scouse889

I think that’s asking a bit much!!!

I would really love to see the “good quality period photos” that Bachmann are referring to.

It’s a real shame to read about all the errors that have been identified on these units. I was really interested in both when they were announced, but given the list of issues coupled with the price Bachmann are charging for them, I am reserving judgment for a while. I agree with all of the comments about the interior lighting versus the chassis block on these units too, the non-lit bay in the driven car looks so out of place and obvious in dim lighting, and it always amuses me to think about the discussions that must have gone on about the retool of this model from the original version - “we could reduce the size of the motor so it only occupies two of the windows in the driving car”; “yes, then we could add a detailed interior to the rest of the car”; “and if we include interior lights it will really highlight the presence of the motor”. As commented by others, I would be very interested to see a picture of the original train set 150/1 in provincial and 150/2 RR versions compared with the new 150/2 provincial. Does anyone have the GMPTE 150/1 and the Hornby GMPTE 142 for comparison as well?

Have they actually made another batch (re-run production of the same model) or is it that the original first batch is still available? For instance, Rails of Sheffield were selling their stock off over the weekend for £25 a coach and they haven’t dealt with Hornby for over a year, so anything from them will be from the original batches. There are a lot of the XC ones left knocking around as well, which retailers keep seeking to sell on at knock-down prices and again I think these are all from the original batches as they have never sold through. I never really did understand the logic behind the 18 XC coaches - two rakes of 7 plus four extra coaches to go with one pair of power cars seemed excessive to me - so I’m not surprised there are lots left that the retailers can’t seem to shift. I’m sure the announcement of an additional power car pack would help matters along!

I would be interested to know how you get on and if you manage to keep the buffers sprung. It always defeated me and I just superglued the buffers in place! Best of luck.

I have had this problem so I share your pain. There is some kind of very small plastic c-type clip that keeps the buffers from sliding out. When you catch the buffer heads and ping them out this part almost always gets lost, and on the odd occasion I have managed to rescue one I’ve never worked out how to fit it all back together. Very frustrating and fiddly really, doesn’t strike me as a very user-serviceable part…. Sorry not to have anything more positive!

dont yoo meen spelchekker browken?

I had the same thoughts and question, and came across this group on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/183142496@N04/albums/72157710350566996/with/49935963176/ It's actually pretty good for reference for steel trains in general, but there are a few gems specific to the SEA/SPAs, for example: https://www.flickr.com/photos/183142496@N04/49574343698/in/album-72157710350566996/ Hope you find something suitably inspiring....!

Really sad when it gets to the stage where people don’t want a manufacturer to produce a model because of poor QC, but this really is an issue for Hornby. Look at the comments in the APT thread - one of *the* models (if not *the* model) which defined Hornby’s centenary range - afflicted with light bleed, capacitors visible through the windows, issues with the bogies (none of these my comments, all made by others - I don’t own an APT), and over a grand MRP for a full 14 car train. I really wish they would do something to sort their QC issues.

This may well have already been answered in this thread but I don’t fancy wading through all 26 pages, so… These are really good wagons but it seems to me they have a design flaw in that the moulded discs (brake discs?) on the axles make contact with the central spine of the wagon on curves, which causes a significant amount of drag, as mentioned above. Anyone found a solution? Does cutting the discs off cure it, or can anyone recommend replacement axles?

I see the entire FGW HST is now expected December according to the Hornby website, as well as the LNER farewell power cars. Might be a bumper month for HST releases if it all materialises!

Agreed. I find the Hunt couplings work quite well with these, I use Ultra Close ones on the loco and whatever suitable for the rolling stock. Eliminates the gap and much of the problem associated with the cams provided you pull wagons that have bogie-mounted fixed couplings. So not perfect but better. I experienced a similar problem with the DB Cargo pair, ended up sending three models back because all arrived with damaged air horns. Solved in the end but annoying for all concerned - and not very good for a model they are charging over £200 MRP.

You can pick up the Colas and both DB Cargo ones for around £140 now, but they are something like £180 or £190 direct from from Hornby. I would like both the GBRF and Cappagh ones, guess I need to decide whether I want to play the waiting game to see if they similarly come down in price over the next 12 months…..

The recent DB and Colas releases came exactly the same - no ploughs fitted and only the ‘half ploughs’ in the detailing bag. So unless Hornby have changed the way they are releasing the Class 60s since then, this is the way they come now, without full ploughs. Write to customer services, they should be able to send you some FOC.

Also completely agree. Another example (not a Collector's club, but retailers limited edition, where you get the same thing), I happened to buy 66136 DB Cargo UK Yiwu-London the other day, which is 32-738Z - a perfectly logical choice of code given that 32-738 is 66711 'Sence' in GBRf Aggregate Industries...

I think that is correct - I'm not aware of anything from Collectors Club which has been an original item number rather than a suffixed existing one. This is something that always baffles me too. It's certainly normal for repeat runs of the same livery to have suffixed codes but this is not applied consistently - 32-612 and 32-612A are good examples of this. They are kinda sorta the same... but not. And if you're going to say 90042 Powerhaul and 90041 Freightliner green are the same because they are simply different versions of the same company livery, then by the same token shouldn't 90048 be 32-612B? Does it mean it's treated differently because it isn't mainly green?!

Yes, looking forward to them. After being initially sceptical about Bachmann dispensing with the yearly catalogue and raft of announcements, I have to say I am a complete convert to the way they announce their new products quarterly. For a start, you get to see an advanced prototype/preproduction of the model itself rather than a CGI, and then there’s only 3 months to wait if you see something you like, which you can be pretty sure is an accurate delivery timescale as production is so far advanced. Top marks Bachmann!

Just a thought on the new 90s, a few people wondering why 2 FLs and no DB, etc - anyone else noticed the code numbers are 32-612A (90041), 32-613 (90026), 32-615 (90004) and then 32-620 (90048). I can't help wondering - what's wrong with 32-614....?? Maybe Bachmann had an alternative plan and had to change it for some unknown reason... or I'm just overthinking it....?!

Yes, I would have thought so too - you go via an unweathered one anyway, so just stop there sometimes. A bit like sound fitted and non-sound fitted, you have to make a non-sound fitted loco before you fit sound to it... I remember a few years ago when Bachmann did 47190 in RF petroleum livery, which I would have quite liked, but as it was a choice between DCC ready weathered or DCC sound fitted unweathered I didn't get one - didn't want weathered and didn't want to pay all the extra for the DCC sound only to have to remove it.... I also agree that I think in this case that 90048 is a good choice of subject for a weathered loco - as it's properly battered with the scars of the double-arrow and depot plaques, I guess I'd just quite like a non-weathered version of a FL grey loco which wasn't so neglected as 90048, and I'm definitely trying to make a more general comment about weathered/non-weathered rather than specific comment on this particular model. I'm very pleased that Bachmann have added four 90s to the range - particularly looking forward to 90004 in VT and running it alongside 87019 on a push-pull set - Hornby have already released two different numbered VT DVTs for the other end of the trains!

Completely agree with all of this. I've no problem with Bachmann (and others) offering weathered locos, but it would be nice if they did equivalent unweathered versions for anyone who wants - and after all, you can always weather an unweathered loco but it is far less easy to unweather a weathered one! Having said that, I've no idea how manufacturers produce a factory-weathered loco, is it possible to set up the process so it could easily go to an unweathered version as well?

Brilliant idea. Where do I sign up!?

Yes, that’s the one. Apologies, always thought it was a grey/silver colour, but certainly looks white on that photo. Never saw it in the flesh (that’s my excuse anyway) !

https://www.railmagazine.com/news/network/europhoenix-earmarks-91s-for-european-freight-use Not to imply in any way that this would be one of the ones I would want to see produced, but given Hornby's track record of going for the off the wall (Floyd 56?!) nothing would surprise me, so I just added it for completeness....

Agreed, Hornby don't release things very quickly (still waiting for a 60 in Railfreight Metal sector myself - and a coal one in the correct colours would be nice, but I digress), although on the other hand they do tend to have at least one or two models of each class on average in the range every year. So when you take this approach with the 60s and 43s, which are quite numerous and have worn lots of liveries over the years, it takes a while for each livery to come round. But then compare that with the 67s, for instance, and I think Hornby have done pretty much every livery ever worn by the class, in may cases in duplicate and triplicate, plus some of the one-offs, because there just isn't the same variation as for some of the other classes. In this regard the 91s are quite similar and so are a good choice for Hornby. Off the top of my head: 1. as built Intercity Swallow 2. GNER gold 91/0 3. experimental GNER silver 91/0 4. refurb GNER gold 91/1 5. NXEC branded ex-GNER 6. NXEC (only one loco, 91111, IIRC?) 7. East Coast branded ex-GNER 8. East Coast branded ex-NXEC (91111) 9. East Coast 10. Virgin branded ex-East Coast 11. VTEC 12. LNER 13. Europhoenix 14. 91119 re-created Swallow other one-offs: 15. Flying Scotsman 16. For The Fallen 17. Skyfall 18. Sky TV?? I guess these will have subtle variations depending on operator/timeframe, as we have already been talking about with 91111 For The Fallen. But I think that's pretty much it? So, a few more than 20 in total including every single variation of basic liveries, including variations of one-offs (!), and we have 4 locos to kick off with in the initial releases, so not going to be too long before there must be some duplication in livery - you would imagine Hornby will want to maximise profit from their new tooling investment by releasing more soon (assuming they are good sellers), and I guess it would be good for them to do this at least in part before the real locos disappear from the UK for ever.

I hope they also show researcher James checking the dimensions of the legendary ceiling-mounted capacitors on the prototype to ensure they match those of the model!