Hornby VANWIDE

[paul 27]

How does the body measure up dimensionly or is it just a toy,

pity Hornby can not re tool  these wagons from the old toys.

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by paul 27

[Dungrange]

I doubt there is any chance of Hornby upgrading their wagon when Bachmann are due to introduce a brand new tool model.

 

https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/product/category/155/br-vea-‘vanwide’-br-freight-brown-(railfreight)/38-880

 

https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/product/br-vea-'vanwide'-br-railfreight-red-and-grey/38-881

 

https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/product/category/155/br-vea-'vanwide'-br-railfreight-distribution-sector/38-882

 

How the two will compare, I don't know: I don't have a Hornby Vanwide.

[Mark Forrest]

Previous thread on the same topic:

 

Personally, I’d go for the Parkside kit or wait for the Bachmann one if it needs to be RTR.

[BernardTPM]

8 hours ago, paul 27 said:

How does the body measure up dimensionly

It's on a 16' 6" long chassis, so 4mm too short. From memory I think it was also a little tall as well. Marginally better for length than the late '60s Tri-ang Hornby version that was a scale 16' long though with finer detailing and the unusual (but correct for a small batch) ventilated doors.

[Phil Parker]

You can see some of the Bachmann vans in this update @AY Modfilmed last week.

[woodenhead]

9 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

You can see some of the Bachmann vans in this update @AY Modfilmed last week.

But are they better than the existing Hornby ones

[Matt]

Love the bit where the VEA nearly ends up on the floor.... Andy!!

[Phil Parker]

8 minutes ago, Matt said:

Love the bit where the VEA nearly ends up on the floor.... Andy!!

 

Do you want a full test or not? ;-)

[paul 27]

Wont be purchasing the Bachmann as its the air brake version,

that only leaves the Parkside / Peco kit,  i dont see why Hornby

dont make super detail wagons like there coaches and locos

hence the re tooling of there old models.

[John M Upton]

Whilst a reasonable detailed looking body compared with some of the ye ancient horrors still lurking in the Hornby range, the VEA Vanwide is dimensionally inaccurate, the chassis is fit only for the bin and should now be classified as little more than a toy.

[Fat Controller]

12 hours ago, paul 27 said:

Wont be purchasing the Bachmann as its the air brake version,

that only leaves the Parkside / Peco kit,  i dont see why Hornby

dont make super detail wagons like there coaches and locos

hence the re tooling of there old models.

Freight stock has always been seen as the poor relation, going back to Hornby-Dublo days. The most common wagons were poorly represented, whilst 'Specials' and obscure private-owner types were given much more prominence than their real numbers merited. Even when a common-place type was represented, it would be an obscure variant. The Hornby 'Vanwide' is a case in point; it purports to represent one of six wagons intended for Cornish fruit & veg traffic.

[Halvarras]

2 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

Even when a common-place type was represented, it would be an obscure variant. The Hornby 'Vanwide' is a case in point; it purports to represent one of six wagons intended for Cornish fruit & veg traffic.

 

That would explain the "Empty to Marazion" notice printed on one of the sliding doors of the original version (which had metal runners much finer than the awful chunky plastic things Mainline employed in their first RTR goods van a decade later). I remember buying one in a shop on the upper side of Penzance high street, must be 50 years ago, stepping outside with my new purchase and thinking, "I can see Marazion from here!"

 

Many years later I picked up a couple of the later 'fixed-door' bodies as spares at a show, intending to create one of those Blue Circle Cement LWB palvans on a TTA chassis, having noticed they shared the same door design, but the lack of suitable transfers meant it never happened. Just a few weeks ago I found them in a box and wondered if they were usable, but as @BernardTPM pointed out, they're both too short (as I thought) and a little too tall. 

[Phil Parker]

16 hours ago, paul 27 said:

i dont see why Hornby

dont make super detail wagons like there coaches and locos

hence the re tooling of there old models.

 

Because super detail wagons will cost serious money, as demonstrated here and on other wagon threads. You can have all the detail you want if you are willing to pay for it. 

[spamcan61]

Whilst I think we all appreciate manufacturing and shipping costs have risen significantly, 40 quid list for a Vanwide still looks like very poor value compared with (for example) Accurascale JSAs at 60 quid for 2, a bogie wagon with loads of fine detail.

[paul 27]

9 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Because super detail wagons will cost serious money, as demonstrated here and on other wagon threads. You can have all the detail you want if you are willing to pay for it. 

Can not cost more than Bachmann then,  i am sure they can make them

at a competitive price i dont mind paying if its a model i want and

made properly, just think they should do a range to compliment

there other detailed models.

[John M Upton]

Trouble is for average Man on the Clapham Omnibus, there is more prestige (and potentially, profit) in a big ticket £150+ loco than there is in a humdrum little van.

 

At the end of the day, the big boys are ultimately run by a crack team of accountants.

[steve1]

33 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

Trouble is for average Man on the Clapham Omnibus, there is more prestige (and potentially, profit) in a big ticket £150+ loco than there is in a humdrum little van.

 

At the end of the day, the big boys are ultimately run by a crack team of accountants.

 

Although what you say is essentially true, it hasn’t stopped Bachmann making good quality, detailed wagons such as the Presflo. Hornby have got it right in the past with their Shark brake van, so they can do it.

 

As for costs, the point about Accurascale wagons vs the big boys is very interesting. I’m sure they too have bean counters…

 

steve

[paul 27]

6 hours ago, steve1 said:

 

Although what you say is essentially true, it hasn’t stopped Bachmann making good quality, detailed wagons such as the Presflo. Hornby have got it right in the past with their Shark brake van, so they can do it.

 

As for costs, the point about Accurascale wagons vs the big boys is very interesting. I’m sure they too have bean counters…

 

steve

Yes my exact thinking, i have that model as well as the Trouts they produced, i think Bachmann have no real competition if you model

the 50/60s era  apart from the odd Heljan release not including

Oxford Rail which are good for the price and not forgetting

Hattons with there excellent ICI Hoppers,  any more not counting

special retail commisions.

Edited August 29, 2021 by paul 27