Farang

I went on the Sunday, my first visit to this exhibition. The layouts did not disappoint. Main traders were Kernow, Aspire, Footplate, Roxley Models, Model Railway Solutions, all with good displays of products but the impression I got was that not much was being sold. A result of the high prices for the latest models? Driving home I found the road layout with all those roundabouts a bit confusing.

No, I don't know about the yellow star. On what type of freight car was it? I don't know about night time as I don't go to the station at night! I'll look through my photos.

On locos a red circle is air brake and yellow is vacuum. Loco 4301 has red/yellow so is dual braked. You can see the hoses for both. The end of train indication is a disc , red circle edged in white.

Sri Racha depot - where nearly all the earlier Chinese "Class 51s" are laid up awaiting spares! Yes. 18 at Si Racha the other two are in Makassan. It will be a year or two before all are operational again.

When I saw this I thought it was one of mine!

In 2022 the SRT took delivery of fifty new locos from China numbered 5201-50, so I think of them as Class 52.

Interesting news especially as Ellis Clark seems to have bought up the remaining stock of DJH's 00 loco kits. It's a lot to take on, especially after buying SEF, so good luck to Squires.

I went on Saturday. Arriving about 10.45 the car park was already full and was directed to the additional parking just down the road. The parking area was right at the back of that site, not a five minute walk to the exhibition, I thought. But there was a footpath that led into the school grounds so it was only a few minutes! Good exhibition but they need to add a good bookseller to the traders.

I remember Loco Modeller. It was published and edited by John Paige. Forty years ago, I sure by now he must be dead. It was of its time. Back then you had to build a kit of some sort to get a decent model.

I am not at home so cannot look at my books but I think the first volume was published by Wild Swan. They declined the second volume which was, I think, published by OPC. The third and final volume were published by, I think, Kevin Robertson. The first volume was a smaller page size, (quarto?). the following three volumes were A4 so not uniform on the bookshelf, if you worry about such things!

Thank you but X5899 does not appear to be available from the usual sources.

I bought this but it is missing the parts bag. I cannot find a number for it - can anyone help?

I bought this today for 140.. The smoke deflectors will not stay on the loco and when attached are not parallel with the running plate but are angled inwards towards the front. Any ideas?

Re Detling I think the organiser reaslised he'd bitten off far more than he could chew. Also, it was literally out in the country, no passing trade like in a town centre and a long way from public transport. I think I was invited but declined as I thought because of those reasons it would be a non-starter. Traders who paid deposits had them returned.

I have just bought Hornby R3382TTS for £129.00. Was ordered Thursday and delivered this morning. The tender top and boiler top were dusty so may have been on display. Fitted a blanking plug as I don't do DCC and it ran, a bit hesitant and growly but give it some volts and off it goes. I suspect it's never been run. To remove the tender body the instructions indicate two screws at the front. They are at the rear. Refitting was difficult as the hand brake rod has to locate in a hole in the platform. This proved impossible as I don't have four hands so I just cut it off above the hole. You'd never notice this. I think the hand brake must have been fitted after the body was attached to the chassis. The model was missing the parts bag as advertised. Not a problem as X8003 is available. From Peters Spares (website) £13.28 including £5.00 postage. Frome Peters Spares on eBay £10.78 including £2.50 postage. So I bought it from Lendons for £7.98 including £2.00 postage. I note the tender is missing its "coal".

Seeing the Hello Kitty train reminded me of EVA AIR as several of their aircraft have featured Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters. Hello Kitty is a big brand in Japan and the Far East but less well known here.

Imagine you have a million pounds to invest. You have two choices: buy Hornby shares or flush the money down the toilet. Doesn't matter which you choose as the result will be the same. Hornby has lost its way. The market for trains and diecast has declined over the years. There are two buyers for trains: the train set market and the "serious" enthusiast. The latter is increasingly catered for by AS/Dapol/Revolution/Rapido et al. As for the trainset, is auntie going buy a £254 Duchess for little Johnny's birthday? Only if she is a rich auntie. The BoE has just increased the bank rate again causing more pressure on people's finances. Footfall in the high streets is falling after the pandemic and people are buying online. And Hornby wants to open shops - really? TT:120 was going to attract new buyers from outside the hobby as it was better for today's smaller houses. Isn't that what Tri-ang said when they introduced TT all those years ago? And what happened to TT? TT:120 was going to be promoted through newspaper adverts etc. Have there been any such adverts? From this forum it seems TT:120 is appealing to existing enthusiasts and if Hornby can't not get enough product from the factories then sales will not grow. As it is Hornby has difficulty in getting its promised new OO models delivered and OO is its core business. It makes me wonder just why that investment company bought into Hornby. They have invested millions with little, if any, return. What were they hoping for?

When you photographed the MN did you notice if the number and ownership plates were horizontal, or were they a bit angled? I ask because I rejected one of these models because of that problem. And from the low angle it seems Hornby has had to modify the forward faring to accommodate the swing of he bogie to negotiate toy-train curves.

Building plastic and brass carriages many years ago I obtained a quantity of 1mm glass. This was supported on a strip of .040" styrene and an inner side from .020" styrene. Compartment partitions and seats were made for .020" styrene. I still have enough glass to last several life times 😀

This auction was advertised in the Modeller which I received late morning on the 13th, the day of the sale. The collection sold for about 25% of the retail price. Was that the hammer prices or that price plus buyers premium? Did the auctioneer advise the seller that this was the likely outcome? After commission the seller would have received (much) less. I wonder if a better price would have been achieved by selling to a dealer? Look through the Modeller and there are 20+ dealers wanting to buy collections. Some advertising "top prices" paid. Has anyone experience of selling to dealers and the level of prices obtained? Those old enough to remember the "Beattie's Exchange" will recall that items were bought at about 33% of retail price and sold for about 66% of retail. I believe that used to be about the norm for second-hand railway equipment. These days I suspect dealers will buy as low as possible and sell as high as possible, which is good business. I look at prices at toy fairs, Sandown Park (not that much railway), for example and suspect at least 95% of goods get taken home. They've probably never heard of the Roman slogan - SPQR - small profits, quick returns.

As reported earlier I returned Channel Packet to Simon Kohler. I did receive a reply which stated the model had been passed to their modelmakers but there was nothing they could do as trying to remove and reposition the plate would probably damage the paintwork. A replacement model was not offered as the website shows it as being sold out. Therefore the model has been returned to the retailer for credit. I'd still like to have one but will have to visit a dealer so I can inspect before buying. It's a nice model but the plates are a bit "plasticly" looking. I have cancelled my preorder for United States Line as I have no confidence in this model, again I'll visit a shop to buy. With Ellerman Lines I did contact Hornby and suggest they might replace the body but unfortunately they do not keep spare bodies. So, if you have a problem with paint/decoration of a model the only option is to return it for refund.

Having got a bargain loco, would it not be simpler just to remove the number on the affected side and apply transfers?. This may have been a bargain but did Hornby sell these models to retailers at a very low price because they had a known fault i.e. the printing? If that is the case, and retailers knew it, then they should have advertised them with the proviso that the models had faulty printing. That way the customer has the choice to buy or not.

Thank you, I knew I'd seen the Steampunk announcement somewhere. Yes, I know Trevor sells all sorts of stuff.

TMC was offering this model at a reduced price. When I phoned to place the order I mentioned the problem with the printing and was told all models were like that. Top marks to TMC for being up-front with this. I ordered from Bure Valley for £127.50 I did ask them to inspect it but again the printing is slightly out. I have emailed Hornby Customer Services and await their reply. When selling these models did Hornby state there was a problem with the printing? If so then isn't the onus on the retailer to mention that in their advert or on their website? I have just bought Channel Packet and the right hand cab number plate is not level. That model has gone straight back to Hornby FAO Simon Davies-Kohler. At over £200 that is not good enough. I've bought Coronations, Princesses, A4, A2/3 and they've all been fine.

Cheltenham Models 🙂 If Trevor had a stand there it must be a worthwhile show for model railway sales. But for Hornby to send two senior people for five days with stand fee, van hire , two caravans (SDK had his own?) is a big outlay although it probably made for good television. And it looked like the big heap of Steampunk didn't sell well. Did I see somewhere that Hornby have side-lined, or whatever, the Steampunk range? I'm not surprised as I thought it would never sell. Was this another bright idea from SDK to increase the range and attract new people to the hobby? Earth to Hornby: concentrate on your core business.