drax/Hornby biomass wagons

[slg]

Hornby magazine have loaded an article and pictures onto its website saying only 500 of each wagon. 

[icphotos]

Hornby magazine have loaded an article and pictures onto its website saying only 500 of each wagon.

 

Looking at the pictures, a lot of the pipework appears to be moulded and combined with the end hoppers swinging off the coupling its a bit disappointing. Still its an impressive wagon and will be buying one, just can't justify forming a rake. If the 500 on sale weren't subsidising Drax's freebies I would have bought a rake @ £40-45 a go, instead I'm going to be investing in a Freightliner HHA rake.

[YesTor]

Looking at the pictures, a lot of the pipework appears to be moulded and combined with the end hoppers swinging off the coupling its a bit disappointing.

 

Agreed, for £83.00 that's a lot of mouded-on 'detail'!  For the price I would have expected the detail level to at the very least match that of Bachmann's JJA Autoballaster, for example.  "Design Clever", anyone? 

 

Or maybe this is the 'Railroad' version... with the full-fat version yet to be announced at a slightly premium price?    *cough*

Edited January 18, 2016 by darkjunglemung

[MGR Hooper!]

It's a real pity that Hornby never did this as their own model. Sadly due to the fact that this is being commissioned by Drax, we see what is IMHO a ridiculous price. Many including myself would've ran 6+ as a short rake with options to add more in future. I don't even want one though I can afford it. No idea what Drax was thinking in terms of pricing. Just not happy with it so I won't be buying it.

 

That being said I hope an opportunity is seen and Drax sell the tooling onto Hornby to produce more. Or I don't mind Hornby producing a real RailRoad spec one also.

[Hilux5972]

Drax have done this as a publicity model. They couldn't care less about the cost to railway modellers.

[birdseyecircus]

It does seem an expensive way to produce a publicity model. They could have had a fold up card model or a one piece resin cast.

Paul

[blueeighties]

Regardless of insane price, watch these sell out very quickly and then end up at even more insane prices on Flea Bay.

[Roddy Angus]

I doubt that this is intended to solely be a publicity model as why include movable bogies or couplings?  A far cheaper static model could have been produced.  A static small scale (N scale) Class 60 and 4 wagons would have been cheaper and have looked more impressive on an office shelf.  Why go to Hornby and not one of the companies which produce static models for magazines at low cost?

 

The current "dumping" of surplus wagons onto the modeller market at an inflated price is possibly a marketing ploy along the lines of "a pair of wagons worth £166" rather than reflecting their true value.

 

I am sure that these will be available more widely in due course as they have been designed to be run, not sit on a shelf.

 

Roddy

[Dunsignalling]

Well thats around £2000 for a prototypical rake! Don't think I'll be doing that. Think I'm facing a switch to N gauge for a Durham Coast Line layout!

Anybody who can afford to buy a house with enough room for (and the wherewithal to build) the sort of layout that could convincingly accommodate a full-length train of these could probably manage it.

 

J.

[black and decker boy]

I'm sure we will see lots of short rakes "on their way to WH Davis" appearing at exhibitions which is a good excuse for a 66 and single wagon.

[BritishRail60062]

I bet when some of these make it to eBay. The prices are going to be even more eye-watering! .

[brittannia]

Who will buy them? Seems most posters on this topic are not interested at the price plus not really one for the impulsive buyer

 

I bet when some of these make it to eBay. The prices are going to be even more eye-watering! .

[Steadfast]

Going OT.

60's have slow speed control fitted - they've worked merry-go-round trains before. Unless it's even slower......?

I thought a bigger problem is that they haven't the capacity within the air compressor to power the door systems?

 

Cheers,

Mick

From what I read elsewhere class 60 slow speed control has several fixed settings, none of which are suited to the biomass operation. Comparison given is that a 66 it's variable by 0.1mph via the on board computer.

0.3mph sounds so slow! It must keep the train barely creeping along

 

Jo

[Wild Boar Fell]

Anyone else thinking the model in Hornby Magazine has the Swoosh logos done using transfers, looking at how it sits over the body seams? Having once discussed transfers for such a model with suppliers, this can easily be largely responsible for the 'higher than normal' price.

 

WBF 

[big jim]

From what I read elsewhere class 60 slow speed control has several fixed settings, none of which are suited to the biomass operation. Comparison given is that a 66 it's variable by 0.1mph via the on board computer.

0.3mph sounds so slow! It must keep the train barely creeping along

 

Jo

 

0.5, 1 and 2.7 mph on a class 60

[MGR Hooper!]

Anyone else thinking the model in Hornby Magazine has the Swoosh logos done using transfers, looking at how it sits over the body seams? Having once discussed transfers for such a model with suppliers, this can easily be largely responsible for the 'higher than normal' price.

 

WBF 

 

I think Precision Transfers do a Drax set for the Class 60. Is that the supplier?

[TFR]

Caved and ordered some. 

 

Looks like delivery is slipping until February (at the earliest).

[Mel_H]

It seems there are a lot of unhappy people on here. Clearly, people are hard to please (*stands back, and prepares to be flamed!*).

 

If you said to someone, would you like to buy a high-quality limited run wagon that’s hard to scratchbuild and there is unlikely to be a kit for it, oh, and it’s only £83, would it be a different matter?

 

Image the howls of protest if Drax did the commissioning and never made any available to the public?

 

Also, it’s a big punt. Look how hard it is to shift some limited editions. And, who is likely to actually run a full-length 24 wagon, or even the new shorter 11-wagon rake?

 

Clearly Drax wanted some models; it also realised (or Hornby got it to agree) that for Hornby to produce them they would need to get modellers to buy most of them and doubtless that is why Hornby developed something to cope with sharp curves.  

 

Whether between them they got the price and quantity correct is something that will become clear in the coming weeks or months.  

 

However, I've been alerted that a cheaper option *might* be available as Wild Board Models is proposing a kit, subject to sufficient interest. The bodyshell is described as a "scratchbuilding aid" - so you'll need to do some actual modelling...

 

http://www.wildboarmodels.co.uk/wagons---air-braked.php

 

Assuming that Wild Boar Models goes ahead with the project and the price remains the same then for around £35 you will have everything you need apart from paint (which colours do you need?) and decals that nobody makes (apart from the Drax logo). 

 

Just supposing somebody comes up with the paint and decals then that would put the price up to at least £50 if the price for the class 60 decals is anything to go by.   

 

Applying the paint is not something many would relish as the livery is far from simple.  How much skilled labour can you buy for £33?  Not enough to get the job done, that is for certain.

 

I'll get my coat and pop down behind the parapet…

 

 

Please enjoy your modelling. I do!

[Dagworth]

Anybody who can afford to buy a house with enough room for (and the wherewithal to build) the sort of layout that could convincingly accommodate a full-length train of these could probably manage it.

 

J.

Nope, to get a rake of these you'd have to hit it all in one go. Building a big layout is a long slow process that sees the cost very spread out.

Glad I model the era of HAAs

 

Andi

[BlackRat]

Whilst in plod, I had occasion to make numerous visits to a bus company.

 

At the end of my enquiries the fleet manager presented me with a lovely boxed scale model of one of their fleet.

 

One of a Ltd edition.

 

Not being an avid bus enthusiast I asked why they did Ltd edition model and were they not on general sale.

 

No they aren't on sale, nor will they ever be, was the answer. They were bought to give away to suppliers etc and they had,no interest whatsoever in the hobby or collector market. Why should they .......we run a bus company, not a toy shop!

 

I said they would be able to recover some of the cost, but was told the pr dept has a budget which due,to the size of the company more than allowed for the cost to be absorbed.

 

I guess those buying them are greatful that a few have been made available.

Edited January 21, 2016 by BlackRat

[Satan's Goldfish]

Anyone else thinking the model in Hornby Magazine has the Swoosh logos done using transfers, looking at how it sits over the body seams? Having once discussed transfers for such a model with suppliers, this can easily be largely responsible for the 'higher than normal' price.

 

WBF 

 

Why did your 3d print versions not reach this stage? was it down to the price? (colour transfer on a light back ground from my personal transfer making experience would be about £1 per wagon)

[jjb1970]

Companies regularly commission models which would be hugely attractive to collectors and modellers which are never made available to the public. As BlackRat says there is a budget for this stuff and companies are generally not interested in retail sales. When I worked for Maersk they had some lovely models which were only ever distributed via corporate channels, they also did promote themselves by making models and toys with companies like Lego which were made available to the public but many of them were strictly private for Maersk's own use. Airlines do the same, often they sell models of their aircraft via inflight sales and they are happy to license their image for general retail sales but they also commission quite a lot of models (particularly larger scale models from companies like PacMin and Atlantic) which are very rarely made available for collectors to buy unless they appear as second hand models later.The ultimate examples (at least for me) are builders models of ships, most of them would be prohibitively expensive for all but the super rich to ever contemplate buying but shipping companies still consider frighteningly expensive models of their fleets to be worthwhile.

[BritishRail60062]

Who will buy them? Seems most posters on this topic are not interested at the price plus not really one for the impulsive buyer

I remember when Bachmann announced their Midland Blue Pullman at the RRP of £349.99 back in 2011/2 and the hype back then was "Its too steep, I'm not paying that". But when they came out, Bachmann just couldn't keep up with the demand and the Nanking Blue set now fetches in excess in excess of £400 for a used set. So to be honest buddy. I wouldn't believe what people always say because when the product finally comes out. People often change their minds .

[Revolution Mike]

I think the comparison with kit building is more than a little disingenuous!

 

The wagons are not *that* complicated to tool and produce, so I wonder if purchasers are subsidising the corporate gifts (we will never know).  I can't honestly believe that Drax would have agreed to pay £83 each for corporate gift models - if they did then they should have done a better job of a competitive tender!

 

Cheers, Mike

[No Decorum]

Is anyone else thinking, "Drax, Hornby, biomass wagons, £83; VTG, Revolution Trains, TEAs, £39?" Then, "Drax, Revolution Trains, biomass wagons, £39?" Then, "Blast, Drax unlikely to co-operate?"