Hornby 2014 - predictions

[gwrrob]

I do have one 'suspicion' for 2014 (but it could be 2015) plus another 'speculative' thought most likely tho' for 2015.  When a proper 'prediction thread. is released from the starting blocks in c. June 2014 I shall add them to that thread (after all there's no need to go round getting folk all excited the better part of a year in advance is there, is there?).

 

Incidentally both fit Coachmann's 'linked models' theory. 

 

Now then Mike you're getting as ambiguous as Hornby and our government MPs with that statement.Tease.

[locoholic]

As Hornby have a concession deal with the Edinburgh Woollen Mill chain, perhaps they could produce a model of the engine (a 4-4-0?) that the North British Railway painted in tartan livery for Queen Victoria? It could come in a gift set with some shortbread and a sporran? 

[leavesontheline]

As others have already suggested, I predict a re-tooled King next year.

 

My reasoning for this is that I finally bought the existing model a couple of months back thinking 'there's no way they are going to replace this in the near future given all their current problems' and that I'd just have to make do and fettle the existing model.

 

That's a sure-fire guarantee that there's a new one on the way. 'The Statiomaster' did quote SK about a year ago (can't locate the thread at the moment) as saying that a retooled King 'wasn't top of their list'. It probably is now I've finally gone and parted with my cash for the existing one!

 

On a different tack, I know duplication of existing models is often not popular, but I'd love to see Hornby's take on a completely retooled Class 37. I have a few Bachmann and ViTrains examples but I can't help thinking that if Hornby did one to the standards of their Class 60 (or 56, 31, 08 etc etc for that matter!) it would trump all previous attempts, provided they got the shape right! I do wonder however, if they are actually capable of this standard at the moment though!?

[The Stationmaster]

Now then Mike you're getting as ambiguous as Hornby and our government MPs with that statement.Tease.

 

I think I've also put it in the wrong thread - it's getting very confusing with all this predicting going on round here.  Ah well it won't make much difference whichever thread it's in will it, probably

 

 

 

As others have already suggested, I predict a re-tooled King next year.

 

My reasoning for this is that I finally bought the existing model a couple of months back thinking 'there's no way they are going to replace this in the near future given all their current problems' and that I'd just have to make do and fettle the existing model.

 

That's a sure-fire guarantee that there's a new one on the way. 'The Statiomaster' did quote SK about a year ago (can't locate the thread at the moment) as saying that a retooled King 'wasn't top of their list'. It probably is now I've finally gone and parted with my cash for the existing one!

 

 

 

Not in the 2014 list, too close to all those moans and whinges about the 'Star' - I predict possibly 2015 or most likely 2016 for the retooled 'King'.  At which point all sorts of panic will break out because if it's an exact replica of a preserved one that won't be much good for pre-war and so on  (and blue???? argh    ).

[Dunsignalling]

Just to show that I'm not western biased I would have thought a 3/4 SUB would be a good model very long lived therefore lots of livery options.

 

Now being biased I would have thought a Manor would be an obvious step as they already have the basic chassis with the Grange. same wheelbase and same sized wheels.

 

However it wouldn't surprise me if they just did a one big engine and the rest was playing catch up on this years postponements.

If they want to do another Southern EMU, I'd think a 4-COR would be a better choice.

 

The only problem with a Manor is that the existing Grange chassis-block is a pretty tight fit in the body and would be too wide to go into the smaller boiler. I imagine the same applies to the Castle/Star, necessitating a narrower casting for the latter.

 

Your final point may well be on the money. Hornby have taken a lot of stick over late/short/non-deliveries and there are still a lot of items overdue. Whatever else might already be under development, announcing too many more items without being able to offer a reasonable indication of timescale might attract a certain amount of derision.

 

John

[ThaneofFife]

Oh, one prediction I forgot - 'Design clever' will have a new name, probably something really catchy like 'up-to-the-minute design/production methods' which will be known in the catalogue as 'Hornby's exacting standards of manufacture'.

 

They can wheel out whatever marketing speak they like. 

 

its the models I am interested in not the flannel.

I've heard of scotrail mk3 being commissioned in n gauge, but not in OO.

 

 

 

drop me a PM if you would like the name of the retailer involved for the 00 coaches.

I do have one 'suspicion' for 2014 (but it could be 2015) plus another 'speculative' thought most likely tho' for 2015.  When a proper 'prediction thread. is released from the starting blocks in c. June 2014 I shall add them to that thread (after all there's no need to go round getting folk all excited the better part of a year in advance is there, is there?).

 

 

no there isnt (wasnt) - I think youre just looking for an excuse to get your fishing tackle out and cast a line maybe?   

[JSpencer]

Oh, one prediction I forgot - 'Design clever' will have a new name, probably something really catchy like 'up-to-the-minute design/production methods' which will be known in the catalogue as 'Hornby's exacting standards of manufacture'.

Look out for "Smart Design". It will involve using lots of standard parts and chassis across the entire range. Inspired by Triang.

[Purley Oaks]

As Hornby have a concession deal with the Edinburgh Woollen Mill chain, perhaps they could produce a model of the engine (a 4-4-0?) that the North British Railway painted in tartan livery for Queen Victoria? It could come in a gift set with some shortbread and a sporran? 

Shortbread be damned! The Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST Dailuaine Distillery No.1 which sits motionless outside the Dewar distillery, Aberfeldy, could be sold in a gift set with a decent malt.

[locoholic]

Shortbread be damned! The Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST Dailuaine Distillery No.1 which sits motionless outside the Dewar distillery, Aberfeldy, could be sold in a gift set with a decent malt.

You'd need a very big box, and I think Dewars would have something to say about it. Oh, I see, you mean a model Barclay pug... silly me.

[Budgie]

If they want to do another Southern EMU, I'd think a 4-COR would be a better choice.

Maybe, but we've read complaints from people with small layouts that 4-car sets are too long, and shorter would be better. In that case a 3Sub would be a good idea, with an extra carriage sold separately to make up a 4-car set.

 

Similarly, class 375/377 units run on the prototype in 3- and 4-car formations (and we hear that 5-car formations are being considered for the future), and these would also make good models.

[phil gollin]

.

 

So which Model Railway magazine is due out on or around the 16th December ?

 

I note that Grahammuz has hinted that he at least knows the Southern Region related news ;

 

".........   and I will post a round up of those items of interest to Southern Railway / Southern Region modellers on here also at 10 am. Wish listing and frothing has unsurprisingly started on various online forums and it is always fun seeing just how far off the mark some suggestions are…   "

 

 

 http://grahammuz.com/

 

 

.

[robmcg]

Did somebody mention a Claughton?

 

No point, Bachmann have already done a rebuilt one....

[surfsup]

It could be the pictures of them that I've just looked at, or the very little (1 pint!) of beer Kentish Beer on my brain that's made me come up with this but... riding on the success of Bachmann & Kernow's 205 - A 201/202/203 Hastings Unit?

[OnTheBranchline]

An DCC Ready 8F in LMS livery would be nice.

[TheSignalEngineer]

I think the 0 gauge market is a bit too crowded for them but elsewhere in the company's history might lie a clue (but not for 2014 I suspect).

3mm RTR?

[frobisher]

3mm RTR?

It could be an opportunity to be bold, unless the aim is to resurrect the former TT range which would only have a certain shelf life to my mind (though anniversary year is 2017, I can see a set with a Jinty, oval of track and wagons going down a storm).

 

So either go for 3mm parting company from TT track or rescale to 1:120 (I think...) and go TT - I'd say, with an eye on the international market the latter - these days there is no need to compromise on scale because of mechanisms (this should equally apply for going 3mm of course - which would be an even bolder move).

 

Do a decent range of set track but rather than scale down the 00 geometry for instance, use that as a starting point (so 18" curves as a minimum say).

 

Hornby have plenty of recent 00 CAD work they could revisit to get the fundamentals of a range up and going;

 

Not a complete list, but I'd probably start with at least some of the following (with a early-ish BR bent to it to hark back to the range from the 50's...)

 

Britannia

Class 08

BR 20t Brake Van (plus supporting goods vehicles...)

A3

MK1 carriages

Peppercorn A1

Hall Class

Hawksworth carriages

West Country/Battle of Britain (original and/or rebuilt)

Maunsell carriages

2BIL

Pullman carriages of any description

[tomparryharry]

I see the price of cat litter & oil granules has gone thro' the roof.

 

Spokesman for the company concerned, said; "We are forecasting a large uptake of our product, on or about the 16th of this month, and we have withheld supplies to cater for the conditions that may occur on, or about that date"....

[ThaneofFife]

It could be an opportunity to be bold, unless the aim is to resurrect the former TT range which would only have a certain shelf life to my mind (though anniversary year is 2017, I can see a set with a Jinty, oval of track and wagons going down a storm).

 

So either go for 3mm parting company from TT track or rescale to 1:120 (I think...) and go TT - I'd say, with an eye on the international market the latter - these days there is no need to compromise on scale because of mechanisms (this should equally apply for going 3mm of course - which would be an even bolder move).

 

Do a decent range of set track but rather than scale down the 00 geometry for instance, use that as a starting point (so 18" curves as a minimum say).

 

Hornby have plenty of recent 00 CAD work they could revisit to get the fundamentals of a range up and going;

 

Not a complete list, but I'd probably start with at least some of the following (with a early-ish BR bent to it to hark back to the range from the 50's...)

 

Britannia

Class 08

BR 20t Brake Van (plus supporting goods vehicles...)

A3

MK1 carriages

Peppercorn A1

Hall Class

Hawksworth carriages

West Country/Battle of Britain (original and/or rebuilt)

Maunsell carriages

2BIL

Pullman carriages of any description

I like the idea of TT gauge in RTR - that list though is admittedly ambitious but my immediate concern would be that it cuts out modellers of common or garden D&E so it would need at least a 37 or 47 to start off with too.  then youve got to keep those buyers of your 37 or 47 satisfied with another release then another then another BUT - if the demand was there and given that N gauge and 00 gauge and increasingly the 0 gauge markets are being eaten up good and proper now, maybe 3mm isnt the daftest way of expanding your business.     

 

N gauge being a bit too fiddly particularly as you age and 00 with its narrow 16.5mm gauge issues for starters.

3mm scale has the best of both worlds IMO - more flowing curves in the average home than 00/P4/EM allows and more chunky to handle than 2mm.....and if the models, wheelsets and the track were well executed from day one to proper 3mm standards there would be no future debates about the 3mm equivalent of 00 vs EM vs P4 etc.

 

I fear though that most of us would be pushing up the daisies long before you have the sort of choice that N and 00 modellers have today.  It would be a long haul to build up a nice TT collection that would fit your chosen era/region.

 

Its a nice thought though.......

[Dunsignalling]

.

 

So which Model Railway magazine is due out on or around the 16th December ?

 

I note that Grahammuz has hinted that he at least knows the Southern Region related news ;

 

".........   and I will post a round up of those items of interest to Southern Railway / Southern Region modellers on here also at 10 am. Wish listing and frothing has unsurprisingly started on various online forums and it is always fun seeing just how far off the mark some suggestions are…   "

 

 

 http://grahammuz.com/

 

 

.

Which means that there will actually be some.........

 

John

[ThaneofFife]

Hmmm do we know if or when the modelling press have their day at Hornby to get first wind of the program?

 

will it make it into the mags for a December read up or will we read "full details in Februarys issue"?

[The Stationmaster]

And it will have the 3500gal intermediate tender behind it for good measure.

 

Don't you mean short measure? 

[The Stationmaster]

 

 

drop me a PM if you would like the name of the retailer involved for the 00 coaches.

no there isnt (wasnt) - I think youre just looking for an excuse to get your fishing tackle out and cast a line maybe? 

 

Actually I did put it in the wrong thread - the comment applies to Bachmann, not Hornby (but for all I don't know it could apply to Hornby as well of course)

[The Stationmaster]

.

 

So which Model Railway magazine is due out on or around the 16th December ?

 

I note that Grahammuz has hinted that he at least knows the Southern Region related news ;

 

".........   and I will post a round up of those items of interest to Southern Railway / Southern Region modellers on here also at 10 am. Wish listing and frothing has unsurprisingly started on various online forums and it is always fun seeing just how far off the mark some suggestions are…   "

 

 

 http://grahammuz.com/

 

 

.

 

I think you might have missed what could be the most significant part of that blog entry - suggesting there might be stuff of 'Southern interest' from sources other than Hornby and Bachmann, I wonder???

[Graham_Muz]

Oh I like to tease....

[Unknown Warrior]

An DCC Ready 8F in LMS livery would be nice.

 

.................. in red of course!