non-bullhead flexi track

Not wanting to beat a dead horse.. but I've emailed several times without a response. Being oversea's and not being able to call easily, I've all but given up. I've also noticed that the products I wanted the most, are no longer listed.. so I guess at the end of the day, not getting a response really didn't change matters.. and that's disappointing.

Ok, so it's been a while since I last posted any kind of update, and I'll likely start a new layout topic... but so far, I've been able to update and expand the layout somewhat. So anyway, this is what I received from my Dad: I've extended the length of the platform 2 & 3 lines to accommodate a full 5 coach train plus locomotive, and allow room to run around the train. I don't have a shot mirroring the above, but this is pretty close: And a view of the redesigned traction department: PW Sidings: Approach to the station with the single line branch and entrance to the cement works: The cement works with the tracks set into 'cement'. I've gone for a torn up, worn down look on the 'cement' between the rails, as the years of heavy traffic have taken their toll. Still needs to be painted and detailed: And finally, Hornby and Bachmann MK2's in the same rake... and yes, there is a significant difference in the color of the grey. Very disappointing... *shrug*

I would suggest having a few spares if each size for testing. I've found that the No 18 fits most of my stock, bringing the inside face of the knuckle in line with the flat of the buffer face. However, as stated above, if using set track points and/or small radius curves, you'll need to experiment with what works best for you. I've actually built my layout with kadee couplers in mind, and as such don't have anything tighter than a 22" radius on the main line, and 18" in sidings.

Hi All I've been using Kadee's for a couple years now, and have had some pretty good success with most of the models that I own, with the exception of a couple... and was hoping someone could give some pointers on how to tackle these: 1 - Bachmann Class 40 - one of the older ones, NEM pocket set too high. Comes with a cranked coupler, but obviously, the Kadee sits too high. The pocket appears to be molded into the chassis frame. 2 - Bachmann Class 45 - same as above. The Kadee sit's too high. 3 - ViTrains Class 47 - non-standard NEM mounting, no way to attach the swallow tail. I know there have been some who have glued a butchered Kadee into the socket, but I was hoping someone has come up with a more 'civilized' method.

Because Cambrian will not direct sell outside the UK.. perhaps the poster is located elsewhere, such as the US or Canada...? From the Cambrian site: