Hornby 2023 Speculation?

[Dunsignalling]

8 hours ago, Les1952 said:

 

THREE Pacific classes.  The A1/1 rebuilt Great Northern hasn't been done.

 

Les

Nor a third of the Merchant Navies through lacking the correct tenders....

 

Having a gap that size to exploit places the Rebuilt MN in pole position for a retool.

 

Also, of course, several rebuilt Light Pacifics received 5250g tender rebodies....

 

John

Edited December 18, 2022 by Dunsignalling

[rogerzilla]

SR U class or GWR Saint?  Or there's loads of 1990s stuff that desperately needs retooling.

[Opelsi]

Just for fun - hope!

 

 

CR Cardean with 12-wheel stock (magnificent and eye catching)

Great Bear (as others have said - follows on from turbomotive etc)

LMS compos (to match existing stock and grow sales of both)

LMS [unprototypical] Red and gold stripes Coronation stock set

GWR Collect Restaurant (to match existing stock and grow sales of both)

Pullmans with cream upper band (not yet done on lit examples)

Class 06 (it is one of Hornby's own)

Class 70 (it is Southern after all)

Class 81/2/3/4 (electric Missing links)

Prototype HST (false start with others - so before they go again)

 

 

Merry Xmas everyone!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Opelsi
Typo + Omission

[Covkid]

How about a Riddles class 2MT 78xxx ? Green or black EC or LC plenty of variety

Oh hang on...........

And people used to criticise Bachmann !!!!

 

There are a whole host of "big wheeler" passenger locos to go at including the lovely named "Queen of the Belgians"  - LNWR and LMS Claughtons.  Then there were Precursor and Prince of Whales and George V classes. 

 

The Great Bear mentioned upthread is a good shout, but equally the Aberdare 2-6-0. 

 

[rogerzilla]

Has anyone ever done a D3/12?  You can run it with SR or BR steam and diesel, it looks funky and they did try them out on various duties besides shunting.  Probably more of a Rapido/Heljan niche product.  Model Rail/Heljan are doing the successor Class 12, although it sounds like it might just be a Class 11 with BFB wheels 🤨

[Dunsignalling]

Whilst Hornby has exhibited a keen desire to provide models of pretty much every large ECML express passenger steam loco bar one (so far), their record on stock for them to pull has been lamentable by comparison.

 

Their existing range of Gresley corridor stock is a peculiar selection of prototypes with a basic mistake in the execution. About time to revisit and replace?

 

I have almost zero interest in the locos, but a sensible formation of properly proportioned coaches suitable for inter-regional workings would be very welcome if nobody else gets in first.

 

John

 

  

[Combe Martin]

There is one loco/tender combination of Bullied light pacifics that Hornby havn't produced yet, but which is easy with no new tooling or livery details needed. ie a wide bodied un-rebuilt loco coupled to a narrow bodied 4500 gallon cut down tender.   34103 Calstock comes to mind but I believe there are a few others.  A Bournemouth loco in the 60's it was used on the Somerset & Dorset (surely always a good seller) as well as the other Bournemouth duties.

 

And I'm sure the gentleman just above would agree and like one too !  

[TomScrut]

The main things I am after are DMUs, namely classes 170, 185, 195 and 220/221. I don't expect Hornby will be doing any of these.

 

I'd be very surprised if there wasn't any reaction to the inroads Accurascale are making on their diesel classes (31 and 50).

 

I think they might announce Avanti Hitachis, and the TfW Stadler units (231 and/or 756). Likewise more HSTs, and probably a new livery LNER 91/mk4 set.

 

Would be nice to see them have a go at a modern wagon, last ones they tooled up were the KFAs about 10 years ago (excluding the biomass wagons which were commissioned by Drax).

 

Steam I won't even guess as to what they'll do. Probably only things I'd be after would be a Duchess of Sutherland and/or Sir Nigel Gresley in current condition.

[TheSignalEngineer]

14 hours ago, The Black Hat said:

HST upgrade with new teaks to tooling

HST in Thompson faux teak livery?

🤔

Edited December 18, 2022 by TheSignalEngineer

[frobisher]

1 minute ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

HST in Thompson faux reak livery?

🤔

The question would remain what colour should the PCs be..? Teak? Garter Blue? Apple Green? Austerity Black?

[TheSignalEngineer]

36 minutes ago, frobisher said:

The question would remain what colour should the PCs be..? Teak? Garter Blue? Apple Green? Austerity Black?

Post war apple green would probably be most appropriate, although one in that and the other in early BR blue?

 

Another suggestion for both the TOC and Hornby would be an Azuma in 1937 "Coronation" livery to cash in on current events.

[wombatofludham]

There are some things that might just force me to reconsider my avoiding any spend with Hornby, they being an Intercity Executive HST with new tool TRSB four bay buffet second for those of us who want to have a Cross Country seven car set, especially if the new model can actually cope with a full length train round tight curves, a Class 120 Swindon cross country DMU, and most unlikely, a WCML EMU like a 304 or 310.  I doubt any of those will come although the TRSB ought to be possible given Hornby now have access to Oxford's research on the Mk3 fleet they said they were going to do more of.

One outside possibility is a Class 81, after all both Triang and Hornby-Dublo had them in their ranges, and Hornby seem to like revisiting old models.  My only concern is they would do a straight re-release of the Triang model in the faux Triang train set packaging and assume that is good enough for those non-steam enthusiast freaks.

[Dunsignalling]

5 hours ago, Combe Martin said:

There is one loco/tender combination of Bullied light pacifics that Hornby havn't produced yet, but which is easy with no new tooling or livery details needed. ie a wide bodied un-rebuilt loco coupled to a narrow bodied 4500 gallon cut down tender.   34103 Calstock comes to mind but I believe there are a few others.  A Bournemouth loco in the 60's it was used on the Somerset & Dorset (surely always a good seller) as well as the other Bournemouth duties.

 

And I'm sure the gentleman just above would agree and like one too !  

The most elusive West Country for me, and the only Bulleid Pacific of the whole 140 that I didn't observe passing through my home station of Axminster. My pals took great relish in informing me whenever I'd missed seeing it by ten minutes!

 

By contrast, I used to see it nearly every time I went to Weymouth! Nine Elms used to swap Exmouth Junction and Bournemouth Pacifics around with what appeared to be gay abandon, though it was, no doubt, all part of a master plan to control mileage accumulation. After the Kent electrification spotters on either line could see the lot in one place if patient enough (and not late on parade 🙂). 

 

My favourite wide/narrow combination was always 34106 Lydford, I've never been sure why....

 

John

Edited December 18, 2022 by Dunsignalling

[Neil]

I have absolutely no idea what Hornby may or may not announce but I thought that it might be fun to take a look at some of the not so obvious gaps in rtr.

 

Steam - Gresley P1, ECML power and a bit of a looker in my hunble opinion.

 

Diesel - Hunslet LMS 0-6-0 diesel shunter, surprisingly widely travelled.

 

Electric:  - Raven Bo-bo built for Newport - Shildon, could sport NER, LNER or BR liveries.

 

Petrol - Motor Rail Simplex, would allow for a Burneside Paper Tramway set with the Ruston 48DS, other examples widely used in industry.

 

Wind - Spurn Head sail trolley, the ultimate in eco transport. Power the model by hair dryer (cold setting) or flatulence. Parp.

[Hroth]

11 minutes ago, Neil said:

Wind - Spurn Head sail trolley, the ultimate in eco transport. Power the model by hair dryer (cold setting) or flatulence. Parp.

 

Or, supply it with an AA battery powered fan!

(Batteries not included...)

 

[The Stationmaster]

19 hours ago, Les1952 said:

 

THREE Pacific classes.  The A1/1 rebuilt Great Northern hasn't been done.

 

Les

Fortunately 🙂

[Flying Pig]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

Or, supply it with an AA battery powered fan!

(Batteries not included...)

 

 

Or a bag of split peas.

[Hroth]

2 minutes ago, Flying Pig said:

 

Or a bag of split peas.

 

Parents may not like a packet of spilt split peas...

 

[Flying Pig]

6 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Parents may not like a packet of spilt split peas...

 

 

Spilt split peas and spelt make the base of a blusterous broth.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Flying Pig

[adb968008]

20 hours ago, The Black Hat said:

Agreeing with you through most of this. The problem with 0-6-0s is that (as usual) companies have been going around picking the wrong ones. J14 was just a token gesture as Hornby looked to sew up the GE area and wanted it all for themselves. Problem is that with doing the Brit, L1, D16, etc you just need the one J14/J15 for the collection. Bachmann tried to be clever with the J11, expect GC polls poorly and by going down the middle thought that it would pick up Midland and Eastern demand. Not quite... Again your Southen classes such as C class wont sell in great number as people want them as a token amongst all the other stuff. 

Oxford made an effort with the J27 to start their range of North Eastern stuff. Its a nice attempt and one thats going to get repeat sales as the choice is good. You dont just run one J27... Grouping designs have been ok. The midland 4F, Deans goods, and the J39 have been done, although retool and DCC gubbins would be welcome for the lot. The Southern Q class would be a nice addition, if useless for me. 

Instead, what you want a popular engines that worked in numbers and where youd need more than one because the class was that frequent for real. J21 stands clearly above the rest out there as the classic waiting to be done. J25 would be another, and both these tap GE and Western region areas respectively. Another Scottish such as Maude would be another one that would sell well. So its not that 0-6-0s dont sell... its just the companies have been picking the wrong ones.... 

what price would you pay for it though ?

 

Those other ones are below £100, some were below £60 and still stall the bargain bins.

 

Any new tender engine tooling now seems £230+
 

Given Hornbys recent aggressive defence, I wonder if they might do a “me to” Deltic ?

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by adb968008

[Arun Sharma]

 

40 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Fortunately 🙂

However it does exist in 7mm.............

 

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Arun Sharma
addnl info

[1andrew1]

5 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

There are some things that might just force me to reconsider my avoiding any spend with Hornby, they being an Intercity Executive HST with new tool TRSB four bay buffet second for those of us who want to have a Cross Country seven car set, especially if the new model can actually cope with a full length train round tight curves, a Class 120 Swindon cross country DMU, and most unlikely, a WCML EMU like a 304 or 310.  I doubt any of those will come although the TRSB ought to be possible given Hornby now have access to Oxford's research on the Mk3 fleet they said they were going to do more of.

One outside possibility is a Class 81, after all both Triang and Hornby-Dublo had them in their ranges, and Hornby seem to like revisiting old models.  My only concern is they would do a straight re-release of the Triang model in the faux Triang train set packaging and assume that is good enough for those non-steam enthusiast freaks.

I tipped the Class 81 (and Deltic) earlier in the thread as a Dublo model. That way, I think the model can command a more premium price than when sold under the Hornby brand. It probably has more collector than modeller appeal,  Hornby Hobbies also seem to be using the Tri-ang brand for sets and an 81 would make an unusual trainset without catenary. 

[Dunsignalling]

54 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

what price would you pay for it though ?

 

Those other ones are below £100, some were below £60 and still stall the bargain bins.

 

Any new tender engine tooling now seems £230+
 

Given Hornbys recent aggressive defence, I wonder if they might do a “me to” Deltic ?

 

But Hornby's big-time wager on building a new and (at least for now) exclusive niche for themselves suggests that even they think their OO market share is only going in one direction.

 

Given the sheer amount they must have thrown into TT:120, can they afford to produce anything for OO that doesn't carry a high likelihood of success?

 

The problem I see with Hornby pitting an all-new Deltic against Accurascale's is that, whilst I consider them capable of matching the best of the new boys on quality or price, I don't think they can do both.

 

So, should Hornby go all out to excel over the competitor, even if they have to sell it at a loss, or pray there are enough people who just can't do without "The Ultimate 4mm Deltic" and are willing to pay a hefty premium for the privilege?

 

Or should they aim for something around parity, slashing the price below cost to undercut Accurascale in the hope of inflicting more damage on them than on themselves?  

 

Neither sounds like a terribly bright thing for a business not long out of intensive care to be contemplating.

 

Whatever noises Hornby make about TT:120 not impacting their OO activities, I think we are looking at a managed retreat from OO and I don't expect the January 10th announcements to herald a serious comeback programme.  

 

John

Edited December 18, 2022 by Dunsignalling

[TerraNovaTrains]

Id like to see an RSH industrial locomotive (One like Meaford No.1, Im not sure what class it is)

 

Wild speculation would be Sans Pareil and Novelty, just to complete the main Rainhill trio (Yes, theres Perseverance and Cycloped too, but the former was bad and the latter was a horse, lets ignore them).

 

 

[MrTea]

Has anyone suggested a BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T yet? Would make sense to follow the 9F and it’s a class that has heritage with Hornby going back to the Dublo days.