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Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement


Hattons Dave
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1 hour ago, 7013 said:

 

You can always ask Hattons to pop the locos in their ‘Trunk’ facility until you have the funds to pay for them.

 

I think you have to buy them for them to go into the trunk. It's just to combine postage I think.

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6 hours ago, 37501 said:

I wonder if any modifications have been made to the axles and axle boxes of this new batch....

 

John

I doubt they’d have time since the last lot , or the inclination 

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19 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

Time at least, not sure about inclination

Why would they change the design - you all keep buying them , if that changed maybe they’d redesign it 

Edited by rob D2
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2 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

Why would they change the design - you all keep buying them , if that changed maybe they’d redesign it 

 

I'd be interested to know how many got returned and are sat languishing because of it. Just because some of us are willing to buy it regardless of this flaw doesn't mean that it's cost effective to ignore it.

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14 hours ago, Triumph1050 said:

Count myself very lucky that I applied some glue to the small steps on the ploughs on both my 66s as I just looked at one and it fell off

 

Yep I am missing at least 2 somewhere in the layout. I know they are on the layout somewhere as the locos never come off the track!

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11 hours ago, Hilux5972 said:

A bit annoyed they are here now. I will have the funds available for when they were delayed until October. I don’t have the funds available now, so there’s a chance I’ll miss out. 

"Not delayed long enough" has to be my new favourite complaint on here ! Even better than the "too many layouts" complaint about one of the mags a few years ago. Talk about damned if you do...

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Well my 66780 has just arrived.

Initial thoughts when handling the box, I thought I had been sent 2 by accident, only 1 in the box and I'm surprised by the sheer weight of the model. 

 

IMG_20200723_090246.jpg.cf4892e9632612bac0f9180b7bf64cbc.jpg

 

2 minor defects I've noticed. 1 outward sandbox pipe is broken and a slightly wonky nameplate on one side.  It has clear signs of being run either at the factory or Hattons as the tyres have a thin layer of dirt. 

 

IMG_20200723_090223.jpg.55a24c55289451e80d8bb55332036d92.jpgIMG_20200723_090235.jpg.5b59e3fe1dfa33f31e54e601eb577c98.jpg

 

I shall update once it's had a chance to run in. 

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15 minutes ago, Wheatley said:

"Not delayed long enough" has to be my new favourite complaint on here ! Even better than the "too many layouts" complaint about one of the mags a few years ago. Talk about damned if you do...

 

I think the point is don't say they are delayed for 3 months if they are actually coming in 4 weeks time!

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1 hour ago, Wheatley said:

"Not delayed long enough" has to be my new favourite complaint on here ! Even better than the "too many layouts" complaint about one of the mags a few years ago. Talk about damned if you do...

 

Couldn't agree more, there's no pleasing some people. 

 

I am wondering if the models did infact arrive at the original time, but then were quarantined for a thorough QC check by Hattons. This then took less time than expected and so they were released earlier. Would explain why 'Pre Grouping Fans' model appears to have been run, and also the rather sudden "they're not here yet" and then "oh now they are here" comms.

 

Purely conjecture of course. Let's see how many have faults in this batch...

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30 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

I think the point is don't say they are delayed for 3 months if they are actually coming in 4 weeks time!

 

Funny thing is, I remember you and I have a discussion where you said you would prefer things coming early than late...

Roy

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28 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

I think the point is don't say they are delayed for 3 months if they are actually coming in 4 weeks time!

 

This could have been something to do with the current, every changing world climate making it hard to predict when the models would come. I understand the frustration but given what's going on we should probably be thankful we are getting these models at all :)

 

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16 minutes ago, Pre Grouping fan said:

Well my 66780 has just arrived.

Initial thoughts when handling the box, I thought I had been sent 2 by accident, only 1 in the box and I'm surprised by the sheer weight of the model

 

 

Please stop the exaggerations. It is heavier than most (possibly all) exisiting OO models, but not by as much as I have seen described

 

I have just weighed my sound-fitted 66 at 768g.

I also weighed one of my sound fitted Hornby 50s: 681g. So that makes the 66 13% heavier. (A real 50 is about 1% heavier than a 66). I don't remember any fuss about the weight of Hornby's 50 when it was introduced?

While I agree that adding this extra weight is a good achievement, it is not as much of an increase over existing models as many seem to be making out.

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36 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

I think the point is don't say they are delayed for 3 months if they are actually coming in 4 weeks time!

 

They announced dates for the 1st batch with what at the time were reasonable estimates, but delays caused models to miss each date..& people complained.

This time they gave a conservative estimate & the items arrived sooner than expected...& people are complaining.

 

Sounds like they can't win.

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8 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

 

They announced dates for the 1st batch with what at the time were reasonable estimates, but delays caused models to miss each date..& people complained.

This time they gave a conservative estimate & the items arrived sooner than expected...& people are complaining.

 

Sounds like they can't win.

 

Saying "late 2020" on the 24th of June, just less than a month ago, and then people having had them delivered today is not conservative estimation IMO. It's approx. 300% (or 66% depending on which way you go with it) out if we assume early October qualifies as late 2020.

 

Even a note a week ago or whatever saying they had come back forward again may have helped some people. I don't think they just fell from the sky onto Hattons' doorstep yesterday! They must have known they were coming.

 

I am sure Hattons' accountants would have similar complaints if a load of stock unexpectedly turned up 2+ months before budgeted that wanted paying for.

 

It could be they have been there all along being checked and it took less time than expected....

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28 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

Please stop the exaggerations. It is heavier than most (possibly all) exisiting OO models, but not by as much as I have seen described

 

Heljan DPU was the heaviest come up with in the conversation a page or so back

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I ended up pre-ordering a Class 66, pre-ordered the CEMEX one when I heard they were delayed to the end of 2020. Sadly I've had to cancel the order urgently. The pandemic made a mess of deliveries. In July itself I ended up getting 4 models which should've ideally come in between March and June. With more that 400 quid down in a span of one week. I've had to sadly cancel my order for my CEMEX Class 66.

And for those members who have an issue with others expressing their opinions over an early delivery...early deliveries may be a nice thing, but this hobby isn't cheap. A lot of people live on tight budgets and instances like this can really affect their modelling budget. If you have all the money in the world, good for you. Others have strict budgets and they want certain models.

As for Hattons, I cannot think of any excuse for not knowing about a delivery (unless Hattons would like to comment??) Model trains are not small shipments, especially the range of Hattons Class 66 which is a rather large batch. Such consignments are not going to be untraceable. They are going to be tracked and Hattons would get notifications at every step. Hattons would've known when it left China, when it reached the UK, when it passed through customs, when it left customs and when it was being delivered. Covid situation aside, Hattons communication with projects like the Class 66, A3 and A4 hasn't been to their usual standard. Communication only exists when they have to advertise their product. Other than that we've heard precious little from them.

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27 minutes ago, 89A said:

Looks like Hattons have had pre orders plus a few extras of the second batch flown in as numbers in stock are falling fast.

Pure speculation here but I wonder if this batch has been flown in? If we look back to batch 1 a small consignment was shipped just before Christmas which must have been tiny since it sold out in days. If you take the cemex example from batch 2 it's already sold out and indicates more are coming late 2020. Maybe something similar has happened and what we are seeing now is a small consignment released early (maybe to test the waters) that was air shipped just like batch 1. That would explain the sudden nature since hattons might have been surprised how fast factories started up again and had a few models that would otherwise have to sit in China until late 2020.

 

Again just speculation

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9 minutes ago, Br60066 said:

Pure speculation here but I wonder if this batch has been flown in? If we look back to batch 1 a small consignment was shipped just before Christmas which must have been tiny since it sold out in days. If you take the cemex example from batch 2 it's already sold out and indicates more are coming late 2020. Maybe something similar has happened and what we are seeing now is a small consignment released early (maybe to test the waters) that was air shipped just like batch 1. That would explain the sudden nature since hattons might have been surprised how fast factories started up again and had a few models that would otherwise have to sit in China until late 2020.

 

Again just speculation

My thoughts exactly - Maybe had a batch ready sooner than expected and they could have decided to air freight a them over. Mine should arrive today, I was lucky with 66 789, had no issues at all, think it is a really great model, hope this is the same!

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1 hour ago, rob D2 said:

I’d imagine air freight to be prohibitely costly for more than a few , compared with a. Container 

 

Depends on how fast really in my little experience of it.

 

I had a 125x125x125 pallet to come to the UK from Australia, 150kg.

 

Somebody quoted about 3 grand but it was pretty much as fast as it would physically get here. Next flight and only the one flight (other than stopovers).

 

We got it brought for £900 ish and it took just over a week.

 

That pallet size I think would be good for about 200 class 66s (weight wise about 150 but I'd expect the volume to be the worst case).

 

£4.50 a loco for it to come by plane doesn't sound that bad TBH! And I'd expect it to be cheaper from China as there will be more routes.

Edited by TomScrut
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