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Rails announce SECR box van in OO


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58 minutes ago, wainwright1 said:

Very pleased to get this update.

I hope that Rails do a second run of the the two vans in the original Wainwright lead grey livery (one with the experimental iron doors), as I was not quick enough to get my order in for those.

Thanks

Ray

 

Yes me too. I Hope they rerun all 5 SECR wagons. Lesson here is that one should never go away for a weekend otherwise someone might announce and sell out an item while you are away! I don't care if they cost more to get them either.

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5 hours ago, No Decorum said:

It’s odd, isn’t it? Rails has used 3D printing to produce a small number of an unusual prototype, only to be swamped by demand. Meanwhile, Oxford takes the conventional route for a pre-grouping van. Interest in pre-grouping is growing. Which of them has judged the market correctly?

 

I am not sure that there is a right or wrong here.  We know that the Rails vans could have sold more.  But how many more?  25? (Probably more than that.) 700?  (enough to make injection moulding a realistic proposition - just.)  I would doubt the latter.  

 

OTOH Oxford have more access to the general market, being available in stores across the country.  They might well sell a thousand or more of their van - not just to the GER/LNER modeller but to people who just want a wagon to go on their layout (or little Johnny's layout) .

 

 

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14 minutes ago, JSpencer said:

I hope they rerun all 5 SECR wagons. Lesson here is that one should never go away for a weekend otherwise someone might announce and sell out an item while you are away! 

 

And here's me hoping they move on to a different wagon. Ideally a less obscure prototype, so that demand isn't as intense and then I might get round to ordering one before they're all gone!

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So I had forgotten all about these so it looks like they will still be produced....

I think they could do some more production runs and still sell them easily?

 

It would be good to understand the inside commercial story on these and do they make money for rails? 

I hope so...

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4 minutes ago, Martin.M said:

It would be good to understand the inside commercial story on these and do they make money for rails? 

I hope so...

 

There is a post somewhere back upthread where Edwardian explains the serendipitous manner in which the technology came to hand. I don't think you can expect Rails to publish a P&L statement for the project. 

Edited by Compound2632
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  • 3 months later...
On 01/10/2020 at 18:42, Edwardian said:

 

Well, it's for Oliver to make the announcement in due course as to when they are expected, and I don't think Rails yet have the schedule for the rest of the process and delivery, but the units are printed and I signed off on the artwork this morning, so I guess it won't be too much longer.  Thanks to everyone for their patience.  

Four months later and still no sign of these vans.

I have two on order.

 

Any chance of an update ?

 

Many thanks 

Ray

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3 minutes ago, wainwright1 said:

Four months later and still no sign of these vans.

I have two on order.

 

Any chance of an update ?

 

Many thanks 

Ray

 

Thank you for retaining interest in this product.  I can understand the frustration, however, Rails has had a lot of issues to navigate, not least the production of a UK-made RTR product in the midst of a pandemic. 

 

However, I would be optimistic of news in the near future.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks to everyone for their patience.

 

The early version SE&CR vans have been printed. To respond to the two recent posts, they are not printed at Dapol. They are, however, printed in the UK.

 

They are now in the queue for assembly and decoration at Dapol, which has re-opened and is getting back into production generally, I understand.  We have slightly increased the batch numbers, so that involves ordering further wheel-sets from Alan Gibson, and these take time.

 

It is too soon to give a date, but things are definitely moving. 

 

 

Edited by Edwardian
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Guest Jack Benson

Hi,

 

Called Sheffield earlier this week, unfortunately no good news. Only two different SR brown versions seem to be expected and no date, we live in hope.

 

StaySafe, StayHome

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21 hours ago, Jack Benson said:

Hi,

 

Called Sheffield earlier this week, unfortunately no good news. Only two different SR brown versions seem to be expected and no date, we live in hope.

 

StaySafe, StayHome

We have not had the SECR Maunsell and SR Large lettered versions yet.

 

Ray

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As we all know, a lot has changed in the last 12 months. Shortly after we announced our early SE&CR 16' covered goods wagon COVID really hit. This had a huge knock on effect with our production partners who had to switch their whole production operation to PPE and safety material. We obviously fully supported this and understood wagon production would commence when possible. As time past it became clear that the new normal was here to stay and production would be difficult with our current partner.

 

Over the past few months we have worked tirelessly and moved the whole operation to a new production partner. During this time and with the help and support of both previous and new partners we went back to the drawing board and reviewed the whole process and design. This has resulted in us having a far better understanding and the products are much more refined and detailed.

 

We are pleased to update everyone who pre-ordered these vans, that production is complete and the wagons are currently in the paint and assembly stage at Dapol.

 

All being well we expect to have the completed models in April.

 

Currently all models have pre-sold. We did slightly increase the production volume so once they arrive we should have a very small allocation available of selected wagons. We will confirm this nearer the time. They are not currently available to order.

 

Thank you for your patience during this time, however we are now more confident than ever that they will be well worth the wait!

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1 hour ago, Oliver Rails said:

As we all know, a lot has changed in the last 12 months. Shortly after we announced our early SE&CR 16' covered goods wagon COVID really hit. This had a huge knock on effect with our production partners who had to switch their whole production operation to PPE and safety material. We obviously fully supported this and understood wagon production would commence when possible. As time past it became clear that the new normal was here to stay and production would be difficult with our current partner.

 

Over the past few months we have worked tirelessly and moved the whole operation to a new production partner. During this time and with the help and support of both previous and new partners we went back to the drawing board and reviewed the whole process and design. This has resulted in us having a far better understanding and the products are much more refined and detailed.

 

We are pleased to update everyone who pre-ordered these vans, that production is complete and the wagons are currently in the paint and assembly stage at Dapol.

 

All being well we expect to have the completed models in April.

 

Currently all models have pre-sold. We did slightly increase the production volume so once they arrive we should have a very small allocation available of selected wagons. We will confirm this nearer the time. They are not currently available to order.

 

Thank you for your patience during this time, however we are now more confident than ever that they will be well worth the wait!

 

I - like many others - seriously hope you do a rerun (or put the CADs on shapeways at least).

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37 minutes ago, JSpencer said:

 

I - like many others - seriously hope you do a rerun (or put the CADs on shapeways at least).

More chance of a re-run. 

 

I can't see the model being put on shapeways. Probably be more expensive than the RTR model and it'll be tuned/detailed to the specific printing process. Rails are using. Plus copyright etc issues. 

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34 minutes ago, No Decorum said:

Isn’t half the point of this method of production that a re-run can be done easily? (The other half being that smaller runs are easier to do.)

 

No

 

The point about 3D printing is that it doesn't require the creation of expensive injection moulding tooling or securing production slots in Chinese factories!

 

The net result is it allows the likes of Rails to offer models that would otherwise be considered uneconomic to produce - any time savings in the production process are incidental.

 

In pre-Covid times,  it was also the case that 3D printing would potentially allow the items to be delivered sooner - however as Rails have explained the Pandemic has seen demands for PPE go through the roof and as such the high quality 3D printers in the UK have understandably been putting the health and well being of the nation above the production of a few model train items.

 

Now that the country is hopefully starting to see the Pandemic start to subside then production of non PPE related items will start to subside leaving 3D printing facilities free to take on other work.

Edited by phil-b259
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1 hour ago, JSpencer said:

 

I - like many others - seriously hope you do a rerun (or put the CADs on shapeways at least).

 

Why on earth would Rails do that?

 

Rails are a Business not a Charity doling out freebies - they have put a lot of effort into researching / designing the wagons and that needs to be recouped.

 

Once said costs have been recouped and the appropriate contributions to the companys profits been made then any further monies generated can be reinvested in the production of further items.

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1 hour ago, JSpencer said:

 

I - like many others - seriously hope you do a rerun (or put the CADs on shapeways at least).

 

Then people can order using the cheapest material Shapeways offer and complain it's not as good as the RTR model, but unpainted and more expensive. The process used to make these things is quite sophisticated and Rails have worked out the most economic run. Get the numbers right and no expensive resin is wasted 

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