2014 Hornby Announcements

[phil-b259]

I will also be buying the 2HAL. I don't think I will get away with running it on my model of the Swanage Railway so perhaps I will have to build a new layout to run it with my Wrenn Brighton Belle, my Tri-ang 4 Sub and my Hornby 2 BIL.

 

 

That rather depends on when your model of the Swanage line is set and how accurate you want to be - I will explain.

 

Firstly I want to draw your attention to a photo of what is I think a LBSCR D class at Redhill in the early 30s with new electric stock en-route from the builders to Lancing to have intermediate trailers added. Bacause LBSCR locos were air braked they were ideal for hauling the air braked EMU stock about in this fashion....which gave me an idea. Take an M7 with push-pull gear and exchange the air pump for a slightly larger one capable of supplying a train air brake. Next (depending on your era, get hold of a suitable EMU, be it a 2 BIL 2 HAL or whatever. Run the train as a 'guaging special or 'promotional' train for a new SR electrification scheme.

 

If we now move on and consider the preservation era then options get wider. The public today appreciate heritage and a SR EMU especially if presented in its traditional livery still looks old even if it is not that different fundamentally from trains today. So how about you get the NRMs 2BIL down from Shildon, restore it to SR livery couple it to a SR liveried air braked loco and run it as hauled stock - explaining it as the preservation group demonstrating 'new stock being delivered from the manufacturer'.

 

Another scenario could imagine the unit had been converted to vacuum and the cabs modified so it could act like a set of push-pull carriages - not exactly out of the reaches of feasibility

[gc4946]

The only definite purchase I'm committing myself to so far is the LNER CCT.

 

One was used as an internal user at Fratton.

 

"Departmental coaching stock, second edition including internal users" by Roger Butcher and Peter Fox (Platform 5, 1985)

says "083318 Fratton Yard. Stores Van. Transferred 3/78. Formerly LNER CCT E1263E, to dia 6 York 1939"

Looks like the version (in service of course) which Hornby's planning according to the link on post#1.

 

The same source incidentally says internal user 083319, stores van, transferred 3/78, also based at Fratton, was a LMS design CCT M37320M to dia 2026 on to lot 1636 at Earlestown 1952 - this type has just been released by Hornby.

 

Otherwise I'm waiting to see how their new sound chips pan out before buying a 37 and/or a 47.

[Igor]

No delivery dates have been published this year; when Hornby have got on top of supply issues they will hopefully be able to give indications into the year. It was testing enough before but if you're using six factories with variables in each it's a bit like playing snakes and ladders; until someone's won you don't know which will get there first.

 

Thank you for clearing that up. A little naughty perhaps...I do like to budget.

But you say 'indications into the year'... Does that mean this is not longer a 'catalogue of products to be released in 2014', but more of a movable 24+ month feast like Bachmann?

How many year(s) are we strethcing into the future? All a bit land-grabby to me. This must have been a popular question when Hornby gave their hotel presentations.

 

I happily accept this time-stretch could be the case but it might be exceedingly difficult to justify a similarly big programme on December 16th, 2014 and every year after that.

It's already got very silly mess in the red, mid-blue, dark blue and silver/blue box camps! I'm sure everyone would agree?

 

 

A decent catenary system would kick start AC loco and EMU models

 

Out of interest does anyone know how well OHLE and associated traction sells on the Continent?  Sorry to slightly off topic on this.

 

In Germany at least, overheads electrics are very popular I am told - see Roco etc. But then again, most of the main network is electrified.

 

Regards

Igor

[Guest]

I'm greatly interested by the "Black Motor's", I would love to get one!
The Br (SR) Green coaches also generate great interest with me! The fact they have lights is just a bonus!

I also would like a P2, but due to loading Gauge problems, I am unable to get one! 

[Guest 2750]

I note one reporter wanting a bigger loft. My solution is to move the "prototype" location of my layout a bit further south so making it more plausible for ex-NER and Ex-GER types to be seen together, along with ex-GNR types like the J50 and N2, but this will be a difficult exercise I know. Another idea I have been kicking around is to have two sets of infrastructure (signal boxes and other "signature" structures) and having separate running sessions once such infrastructure has been swapped over.

Regards,

 

The only place I can think where all 3 possibly mix is Doncaster.

May need a bigger house let alone a bigger loft! 

[Legend]

I see that Hattons is not discounting the new Hornby releases much. For instance Hornby's recommended retail price of the Drummond 700 is £109.99 whereas Hattons is offering them at £101.90. My nearest shop on a preserved railway offers a 10% discount for life members so it will be cheaper for them to buy models there.

Yes but see the other thread Hornby 2014 a sting for retailers. It appears that Hornby have increased prices to retailers while maintaining rrp. So scope for discounting is restricted, and this would apparently be confirmed by the less than spectacular discounts from Hattons. You may find that your local shop on preserved railway can't afford to pass on that 10% any more.

 

My initial thought was that this will damage your local model shop. But Andy pointed out that it might actually level the playing field between big discounters and your local shop. Not sure about that. Just feels wrong somehow

[Legend]

Is it railroad?

Yes the Crosti 9f is railroad @ £119

[frobisher]

The Farish AC electrics are all old models though, so not a fair comparison.

The point of data that is oft referred to about them not selling is when they were "not selling" against the old Farish/Poole diesels. But clearly they are still worth rattling out in new liveries, year on year...

 

On the other hand, Hattons seem to have a number of Dapol 86s discounted which rarely happens with Dapol diesel locos so clearly they haven't sold that well.

Whilst I know DJM Dave (formally Dapol Dave) has said they have not sold as well as they'd have liked, this mostly indicates that Hattons have received discounted stock from Dapol rather than stuff sitting unsold at Hattons.

 

But then again, N and OO are different markets - the Dapol 67026 in the Royal silver livery is still available from the German company which commissioned, many months after it became available, but the Hornby limited edition of 500 (more than is generally in a Dapol N-gauge batch, as I understand it) is now going for silly money on ebay.

Though that's also not a fair comparison A German company is not the natural first point of call for a model of a UK prototype, where as the Hornby limited edition was available through your normal stockists, but in limited numbers.

 

And "Hornby Collectors" are a notorious breed frequenting ebay...

[Legend]

Another little anomoly (I keep finding them - it just shows how anal I am!), I see that some of the new mainstream locomotives have 3-pole motors with flywheels whilst some Railroad ones have 5 pole skew-wound ones. I thought the latter was considered to be a superior piece of engineering in the past and that one of the differences described last year in the 'Design Clever' phase was that Railroad models would have 3-pole flywheel motors and mainstream would have skew-wound 5-polers. Now it's all reversed!! (In USA N gauge, most locomotives have 5-pole skew-wound notors with two flywheels . . . go figure!)

 

JE

It's to do with the age of the model. I think if it was introduced 2012 or earlier it has 5 pole, if introduced last year onwards it's 3 pole. Irrelevant whether main range or Railroad. It is a bit mixed up, hopefully the catalogue will specify.I've noticed is that some locos are listed as 5 pole, and no mention made at all in some cases - I would suggest that these more likely to be 3 pole

[davidw]

Yes the Crosti 9f is railroad @ £119

 

Some of the stuff is eye wateringly expensive!

[Waverley West]

It's a matter of volume. Sarah Siddons is being done by Heljan, who have carved themselves a niche for low-volume production of niche prototypes. They aren't in the same market as Hornby in terms of volume sales. Sarah ISN'T anticipated as a BETTER SELLER than a Hornby 87 or 90. You're not comparing like with like. In terms of sales volumes, you have Hornby and to a somewhat lesser extent Bachmann. The likes of Heljan and Dapol work on much smaller volumes and generally higher end prices. Hornby would also look at the existing sales of the 90 and 87 and ask 'has the demand been satisfied by the existing models or is there a market for something newer and much more expensive?' Remember: 1 the BULK of Hornby's market is still in the trainset/budget/toyshop end of the market. 2 Steam outline models still constitute the lion's share of their sales. As I said before, do you invest your hard-earned in a sure-fire winner or in something where you might or might not get lucky and actually please a much smaller but more demanding group of customers? You have to ask yourself, how would YOU actually invest your £100,000 to get the best return and then - would you be able to justify your decision to your bank manager who knows nothing about trains but will look at your past record of success or failure.

CHRIS LEIGH

 

I see what you're getting at Chris, but If I had to explain to my bank manager, I'd rather be able to say "I'm planning on producing a model of a loco that's been around for 20-40 years (depending on the prototype) and been extensively used from London to Glasgow and around East Anglia (not to mention elsewhere) and been painted in innumerable liveries" than "I'm planning on producing a single loco which had very limited geographic distribution and which many people have never heard of, outside the London area anyway and  which as far as I know was only painted one colour*".

 

* I may be wrong there but I know little about the prototype (despite having been interested in railways for as long as I can remember).

[valeofyork]

The point of data that is oft referred to about them not selling is when they were "not selling" against the old Farish/Poole diesels. But clearly they are still worth rattling out in new liveries, year on year...

 

Look at the discounts Hattons are offering, though - Virgin-livery 87 at 44 quid. That obviously hasn't sold well! Also Freightliner 90 and GNER 91 (inc DVT) at 54.

 

Though that's also not a fair comparison A German company is not the natural first point of call for a model of a UK prototype, where as the Hornby limited edition was available through your normal stockists, but in limited numbers.

 

The German company have been advertising the 67s on ebay UK for months!

[Guest]

This help you?

IMG_0660.JPG

So, Hornby have got the wrong number? Or is the number on the box an initial printing error? Hopefully, it will be fixed!

[37255]

Not much for me personally (not that I exactly expected an announcement of a fleet of industrial designs!), but the K1 seems a very sound choice, and it's good to see more workhorses rather than just more LNER pacifics! 

 

 

Anybody else notice that Bagnall Brush diesel shunter in the railroad section for a very cheap £29 odd? Is this a new body on the 06 chassis perchance, or am I missing something?

 

 

This one, I don't understand. It appears from the image that they've had to stretch the loco considerably to get it to fit an 06 chassis - yet the prototype chassis far more closely resembles that of the forthcoming Sentinel than the 06. If the body's being designed to fit a chassis that's already available - and why not, at £29? - it seems odd not to have tweaked it to fit the latter instead.

 

EDIT: For reference, though not my photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dc-7c/6274647949/

[John M Upton]

Pre order gone in with my usual Liverpudlian box shifter for a 700 Black Motor late crest and a BR 2-HAL. Going to get a Crosti 9F as soon as I find out which version made a trip to Brighton once!

[Les1952]

K1's ran on the Border Counties AND West Highland line. Hope they get the wheel diameter right unlike the opposition's K3. The K4 would require a new curved footplate.   Pity there is no sign of a G5 and J21.

 

K4 might also require a different tender- K1s all had 4200 gallon tender (same type as the B1), while there were 3500 gallon types in the K4 mix.

 

All the very best

Les

[coachmann]

I was sure I read something about an LNER CCT but I cannot find the image.

[valeofyork]

Regarding the HSTs, is this the first time Hornby have done Executive livery with the scale-length Mk3s? I know that the MML livery they have only done in the short-length ones (although Lima did it in scale length).

[Fenman]

I'm sure Heljan and Dapol would happily produce larger volumes if the market was there... why wouldn't they?

 

As will be obvious when you start to read this I'm no expert, but I understood Heljan used "soft" tools which are cheaper to produce but wear out fast; so they're ideal for low-volume, specialist items. Hornby's business model is predicated, I assume, on long-runs and higher volume, and uses more expensive "hard" tools which last much longer.

 

So Heljan, at least, and assuming what I've written is not complete bobbins, may not necessarily be happy with the greater financial exposure involved in producing larger volumes.

 

Paul

[Fat Controller]

I was sure I read something about an LNER CCT but I cannot find the image.

You did, Larry; one of these:-

http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lnercctc

[Pint of Adnams]

No it's not just those two smaller-boilered locomotives, but the K1 as well is described as having a diecast body. I've not worked my way through all of the new locomotives individually, perhaps someone else will, but is the change of material related in any way to the change of production locations? I cannot believe, and being old enough to remember Hornby Dublo and the Graham Farish Pannier in the flesh as well as Dinky and Britain's toys and so on, that diecast metal can deliver the same crisp and fine detail as injection-moulded plastic.

[Fenman]

 I cannot believe, and being old enough to remember Hornby Dublo and the Graham Farish Pannier in the flesh as well as Dinky and Britain's toys and so on, that diecast metal can deliver the same crisp and fine detail as injection-moulded plastic.

 

It worked fine for the lovely Hornby T9.

 

Paul

[orford]

At long, long, long last ................. J15 ......sigh.    I thought it would never happen.  Thank you SImon - you listened.  Three of them on order for Orford already!

 

AND a D16/3 too.  Thank heavens - I can now get rid of that brass kit which has set glowering at me on a shelf for far too long.  I just know could never have built it to modern-day R-T-R standards

[Mikkel]

I am not a Hornby basher but…  The WWI troop train pack has GWR coaches in chocolate and cream.  GWR coaches went all-over brown from 1908, and then crimson lake from 1912-22 when the original livery was restored.  Until war broke out the railway was very quick at repainting and maintaining its corporate image, and so please don't issue the coaches in that livery!

 

I suppose that Hornby's problem here is that their clerestories don't actually have panels - they're just printed on (see eg this version). So with a one-colour crimson-lake the panels would look something like on this old PC/Wheeltappers Toplight, which didn't have moulded panels either. Which may or may not be acceptable, depending on what you expect of a train pack...

 

[OnTheBranchline]

I suppose that Hornby's problem here is that their clerestories don't actually have panels - they're just printed on (see eg this version). So with a one-colour crimson-lake the panels would look something like on this old PC/Wheeltappers Toplight, which didn't have moulded panels either. Which may or may not be acceptable, depending on what you expect of a train pack...

 

 

You know, the easier option for Hornby might be to repackage/remarket the train pack as "Spirit of the Twenties" or something else like that, and have the lining put back on the Star (like Lode Star). The lake crimson livery while nice to have is probably less marketable than having the Star relined in 1920s livery.