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The next Ixion loco - what do you want?


81A Oldoak

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A Duke 4-4-0 please. Being sensible, that ought to say a Dukedog, because of their extensive and prolonged use on the ex Cambrian lines, but some of the Dukes were very pretty, especially with the earlier cabs, and one or two of these were retained quite late. Either of these engines would probably have me reaching for the debit card.

 

I know small engines make more sense, but if I saw an affordable Manor, I would be sorely tempted.

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There is one LNER tank loco that has been overlooked by model manufacturers for many years (Lima used to do one in 4mm many years ago). My vote would go to the LNER J50 0-6-0 tank loco in 7mm/ft which I am sure would be a popular model. Is anyone else interested? Failing this what about an ex LNWR 0-6-2 coal tank?

 

railwayrod

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There is one LNER loco which has been overlooked by model manufacturers (Lima did one in 4mm several years ago) and that is the J50 0*6*0 tank loco. I am sure this would be a popuar model of a prototype which could be seen all over the system. Failing this what about an ex LNWR 0-6-2 coal tank? Is there anyone else interested/

 

railwayrod

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Another thought has just struck me. If Ixion really want to push the boat out what about an ex LMS 4-6-0 black five - one of the most numerous loco in Britain? With careful tooling it should be possible for several of the variations to be made thus increasing sales. Another loco might be the Riddles ex LMS class 2MT 2-6-0 loco and it's BR variant. What do you think?

 

railwayrod

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I would suggest that asking such a question will probably bring in as many requests as there are types of locomotive. From a commercial aspect then a loco that saw widespread use across the country, covered a reasonable timespan with numerous detail variations and a mixed traffic status would be the most viable. I would say the class 25 for a diesel and an 0-6-0 tender loco of NER/LNWR/L&Y/Midland origin that lasted into at least the late 1950's...

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Guest Isambarduk

And, if you don’t like those five opinions, you can wait a few days before asking them again ... and then you’ll have five more!

 

David

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Rather late to the party, and my thoughts will be rather lost in the sea of ideas that have come out, but I'll put finger to keypad regardless...

 

- In my opinion, the 0 gauge market seems pretty well served for "main line" diesels, with Heljan covering a number of bases and various shunters done in brass.

- GWR tank locos have also been fairly well covered in brass.

 

My thinking would be to not choose something that a reasonable number of people would really really like, but something that lots and lots of people would buy regardless of how far up their wishlist it was- something fairly generic then, with no tight era, region or size restrictions. That means it has to be small, and to get the regional and era thing sorted the easiest route is to go industrial- be it steam or diesel. I think that's why the little Hudswell Clarke has sold well, so doing something in a similar vein would seem sensible.

 

My vote would therefore be one of the more common variants of 0-4-0ST, possibly a Hawthorn Leslie or RS&H as they are a particuarly pretty engine with a number preserved, and were built over a long period of time and had a long service life- Castle Donington's pair remaining on their books until 1990 I believe. Other industrial 0-4-0STs are available... Another option would be a younger inside cylinder 0-6-0ST such as the Hunslet 15" or 16" types, which may save in development costs by allowing some component commonality with the Hudswell Clarke- probably pretty negligible though.

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Hi,

 

Cl24/25's, Cl14, and ED or Cl22.

 

Perhaps even an M7, 8750, Large Prarrie?

 

+1 there could be any opening for 0-16.5 RTR too (character, space and cost wise).

 

It's my understanding that the manufacture of 7mm scale Brass (China) ceases in early 2013 - with, ironically G1 taking it's place?!.

 

IMHHO, the name of the game, in the current economic climate, is Value For Money, especially if Dapol's annoucements are anyhting to go by.

 

ATVB

 

CME

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Looks like an affordable 7mm r-t-r Class 24 or 25 might be a popular choice based on the number of mentions they get. So... if 500 modellers forked out £299 each that'd be just shy of £150,000 but would that be enough, and would all 500 units sell within an acceptable time frame?

 

I still reckon a r-t-r Class 121/122 DMU would be an interesting prospect... especially if sold in 'knock-down' form as an easy-to-assemble kit. Anyone else remember the Triang CKD range?

 

David

 

Edited: Link added to a rather nice description with illustrations of some the Triang CKD (Completely Knocked Down) range. The kits featured everything a ready-to-run model featured - you just saved a bit of money by completing assembly yourself.

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Unfortunately though mate I cannot currently lay my hands on the up-front required for the development costs and my lottery numbers don't seem to be doing their thing at the moment... however if there's you and me that only leaves 498 customers to find! Then we can drop Chris Klien an email asking if Ixion would mind running one up for us. One can but dream... ;-)

 

David

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Hi All,

 

Still reading through this Thread....

 

......If one looks at the parts of a 7mm Heljan diesel they're the same as all of their other injection moulded products - ie buildings et al. - and as I have mentioned elsewhere (RMW & WT) they're like a giant Airfix kit. Heljan have obviously chosen to 'add value' and thus profit by progressing such to finsihed goods.

 

Perhaps in this economic climate, a CKD, would be a good idea - if profits can still be made by a manufacturer- looking at large scale Airfix kits (eg retail of £49-99.00) then a loco supplied in the same way could be very cost effective, leaving the modeller to choose gears and motors etc. The downsides are of course, amongst others, painting and that the price of loco wheels (steam outline) are juicy to say the least - diesel outline wheels/axlesets are of course reasonable from the right source.

 

The 121/122 is catered for - cost/detail wise - by EZ Build, the only downside is the extrusion marks on the sides of this kit/model - which need quite a lot of careful work to remove, not impossible, yet v'tedious.

 

If Dapol get their approach right and others follow the - which if sales are to succeed in these challenging times - then IMHHO manufactureres need to provide better value for money, cost and details/features wise in this scale and gauge (IMHO it all looks very pormising so far from the likes of Ixion et al.) - just look to what Accucraft are doing with G1 RTR (as are one or two other manufacturers) lots more value for the same or better prices than RTR 'O' guage (even in the relatively lower volumes of British outline as opposed to eg North American outline et al.)! Then look at the large scale Cl66 (G45/G1ish) - at one time some of those were available - before the VAT rise - for, unpainted etc., sub £300.00 (they can also be used for European outline I know, but nevertheless!) - working everything, superb looks etc etc..

 

Hopefully all food for thought.

 

ATVB

 

CME

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A lot of locos, coaches, wagons and other such things are all available as kits. Look at the web sites and its stuffed full of them.

 

But its RTR we need and surely the 121/122 RTR would fit into a lot of small layout.

 

With the price of kits and adding motors, wheels, paint transfers and of course our time, the price of RTR starts to look quite nice. Kits price wise struggle to compete with RTR these days. Not saying that the current range of RTR is better than a well made kit but how many O gauge enthusiast and potential converts can produce a model as good as RTR.

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A lot of locos, coaches, wagons and other such things are all available as kits. Look at the web sites and its stuffed full of them.

 

But its RTR we need and surely the 121/122 RTR would fit into a lot of small layout.

 

With the price of kits and adding motors, wheels, paint transfers and of course our time, the price of RTR starts to look quite nice. Kits price wise struggle to compete with RTR these days. Not saying that the current range of RTR is better than a well made kit but how many O gauge enthusiast and potential converts can produce a model as good as RTR.

 

Hi TTG,

 

Not sure if the above was aimed at me?

 

We dont 'NEED' any models, clean air, clean water, warmth etc etc. is what we NEED, not models trains!

 

It's down to cost vs availability and some of us, still enjoy making kits, even though good quality cost effective RTR is most welcome.

 

Yes a 121/122 would be good in RTR, Bachmann's wasnt quite right.

 

What I would not want to see is duplication in such a small market place, especially as many of our current suppliers are dedicated one man bands who do their best to supply value for money models/kits within the confines of small batch production runs et al. - many of whom have kept '0 Gauge' alive.

 

I would by and large agree with your latter points, yet it is easier to weather a model, or produce in faded tones etc, from a kit than take a wonderfully painted model and strip the paint off.....pre-shading, certain rusting techniques are nigh on impossible in some cases, yet there is room for all and it is nice to mix and match products (RTR and kit-built).

 

I hope that helps clarify.

 

ATVB

 

CME

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Hi TTG,

 

Not sure if the above was aimed at me?

 

We dont 'NEED' any models, clean air, clean water, warmth etc etc. is what we NEED, not models trains!

 

It's down to cost vs availability and some of us, still enjoy making kits, even though good quality cost effective RTR is most welcome.

 

Yes a 121/122 would be good in RTR, Bachmann's wasnt quite right.

 

What I would not want to see is duplication in such a small market place, especially as many of our current suppliers are dedicated one man bands who do their best to supply value for money models/kits within the confines of small batch production runs et al. - many of whom have kept '0 Gauge' alive.

 

I would by and large agree with your latter points, yet it is easier to weather a model, or produce in faded tones etc, from a kit than take a wonderfully painted model and strip the paint off.....pre-shading, certain rusting techniques are nigh on impossible in some cases, yet there is room for all and it is nice to mix and match products (RTR and kit-built).

 

I hope that helps clarify.

 

ATVB

 

CME

 

Hey, thats a bit sharp *.

 

Within a modelling context some of us do "need" RTR motive power. Gauge O kits are a difficult mess. I'm sure there are good ones out there, but a glance at the GOG Gazette soon lets individuals know that a lot of a lifetime is needed to make some of them work. Both of the last two editions of the Gazette have had major reviews (a DMU and a steam loco) where the reviewer has ignored anything to do with the kits provision of, or advice on, how to power the model and, instead, used parts from several different companies to put together completely different, and complex, power trains. If the Yahoo group is right one of these companies is also incredibly difficult to contact "not in the computer age".

 

Good luck to Ixion, and just a little back on topic, they have already done an 0-4-0 industrial, so lets not go there (it wouldn't work on the realistic industrial track our club layout has! The 0-6-0 is superb!)

 

Paul Bartlett

 

*PS no smileys seem to be working for me!

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Good luck to Ixion, and just a little back on topic, they have already done an 0-4-0 industrial, so lets not go there (it wouldn't work on the realistic industrial track our club layout has! The 0-6-0 is superb!)

 

Paul Bartlett

 

 

I'd like to see this track, Paul. My Ixion Manning Wardle 0-4-0ST runs like a watch on my railway and my tracklaying isn't great by anyone's standards.

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