2021 hopes

[wombatofludham]

Whatever they announce, I suspect there will be nothing for me.

There, I've said it.

One thing that I do wonder, given the way the Skaledale range suddenly annexed Oxford's buildings, is if Hornby might have been secretly working on Oxford's plans for the IC125 Mk3 trailers (no, I don't mean the slidey doorey thingies, I mean the original slam door Mk3 trailers) to overcome the loco hauled Mk3 stock fragility and make them more robust, and release them to complement their full fat power cars?  Oxford have gone very quiet on the rail range, and it seems bizarre that the chance to deliver a complete range of nicely tooled, but robust, IC125 Mk3s hasn't been pushed a bit harder.  Part of that might have been down to the luke-warm reception the Oxford loco-hauled Mk3s got due to their gimcrack coupling and footboard design and of course greygate, but I wonder if the planned Oxford IC125 trailers are quietly being brought into the Hornby main range, with the existing models going into Railroad?  It seems an open goal:  lovely main range power cars, still selling at a premium price, but without the same quality passenger vehicles for them to sandwich.

The "annexation" of the Oxford range of buildings by the Skaledale brand seemed to fly under the radar of most commentators, but I wonder if some realpolitik has broken out about the stated intent for Oxford and Hornby to remain separate and the rail range might slowly be merged, leaving Eloise to concentrate on the die-casts?

So - I wouldn't be surprised to see a new range of HST Mk3 trailers, even though the current ones seem to sell well despite their deficiencies, using Oxford's design and research.

[The Johnster]

2 hours ago, Bert Cheese said:

A couple of folorn hopes from me...both classes of only 10 locos and relatively unloved by many?

Steam: Hawksworth GW 15xx Class pannier tank.

Electro-Diesel: BR Class 74, possibly utilizing the recent class 71 tooling as a start...surely it has more use than merely helping kill DJM off?

 

 

 

You want folorn; steam, 1938 Collett 31xx large prairie, no.4 boiler and 5'3" driving wheels. only 5 built and much less likely than a 15xx!  Despite the family resemblance to other large prairies, the lower 'sit' of the loco and consequent higher cab roof means that such a model would have to be completely tooled from scratch, and AFAIK only one person wants one, me!

[The Johnster]

35 minutes ago, wombatofludham said:

Whatever they announce, I suspect there will be nothing for me.

Me neither probably, but the last couple of years have seen the introduction of the 57' Collett suburbans (and before they were announced I doubted that any manufacturer would even make a GW non-gangwayed coach that wasn't a B set)  and the very good 5101/61xx to go with them, so I'm not complaining. Living in hope, though...

[MGR Hooper!]

2 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

One thing that I do wonder, given the way the Skaledale range suddenly annexed Oxford's buildings, is if Hornby might have been secretly working on Oxford's plans for the IC125 Mk3 trailers (no, I don't mean the slidey doorey thingies, I mean the original slam door Mk3 trailers) to overcome the loco hauled Mk3 stock fragility and make them more robust, and release them to complement their full fat power cars?  Oxford have gone very quiet on the rail range, and it seems bizarre that the chance to deliver a complete range of nicely tooled, but robust, IC125 Mk3s hasn't been pushed a bit harder.  Part of that might have been down to the luke-warm reception the Oxford loco-hauled Mk3s got due to their gimcrack coupling and footboard design and of course greygate, but I wonder if the planned Oxford IC125 trailers are quietly being brought into the Hornby main range, with the existing models going into Railroad?  It seems an open goal:  lovely main range power cars, still selling at a premium price, but without the same quality passenger vehicles for them to sandwich.

 

 

I would also like to see the Oxford Rail Mk3 stock absorbed into the Hornby range.

 

They will certainly benefit from the better production standards that Hornby has. Yes I know Hornby faces QC issues every now and then and I know they also have had their fair share of problems with colours, but overall they've done a better job of such things. 

 

I really do hope that a majority of the Oxford Rail range is also brought under the Hornby brand. Oxford Rail have gone a little quiet lately. 

[9402 Fredrick]

For me in terms of new tooling items hoping to see some Mnning Wardle or Bagnall industrial steam locos, the N.E.R C1/L.N.E.R J21 to fit with their LNER 0-6-0 niche, the Caledonian 439 class 0-4-4T, G.W.R Hawksworth 1000 County Class, LNER Corination & Silver Jubilee Carriages, G.W.R dining carriages or Toplight carriages, BR MK1 RK & BR MK1 BFK. For re-releases in new liveries: the GWR King Class, GWR Castle Class, Peckett B2, Peckett W4, LMS Duchess, LNER A4s, GWR Large Prairie, BR 2mt 2-6-0, Thompson A2/3, LNER J36.

[NHY 581]

Mmmmmm.......

 

Joining in then from a personal point of view; 

 

An ex-GER J69 and or a E4 would fit in with current interests. I'm no expert but the existing J15 has parts in common with an E4. 

 

A new tooled 14xx must happen at some point after the debacle of the Hattons example. 

 

Left field, a new tooled ex LB&SCR E2 might well cut the mustard. 

 

Of the existing locos, a  Maunsell green Radial tank is surely long overdue as is a later Drummond liveried L&SWR example, both of  which would be impossible to turn down. 

 

And, yes, Lion would be splendid with an updated 8F equally difficult to ignore. 

 

Rob. 

[Joseph the L&YR lover]

i predict.......they will release a train

 

but seriously, i would like to see a pregrouping 4-4-0 and maybe a new version of the lanky pug to go with the other recent 0-4-0st's? 

[brushman47544]

9 hours ago, Bert Cheese said:

A couple of folorn hopes from me...both classes of only 10 locos and relatively unloved by many?

Steam: Hawksworth GW 15xx Class pannier tank.

Electro-Diesel: BR Class 74, possibly utilizing the recent class 71 tooling as a start...surely it has more use than merely helping kill DJM off?

 

 

 

Rapido Trains has already announced a GWR 15xx pannier tank, so I hope Hornby is using its resources to produce other things.

[JSpencer]

7 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

Whatever they announce, I suspect there will be nothing for me.

There, I've said it.
 

 

I'm actually hoping that there will be nothing for me!

 

Well, there is already the APT, BEP and all those D class coming next year........ On top of several other outstanding items.

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, JSpencer said:

I'm actually hoping that there will be nothing for me!

 

There is that...

 

On announcment day this year, I ticked a lot of items.  Then sanity prevailed and I ended up whittling the list down considerably.  The only one from this year that might creep back in would be the Standard 2MT, if only to feed my Mogul obsession...

 

Unless there is something really outstanding announced on the 5th January, I may well NOT make any acquisition plans.

 

[Dunsignalling]

Given that buying any locos bearing 5-digit numbers beginning with 6 is "against my religion", I've been having a cheap year on model trains! My only current Hornby pre-order is T9 No.120.

 

Funds diverted to extra lenses for my latest camera instead.

 

Hopefully there'll be more for me in 2021.

 

John

Edited December 9, 2020 by Dunsignalling

[ossy5190]

I'm hoping for a bit of Scottish pre-grouping, perhaps a Caledonian Class 439 0-4-4. Long lived, fairly widespread, plenty of liveries and a preserved example.  An iconic engine that would be an ideal companion to the Rails/Bachmann Class 812 and hopefully lead to further models.

[MGR Hooper!]

22 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

There is that...

 

On announcment day this year, I ticked a lot of items.  Then sanity prevailed and I ended up whittling the list down considerably.

 

I'm glad I wasn't the only one. What I had originally pre-ordered from Hornby was a little over 2000 quid. I would've actually kept that, however the pandemic messed up their release dates and a lot of what I pre-ordered was turning up over a span of two months (incl. of other models I had on pre-order from other manufacturers in 2 different scales.

I also had orders from Dapol, RevolutioN, Accurascale and I nearly joined the Bachmann Collector's Club to get that Class 90 they have. To top it all off, there's also a lot of money needed to test build our own HO scale Indian Railways kits.

Edited December 9, 2020 by MGR Hooper!

[Rhydgaled]

9 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

Whatever they announce, I suspect there will be nothing for me.

There, I've said it.

One thing that I do wonder, given the way the Skaledale range suddenly annexed Oxford's buildings, is if Hornby might have been secretly working on Oxford's plans for the IC125 Mk3 trailers (no, I don't mean the slidey doorey thingies, I mean the original slam door Mk3 trailers) to overcome the loco hauled Mk3 stock fragility and make them more robust, and release them to complement their full fat power cars?  Oxford have gone very quiet on the rail range, and it seems bizarre that the chance to deliver a complete range of nicely tooled, but robust, IC125 Mk3s hasn't been pushed a bit harder.  Part of that might have been down to the luke-warm reception the Oxford loco-hauled Mk3s got due to their gimcrack coupling and footboard design and of course greygate, but I wonder if the planned Oxford IC125 trailers are quietly being brought into the Hornby main range, with the existing models going into Railroad?  It seems an open goal:  lovely main range power cars, still selling at a premium price, but without the same quality passenger vehicles for them to sandwich.

The "annexation" of the Oxford range of buildings by the Skaledale brand seemed to fly under the radar of most commentators, but I wonder if some realpolitik has broken out about the stated intent for Oxford and Hornby to remain separate and the rail range might slowly be merged, leaving Eloise to concentrate on the die-casts?

So - I wouldn't be surprised to see a new range of HST Mk3 trailers, even though the current ones seem to sell well despite their deficiencies, using Oxford's design and research.

 

6 hours ago, MGR Hooper! said:

 

I would also like to see the Oxford Rail Mk3 stock absorbed into the Hornby range.

 

They will certainly benefit from the better production standards that Hornby has. Yes I know Hornby faces QC issues every now and then and I know they also have had their fair share of problems with colours, but overall they've done a better job of such things. 

 

I really do hope that a majority of the Oxford Rail range is also brought under the Hornby brand. Oxford Rail have gone a little quiet lately. 

 

It's hard to tell from internet photos, without having seen either model in the flesh, but from what I've read and the photos I've seen on the internet Hornby's updated mark 3s (the sliding door ones) seem to be a better product overall than the Oxford ones. In particular, the underframe skirt/box on the Oxford model appears much too boxy in one or two pictures (again, it is really hard to tell from internet photos whether Hornby's model also suffers from this) but I think a new mark 3 range based on Hornby's CADs for the sliding door model would probably be the better bet. They have both the slam door and the LHCS-style roof vent detail in the sliding door CADs already; the only thing I can think of that might be missing is the toilet windows. I would like to see a consistent range of IC125 trailers, whether that is done by making an all-new range, making a new TGS and 4-window buffet to match the existing Hornby TSO and 3-window buffet or reviving the Lima tooling of the TSO and 3-window buffet to provide a full range of Limby mark 3s. But, with the underframe on the Oxford model being the wrong shape, I hope they don't go down that route. I have both a Lima train pack and the recent Hornby GWR train set (which I believe is a pure Hornby mark 3 despite the Limby power cars) and both the Lima and Hornby mark 3s look like a mark 3 to me, I'm just not sure they would sit well together if you mix them in a rake.

 

If they do take the all-new range approach, the one problem that seemed to be flagged up on the Hornby sliding door mark 3 topic was the cast wheels with oversized flanges which were a problem (perhaps only on code 75 track). Do the Oxford mark 3s have better wheels? If so, perhaps the solution is a range based on (and including) the Hornby sliding door mark 3s but using the wheels from the Oxford model.

Edited December 9, 2020 by Rhydgaled

[MGR Hooper!]

32 minutes ago, Rhydgaled said:

 

The one problem that seemed to be flagged up on the Hornby sliding door mark 3 topic was the cast wheels with oversized flanges which were a problem (perhaps only on code 75 track). Do the Oxford mark 3s have better wheels? If so, perhaps the solution is a range based on (and including) the Hornby sliding door mark 3s but using the wheels from the Oxford model.

Hornby have already rectified this and they are sending out replacement wheelsets with a much better profile to those who have requested for them. I'm sure future batches will have the improved wheels.

 

[wombatofludham]

5 hours ago, Rhydgaled said:

I'm just not sure they would sit well together if you mix them in a rake.

 

The Oxford and Hornlimby Mk3s don't sit well together in a rake.  Fed up of waiting for Oxford to do some decent IC125 trailers to match the quality of the Hornby new power cars, I bought six Oxford loco hauled Mk3s and a Hornby TGS with the view to converting the TFO and TSO Oxfords into HST trailers by 3d printing replacement roof vents, and chopping off the buffers. Unfortunately there was such a difference in appearance between the two makes, not just the fifty shades of grey problem, that it would have looked odd.  Fortunately I also have need of a loco worked Mk3 rake so no wasted expenditure, but I'm now looking at having a majority Hornby rake of Mk3 IC125 trailers, although probably with an Oxford RFM as the buffet car because the Hornby model is a three bay job and has no roof vents.  I can live with a buffet that is visibly different but with roof vents, and at least one cross country rake did run with a four bay buffet first in 1993 which the RFM closely matches.  However, if Hornby do decide to do some proper job IC125 Mk3 slam door coaches to match the sliding door stock, I'll definitely be in for a seven car rake.

Cash waiting, Hornby...

[GreenGiraffe22]

A wartime black A1x please 

 

And any ex pre-prouping southern carriages I can use along the south coast, I've seen lots of 1937 era photos of E4s & H2s pulling ex LSWR 3 sets between Brighton & Portsmouth 

[Big James]

Another thought just occurred to me. With Hornby fetish for the LSWR. What about the LSWR G6. They was long lived, multiple liveries, Hornby has a lot of LSWR stock in it range, survived to the BR period and a large class of 60. But none have been preserved and was limited to the former LSWR. But it would also fill one of the largest gaps in the former LSWR. 
 

Big James

Edited December 9, 2020 by Big James

[Ollie K]

On 07/12/2020 at 19:28, Brocp said:

No it's not.

 

It's half way between a streamlined tender and the destreamlined one they had when the streamlining was removed. Again Hornby have never made it. Look closer at the photo of the bottom of the tender sides and the chassis near the axle boxes. The streamlined parts for want of a better term, are still there. The rest of the tender is how they all ended up in the end. It would be a new tooling one Hornby haven't done before.

 

What I know about LMS tenders wouldn't fill the back of a postage stamp written in felt-tip pen, but in last year's Hornby Signal Box 2020 announcements video there was this image of a new-tool Coronation 6223 Princess Alice in wartime black, albeit with the streamlined tender rear. 

 

Probably just a rendering rather than a sample, but it never appeared in the 2020 catalogue, nor on shop shelves this year, so might be a quiet 2021 release...

 

 

 

Interesting how much chatter there's been about LNER Silver Jubilee / Coronation / West Riding streamlined coach seats. That would be at the top of my wish list in block capitals, but I wonder if Hornby's need to make everything 2nd rad curves compatible hinders articulated, close-coupled coaches. It was done for the Eurostar decades ago I suppose.

 

What a boxed set it'd be, complete with beavertail observation car. After the Coronation Scot full train tooling, fingers crossed.

 

[Dunsignalling]

3 minutes ago, OliverBytham said:

 

What I know about LMS tenders wouldn't fill the back of a postage stamp written in felt-tip pen, but in last year's Hornby Signal Box 2020 announcements video there was this image of a new-tool Coronation 6223 Princess Alice in wartime black, albeit with the streamlined tender rear. 

 

Probably just a rendering rather than a sample, but it never appeared in the 2020 catalogue, nor on shop shelves this year, so might be a quiet 2021 release...

 

 

 

Interesting how much chatter there's been about LNER Silver Jubilee / Coronation / West Riding streamlined coach seats. That would be at the top of my wish list in block capitals, but I wonder if Hornby's need to make everything 2nd rad curves compatible hinders articulated, close-coupled coaches. It was done for the Eurostar decades ago I suppose.

 

What a boxed set it'd be, complete with beavertail observation car. After the Coronation Scot full train tooling, fingers crossed.

 

The whole point of the linkages that are used to close-couple rtr coaches is that they push the vehicles progressively further apart as radii decrease. If they'll go around a curve with tension locks, they'll go round it better with R8220 heads in the pockets

 

Whether articulated pairs can be spaced to dead scale depends only upon the angle at which the corners of the bodies will come into contact.

 

John

[SteamingWales]

Bit late to the party but a retooled GWR Siphon would be nice

[lapford34102]

There does appear to be an increasing interest in Pre-grouping  and it's probably the last free fire zone where as a manufacturer you're less likely to end up head to head with another. Plus if you pick a longish lived prototype you could likely wring a range of liveries out of it. Hattons must think so to invest in their coaches and maybe they've got wind of something we haven't. 

Just my idle musing.

Stu

[CUCKOO LINE]

Can we have a Billington K mogul please

[Craig1989]

Also to add to my earlier post coaches to go with the 67 belmond Pullman set and the midland Pullman hst 

[mdvle]

23 hours ago, jools1959 said:

I think Hornby could reverse engineer the 153 into a 155 but that would mean destroying the mould’s, but on the other hand, they could retool the 153 to a higher standard and then use the older 153 tooling to do the 155.  But let’s be honest, Hornby are highly unlikely given they can keep churning out 153’s in vast amounts of liveries as the prototypes move from TOC to TOC. 

 

Why?

 

If you are going to create new tooling why not simply design the new tooling to do both the 153 and 155 and have a modern version of both.  You then have the possible advantage of throwing the existing 153 into the railroad range a couple of years later.