rembrow

I, like many, have concerns about Hornby's decision to reduce the level of individually applied detail to their recent models. Most of these I can live with, some I can change. Personally I detest the moulding of the torpedo vents on the 2 Bil model, as that takes us back to the 70's. A noticeable feature of torpedo vents is the daylight that can be seen from virtually every angle, under the cones of the outer parts of those ventilators. Moulding vents is acceptable, where it represents how you would normally see them and on most coaches from Mk 1 stock onwards, vents can be represented well within the tooling without providing them as separate items. Yes I accept there is a cost and I'm prepared to either pay that, or preferably, as an experienced modeller, I'm happy to fit the detail myself. However as Stationmaster has eloquently covered, with this reduction in additional detail, there is no apparent reduction in the model cost. For many years I've been concerned about Hornby's pricing, as I started to notice that each year certain models received dramatic price rises eg. The old Procor hoppers doubled in price when released in ECC livery; the blue/grey liveried Gresley Eastern Region buffet priced 50% higher than the maroon version; the ex Dapol LMS/BR dining car increased to £48 to be on par with the high detail Stanier models that Hornby later produced (the model was circa £15 when first released by Hornby). This pricing anomaly has occurred so often that I now consider it to be a planned pricing policy to significantly increase the price of a proportion of the models each year. Retailers I deal with have taken these issues up with Hornby, but have received the same SK response that was reported earlier (pricing is Hornby's prerogative). So I now review the annual price list very carefully. However what concerns me more, is the hidden effect of the changes made to model engineering quality that might affect longevity. The change from using bearings for each axle, to square holes in the chassis where the driving axles will run. This was seen first on the GWR 8 coupled tanks and MRE has advised it is present on the Star. We've seen these square holes in the early engineering samples of the P2 so I'm assuming they will be part of that model, so presumably they will also be in Duke of Gloucester. Nobody, including Hornby, has indicated that this is a superior method of having less wear from metal to metal friction, and if it was so, I'm sure Hornby would be claiming it. Are there any metallurgist that can give us a view on the likely benefits or disbenefits of this system, as in my naïve understanding I'm concerned that with square surfaces, the area of contact from round axles will be at 4 points, increasing the friction wear at those points, particularly as Mazac alloy is a softer metal than steel in axles

Hi 7013 Just an update on the Castle front bogie as donor wheels for the Star. Received my spare Castle bogie this morning. The business I bought it from trades as AC Modelspares of High St, Eastleigh and seems to be a trading arm of Trackside Cars. It came well packed in a sturdy box and took 3 working days. The wheelset is 10 spoked to confirm. I've experimented with getting the wheels off and found 2 issues that you should be aware of. The bogie wheels have 'blind' hub ends, as the hole does not go through the front face. The 'axle end' at the centre of the wheel is part of the plastic spoke/hub moulding and not part of the axle. The axles have splined ends, so do not twist the wheels to remove, they need to be gently prised off. I found the best way of removing each wheel was by using a flat handled teaspoon inserted between the bogie side frame and one wheel, with one side of the teaspoon handle tight against the axle. Gently twist the teaspoon to put pressure on the wheel, by ensuring that the spoon handle edge that is in contact with the back of the wheel and pushes against the back of the wheel is the side nearest to the axle, this is to ensure that pressure is being exerted closest to the wheel centre and reduces risk of twisting the wheel. As with any operation like this, be prepared to catch a falling wheel as you can't dictate which one actually comes off the shaft and it may be the one at the opposite end of the shaft that falls. When refitting, beware of the 'blind' hubs on the wheels, The wheels seem to push easily back on the splines. Stop when you feel resistance as you don't want to burst through the plastic hub moulding Hope this helps Terry (rembrow)

If its any help, I've ordered a Hornby Castle front bogie (latest version) spare from Trackside Cars of Eastleigh, via e-bay (*key in Q - Hornby Castle spares), couldn't find anything on Peters Spares site apart from the old style Castle bogie. This was £6.00 plus £1.80 p&p. I went down this route to try and ensure uniform appearance of tone and colour with the rest of the Star wheelset. Another interesting development regarding availability of KOGC was that Kernow Models had sold out of their initial delivery (quoted earlier in this thread) and advised in last weeks newsletter that Hornby had indicated a December delivery for their next batch, however Kernow have now advised that that have received this week, the further stock that they were advised would not arrive until December. --- Will the last one out of Hornby at Margate please turn the light out

As Arran and Charlie regularly review these posts, I wonder if the could advise when they expect to distribute the 144s to their retail customers. I've preordered an Arriva red/silver metro liveried one from Scograil of Ipswich, Suffolk, but they don't know when they are likely to receive their orders. Scograil sell other Realtrack and C Rail products. I would order direct, as I have before with DC Kits products, however I like to support my local model shop, who are a family run business and very helpful.

Downer, while I don't want to go off thread, if you check the Bachmann Porthole Coach thread, I posted over a month ago an answer I received from Bachmann customer services about the production delay. Apparently they found tooling problems as they were starting production and tooling modifications are required. The models are put back to 2014

Not sure if this was a rhetorical question or even a 'tongue in cheek' quote, however here goes and apologies if I've missed the point. Preserved 9F 92214, is currently named 'Cock O' The North' and was operating on the North Yorks Moors Rly, where the owners are based

I e-mailed Bachmann customer services concerning the delay with these coaches and they have given me a response, which they have agreed can be posted to this forum. Apparently there were production difficulties with the tooling and changes have to be made, which have put these models back to 2014. The full reply is: Dear Mr Demand, Thank you for your email. Although we have received livery samples for the Porthole coaches, which I am sure many of our customers will have seen in the Bachmann display at a number of Model Railway exhibitions this year, it has been necessary to implement changes to the tooling specification due to production issues. Unfortunately this means that these items will now be released in 2014. I trust this information is of interest to you. Kind regards Richard Proudman Customer Support Bachmann Europe PLC

Interesting thought. The vessel is the mv MOL Comfort and both sections were originally afloat and salvage was being attempted. The stern section sank about 10 days ago. The bow section, with containers is under tow, about 150 miles from land, but caught fire at the weekend, so salvage may not be possible. All crew were rescued

Thanks for the info johnd, I haven't got my copy of August Model Rail yet, however I'm not sure that is the answer, as it may predate whatever occurred in June, due to print copy deadlines. The coaches were originally showing on Bachmann's site with a release date of July/August, but since their removal from the 'expected in 60 days' list they are now showing with an 'On order' indicator with no estimated date. Normally, if an item with an expected release date is delayed, Bachmann amend the release date. It is unusual to remove any estimated date and put the item as 'On order' as that normally occurs before an item gets an estimated production slot, which makes me wonder if there has been another production problem with Bachmann (in line with the Modified and Original Halls)

Does anyone know what has happened to these coaches to cause the sudden delay. They were showing on Bachmann's 60 day expected listing at the beginning of June, which is normally an indication that they are in production and due to be shipped, however 2-3 weeks ago they dropped off that list and on the main 'Products' listing they no longer have any estimated release dates. As the samples seen at shows were all types apart from the Brake Third, it seemed that engineering and paint types had been agreed for 5 out of 6 models. To have suddenly dropped out of sight raises the concern of a manufacturing problem within the production run. Bachmann have not advised dealers of any problem?

Followed Martin_R's method of producing magnetised couplings. A great idea. I used 2.3mm outside diameter brass tube and extended the crimped ends further than the securing hole so that the tab created could slot between the metal bars in the Dapol system, which assisted in taking up and down pressure off the locating hole. I also used 2mm diameter magnets, type F412 from Magnet Expert Ltd, these are the non higher temperature tolerant 2mmx2mm magnets that can hold more force. I carried out drawbar tests and they can hold together a 5 unit set on pointwork and on steep inclines. The benefit of them is that the 2.3 mm tube can be drilled out to take the magnet without having to flare it. Thanks for the idea and the prototype photos. The other good news with the blue/grey set is that Dapol have produced them correctly with the part ribbed part flat sided doors of the earlier build, compared to the fully flat sided for the later build yellow livery. Unfortunately had the same problem that I PM'd Dapol Dave about re the earlier set, with the bins not being seated on the chassis, due to the plastic mouldings attached to the bottom of the bins being too tight to go over the chassis side detail. Most of them needed the be shaved narrower in order to locate down properly. I prefer mine to have the bins fixed in travelling/yard mode and don't intend to use them tipped

Had preordered Western Legionaire with my local shop in Ipswich, a Dapol stockist, though much reduced following move to new premises. Last Saturday checked with them as mail order firms showing stock had arrived and was concerned with Dapol's message of all manufactured stock distributed and found they had not received any and had received no advice from Dapol. Follow up enquiries on Monday and Tuesday led to advice from Dapol that they were not allocated any. According to my dealer, a regular problem as (they say) the Dapol internet ordering seems to lead to back orders dropping off. This seems to have been repeated again as they didn't receive stock of the MRA blue/grey wagons this week without re-ordering, those were still in stock. I obtained the last one at Kernow models on Wednesday evening, despatched Thursday morning and received Friday morning - brilliant service, but disappointed I couldn't use my local shop who has a number of Dapol pre-orders from me for future releases. As others have said, a brilliant model, but not looking forward to adding the lifting eyes, having fitted Western Sovereign and needed an extra etch from DC Supplies due to 4 pinging into the etched brass ether.

Andy Thanks, great picture, looks superb. I will have one to go with my two headcode blind versions.

A previous poster asked about any news on the release date of the disc headcode versions of the Class 22. This interests me as well, but there has been no response, including nothing from Dapol. While not wanting to be too pushy, the situation is a bit confusing as Dapol have been advertising the impending release of this version in their own adverts in Hornby magazine, showing first a release in January 2013 (Feb 2013 Hornby mag); March 2013 (April 2013 Hornby mag) and now nothing in their latest ad. This is similar to the position of the release date for the standard version maroon Westerns, which have been advertised as being released from January onwards. Dapol have been noticeably quiet in giving updates on this, as it seems, like other brands, their release programme is slipping. In other threads there is the delay on the release of the 2nd and other versions of their MRA wagon set, which is now more than 12 months after its original advertised release due to manufacturing sub contractor delays. I'd like Dapol to continue to have our respect, by being prepared to update their model release programme when they have advertised releases and nothing appears