Andy Mac

Average salary in the UK is 4 times higher than China…. Power costs will be significantly more in the Uk, as well as tax rates and other associated costs…. So I’d say it’s beyond argument that manufacturing complex models in UK will be many times more expensive….

I think if Accurascale made the announcement today about starting the development of the Mk5’s, then the prices would be a bit higher…. They would have based their prices on what the costs to produce were a couple of years ago.

Considering buying one of these…has anyone bought one that doesn’t have bad light bleeding?

I’ve got the same thinking as you… I remember Oxford Rail proudly announced that their Mk3 tooling would be able to cover all versions of the Loco hauled and HST coaches.. As for the HST power cars, I wonder how much is new… yes a new 21 pin PCB board, updating lighting wiring, improved coupler, none of which would merit a new chassis… As to body, Simon said on the YouTube release it has enhanced prints detail…. So to me sounds like it’s a makeover, not a new model…

Well I’m happy with mine, I’m sure if I zoomed in on my camera or used a magnifying glass I might find a few imperfections, but that’s not something I do…

Why? Helijan have previously had a class 47 in their range, so not seeing your point…

It’s about 10 degrees warmer!

I fail to see the point in moaning about the price.... it is what it is.... Unsurprisingly, I don’t hear many moans from people who later sell their purchases on Ebay, and recoup most if not all of their original expenditure.... Not many hobbies allow you to play trains for a few years and then get all or most of your money back!

Swallow Mk2f’s will go on the Wishlist......

It all depends on how the wagons are loaded...... 95% of the iron ore cars that we load in our company have the smoothed off profile, which comes from being loaded in a train load out with the ore coming from bins above and being smoothed out by the chute skirts.... The other 5% comes from using front end loaders (JCB’s) which just dump the ore in as per your picture....

Ghee.... ‘There is a very simple almost cost free solution..... Send a couple of English Electrics (class37’s) at full thrash up and down the line at all hours of the day and night, and the local residents will soon request the 68’s come back! ‘

I also had a tense weekend recently... I was told by a surgeon that I had been referred to by my Doctor that I had a very nasty cancerous growth on my head.... fortunately the biopsy came back negative, and it was then just a routine surgical procedure.... I suppose it’s all about perspective.....

Looks like the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing!

Something that doesn’t really get touched on regarding ready to run models is their value..... Yes new stuff costs a lot to buy, but by and large, retains a significant portion of its value when sold second hand... careful buying, hold on to it for a few years and you could almost get back what you paid for it if your lucky....

Mmmmm....... never can have too many Scottish 37’s!.... lol...... Got a question re the lighting... Does anyone know how the lighting will work with regards to the Domino headcode/marker lights and the hi intensity/car light? Will the Domino’s be of a lower intensity than the headlight or will all 3 lights be of the same intensity?

Is it just me??? I’m having some difficulty getting my head round the 91’s, mk4’s, DVT’s moving slowly towards being Heritage traction!!!

Have you ran it in?

I noticed that as well....you’d have thought it would have made sense to do all the 85’s at the same time. Also still waiting for the 47/7 in large logo.... I’m assuming/hoping they will be in one of the other quarter announcements...

Feel your pain Craig, I’m in a similar situation....

If Hornby re-run the ancient mk4 coach Tooling’s for the new class91’s, then I think we can safely say, that we might have a new record/meltdown of negative comments here! Personally, I’m holding off ordering the new 91’s till the coach situation becomes clearer...

Your talking about comparing coaches that were made 30/40 years ago for a train set market against coaches that were being proposed to modern standards? How do you think they’d compare?

From memory when I placed my expressions of interest, it was the modellers who would have been putting up 50% as a deposit and the other 50% before production would commence, So as far as I could see, we the modellers would have been financing the majority of this project.

Yes he did.... he said wait and see....

‘The class 90 and 92 I would suggest that Hornby were in no position to respond....I’m pretty sure we were all discussing if Hornby would go bankrupt at the time these models were poached off them.... I would guess the Hornby class 37 was never the target for accurascale... Bachmann was there target.... Hornby with there basic railroad class 37, has the lower end of the market to themselves.... remember we used to have a choice of vitrains and Bachmann for the detailed options.... same for the class 47, Hornby basic railroad model, for better detailed options we had the choice of Helijan, vitrains and Bachmann... only one of these detailed options survived... class 66 , the target for hattons is the Bachmann 66, not the Hornby one.... ‘’so I’ll wager that the Hornby models will be around longer than some of the new higher detailed models that are on the horizon, and the reason that Hornby isn’t going after the big boys, is simply because their exisiting models are aimed at a different market.... I’d guess that the class 91 market isn’t big enough for two different models to be viable hence the reason we now have Hornby responding what about last years Hornby Mk2f? Is that not directly going up against Bachmann?

Explain to me why it’s spiteful? The class 225 is an existing Hornby model... I think Hornby have said that they regard it as their’s.... how do you know Hornby weren’t developing the model before Cavalex made their announcement? Hornby and Bachmann now have a policy of only announcing models that are going to released within the next catalogue period... so it’s quite possible they were developing theirs first.... we will probably never know, but as Hornby and Bachmann come out of their difficult years, then I’m sure we will see them trying to recapture lost ground.... I wouldn’t describe it as spiteful, it’s just business....