Rail Head Treatment Train (RHTT) in OO Gauge

[Brambles]

Thanks Roddy Angus, appreciated.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Brambles

[Brambles]

I’ve removed the bogie - thanks again Roddy Angus. The only way to do it. I’ve managed to re-attach one piece but the other is not as good a fit and has resisted all my attempts so far!

[Brambles]

Done! The second piece is not a true tight/push fit so it’s relying on glue. Not sure how long it’ll last. I notice too that these pieces sometimes tip the adjacent pipe work when the bogie swings, the tolerances are very tight!

Edited March 28, 2019 by Brambles

[classy52]

@Brambles shouldn't you send it back for a new replacement, by attempting repair which may not last haven't you voided the warranty and risk keeping a broken product?

[Brambles]

Classy52, probably, but I’m not too fussed. In my experience Hattons are excellent in this regard but I’m happy to work with it as it is.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Brambles

[Brambles]

Hadn’t spotted this - another piece missing but no sign of it anywhere. It has come out of the holes completely and disappeared. But it’s easily fixed therefore; some fine wire, a little paint, and glue! Lots of work though for a brand new model!

[classy52]

15 hours ago, Brambles said:

Classy52, probably, but I’m not too fussed. In my experience Hattons are excellent in this regard but I’m happy to work with it as it is.

 

Trouble is it encourages Hatton's to sweep it under the carpet in delivering shoddy faulty goods and you're not the only one, now that you have spotted another flaw you should really send it back.

Edited March 29, 2019 by classy52

[KDG]

It is important that these occurances are fed back to Hattons so that they a, know about it and b, have a chance to improve their QC or packaging or whatever is causing the issue.

 

Just like Danny, I ordered 3 sets and the boxes were open on all of them. Perhaps Hattons check them before they go out of the door? They are fragile due to the level of detail and tricky to get out of the boxes, maybe whoever does the QC is a bit ham fisted. I don't  know.....I had some small detail parts detached from the wagons too.

 

Lets keep this in perspective though everyone......these are far from shoddy. The sets look fine and run very well even top and tailed with a match pair of Bachmann 37s or 66s.

[KDG]

Need to try the waterjet set with a pair of Hornby gbrf 73s.....

[Brambles]

KDG, I agree with you, and I have indeed fed the information back to Hattons. Not least because I really shouldn’t have to spend considerable time repairing items that cost me €159.00! But on this occasion I’m also happy to repair the wagons myself. 

Edited March 28, 2019 by Brambles

[newbryford]

And I'm quite sure Hattons will be looking at this thread especially as they started it

Edited March 29, 2019 by newbryford

[Perfect Paul]

14 minutes ago, newbryford said:

And I'm quite sure Hattons will be looking at this thread anyway..........

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Hattons are keeping quiet on purpose, until such time as they have fully identified and investigated as to how the problems are occurring in the first place, and with what regularity.

 

I'm sure they will come up with a solution that will keep us all happy, and maintain our trust in them and their New products.

Edited March 29, 2019 by Perfect Paul

[RusselBridge2017]

Think all these moaners that a unhappy at maybe 2 or 3 items being dislodged in 5000 mile trip from China should go back the the 1980s and buy some Lima all molded detail models.....

 

£159 is a lot of money but 2 items come loose in maybe 500 plus on the model is a very small percentage.

 

Stop knocking Hattons or any company please for providing us superb models that needs a small amount of time to put it right,....

 

Just do some modelling and put the issue right.

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

16 minutes ago, RusselBridge2017 said:

Think all these moaners that a unhappy at maybe 2 or 3 items being dislodged in 5000 mile trip from China should go back the the 1980s and buy some Lima all molded detail models.....

 

£159 is a lot of money but 2 items come loose in maybe 500 plus on the model is a very small percentage.

 

Stop knocking Hattons or any company please for providing us superb models that needs a small amount of time to put it right,....

 

Just do some modelling and put the issue right.

 

So if you had spent hundreds of pounds alike what some of us have on these particular items and you received them with the detailing significantly damaged or completely snapped off would you be happy? 

 

It's clearly not a small amount of people who have received damaged goods because their are several comments above by several customers in the same situation. 

 

The issue can't be put right as such with the goods that customers have received. As I have mentioned I have attempted to straighten out the damaged detailing on my wagons and it won't work, otherwise the detailing will then be snapped off completely alike what others have received theirs. For some who have received the detailing completely snapped off it may or may not be possible to re-attach them back onto the wagons, depending upon where they need to be attached and how badly damaged they are. But the point is we shouldn't be receiving damaged goods, especially not on items that are really expensive. At £59 per wagon that is an extortionate amount of money to spend on something to then receive damaged.

 

For the people that have bought these wagons I am sure they bought them because they are ready to run (RTR). If customers would have wanted to do some modelling they could have bought the kit versions of which I understand have been available for some time.  

[Lochnagar]

I'll be modifying mine to correct the 'backwards' incorrectly fitted water/sandite jetting yellow pipes and bogies. Put simply these are on the wrong end of both wagons as stated previously, they should be on the outer ends with the handbrake wheels nearest the centre of the set. Now that I've seen it I have to put it right! Other than that it's a superb model, very impressed otherwise and nothing has fallen off yet. VERY fragile, possibly the most fragile RTR item yet. 

 

Alex

[RusselBridge2017]

To be honest I have not seen any significate damage yet in these pages....

 

Trouble is these models are too detailed to be able to insert them into the packaging at speed.

 

I would guess the factory gives the assembler a certain time to do this and items can get bent or dislodged with all that moulded plastic packaging

 

The only way I can see for this not to happen to such a detailed model is to buy brass, you would pay thousands for this RHTT in brass. 

 

 

 

 

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

23 minutes ago, RusselBridge2017 said:

To be honest I have not seen any significate damage yet in these pages....

 

Trouble is these models are too detailed to be able to insert them into the packaging at speed.

 

I would guess the factory gives the assembler a certain time to do this and items can get bent or dislodged with all that moulded plastic packaging

 

The only way I can see for this not to happen to such a detailed model is to buy brass, you would pay thousands for this RHTT in brass. 

 

 

 

 

 

I would think that everyone understands just how detailed these models are and whilst that is great Hattons have to understand that several of their selling points of these models were around detailing. Thus, when detailing is damaged or worse still snapped off, customers that have spent a lot of money on these items are rightfully going to be angry. 

 

Whilst brass is an option I cannot see sufficient numbers paying thousands for a set of two wagons. As nice as what they are, I would think that many people would not be able to justify spending that amount of money. 

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

14 hours ago, classy52 said:

 

Trouble is it encourages Hatton's to sweep it under the carpet in delivering shoddy faulty goods and you're not the only one, now that you have spotted another flaw you should really send it back.

 

From my perspective I can definitely see your point. I have chose not to send mine back even though their is damage to two out of the three sets that I bought. I have chosen not to send them back because whilst the damage is noticeable all of the parts are still intact on the wagons unlike some other unfortunate folk who have received theirs snapped off. What also puts me off returning them is the fact that they came in as a large parcel so to return them it's probably going to be around £15 and then return postage, not to mention that it's difficult to arrange for someone to be at home to sign for them and take the parcel in. But at the time same I want to make my views and concerns heard on this thread, especially considering that Hattons were the ones who started it. I have also made it known that I won't be buying anymore of their brand products until their are assurances that they aren't going to arrive damaged. Even then I am tempted to not buy anything on the principle of spending £354 to receive damage goods. To charge customers that amount of money for so little goods at such extortionate prices to receive them damaged is really out of order.  

 

13 hours ago, KDG said:

It is important that these occurances are fed back to Hattons so that they a, know about it and b, have a chance to improve their QC or packaging or whatever is causing the issue.

 

Just like Danny, I ordered 3 sets and the boxes were open on all of them. Perhaps Hattons check them before they go out of the door? They are fragile due to the level of detail and tricky to get out of the boxes, maybe whoever does the QC is a bit ham fisted. I don't  know.....I had some small detail parts detached from the wagons too.

 

Lets keep this in perspective though everyone......these are far from shoddy. The sets look fine and run very well even top and tailed with a match pair of Bachmann 37s or 66s.

 

But at the same time despite the damage to the wagons, they are really nice as KDG says. One of my main reasons for keeping them and not returning them and asking for a full refund is because I have a lot of locos that I bought them to run with. So the fact that several of my locos will now see more use in the long term is what persuaded me to keep them. 

 

Hattons are going to have to get their act together though for other forthcoming models especially the Class 66s. If such a big project involving 32 models has the same issues or in fact different issues similar to the RHTTs then they are in trouble, especially considering the price of £150 per model. 

 

In my eyes their should be no faults whatsoever with the Class 66s. They have been delayed for six months which gives Hattons the time to investigate the issues surrounding the RHTTs and QC and improve next time around. Only time will tell, but Hattons really do need to impress now with the 66s. 

[Steven B]

11 minutes ago, DRS Crewe On A Mission said:

 

What also puts me off returning them is the fact that they came in as a large parcel so to return them it's probably going to be around £15 and then return postage, not to mention that it's difficult to arrange for someone to be at home to sign for them and take the parcel in.

 

Hatton's returns system is excellent; I recently returned a faulty Dapol class 142. They emailed a free returns label and suggested several drop-off points. All it cost me was printing out the label and a few minutes visiting the local newsagent

 

 

 

Steven B.

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

1 minute ago, Steven B said:

 

Hatton's returns system is excellent; I recently returned a faulty Dapol class 142. They emailed a free returns label and suggested several drop-off points. All it cost me was printing out the label and a few minutes visiting the local newsagent

 

 

 

Steven B.

 

Thank you for letting me know. I really appreciate it. 

 

The returns system/policy must have changed since I last sent something back a few years ago. 

[newbryford]

5 hours ago, DRS Crewe On A Mission said:

 

 

It's clearly not a small amount of people who have received damaged goods because their are several comments above by several customers in the same situation. 

 

Several is a grand total of 6 so far....

 

And at least two - including yourself are happy to keep them.

 

By all means, raise your concerns on here, Hattons will be reading them and taking note.

 

It's not like they are not the first manufacturer to fall foul of lots of small parts being dislodged in transit either.

Heljan 128s often arrived in "kit" form.................

Dapol JNAs with loose wheelsets and bogies

Revolution TEAs with a couple of parts loose.

Hornby 67s with detached buffers.

Dapol 68s with various parts rattling in the box.

Bachmann 37s with buffers hanging off.

Bachmaan JPAs (when they were available) with all four axles hanging out.

Hornby 50s with missing buffer steps

 

And it's not limited to UK outline either, I've had a few US items with loose parts.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2019 by newbryford

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

1 minute ago, newbryford said:

 

Several is a grand total of 6 so far....

 

 

Still several people though Mick and not just minor issues either. I have been one of the more fortunate ones who has received the wagons fully intact, even though the detailing is bent and damaged. But nonetheless the items are still damaged and to whatever extent it doesn't really matter. Hattons have still taken people's money and sent them damaged goods and in my case a parcel that wasn't even sealed. It's far from a positive first experience of buying Hattons own brand products. 

[icphotos]

I think it's the nature of the hobby now, if we demand more and more detailed models, with more separately added details, you're going to get more pieces coming loose.

In past 2 months 3 out of 4 of my purchases have had pieces lying in the box ( Revolution TEA tankers, Dapol class 68 and Hattons RHTT) but at least they were in the box, but waiting to see how many other pieces are going to be shaken off during running or handling in future months and lost. It would be useful if manufacturers made it easier to buy detailing pieces as replacements. 

 

[classy52]

I think Hatton's Dave should deliver his RHTT in this manner to each customer 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXG6CKgSNdc

 

[PaulRhB]

A few damages are always going to happen, and always have, it’s just people are just more vociferous about it online. 

There will be 66’s with bits off it’s inevitable, that’s why there’s a return policy backed up by trading laws if it ever came to that level. 

The people assembling them are human and I bet we’d all make occasional errors like not quite enough glue, not quite clipped down etc.

If you want each model individually inspected and all parts checked at both ends you can add quite a bit to the price as those people are going to be full time and aren’t doing their normal job so it’s not just 10 minutes to do it as it’s another member of staff on the payroll and 3000 times 5 minutes will have people screaming ‘they’re in the country so why haven’t I got it yet?’ 

 

 

Apple gave lots of people new battieries for a fault on their two year old iphones but as mine's not on the list, despite them doing a online performance check that identified the same issue, I’d have to pay. If the giants can’t provide 100% perfection with their automated assembly then how on earth can Hattons etc? 

I’ve had excellent service backup from my local, three big stores and Bachmann on defective new models over the years and at most I had to wait a couple of weeks. 

It all comes down to patience and perspective