Hornby castle arriving?

[Neal Ball]

My local model shop has plenty of Hawksworths on the shelves although I don't know about the livery - but easy enough to ask Graham if I can have a look through the lot. But his prices are pretty close to RRP.

 

Thanks very much Mike. I think at the moment I am going to stick with the 1930's era. In any case, I still have the Centenary project, so will concentrate on that ahead of going down a Hawkesworth route! - Thanks again though.

 

.......I have only received auto replies from Hornby. I get the impression that if you receive a personal reply from any manufacturer it address points/concerns/suggestions originally raised that are not part of the mainstream type of requests of which there must be many. As such, not receiving a personal reply is not an issue for myself... dilbert

 

I agree they must have loads of emails sent from the website. I have previously also sent them letters and received rather terce replies, as if suggestions are not really required.

 

But at the end of the day, if you have that option on a website, you need to ensure its properly serviced. If you cant deal with the quantity of mail, take the option off the page!

 

I remember years ago, a colleague was not getting anywhere with a supplier, so bought some shares and raised the issues at the shareholders meetings! - Anyone thought of buying Hornby shares to lobby for their particular model????

[Guest dilbert]

I remember years ago, a colleague was not getting anywhere with a supplier, so bought some shares and raised the issues at the shareholders meetings! - Anyone thought of buying Hornby shares to lobby for their particular model????

 

Buy enough shares and you wouldn't have to lobby - just produce the 'BIG HINT' box periodically ... dilbert

[Neal Ball]

I emailed Hornby last weekend to see if the Great Western Castle will appear with a Collett tnder, rather then the Hawksworth one. At the time of writing, I have not had a reply.

 

Be nice if we knew a Great Western version is going to make it into the 2013 catalogue. Otherwise, I might have to buy Wellington, get a Collett Castle and back-date it to Devizes Castle.

 

I have today received a reply from Hornby, (who also apologised for the delay in replying).

 

They advise that there are no plans at the moment to release a Great Western castle with a Collett tender.

 

I guess this might change with the 2013 and 2014 release schedule(?)

Edited January 26, 2012 by Neal Ball

[Ozexpatriate]

I guess the point though is that I would have expected a reply from Hornby. I received the auto reply, but nothing from a human.

I have only received auto replies from Hornby. I get the impression that if you receive a personal reply from any manufacturer it address points/concerns/suggestions originally raised that are not part of the mainstream type of requests of which there must be many. As such, not receiving a personal reply is not an issue for myself

I have today received a reply from Hornby, (who also apologised for the delay in replying).

 

They advise that there are no plans at the moment to release a Great Western castle with a Collett tender.

I am surprised that you got a response at all - if you used their 'contact us' page on their website. I have never heard back from them on catalogue related questions and have since given up.

 

I have seen many people report that Hornby are very responsive to emails and calls regarding problems with a purchased model.

[gwrrob]

They advise that there are no plans at the moment to release a Great Western castle with a Collett tender.

 

Disappointed but not surprised Neal.

[Neal Ball]

Disappointed but not surprised Neal.

 

But of course Rob, I suspect this is the view for the 2012 catalogue. That view might change with the release of the 2013 or maybe the 2014 releases!

 

I'm not giving up hope!! - It's a lovely model and my railway is obviously crying out for several Castles. - I still fancy Clun Castle, double chimney, DCC sound..... Can I repaint into the roundel !!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited January 27, 2012 by Neal Ball

[gwrrob]

But of course Rob, I suspect this is the view for the 2012 catalogue. That view might change with the release of the 2013 or maybe the 2014 releases!

 

I'm not giving up hope!! - It's a lovely model and my railway is obviously crying out for several Castles. - I still fancy Clun Castle, double chimney, DCC sound..... Can I repaint into the roundel !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I going to succumb to the early crest BR version.Don't laugh I ain't joking.

[robmcg]

Is it just me or are ordinary everyday single chimney Castles hard to find in shops these days.... let alone early crest Collett tender versions?

 

Rob

[The Stationmaster]

Is it just me or are ordinary everyday single chimney Castles hard to find in shops these days.... let alone early crest Collett tender versions?

 

Rob

Depends where you look Rob - a local trader (out of his warehouse, shows only) chap has recently been seen by me at a couple of shows with early single chimney versions plus 'Tintagel' on his stall. Try a good shop which tries to hold stock long after the box shifters have cleared their shelves (e.g. Alton Model Centre, Bob does export all over the world so no trouble in that respect if he's got what you want but don't expect Hattons' level of prices) and you might strike lucky.

[Neal Ball]

I saw a couple of Tintagel Castles at the Signal Box Rochester stand a couple of weeks ago.

 

My 2nd Tintagel came via eBay from a model shop in Eastleigh.

 

I would have thought 2013 will see another Great Western version with Collet tender

[robmcg]

Depends where you look Rob - a local trader (out of his warehouse, shows only) chap has recently been seen by me at a couple of shows with early single chimney versions plus 'Tintagel' on his stall. Try a good shop which tries to hold stock long after the box shifters have cleared their shelves (e.g. Alton Model Centre, Bob does export all over the world so no trouble in that respect if he's got what you want but don't expect Hattons' level of prices) and you might strike lucky.

 

Thankyou for that reply, I admit I had not chased very many on-line sellers, perhaps I will do so. I was wondering about demand generally for some models recently, since I sell some of my models after photographing them and have had a considerable fall-off in sales on our NZ online auction site Trademe (NZ only... low volume international parcels are quite expensive to arrange), with a new BR 7007 'Great Western' still unsold after 12 weeks at an equivalent of UK 75 Pounds, lovely illustrations, 100% good feedback rating etc... I don't draw any conclusions about this, as in my experience selling is a strange thing generally.

 

I guess I am also interested in the apparent lack of Castles from the post-war era with their many detail differences in steam pipes, cylinder housings and lubricators, as well as really wanting a 'Star' and/or Castles rebuilt from Stars... now there is a type of locomotive which really DOES show the art of locomotive building!

 

Rob

[Coach bogie]

Tintagels are turning up in strange places. With the heavily discounted Argos examples after Christmas, and now I bought one for £80 from one of these' temporary' toy shops that appear before Christmas and disappear by March. I am curious where they are getting the stock? The two local shops I frequent cannot get any stock at all, being told by the rep that it is now sold out. Ironic considering Hornby claims of GWR does not sell well!

 

Mike Wiltshire

[The Stationmaster]

Tintagels are turning up in strange places. With the heavily discounted Argos examples after Christmas, and now I bought one for £80 from one of these' temporary' toy shops that appear before Christmas and disappear by March. I am curious where they are getting the stock? The two local shops I frequent cannot get any stock at all, being told by the rep that it is now sold out. Ironic considering Hornby claims of GWR does not sell well!

Mike Wiltshire

The chap I mentioned who appears at local shows almost certainly gets his stuff from a wholesaler as Hornby state they will not sell to persons who do not have a retail premises - and of course I don't know how long he's had the stuff I have seen in stock. I also saw one more recently on the stall of another trader and wonder if he too might have bought from a wholesaler (and the wholesaler is known to 'dump' slow moving stuff although I have heard that Hornby do the same?).

[robmcg]

I see that Kernows have couple of BR Castles for sale, so all may not be lost...

[MG 7305]

Dear All

 

Is there a correlation between the stock of the old type Castle models and the production of new type Castles? Hornby are just not going to make new type models of locomotives where they still have stocks of the old ones. Customers are not going to buy old types when they want new ones! The good old mexican standoff comes to railway modelling!

[robmcg]

Given the much-publicised quality related problems concerning Tintagel Castle (smoke box number on boiler door etc...), how many of the original production run shipped to retailers were returned ? This in itself could explain why there are only BR types still available - the BR versions not having suffered the same problems as only one GW version was produced (I'm happy with my Tintagel Castle)... dilbert

 

Forgive me for exhuming this subject from the depths of the past, but may I ask whether there was any definitive resolution to the issue of GWR-era Castles?

 

With some posts found as a result of search in this forum saying that there were production problems including possible cyano glue effects of paint-stripping, as well as those listed above, did anyone receive models which were in fact ok? Was there ever any statement from Hornby about the alleged problems? I know a post-war Hawksworth tender version is planned, but a GWR-era Collett version would be nice.

 

Thanks,

 

Rob

Edited May 3, 2012 by robmcg

[robmcg]

I'm pretty sure this will be because the model is sold out. Don't forget that some of the batch were incorrectly fitted with the wrong smokebox door as for a BR version with front numberplate - wasn't Rails one of those affected. Presumably Hornby withdrew the incorrect models from the market. Perhaps they will have ordered replacement smokebox doors if the cost of manufacture and fitting is not too high, or maybe not. We've no idea how many models were wrong.

 

I would expect Hornby to produce another Great Western version in future, but I can't see it appearing out of the blue - it would be announced and/or appear in the catalogue first. So not this year at least - we're still waiting for 7029 Clun Castle IIRC.

 

 

Depending what the problem is, perhaps in view of the error Hornby will have a spare chassis or two to swop over. It can't do any harm to ask them.

 

Ah! This, in view of my above question, seems to be the best guess.... that the incorrect smokebox detail was fitted to Tintagel Castle and Hornby didn't continue with a substantial production run? Apart from other possible quality control issues. But I am still just guessing...

 

edit; found a photo on Olivia's Trains website and smokebox looked fine to me (no number) but site didn't say if it was in stock...

 

further edit, found this photo from Hattons (slightly shaded by me) and I'm not sure what the errors were or may be on this model... it looks good to me, but as far as I know Hattons didn't list it in normal searches.

 

 

Rob

Edited May 3, 2012 by robmcg

[brushman47544]

Ah! This, in view of my above question, seems to be the best guess.... that the incorrect smokebox detail was fitted to Tintagel Castle and Hornby didn't continue with a substantial production run? Apart from other possible quality control issues. But I am still just guessing...

 

edit; found a photo on Olivia's Trains website and smokebox looked fine to me (no number) but site didn't say if it was in stock...

 

further edit, found this photo from Hattons (slightly shaded by me) and I'm not sure what the errors were or may be on this model... it looks good to me, but as far as I know Hattons didn't list it in normal searches.

 

Rob

 

Rob,

 

Unless Hornby is persuaded to comment, I suspect your flogging a dead horse...

 

I have a Tintagel Castle that I bought from Hattons and I'm very happy with it. But equally others who bought theirs from Rails and some other retailers IIRC received models with a BR period smokebox (as shown in Rails' website photo at the time) and badly fitted and/or reattached parts such as the top feed. This would have been done in the factory in China and presumably Hornby's own quality assurance checks on arrival didn't pick this up - perhaps not surprising if only a relatively small proportion of the production run were affected. The production run was presumably similar to other new locos, but assuming most if not all the incorrect models were returned or withdrawn from sale (and perhaps broken up to provide spares?), a significant number may not have been sold and so it is perhaps not surprising that there are quite a few people who still want a Castle in that livery.

 

However, I imagine Hornby will be taking a wider view on likely sales of different liveries and may have concluded that other pre-nationalisation liveries will sell better than a repeat of the "GREAT WESTERN" livery on Tintagel. Hence we are currently awaiting "G W R" on a Hawksworth tender. I'm not an expert on Castle liveries but I presume there are other Great Western/GWR liveries that have not get been produced - for example I presume what I've always known as "shirtbutton" appeared on Castle tenders. These other liveries may all appear before "GREAT WESTERN" is repeated.

 

Whatever happens, we'll get plenty of advance notice because the models will first appear in a future Hornby catalogue before going on sale.

[Ozexpatriate]

Forgive me for exhuming this subject from the depths of the past, but may I ask whether there was any definitive resolution to the issue of GWR-era Castles?

 

... did anyone receive models which were in fact ok?

Rob,

 

My Tintagel Castle did not have a smokebox number or glue stains. It did arrive broken - chimney and separately fitted detail on the tender busted off. Nothing major that couldn't be glued back on, though there were some fine detail plastic parts I haven't identified yet that were also broken.

 

The Argos Hornby Legends verion of Nunney Castle is in the Collett "GREAT <arms> WESTERN" livery, but this is the old tooling.

[gwrrob]

Rob.I was one of the 'lucky' ones whos 5011 was excellent when purchased.I saw it before I bought it from my local model shop.The only niggle I had was the damn loco/tender coupling arrangement.The tab and socket is a poor idea.Looking forward to buying another if the GW livery is suitable.The Hawksworth tender version won't do for me I'm afraid.

[Ozexpatriate]

I imagine Hornby will be taking a wider view on likely sales of different liveries and may have concluded that other pre-nationalisation liveries will sell better than a repeat of the "GREAT WESTERN" livery on Tintagel. Hence we are currently awaiting "G W R" on a Hawksworth tender. ... there are other Great Western/GWR liveries that have not get been produced - for example ... [the] "shirtbutton". These other liveries may all appear before "GREAT WESTERN" is repeated.

The choice of livery is impacted by the specific tooling implemented for this Castle. The tooling applies to Castles that were built starting very late during the "GREAT <arms> WESTERN" livery, so the set of accurate running numbers in this livery is small.

[The Fatadder]

Mine had the right door (thankfully) but did have a slight glue mark and the bogie fell off (though it would have gone anyway)

Hopefully this years one will be ok...

 

Does remind me that I must get on and buy some nameplates

[robmcg]

 

...However, I imagine Hornby will be taking a wider view on likely sales of different liveries and may have concluded that other pre-nationalisation liveries will sell better than a repeat of the "GREAT WESTERN" livery on Tintagel. Hence we are currently awaiting "G W R" on a Hawksworth tender. I'm not an expert on Castle liveries but I presume there are other Great Western/GWR liveries that have not get been produced - for example I presume what I've always known as "shirtbutton" appeared on Castle tenders. These other liveries may all appear before "GREAT WESTERN" is repeated.

 

...

 

 

Thankyou Paul and others who replied. Regardless of the faltering start of production and eventual truncated sale of 5011 'Tintagel Castle' the earlier 'Great Western' livery, (which would not suit the marvellous Hawksworth carriages), there does seem to be a preponderance of double-chimney versions currently on sale. I have a couple of early BR single chimney versions, and one 'Ince Castle' with double chimney.

 

I think I have found a Tintagel but shock horror it is at normal retail price. Good grief does anyone ever pay normal retail anymore?

 

I will keep you informed and perhaps load a picture after I buy it, ..might match it with some early livery Bachmann GWR Colletts.

Am I right that the Collett versions with lining would be more suitable than those without? Could someone suggest what time line would suit each style? Also I would be interested in small details like lubricators and steam pipes on 5011 and if they are correct. One thing I like to do on my Castles is to put a rectangle of vertical black card replicating front cylinders between the frames, or at least paint shadow in photos, as the amount of daylight showing through the frames in this area is my 'pet fussy detail issue'... In any event the pre-1935 version Castle does seem to be a rather rare model.

 

And before I forget, they really are superb models of what my father considered the finest of British steam engineering ever, all things considered.

 

Ah! but first, a Bachmann weathered ex-ROD 2-8-0 has just arrived on my doorstep! First things first!

 

Rob

Edited May 3, 2012 by robmcg

[Ozexpatriate]

..might match it with some early livery Bachmann GWR Colletts.

Am I right that the Collett versions with lining would be more suitable than those without? Could someone suggest what time line would suit each style?

Would that be the 0-6-0 tender Collett goods you are referring to?

 

32-310 is the only one I am aware of that is listed in a current catalogue. It clearly looks post-war (Hawksworth era) to me.

 

32-304 had a shirtbutton livery. There was also an prior model, but I'd have to trawl through catalogues. I don't recall any being offered lined out but might be remembering it wrong. I have no idea if this locomotive class, being primarily freight was ever lined out in revenue service.

 

Also I would be interested in small details like lubricators and steam pipes on 5011 and if they are correct.

 

In any event the pre-1935 version Castle does seem to be a rather rare model.

We had a significant amount of discussion on the small details for this batch of Castles long ago. It starts around here. We did discuss N^o. 5011 sometime back then. There's some specific comments here.

 

Pre-1935 GWR is my favourite period. While, it's not fair to say this period is ignored, early-Collett, late-Collett and Hawksworth periods do seem to take turns.

 

For locomotives manufactured before 1935, if anything, it feels to me like the RTR models produced seem to congregate into early-Collett express engines, Hawksworth freight engines, each leavened with random shirtbutton releases.

Edited May 4, 2012 by Ozexpatriate

[robmcg]

Many thanks, the disscussion of details is very interesting. For me the main thing is correct shape steam pipes and no mechanical lubricator, plus the front cylinder housing. I shall have to try to overlook the incorrect cab fitting for a mechanical lubricator gauge.

 

As someone further along the thread mentioned, I wonder if a King or Star will every be produced to the standard of the new version Castle?

 

Also, I should have read further back into April 2011 to discover the original posts about damaged models. My apologies.

Also I apologise for not making it clear that I meant Bachmann Collett carriages to go with 5011... not 0-6-0s.

 

Rob (who has bought a Tintagel and will see it arrive here by parcel post probably next Tuesday, can't wait!)

Edited May 4, 2012 by robmcg