Hornby 2018 - the full announcements

[Southernman46]

Sort of glad this is a indifferent catalogue for me - means I can now get that 10203 in green that I've fallen in love with ........................

[Opelsi]

Thought we might have seen a Dancehall brake van.!

 

Thinking more likely as a special commission from someone at some stage now.

[Dunsignalling]

Thought we might have seen a Dancehall brake van.!

 

Thinking more likely as a special commission from someone at some stage now.

There's a perfectly good Cambrian kit for that. Includes the bits for the Departmental conversion too.

 

If anyone was to do one r-t-r I'd expect it to be Bachmann as the Dancehalls and the Pillboxes used the same underframe.

 

John

[phil gollin]

.

 

No one seems to have noticed that Hornby seem to have done a bit of amalgamation in its descriptions.  In its regional listing it has "South West" and "South East", but not "South".

 

The Brighton line seems to have been absorbed into the "South East" !  The "Brighton Belle" seems to have been repositioned.

 

.

[Downer]

Catalogue in Smiths this morning. £8.99, or £3.50 off if you buy Hornby Magazine as well.

[classy52]

As a modern image modeller I was underwhelmed by both the Bachmann & Hornby announcements. However, I've just ordered the Kernow 153 GWR unit which will be my only purchase from this years announcements. The company I work for did the repainting of these units at Long Marston last year so this will be a nice addition to my collection.

 

Disappointed though that Kernow have corrected the pricing from this morning when I looked at it, therefore costing me £16 more this evening

 

You & me both, as far as Hornby 2018 is concerned it will only be the Colas 67 for me and outside the catalogue probably the special edition NR Mk3 DVT from Kernow.

I thought it was bordering on criminal that Hornby didn't include another DB Schenker Red Class 60 this year since the last & only one was released about 4 years ago or more, or at least give us another numbered Colas 60 or even a ROG liveried Class 56 but hey as I keep reading apparently there isn't a big enough modern image market for Hornby???

Edited January 10, 2018 by classy52

[73080]

Especially when one of the Granges is exactly the same as it’s previous release. R3452 Llanvair Grange is being released in BR Late Crest, Small Tender, exactly the same as previous release R2786.

 

Whilst R2786 appeared in the 2008 catalogue, it was subsequently dropped and was never actually produced.

 

When (if ?) 6825 with late BR crest and small tender is actually issued, if the change in catalogue number is ignored, it will be 10 years from being shown in a catalogue to being actually released. Would this be the longest delay in recent times for a model to be produced ?

[The Stationmaster]

The single chimney Castle with a Collett tender and late BR crest was a surprising and well observed omission, given all the Castles produced so far. So too, to me, is the single chimney Castle with Collett tender and GREAT <arms> WESTERN lettering which we've not seen since the very beginning with Tintagel Castle, many of which were a bit wonky with poor QA.

 

I am assuming the modeled details are compatible with other Castles that ran with a Collett tender - I believe the modeled Castle is not consistent with some of the earliest Castles built.

 

Abergavenny is consistent with various other 'Castles' in the condition which the new Hornby model portrays, and for this particular engine it is only correct for the period from February 1957 to October 1960 (which happens to suit some of us down to the ground but that's another story).  That is about the best one can say without doing a lot of delving into the back history of individual engines, boiler changes and tender swaps engines although in theory those from the same Lot would have been similar at time of build.

 

'Castles' are a typical 'standardised (haha)' Western engine with loads of detail variations over the years and between individual engines but fortunately Hornby took account of coping for many of those detail variations in its original tooling.

[phil-b259]

.

 

No one seems to have noticed that Hornby seem to have done a bit of amalgamation in its descriptions.  In its regional listing it has "South West" and "South East", but not "South".

 

The Brighton line seems to have been absorbed into the "South East" !  The "Brighton Belle" seems to have been repositioned.

 

.

 

Well on todays railway the BML does indeed fall into the "South East Route" of Network Rail (which is then split into 'Sussex' and 'Kent' within said 'route')

[Shoey]

You & me both, as far as Hornby 2018 is concerned it will only be the Colas 67 for me and outside the catalogue probably the special edition NR Mk3 DVT from Kernow.

I thought it was bordering on criminal that Hornby didn't include another DB Schenker Red Class 60 this year since the last & only one was released about 4 years ago or more, or at least give us another numbered Colas 60 or even a ROG liveried Class 56 but hey as I keep reading apparently there isn't a big enough modern image market for Hornby???

I’m with you both here and couldn’t agree more. As you’ll find I keep mentioning, I was hoping that Hornby would have done the Class 153 in the FGW ‘local lines’ livery. I know they are all GWR green now but considering how many years the livery was applied to these units, I thought it may have been a popular choice! Also, I would have put good money down on there being a plain red DB tug announced...

[jonathan452]

As a modern image modeller I was underwhelmed by both the Bachmann & Hornby announcements. However, I've just ordered the Kernow 153 GWR unit which will be my only purchase from this years announcements. The company I work for did the repainting of these units at Long Marston last year so this will be a nice addition to my collection.

 

Disappointed though that Kernow have corrected the pricing from this morning when I looked at it, therefore costing me £16 more this evening

Just the Virgin 87 for me (as well as the Blue one).

 

Having already got my Virgin Mk3b DVT's from last time round.

 

Though the Fifteen Guinea Special might be a nice little extra (even though not quite my era).

Edited January 10, 2018 by jonathan452

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...I wonder if we, as a more opinionated group, should look for marginal items from the dedicated retailers.

 That's if you are fortunate in having a dedicated retailer, which serves your particular 'chosen subject'. Coverage is awfully patchy seen across the grand sweep of potential UK 'chosen subjects'.

 

As one primarily interested in GN/LNE/BR(ER) it turns out that my dedicated retailer is the NRM.

[steve1023]

Catalogue in Smiths this morning. £8.99, or £3.50 off if you buy Hornby Magazine as well.

Not in Smiths in Chichester today. Only discounted if you buy them together in a sealed bag - which they don't have and don't when they will receive them either.

[GreenGiraffe22]

Well on todays railway the BML does indeed fall into the "South East Route" of Network Rail (which is then split into 'Sussex' and 'Kent' within said 'route')

I was going to say, geographically the Brighton line doesn't become West until Southwick.

[bart2day]

And Bachmann are updating 3 or 4 DMUS. What is it the Diesel Electric fans want.

1st gen is all but done in models.

What class and livery would sell without being to restrictive to pireod area. Just curious

Electrostar. Runs on Southeastern, Southern, Great Western and Great Northern (plus previously Thameslink). That's a big area. Plus it's the biggest fleet of electric trains ever made.

[bart2day]

Personally; I'd rather have new models than updated ones! Will get annoying and expensive if I want to replace some for newer ones. The old ones are very easy to upgrade to a nice standard anyway and it feels a tad unnecessary.

Me too. While it is nice to get these older models up to today's standard, in my opinion their focus should be on new models first before just rereleasing old ones. As you say it is expensive to replace them with newer ones and I will certainly not be rushing out to replace my old turbostar which I got for less than £100 for a new one upwards of £200.

[MikeParkin65]

Sort of glad this is a indifferent catalogue for me - means I can now get that 10203 in green that I've fallen in love with ........................

Agree  - the main beneficiaries of the 2018 Hornby catalogue from my 'railway fund' will be Bachmann, Kernow, Brassmasters and various DCC sound suppliers 

[wombatofludham]

... as I keep reading apparently there isn't a big enough modern image market for Hornby???

Opinions, not fact. Opinions from to be brutally honest an unrepresentative small minority of the modelling fraternity who inhabit these forums. I've posted elsewhere I personally know about 10 active so called "modern image" modellers but only two of us regularly are on this forum, meaning about 75% don't bother with it and despite me trying to get them to join, quite a few were put off by the massive steam bias displayed by the postings and a general snottiness from steam enthusiasts towards anyone who dares not model an era with steam in it. Not my view, that of people who have lurked, been put off and gone elsewhere for their interests.

 

I've seen no demonstrably unbiased survey results, covering both on-line and off-line active modellers, as to the strength or otherwise of the broad church of post-steam modelling. I doubt we ever will. Clearly Hornby and Bachmann have differing market analysis teams and come up with differing results judging by their model ranges.

 

In any case it's a self fulfilling issue if they don't feel there is a modern market to go for when they have launched models in desirable contemporary liveries with lacklustre quality control (Mk3 restaurant cars), using mouldings that are well past their sell by date or in the case of the Mk2e, launching a potentially lucrative model with a massive design flaw on a par with the Gresley coach "tumblehomegate", and we know how much wailing and moaning went on in these forums about that, yet some of those same people expect "modern image" modellers to be grateful and to accept what they get. Of course, it is mildly amusing to see some of the comments about what constitutes Hornby's "commitment" to "modern image" modelling - 2-BIL and 2-HAP are not modern, or for that matter the Class 71 which had all gone by about forty years ago.

 

Thing is when Hornby do it right they do a good job, HST power cars, 50, 60 and the new 87 amongst others. But alongside that they make howlers like the Mk2e. It's that inconsistency of approach that gets those whose interests include more modern items complaining, not some sense of "self entitlement" as inferred from the steam camp - who let's face it can be even more self-entitled than everyone else put together.

 

Still, one year of nothing for me is fine as I will have a busy year this year, and Hornby will be getting about 25% of my expenditure so that will be nice for them and shows that I'm open to purchasing from them when they present the right product.

[GordonC]

Opinions, not fact. Opinions from to be brutally honest an unrepresentative small minority of the modelling fraternity who inhabit these forums. I've posted elsewhere I personally know about 10 active so called "modern image" modellers but only two of us regularly are on this forum, meaning about 75% don't bother with it and despite me trying to get them to join, quite a few were put off by the massive steam bias displayed by the postings and a general snottiness from steam enthusiasts towards anyone who dares not model an era with steam in it. Not my view, that of people who have lurked, been put off and gone elsewhere for their interests.

 

I've seen no demonstrably unbiased survey results, covering both on-line and off-line active modellers, as to the strength or otherwise of the broad church of post-steam modelling. I doubt we ever will. Clearly Hornby and Bachmann have differing market analysis teams and come up with differing results judging by their model ranges.

 

In any case it's a self fulfilling issue if they don't feel there is a modern market to go for when they have launched models in desirable contemporary liveries with lacklustre quality control (Mk3 restaurant cars), using mouldings that are well past their sell by date or in the case of the Mk2e, launching a potentially lucrative model with a massive design flaw on a par with the Gresley coach "tumblehomegate", and we know how much wailing and moaning went on in these forums about that, yet some of those same people expect "modern image" modellers to be grateful and to accept what they get. Of course, it is mildly amusing to see some of the comments about what constitutes Hornby's "commitment" to "modern image" modelling - 2-BIL and 2-HAP are not modern, or for that matter the Class 71 which had all gone by about forty years ago.

 

Thing is when Hornby do it right they do a good job, HST power cars, 50, 60 and the new 87 amongst others. But alongside that they make howlers like the Mk2e. It's that inconsistency of approach that gets those whose interests include more modern items complaining, not some sense of "self entitlement" as inferred from the steam camp - who let's face it can be even more self-entitled than everyone else put together.

 

Still, one year of nothing for me is fine as I will have a busy year this year, and Hornby will be getting about 25% of my expenditure so that will be nice for them and shows that I'm open to purchasing from them when they present the right product.

 

I think when Hornby have made Modern Image models, some of their choices of liveries and execution has been 'questionable' ... so if sales haven't been what they expect is that really a surprise?

[bart2day]

Opinions, not fact. Opinions from to be brutally honest an unrepresentative small minority of the modelling fraternity who inhabit these forums. I've posted elsewhere I personally know about 10 active so called "modern image" modellers but only two of us regularly are on this forum, meaning about 75% don't bother with it and despite me trying to get them to join, quite a few were put off by the massive steam bias displayed by the postings and a general snottiness from steam enthusiasts towards anyone who dares not model an era with steam in it. Not my view, that of people who have lurked, been put off and gone elsewhere for their interests.I've seen no demonstrably unbiased survey results, covering both on-line and off-line active modellers, as to the strength or otherwise of the broad church of post-steam modelling. I doubt we ever will. Clearly Hornby and Bachmann have differing market analysis teams and come up with differing results judging by their model ranges.In any case it's a self fulfilling issue if they don't feel there is a modern market to go for when they have launched models in desirable contemporary liveries with lacklustre quality control (Mk3 restaurant cars), using mouldings that are well past their sell by date or in the case of the Mk2e, launching a potentially lucrative model with a massive design flaw on a par with the Gresley coach "tumblehomegate", and we know how much wailing and moaning went on in these forums about that, yet some of those same people expect "modern image" modellers to be grateful and to accept what they get. Of course, it is mildly amusing to see some of the comments about what constitutes Hornby's "commitment" to "modern image" modelling - 2-BIL and 2-HAP are not modern, or for that matter the Class 71 which had all gone by about forty years ago.Thing is when Hornby do it right they do a good job, HST power cars, 50, 60 and the new 87 amongst others. But alongside that they make howlers like the Mk2e. It's that inconsistency of approach that gets those whose interests include more modern items complaining, not some sense of "self entitlement" as inferred from the steam camp - who let's face it can be even more self-entitled than everyone else put together.Still, one year of nothing for me is fine as I will have a busy year this year, and Hornby will be getting about 25% of my expenditure so that will be nice for them and shows that I'm open to purchasing from them when they present the right product.

Absolutely. Just for a moment I would like all steam modellers to imagine how they would feel if the reverse were true. Imagine Hornby announced only one or two steam engines this year and dozens of diesel and electric. I think they would howl with anger.

 

Just because modern image is not everyone's cup of tea does not mean that Hornby should try and pretend it doesn't exist. Bachmann consistently demonstrates there is a strong market for it.

[Andy W]

At first sight I was impressed by the news release - the sidebars showing on one side the geographical area the model is suitable for, and the other the period it belongs to seemed really useful for modellers without shelves full of reference books. Unfortunately whoever drew the area sidebars seems to have a very strange grasp of geography.

For example if Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire aren't in the Midlands, where are they? Yet the Great Central ran slam bang through all three, and the Great Northern had stations in all three - so why are LNER/ER brake vans or Gresley passenger stock not suitable for the Midlands? Then, why is the Collett autocoach suitable for the Midlands in GW livery but not in BR livery?

[Coryton]

I’m with you both here and couldn’t agree more. As you’ll find I keep mentioning, I was hoping that Hornby would have done the Class 153 in the FGW ‘local lines’ livery. I know they are all GWR green now but considering how many years the livery was applied to these units, I thought it may have been a popular choice! Also, I would have put good money down on there being a plain red DB tug announced...

 

I believe the "local lines" livery is considered very difficult to print. Though didn't Realtrack manage?

[MGR Hooper!]

Absolutely. Just for a moment I would like all steam modellers to imagine how they would feel if the reverse were true. Imagine Hornby announced only one or two steam engines this year and dozens of diesel and electric. I think they would howl with anger.

 

Just because modern image is not everyone's cup of tea does not mean that Hornby should try and pretend it doesn't exist. Bachmann consistently demonstrates there is a strong market for it.

 

 

Opinions, not fact. Opinions from to be brutally honest an unrepresentative small minority of the modelling fraternity who inhabit these forums. I've posted elsewhere I personally know about 10 active so called "modern image" modellers but only two of us regularly are on this forum, meaning about 75% don't bother with it and despite me trying to get them to join, quite a few were put off by the massive steam bias displayed by the postings and a general snottiness from steam enthusiasts towards anyone who dares not model an era with steam in it. Not my view, that of people who have lurked, been put off and gone elsewhere for their interests.

 

I've seen no demonstrably unbiased survey results, covering both on-line and off-line active modellers, as to the strength or otherwise of the broad church of post-steam modelling. I doubt we ever will. Clearly Hornby and Bachmann have differing market analysis teams and come up with differing results judging by their model ranges.

 

In any case it's a self fulfilling issue if they don't feel there is a modern market to go for when they have launched models in desirable contemporary liveries with lacklustre quality control (Mk3 restaurant cars), using mouldings that are well past their sell by date or in the case of the Mk2e, launching a potentially lucrative model with a massive design flaw on a par with the Gresley coach "tumblehomegate", and we know how much wailing and moaning went on in these forums about that, yet some of those same people expect "modern image" modellers to be grateful and to accept what they get. Of course, it is mildly amusing to see some of the comments about what constitutes Hornby's "commitment" to "modern image" modelling - 2-BIL and 2-HAP are not modern, or for that matter the Class 71 which had all gone by about forty years ago.

 

Thing is when Hornby do it right they do a good job, HST power cars, 50, 60 and the new 87 amongst others. But alongside that they make howlers like the Mk2e. It's that inconsistency of approach that gets those whose interests include more modern items complaining, not some sense of "self entitlement" as inferred from the steam camp - who let's face it can be even more self-entitled than everyone else put together.

 

Still, one year of nothing for me is fine as I will have a busy year this year, and Hornby will be getting about 25% of my expenditure so that will be nice for them and shows that I'm open to purchasing from them when they present the right product.

 

Couldn't agree more with these two posts.

[Oldddudders]

Not in Smiths in Chichester today. Only discounted if you buy them together in a sealed bag - which they don't have and don't when they will receive them either.

Ditto Smugs in the Bentalls centre in Kingston. But - hey! - I haven’t bought a Hornby catalogue in about 50 years. Worse things happen at sea.

[Mallard60022]

Absolutely. Just for a moment I would like all steam modellers to imagine how they would feel if the reverse were true. Imagine Hornby announced only one or two steam engines this year and dozens of diesel and electric. I think they would howl with anger.

 

Just because modern image is not everyone's cup of tea does not mean that Hornby should try and pretend it doesn't exist. Bachmann consistently demonstrates there is a strong market for it.

Not me.

Phil

Edited January 10, 2018 by Mallard60022