scouse889

Thanks. I see, indeed: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275591861945?hash=item402a8e16b9:g:g7YAAOSwHXtjpr8l&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoDTbr0nj36mzvgBxE4Vp8qgSGE%2F4beDKwQg99BaVkzJLkuiycbYVSawfWriWyUADeVDLipJXg1nSc%2FHgsXHVeCRadU9C0zOrwX2e7t7W3Fbms1Kvbu8mVXubqrDY1THu6OFOcfBtP20XgQ5voVWDYmqq9AaZgLQDzDFvwPtqg3RwyLbCOypfHK6kX%2F9oDqPwZDszHL3B2rbh8vY90Yd06OI%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8qbn72oYQ Not trying to suggest anyone buys, but quite a useful picture which shows the wagon numbers. You rarely find pictures of the box labels.

Is it one or two wagons per pack?

!!!!! I suggest buying both packs here and saving yourself about a fiver, plus you get free postage....... someone has already taken advantage of this too-good-to-miss deal..... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304747079088?hash=item46f45765b0:g:adMAAOSwGhhjpBC9&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoOfFQSciNLEuaIGAi1mfKqnHVu3GcMF9rG1rIQUOjry1odrElB69%2Bm75ciDTw9eJ5oi5XpGbTOxWs8qpkKXQMbcAF8BDSRZ%2Bl7QIqQ6bFzfQdZMPTPTYoNUDLz63SN%2BNqXTHE%2BdzCnlczYoYkv3dMHLWik9pXaaVmuRKS0%2BjBwfqYJXPFmigwa9iBT7ANTeemnhHect4ulakRYhy%2Fcgf5Oc%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_idjrGnYQ

So it does....!! :)

Absolutely! I'm sure they were about £80 MRP when first announced, and more rare than unicorn poo - I recall a discussion on here where the "limited production run" announced for them seemed to comprise all of about 7 models! Always fancied a rake of these but for £83 a wagon when they were first done by Hattons and the original MRP on this batch, I dismissed them. I haven't seen anything further about them at all until reading the posts above..... now kind of wishing I'd tried harder to find some to pre-order when first announced!

Blimey, do you really get two wagons for £50?! They are sold out everywhere, of course....!

No real surprise there then!

That’s cool. A nice upgrade on these toolings.

Thanks @Class 158 productions. Is there as much of a difference in the green as the photos suggest? The previous releases have all been quite close to each other. I am wondering whether it would be possible to use the previously released SD coaches with these new PCs without it looking incongruous……

I see Hunt have released an “Extra Close” variant of their Elite couplings which gives more opportunity to get the closest coupling depending on your layout. In this context, “Extra Close” means closer than “Close” but less close than “Ultra Close”. Now I need them to make a “Not So Close” pack which is in between the lengths of “Close” and “Intermediate”!!!😂😂

Thanks for the info. Hattons still have 005/041 in stock - no link other than I happened to be looking at the pics of 004/155 on their website the other night and was comparing. I think 187/188, 005/041 and 016/093 were glossed only on the bodysides like the coaches, but 002/198 were glossed all over. Seems 004/155 revert to side-only glossing, would be nice to see some pics of them against the earlier releases. I have to say I am very tempted by these, despite the price. I live just North of Oxford so used to see the real things and have a soft spot for them - I have all four previous power car packs, plus the three rakes of slam door and two rakes of sliding door coaches released so far. So yes, very tempted by 004/155. Buy now or hope they stick around a bit and the price gets lower…???!

Yes, shouldn’t be a difficult thing to do - not like you would need an electrician of such genius that you would have to go head-hunting at Cape Canaveral. There were a couple of suppliers on eBay who sold drop in PCB replacements for both the original Hornby and Lima (Hornby Railroad) toolings which weren’t bad. They were a few quid and you got directional white/red lights, and they were available in bright and cool white to represent the LED and incandescent bulbs used over time. I got a pair from Black Cat Tech which were pretty good. They were DCC compatible too (not that I used this). Can’t find this supplier on a quick search this morning, but there are others.

I’m guessing the lines are water slide transfers like on the coaches?

As I recall the original release of these toolings R2707 43100/43101 in VT had the headlights illuminating regardless of direction of travel, so I guess this has not been changed in any of the subsequent releases (original blue/grey InterCity 125, GWR green in a train set, and now these IC Swallow PCs).

Yes, I think I read somewhere that only 43187/43188 and 43005/43041 were out shopped with cast logos and numbers on the former guards compartment door, then all subsequent ones had stickers and the numbers cab side like the previous dynamic lines livery. So the models of 43004/43155 in the new Hornby Castle pack are correct without cast logos.

Huh, that has passed me by every year so far....! I never noticed there was a door 25 before!! 😂

They are really spoiling us this year as there is a Door 25….. the oddest offer they could think of saved to last?

Yes, on the whole these look very good - and certainly better than the FGW fag packet ones. The inclusion of magnetic couplings is good too. Were they included in the FGW coaches, I thought they only came with the fixed bar? Definitely tempted by a rake of these.

Just found this thread, I saw the website was down earlier in the year and assumed it had closed for some reason. What a shame, remember going as a kid about 25-30 years ago. Does anyone know what happened to all the layouts they had in the exhibition behind the shop? Broken up I expect, but again, what a shame. ☹️

Let me get this right - they say they are retooling to resolve the issues that they originally said weren’t there??!!

I bought some at the weekend for my TfW set and they seem ok, certainly close coupling. The DVT ones are the same length as ultra close, the Mk4 ones the same length as close, and the 91 the same as intermediate, which I think are 7, 9.5 and 11.5 mm if memory serves….

That makes sense, thanks. I still come back to the orignal and I think key point about this though - unlikely that Hornby set out to make the lines on the coaches wavy by applying the transfers that way, more likely that it is not possible to apply the transfers consistently - so likely to give erros on future models which employ the same process, regardless if it reflects the way the prototypes had the livery applied.

Hardly an excuse for poor research - there must be umpteen pictures available for them to look at. Colour will always be subjective, I was referring to whether Hornby set out to make the lines on the coaches wavy by applying the transfers that way, or whether it is a factory error - and suspect the latter. Sorry, I don't follow this? The prototypes had Great Western written at each end with the First 'Flying F' logo in the middle of the gold stripe on the coach body, as do the models. Flickr link: The stripes look pretty straight to me on this vehicle. Must be a Lima one!

I think the real things were done with vinyls, yes, but surely the fundamental point to consider here is whether (a) Hornby set out to apply the transfers in this manner to reflect a prototype, or (b) they are inconsistently applied across examples due to a poor choice of production process, poorly executed. Given people have said there are better and worse examples, it is almost certainly the latter - and that is an issue which doesn’t fill me with confidence for the production of other forthcoming models…

Thank goodness the examples pictured above have had the transfers “carefully applied”, as I’d hate to see what they were like had the transfers been applied really sloppily….