Hornby class 56036

[atom3624]

Looking very nice.

 

Pity the first 30 were poorly constructed, initially, and had to be rebuilt.

 

Al.

[adb968008]

12 hours ago, GRUNFOS said:

Here's my 56 001,

 

 

 

Need more BR Blue all round, especially 56's .NRM/Hornby are missing a trick with 31 019  as well  I think.

 

We really don’t need to give Hornby any more excuses for skinhead 31’s.

Its like Bachmann churning out tons of class 44’s.
 

The 1980’s doctrine of churning out every less desirable version first, to maximise the tooling in play. We are living in the 2020’s.. anyone can goto Alibaba.com, find a tooling manufacturer and start a conversation that could lead somewhere in a week.

The only barrier to someone doing a class 31, is Hornby's dual incumbant position.. however deep pockets can overcome that... tool it in secret, make a dozen 1990’s headcode boxed livery variants at once, and only announce it when the pallet is in the warehouse...thus taking the cream, cherry and best slice of the cake from this market.

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by adb968008

[Roy Langridge]

2 hours ago, adb968008 said:

We really don’t need to give Hornby any more excuses for skinhead 31’s.

Its like Bachmann churning out tons of class 44’s.
 

The 1980’s doctrine of churning out every less desirable version first, to maximise the tooling in play. We are living in the 2020’s.. anyone can goto Alibaba.com, find a tooling manufacturer and start a conversation that could lead somewhere in a week.

The only barrier to someone doing a class 31, is Hornby's dual incumbant position.. however deep pockets can overcome that... tool it in secret, make a dozen 1990’s headcode boxed livery variants at once, and only announce it when the pallet is in the warehouse...thus taking the cream, cherry and best slice of the cake from this market.

 

 

To be honest, I don't see the point in anybody else doing it. There would be little to make people want to upgrade from the Hornby 31 to A.N.Other's and Hornby can just rush a load to market shortly after (as we have seen they can do). Ok, in your scenario the competition is already there, but many people need time to fund purchases, possibly negating some of the benefit of not announcing it in advance.

Roy

[GRUNFOS]

19 hours ago, atom3624 said:

Looking very nice.

 

Pity the first 30 were poorly constructed, initially, and had to be rebuilt.

 

Al.

I think they were better looking than the more angular latter versions though!

[atom3624]

The 56 in general is one of the best looking diesels around - 'though there are plenty of candidates throughout the Eras for that title.

 

56 should be included - stocky, powerful-looking and for it's size, it is/was.

 

Al.

[adb968008]

9 hours ago, Roy Langridge said:

 

To be honest, I don't see the point in anybody else doing it. There would be little to make people want to upgrade from the Hornby 31 to A.N.Other's and Hornby can just rush a load to market shortly after (as we have seen they can do). Ok, in your scenario the competition is already there, but many people need time to fund purchases, possibly negating some of the benefit of not announcing it in advance.

Roy

i agree i’m against tooling duplication, but I was being hypothetical.

Unfortunately were in risk averse times, but the market is cheap to enter.

Low hanging fruit such as duplicating a class 20, 31, 50 is economically sounder than tooling a class 175/180/185.. which I actually think would be much more popular, but people less willing to buy more of in the long term.

Edited July 9, 2020 by adb968008

[rob D2]

On 09/07/2020 at 21:12, adb968008 said:

i agree i’m against tooling duplication, but I was being hypothetical.

Unfortunately were in risk averse times, but the market is cheap to enter.

Low hanging fruit such as duplicating a class 20, 31, 50 is economically sounder than tooling a class 175/180/185.. which I actually think would be much more popular, but people less willing to buy more of in the long term.

“ cheap to enter “. I thought tooling was £100k plus....and I don’t seem to have that down the back of the sofa 

Edited July 14, 2020 by rob D2

[adb968008]

2 hours ago, rob D2 said:

“ cheap to enter “. I thought tooling was £100k plus....and I don’t seem to have that down the back of the sofa 

I assume thats why your a customer, not an investor.

 

Edited July 14, 2020 by adb968008

[SouthernBlue80s]

Will bump this up for what is worth.

 

 

[blueeighties]

I do wonder whether the original 56013 tooling ended up in a skip.

[SouthernBlue80s]

12 hours ago, blueeighties said:

I do wonder whether the original 56013 tooling ended up in a skip.

I wonder. I guess we will never know.

Here is a couple of quick snaps of 56001 renumbered from 56013

[rob D2]

I agree about the under supply of blue/LL 56s. I’ve sent them an email, I’ll let you know if anything comes back.

 

[rob D2]

I got a response from the boss man, saying thanks for heads up and they will look into it.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by rob D2

[66738]

13 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

I got a response from the boss man, saying thanks for heads up and they will look into it.

 

 

They’ve been looking into the limited number of Blue 56’s for years. They’ve been looking into the lack of blue 31/4’s for even longer. Perhaps It’s because A) They don’t run on coal and B) Br Blue is too mundane. It’s not quirky enough. They like a one off livery, that is only relevant for about a year. Who’d want a livery that was about for nigh on 30 years?

 I wouldn’t hold yer breath that the boss man is going to be proactive.
66738

Edited September 6, 2020 by 66738

[rob D2]

Well,

I had a good conversation with Mr Kohler.

The last suggestion I made was more DB 60s and they’ve just delivered two..

 

He assures me they are interested in BR blue , but apparently there is interest for “ one offs “ like the models that take some heat on here for being a bit left field .

 

we shall see what occurs 

Edited September 11, 2020 by rob D2

[9C85]

My first 56 was 036. Saw it at Cardiff on the Port Talbot to Llanwern ore train paired with 040 or 042, IIRC. The paint job looked pretty new so I don't think it had been that long from being transferred from Toton to Canton. My 'Motive Power' book of 1979 had a picture of the APT on the cover and a black and white pic of 56 036 in large logo livery inside. I think 56s are my favourite loco, probably because I was around to see their introduction and the difference they made to freight haulage.  Ironically, the layout I am building would need a stretch of the imagination to see a 56 on it, although I could have one visiting the fuel point, either delivering a tank wagon or getting a refill.

[Roy Langridge]

6 hours ago, rob D2 said:

Well,

I had a good conversation with Mr Kohler.

The last suggestion I made was more DB 60s and they’ve just delivered two..

 

He assures me they are interested in BR blue , but apparently there is interest for “ one offs “ like the models that take some heat on here for being a bit left field .

 

we shall see what occurs 

And that, I think, demonstrates that many models are bought to be displayed rather than run. Yes, the odd “one off” will be used, but many won’t. 
 

I don’t criticise by that as I am also of the opinion that without collectors the rtr market would die. 
 

Roy

[SouthernBlue80s]

I will bump this up....just in case it gets the ball rolling.  

[adb968008]

43 minutes ago, SouthernBlue80s said:

I will bump this up....just in case it gets the ball rolling.  

Maybe for 2022, but i’m sure the catalogs for 2021 are already printed and in the warehouse waiting to ship.

its more of a case of being lucky or not.