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New Hornby Rocket


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8 minutes ago, newbryford said:

How many will have ordered a "normal" Rocket since the appearance of R3809 and decided that they now want one?

 

Many disappointed folk, I'd suggest, as orderable R3810s seem to be becoming as rare as the proverbial hens teeth by now.  I ordered an R3810 set on the 6th January, mere hours after the Great Reveal.  Even so, I'm nervous about availability, given OverOrderGate, though I didn't order through Hattons.

 

Fingers crossed!

 

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Following Going Underground's post I think the packaging of R3809 'Rocket' set is excellent as it brings back memories of Tri-ang Railways. I would like Hornby to use this packaging for all their models. Hornby  has evolved from Tri-ang and many Tri-ang items are still in the catalogue like the lime wagon, bridges, track , signals and lever frames are Tri-ang items are still being made by Hornby. I would like Hornby to produce the whole range with boxes labelled Tri-ang Railways by Hornby as this would attract people who had Tri-ang trains in their youth who greatly outnumber those who had Hornby Dublo trains

 

Another good point about the packaging is that it takes up less space than the packaging for the 1982 model,

P1090715.JPG

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Not wishing to sound smug but my R3809 arrived today and from Hattons too, so I’ve no complaints. 
 

it is very small and delicate to the point where I may not fit it with a decoder or run it. A word of caution when unpacking, the coach foot steps are very easy to bend when releasing them from the foam insert and the wheels on bottom most coach had become ‘stuck’ to the packing.

 

Some pics to help with judging how small it is. Yes, I know the Garratt is very dusty but it’s not run since a motor burnt out over a year ago!

0D63870A-E444-40A1-9CD4-9732A4D27278.jpeg

8F9E7F9B-FA01-41B0-A19B-3D9D52F92814.jpeg

0A30263C-9370-4D2B-9616-BCF4CA2CD7F6.jpeg

Edited by Paperlad
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12 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

Following Going Underground's post I think the packaging of R3809 'Rocket' set is excellent as it brings back memories of Tri-ang Railways. I would like Hornby to use this packaging for all their models. Hornby  has evolved from Tri-ang and many Tri-ang items are still in the catalogue like the lime wagon, bridges, track , signals and lever frames are Tri-ang items are still being made by Hornby. I would like Hornby to produce the whole range with boxes labelled Tri-ang Railways by Hornby as this would attract people who had Tri-ang trains in their youth who greatly outnumber those who had Hornby Dublo trains

 

You really think so? Most people who had Tri-ang trains (and even Hornby Dublo) back in the day are now getting on a bit, and slowly diminishing in numbers...

Why should Hornby rebrand just to try and attract a small number of customers (which it won't).

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5 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

A lot of people seem to prefer R3809 in a Tri-ang Railways box to R3810 in a Hornby box.

 

Agree I bought R3809 v R3810 because of the box even though its a tenner more !  Why I liked the box and it evokes nostalgia .   Its actually a lot smaller than I though , but very happy with my purchase

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The main weakness of the new 'Rocket' seems to be the imitation rope couplings that are not modelled taut and are very fragile and difficult for older people ton plug in.

 

Assuming that Hornby cannot use their standard coupling a solution would be to have a fixed strip attached at one end of a coach with a hole to engage on the hook on the next coach.  This is the same as the normal coupling between any other model locomotive and tender.  The enclosed picture shows how this is done on a static imitation of a Tri-ang Hornby Rocket.

 

A static model would also be a solution for collectors  who keep their models in a display case and this one only cost £10.

 

For people who actually like to run their trains they need more robust couplings.  I  expect that in service the rope couplings will get lost or the hooks on the carriages will break and the train will be relegated to a display case.

 

 

 

P1090747.JPG

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23 minutes ago, Legend said:

 

Agree I bought R3809 v R3810 because of the box even though its a tenner more !  Why I liked the box and it evokes nostalgia .   Its actually a lot smaller than I though , but very happy with my purchase

I couldn't care less what colour the box is, but I figured that more will get nostalgic over that one & since the yellow version has alternative coaches, I may as well save myself a tenner.

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Maybe the trick missed was Triang badging everything this year... for one year only.. or at least adding a 100 year anniversary sticker on the box.

 

Personally i’m not too excited by Smokey Joe in its 1980’s box or Clan Line in its 2000 box.

 

Has anyone found one of these £500 golden tickets yet ? - maybe they are hidden in the smokey joes and 35028 ?

https://www.Hornby.com/uk-en/centenary-year-golden-tickets


R3810 Rocket looks sold out in many places, whilst its not yet turned to gold dust in advance of release like the Triang one, I suspect its not going to linger for too long...  That in itself suggests Hornby has probably sized it right.. a 3rd run could be too many.

 

Edited by adb968008
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Derails have some more R3810 according to email just received--saying

 

"With the special edition Stephensons Rocket Train Pack now having been and gone, we're expecting the non-limited R3810 pack very soon. We had sold out here at Derails, but we have just received word from a nice person  at Hornby to say that we have 6 more to sell!"

 

https://www.derails.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=rocket&product_id=2641

Edited by tractionman
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2 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

Very nice indeed :)

 

D6AE4280-B55C-4BB4-97B4-24D9FB660ABC.jpeg.04e9f8788198c4490391393adcd26433.jpeg
 

2996A9A6-8D70-439E-80EE-3EF0DBEAD13F.jpeg.7dbedc322410e6b7b78f054034938c93.jpeg

 

46719A6C-221F-4D3B-880E-ED71F1A62D96.jpeg.f252c85c46bb93def2b7d4c575d862a7.jpeg

 

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I never got a Triang one (or the Hornby repeat for that matter), but I do have the steam one, though I keep kicking myself for not getting a couple of the coaches at the time!  The steam one hasn't been run for years, I've not even checked it to see if the gas container has split...  Never mind.

 

1 hour ago, Robin Brasher said:

The main weakness of the new 'Rocket' seems to be the imitation rope couplings that are not modelled taut and are very fragile and difficult for older people ton plug in.

 

A similar problem to that which occurred to the Titfield Thunderbolt after the brake test......

 

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50 minutes ago, tractionman said:

Derails have some more R3810 according to email just received--saying

 

"With the special edition Stephensons Rocket Train Pack now having been and gone, we're expecting the non-limited R3810 pack very soon. We had sold out here at Derails, but we have just received word from a nice person  at Hornby to say that we have 6 more to sell!"

 

https://www.derails.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=rocket&product_id=2641

 

And my word did they sell quickly! All gone now folks, sorry!

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R3809 coaches have the same names as the Tri-ang 'Rocket' set whereas R3810 has new names.

 

As I already had the Tri-ang set I just asked the Swanage Railway shop for a new 'Rocket' set. I did not mind which one as if R3810 had arrived it would not duplicate my existing set and I would save £10 whereas R3809 was a limited edition in a more attractive box.

 

In the events the limited edition one arrived and i like the box.  

 

I like to play trains rather than invest in them but I seem to have ended up with a collection over the years which are all in play worn condition. 

 

I think that a mint and boxed train set is a failed toy.

 

 

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4 hours ago, The Black Hat said:

 

Sorry, but how do you know this?! How can you say that is the problem!

Yes the second hand stock disappears but that is stock that in their possession and they have it. The orders for Rocket will be on what is predicted or expected and as I said there are a number of reasons why numbers could change - thus it might not be solely Hatton's fault. Hattons are a big retailer and do have control over things they have on site but there are still issues outside of their control and I am sure they work with suppliers effectively to mitigate issues such as this.   

It shouldn't matter if they have the stock on hand or not. The computer program that accepts the orders won't know what's physically in tbe warehouse. It will hsve a piece of data, a number for the quantity on hand. For pre-orders thst exact same number will represent their allocation as notified to them by the msnufacturer. When the system accepts payment, or the pre-order it will automatically reduce the 

quantity figure by the quantity just sold. There is no excuse for taking orders in excess of the allocation and not telling customers they are on back order before they place their order, not with today's computer systems.

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