Hornby 2015 Announcements now made

[KGV]

I believe the correct translation is 'Pigs' Hill' as 'dun' defines it as a hill - of a particular shape in some translations - and the first syllable is of course obvious  (and Pigs' Hill was definitely what a lot of us used to call it when we were transferred there en masse on 1984/85).

 

Are you referring to the town of Swindon by any chance?  I've always known it as Pig Hill, and a good many terms a lot worse than that.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Definitely in support of 'make decent models, price as required' and continue with this for so long as there is a viable market. I believe that is the way to grow the adult modeller end of the model railway trade, which I am sure must have expanded in the past dozen years as so many 'better' models have been brought to market. In support of which, notice that the number of competitors offering RTR OO models is rising, at a time when manufacturing costs in the principal overseas location are also increasing. Either these new entrants are all misguided; or they can see an opportunity, despite increasing production costs.

 

This does not preclude the production of budget ranges or brands. I can see some of these being the fore-runners in migrating to lower cost production, as the Chinese economy prices itself out of this class of goods.

 

 

I believe the correct translation is 'Pigs' Hill' as 'dun' defines it as a hill - of a particular shape in some translations - and the first syllable is of course obvious  (and Pigs' Hill was definitely what a lot of us used to call it when we were transferred there en masse on 1984/85).

Now this is an interesting point of usage. Do you say pig's farm, or pig farm for a farm where pigs are kept? On which basis I believe pig hill to be the better modern rendering. Opinions naturally differ.

 

Where did you find such a treasure ?

Aha, little known secret method, and no credit due here. She found me... 

[brushman47544]

Oh dear, I thought my wallet was going to get a year off.

 

I'm certainly pleased to see WC/BBs Bude and Winston Churchill with late crest and 4500g cut down tenders, although the price of the Winston Churchill set is a bit steep. If it had the new K-type steel Pullmans that would help, but I suspect in view of the supposed availability date of 1/1/2015 they will be reruns of the existing tooling, of which I really already have enough. A BR blue Class 08 is also good news.

 

An S15. Yes, but I will wait and see if a 6 wheel tender version is announced next year before buying.

 

As to the coaches and wagons, the HTO 3 pack will be useful, and I wonder if the opportunity will be taken with the A versions of the Mk2e coaches to correct, or at least improve, the Blue/Grey livery application? If not it's looking more like Bachmann will be getting my money for the Mk2fs.

 

And finally, a pity the LNER Long CCTs are reruns of the current liveries. What about Maroon and BR blue?

[andyman7]

Do we seriously need yet another NRM scotsman in the same livery? R2441, R3080, R3099, and now R3336 are all in her 2004 preserved form. Why release another variant of it?

Let's face it, Flying Scotsman is a hardy perennial. In the old days it sat in the range in LNER livery year after year. With the move to batch production in China, the opportunity these days is to tweak every release to be a bit different but fundamentally it's about always having a model 'as currently preserved' in the range (well OK,they haven't done one in bits yet, but hopefully you get the point...) 

[MikeParkin65]

Let's face it, Flying Scotsman is a hardy perennial. In the old days it sat in the range in LNER livery year after year. With the move to batch production in China, the opportunity these days is to tweak every release to be a bit different but fundamentally it's about always having a model 'as currently preserved' in the range (well OK,they haven't done one in bits yet, but hopefully you get the point...) 

The Flying Moneypit has been in bits for so long the NRM will need the model to remind them of what it looks like

[Unknown Warrior]

Oh god. Don't go giving them any ideas. That will be the GWR suburbans delayed for another year

Assuming that Hornby are following the same progression as they did with corridor stock: LNER, LMS, SR and finally GWR you will have to wait for the SR suburbans / non corridor stock to be done first anyway! Good excuse for some 1930's reframed LSWR stock with push pull option as well. NB Hornby:careful research needed!

[31A]

Assuming that Hornby are following the same progression as they did with corridor stock: LNER, LMS, SR and finally GWR you will have to wait for the SR suburbans to be done first anyway!

 

They've already done the Southern ones - they're called 2-BIL and 2-HAL!

[Unknown Warrior]

They've already done the Southern ones - they're called 2-BIL and 2-HAL!

See edit above! Also not all routes on the SR. using non corridor stock were electrified!

[surfsup]

The Flying Moneypit has been in bits for so long the NRM will need the model to remind them of what it looks like

Sshhh. I don't think Ian Riley & the NRM needs any help from the 'Design Clever' team... Or else it'll come out with moulded handrails!

[DavidH]

the L&Y businessman's club car being restored at Oxenhope ...

 

The one they finished in 2011?

 

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/r-t-c/6226279351/

[Bon Accord]

The "obvious similarities" between the S15 and King Arthur are no greater than those between the LNER B1 and O1. 

 

On that basis the latter should never have been made and there will be no point making a Bugatti-nosed P2 because it's too much like an A4! 

 

John

 

84A does have a point regarding just how similar they do look, something I'd never really noticed before. But these foreign engines do all look rather similar to me!

 

N15: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i2pyrZgCpMI/Uwk5kxFhMoI/AAAAAAAADDI/Ot49KOedLmM/s1600/P1060768blog.jpg

S15: http://www.watercressline.co.uk/shopimages/articles/extra/30499.jpg

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The one they finished in 2011?

 

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/r-t-c/6226279351/

Gosh, time does fly when you are having fun. And it would make a beautiful model subject. 

[ruggedpeak]

I highly doubt that's the way things work? Is it? AFAIK whomsoever gives companies a license has the authority to allow any company to produce models. Hornby, Bachmann and Tomy/Tomytec all have a license to produce TTTE products.

 

Well if my initial thinking is incorrect then I still find it hard to believe that Hornby will hold a license just to stop another manufacturer from producing it. I just find it to be an attempt to bash Hornby as I have seen a few posts of yours also on facebook having a go at them.

 

Pity that people love complaining. I feel sad really.

 

Cheers!

AJA

 

PS: Someone please explain the licensing thing to me. 

It is not Hornby bashing to suggest Hornby might be sitting/blocking it, it is a common commercial activity. Not saying they are or aren't. The same thing happens with patents.

 

Licensing and patents (and trademarks and copyright) falls under what is now termed "Intellectual Property" (IP). This is big business, these intangible assets can be owned and managed and milked like any other asset. If (and I stress if) Hornby has the TTTE licence and is sitting on it then maybe the agreement lacked an enforceable clause forcing them to actually produce licenced items, or a hand back clause for lack of use. Or the price they paid for it was low or has already been recovered so Hornby don't feel the need to tie up factory slots to recoup the cost. I can't find any mention of the Thomas licence in the 2014 accounts or Annual Report, which is odd if it were a significant asset. I guess the issue for HIT is that there are currently only 2 players in the UK model market that could realistically take on TTTE, and only 1 of them has the presence in non-specialist retail (e.g. Argos) to shift lots of sets etc.

 

As for Gordon the blue engine, mentioned elsewhere, it would be a push for the licensor to take action against a locomotive that is blue (not exactly uncommon for locos) and was named Gordon for a reason nothing to do with TTTE. Also, if it is involved in what I assume are licenced TTTE events at a railway centre, is there any financial loss to the licensor? If they are not charged by the loco for using TTTE IP, then no loss since they are getting money from the event regardless of whether Gordon is Gordon or the other Gordon. And the MoD are pretty good around trademarks, after they lost control of RAF roundels some years ago. So i'd be wary of taking them on! Similarly the Met Police lost most control over the design of the blue Police boxes aka Tardis to the BBC. Both outfits have now got their acts together, and the military have nice little earners from various commercial activities, and New Scotland Yard is a registered trademark (globally I believe).

 

HTH

[Ozexpatriate]

OK, so lets assume then that the Mk1 Graffiti coach existed/exists......if the artwork is as has been suggested earlier very complicated to produce then it still beggars the question why ?

Or why not?

 

It entertains me to see approximately 36 separate posts (not counting this one, using two different spellings and including two of mine) on the subject of the graffiti emblazoned mk1 coach. 

 

It has us all a twitter.

[Ozexpatriate]

(her Grandda was a carriage shop foreman at Pighill)

I believe the correct translation is 'Pigs' Hill' as 'dun' defines it as a hill - of a particular shape in some translations - and the first syllable is of course obvious  (and Pigs' Hill was definitely what a lot of us used to call it when we were transferred there en masse on 1984/85)

Now this is an interesting point of usage. Do you say pig's farm, or pig farm for a farm where pigs are kept? On which basis I believe pig hill to be the better modern rendering. Opinions naturally differ.

Are you referring to the town of Swindon by any chance?  I've always known it as Pig Hill, and a good many terms a lot worse than that.

Sweyn's hill?

 

It is referred to in the Domesday Book as Suindune, believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words "swine" and "dun" meaning "pig hill" or possibly Sweyn's hill, where Sweyn is a personal name.

(I know, it's wikipedia.)

 

There is a tide in the affairs of internet forum threads, which, taken at the ebb, leads to tangential, off-topic fun.

[dana]

how hard would it be to turn this http://www.Hornby.com/shop/Hornby-railroad/railroad-locomotives/railroad-bagnall-shunter-locomotive.htmlinto  dart

http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Dart

 

and create den

 

http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Den

 

from the http://www.Hornby.com/locomotives/diesel-electric-locomotives/dcc-ready-diesel-electric-locomotives/balfour-beatty-4wdh-sentinel.html

 

some paint  , faces and you got two new locos for the thomas range based on molds for the two locos that are in

production right now.

[Ozexpatriate]

how hard would it be to turn this http://www.Hornby.com/shop/Hornby-railroad/railroad-locomotives/railroad-bagnall-shunter-locomotive.htmlinto  dart

http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Dart

I thought that they already did?

[Pugsley]

I've made some of my collections thumbnail only as, once again, Hornby are using my photos for some of their wagons without even paying a 50p download fee. I am sorry if this causes a modeller a problem but I am very tired of their attitude.

 

Paul

That's such a shame Paul, but I can fully understand why you've done it.

 

I think it's disgraceful that Hornby weren't even prepared to pay a 50p download fee when they should be paying more than that for commercial use.

[The Black Hat]

The issue of the Graffiti coach is slightly more complex than some think.

 

The idea should be commended by Hornby for trying to think of something else that drives the product and offers something different, allowing a modeller to run with something that gets attention and allows a dose of realism on their layout. However, while the Hornby design team might like the idea, the implimentation has caused a few issues. Again, this is more about Hornby knowing and researching more about the transition period but then less accurate about more modern movements and events. The graffiti on coaches is a more modern thing, but so tour would be the return of maroon stock onto the network to run on railtours. While you might want a coach like this sat in a siding permamently, its a lot for such a idea. Rather its there to be something thats been 'tagged' and still in use. But railtours and stock are normally kept clean. Steam engines today glisten in polish rather than look unkempt. The idea of graffiti would have been better on stock such as Blue and Grey, Regional or Network South east, but Hornby are not modelling these yet and as such have married the idea to a run of stock they are doing. Its this forced approach to get the idea done quickly thats caused the hic-up, as while its something different, its implimentation makes it questionable as how its been done doesnt look right.

 

Commend them for trying, but again Hornby need to check on Modern stock and practice more before bringing their products to market and avoiding this debate and controversy over what is essencially a good idea.

[Swifty11]

Still no DBS 60 in plain red, no colas 60, although unlikely I would have liked 60066 in Drax Power, and no virgin 87

And mush say the graffitied products look awful!

 

But!

 

The new 67s look really good! 92 in EWS triple grey finally! DBS 90 is overlooked somewhat by Bachmann's 90, the sentinels look great! The FGW bits are really very tempting!

Overall, pretty good!

[ruggedpeak]

I reckon the graffiti coach is a bit of fun that might just sell. You can leave it in a siding on a modern-ish layout and is a good basis for more weathering and graffiti.

 

I'd have expected more over the windows and the ends as well as some on the underframe to be 100% accurate! But it is fun and is something different that will probably sell well in model shops. Fun stuff is good. I still have my Hornby Red Arrows wagon that forms part of my trains.

 

For the record I wouldn't order one online (as I couldn't come up with a plausible explanation for SWMBO why I needed it), but the graffiti coach is exactly the sort of thing I'd buy if it was sat on a shelf at my local model shop and I couldn't find what I was after.

[ruggedpeak]

I've made some of my collections thumbnail only as, once again, Hornby are using my photos for some of their wagons without even paying a 50p download fee. I am sorry if this causes a modeller a problem but I am very tired of their attitude.

 

Paul

Have you tried adding some T&CS' that state unauthorised commercial use incurs a minimum £1000 fee per image use or web page view (!) until a contract is agreed (plus all costs associated with the matter)? Lots of sites do it, is legal, and an invoice with a strongly worded cease and desist letter usually works. The FD should take a dim view when he starts getting invoices and legal threats. Large firms don't like real threats of small claims court, as they can't recover costs and it will normally be at your local court, which from your website is a long way from Kent!

[Forester]

I have a crazy urge to couple the graffiti coach next to the filthy Bulleid pacific adorned with heavy weathered Golden Arrow regalia someone was trying to sell on eBay recently.

Both "interesting" ideas which shouldn't have survived the first cup of coffee of the day........

[Removed a/c]

My issue is some of the prices !! The HSTs are £209.99 for a power and a dummy!!!! Yet Rapido is able to make two powers and two coaches for £225.00 It just doesn't add up, 

 

And this Railroad Golden Shuttle is £76.99 and the Railroad Mallard is £84.99.........why ? 

[SamTom]

So a long serving editor of the model railway press doesn't know what he is talking about, followed by "Simon Kohler may think the Pullmans sell but....."

 

...Oh...er....right.

From time to time I've wanted to post on this site, to comment and particularly to ask stuff... (it is, after all, a hobby, not a political site such as I can argue on elsewhere...) Then I see posts like this. So I dont bother.