locoholic

I'm somewhat surprised that Hornby have released two early crest M/N's in BR Brunswick green from the same modelling era for release in their 2019 programme.

More to the point, the blue MN, R3632 East Asiatic Line, has been pushed back to December this year. Very disappointing.

The fictional SR liveried 009 Baldwin is a masterstroke, because now all the Lynton & Barnstaple layouts will have one loco that actually runs properly, whilst all the Heljan Exes and Taws sits in the sidings looking pretty.

 

Talking of Deltics - could we see a couple of new liveries to squeeze the last dregs out of the Bachmann tooling before the new competition arrives.  What liveries have they never done?

They've never done an unnamed green Deltic with SYP.

Just like they've never done a Class 44 with plain green nose.

I hope so. I reckon the 15xx would be a good follow on from the 94xx and it shares similar design characteristics of the USA tanks, which the Bachmann model was a little beauty.

 

You can even have red ones in industrial use for the current trend for industrial railways.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/taffytank/5211896820

 

 

 

 

Jason

"A good follow on from the 94xx"!!!! How far into the future are you looking?! Have you seen a Bachmann 15xx in an episode of Star Trek, or something?

Out of interest, searching through my 1957 Combined Volume, I found twenty locomotive classes with, then, fifty or more survivors that are yet to be made or announced as RTR models.  

 

There are none from the WR, and only one - the U 2-6-0, from the SR.

 

The old LMS offers the Fowler and Stanier 2-6-2Ts, the Johnson 0-6-0T, the Aspinall L&Y 3F 0-6-0, the Mackintosh Caledonian 0-4-4T and 0-6-0T, the Drummond Caledonian 2F 0-6-0, and the Midland 2F 0-6-0.

 

The LNER has the B16 4-6-0 (NER), the K2 2-6-0 (ScR), the J6 (GN), J17 (GE), J26 and J27 (NER), J35 and J37 (ScR), the N5 (ScR) and N15 0-6-2s, and the J69 0-6-0 (GE). 

 

Any one would be welcome from Bachmann.

Your filter does miss some significant classes: the Manor and A2/3 spring to mind.

I think that in terms of presence, profile and market confidence, an annual announcement is essential, otherwise silence may be taken to indicate a lack of direction and intent.  So long as this is tempered with realism and underpinned by a rational explanation of what has been done and is being done to clear the backlog, then I think everyone has good grounds to feel themselves better informed customers.

The annual announcement is only essential if it produces a positive result for the company. With Bachmann these days it mostly produces cynicism and jokes about delays.

I wish they would announce the return of their old website. Their new one is rubbish.

That's your argument against! A multinational isn't obligated to operate in all potential markets. If they find a market unremunerative compared to others and see no likely improvement, then withdrawal - partial or wholly - is possible. Why manufacture for the UK when the same investment in other nation's subjects yields significantly greater profit, and there is no prospect of an improvement in that position? There's no significant multinational customer considerations or the like, to make market presence valuable in securing sales opportunity elsewhere.

 

I write this as one with way more RTR product from Bachmann than all other RTR manufacturers summed together, at a ratio of about 3 :1. If asked 'what RTR OO manufacturer has done most for adult modellers in OO considered over all time to present?' I would say Bachmann without a second thought. That's simply for their 16T mineral wagon, an exemplar of their approach to providing good models of the really common items that are vital if a layout is to be realistic. I would be very sorry to see them exit the UK market, though I wouldn't drone on about it like the Auntie Vi fanboys.

Up until a couple of years ago I would have agreed with you, but Hornby are now clearly ahead in the fields of steam locos and coaches. At present Bachmann have lost momentum, and show no sign of being in a position to regain it.

Whilst I'm not expecting anything much to be announced by Bachmann this year, there are two steam locos that I'm amazed no-one has done in RTR yet: the SECR D and the GER J69.

Both offer many livery options and have ornamental as well as operational value.

With the D class, it should surely be possible to use the chassis and tender for a D1 too, opening up more sales opportunities, as well as shifting more Birdcage coaches?

It's almost as though the effort of producing the Brighton Atlantic and the Freightliners has taken so much out of the folk at Barwell that they need to go and lie down for a while!

Bachmann's New Year announcements are becoming like a political manifesto: sounds nice, but not to be taken too seriously as a guide to the near future.

Make the hydrogen tank big enough and the train will float, thus doing away with the need for rails, as well as overhead wires. Not so DaFT after all!

I'm amazed there's still no late crest BR J36 in the pipeline.

At least it seems that Hornby won't suddenly refuse to supply Rails with models, even though they are producing a rival to one of Hornby's models. Bachmann would do well to follow suit with Hattons.

Excellent - lots to look forward to for me. The GW and SR coaches and the two industrials, especially.

Is this the first year when a new WC/BB hasn't been announced? Still waiting for the "missing" tender options...

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/2019/01/05/scotrail-apologise-to-passengers-for-unacceptable-service/

Yet another part of the British rail network is struggling...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-46757109

We really do seem to have crossed some kind of threshold. Any kind of major project is unusual if it actually goes according to plan.

There was also a news story this morning about problems in Scotland caused by the delayed delivery of new trains.

As a mainstay of the Hornby range (and we all know why) I think the most likely LNER loco will be a properly sorted A3.

 

Given the number of wonky-shaped ones that seem to get through to be complained about on here, the rejection rate in the factory must be huge.

 

John

I think the rejection rate at the factory is zero, hence the problem!

Hello! Anyone know if Derails in Coleford is open tomorrow (Thursday 27th)?

The Japanese Shinkansen network  has some quite tight station spacing in parts and a mixed service pattern, it is easily the best high speed system I've ever used with very high frequency services and near absolute reliability (although in fairness the only others I've tried are in Europe and friends have been very complimentary about the high speed services in Taiwan, Korea and China too). Given that HS2 will co-exist with the existing legacy network (which presumably will still target passengers going to Birmingham etc by offering attractive fares and maybe even a high standard of service such as offered by Chiltern) I wonder if maybe it wouldn't be better to accept some capacity loss for HS2 by providing additional stations?

This is beginning to resemble something Professor Branestawm might have invented - a railway system so finely tuned to high speed and capacity maximisation that it is impossible for passengers to board and alight!

I've seen various photos of Pullman coaches painted in BR green or maroon livery (or as Camping coaches). Would any of Hornby's numerous Pullmans be candidates for this? It would be a way of squeezing even more revenue from the tooling, after all!

I would buy an LNER P2 with the A4-style streamlined front end, and also a de-Crosti'ed 9F.

I would also buy LNER articulated express stock such as the Coronation and Silver Jubilee trains used.

Given the time and grief that appears to be involved in them getting anything tooled in the first place, I can't see them wasting something that's already done.

 

John

I would agree, but then how do you explain Heljan doing the Class 25/3, or Accurascale doing the Deltic?

Hopefully Heljan will do the same for the next batch of these locos.

That's what we said last time...

If only this loco had been made by Roco...

My Taw won't tolerate even the slightest dip in the track because the driving wheels lose touch with the rail head, so I too need to tinker with the pony trucks.

As my 16 year-old son observed, "Don't Heljan test the design?"