jjb1970

I think the real question is whether you want a layout with no power supply. For large scale garden layouts I can see a lot of advantage in battery powered locomotives using radio control, but you can do that already without blue tooth. For a typical OO/HO layout whilst you could convert to battery powered stock it would seem to be a retrograde step given wiring a DCC layout is much simpler than an analogue layout and no big deal. If you have power to the track anyway then I am not sure why it would be beneficial to re-invent the digital control wheel with this Bachmann system. Wireless control of the DCC system, yes absolutely, I can see the advantages. Ditto software based control packages, I am using Hornby Railmaster for my little lads trainset and am really impressed with it. So for wireless control and moving things to software and away from traditional standalone units I am a big fan but you can do both of those things with conventional DCC. I can see the benefits of moving sound onto a tablet or PC, however that still needs the locomotive to be speaker fitted, if you're going to fit a speaker and a chip anyway I'm not sure the real advantage of having the sounds on a computer are significant. Then there is the issue of how will the Bachmann system control points and other layout functions? If Bachmann demonstrate why this is better than conventional DCC then I will listen and am open to persuasion but at the moment I tend to be with Olddudders that this seems to be an example of answering a question nobody has asked because we can. This reminds me of a meeting I had with ABB a couple of years ago. One big issue with a lot of industrial control systems is alarm overload which can mask the actual failures and end up increasing rather than easing operator workload. One of ABB's senior control systems engineers offered a priceless comment as to why they build in so much functionality which is neither needed nor wanted by most customers - "its like asking a dog why it licks its private parts, its because it can", I thought that summed up the argument!

Good quality motor bogies offer very good performance. The motor bogie used by HAG was beautifully engineered and offered silky smooth powerful performance, but that was not a cheap unit. The motor bogie used by Hornby for their Railroad diesels offers very smooth performance and is certainly more than acceptable IMO. So I do not see this as a question of demanding centre mounted motors and cardan shafts to all axles (or A1A-A1A as on some models) but that concept does offer a means of driving a model with excellent performance which in my opinion is probably the optimum solution for diesels at this time. Mazak is not the only material you can use for the chassis but it offers an excellent balance of weight, ease of manufacture and cost which means that despite the known pitfalls of mazak rot it remains the first material of choice for almost all manufacturers. I think it is important to keep a sense of perspective, yes there are issues but it does not affect all models and the number affected is small. We are not seeing diecast producers rushing out to dump mazak despite the fact they have been aware of the problem for decades, they take a reasonable judgement that the number of affected models is very low and the advantages of the material make accepting this slight risk acceptable. I own probably 2000+ diecast models and the number affected by mazak rot is less than 5.

Interesting that the club models may not be so club exclusive. I've just joined the club, I'm not really into clubs but I figured that the membership is cost neutral given that I can use the voucher to buy a model that I want to buy (the spam can) so I'm not losing anything and who knows, the 10% discount from their web site may be very useful.

I certainly agree that the Mazak chassis is only one part of a much bigger picture in terms of the evolution of models. Whilst I am a fan of those old Lima models and still think they have a place in the Railroad range I also think that they are nothing like as good as modern equivalents from Bachmann, Hornby, Dapol or Heljan. For those that think otherwise then it is clearly a matter of choice and you can pick up the old Lima models second hand or buy the Railroad releases. The motor bogies used by Hornby are massively superior to the old Lima pancake, whilst not as good as their full line models the Railroad motor bogie does give very quiet and smooth performance. Clearly if worries about Mazak are a big issue people can write to the manufacturers asking them to revert to all plastic construction or move to brass construction.

The alternatives are to revert to plastic chassis construction (not desired by many) or move to a material like brass. The reason it was not really known about by UK railway modellers until comparatively recently is that we were not supplied with heavy weight all wheel drive mechanisms that use this material. Despite the scare stories it is not that common, the great majority of models are perfectly fine and if the manufacturer stands behind their product then customers are protected. Like I say, if offered the choice of going back to Hornby Railroad and Lima type offerings or taking a chance that from time to time there will be a bad batch of mazak I'll run the risk. I suspect most modellers will agree but that is clearly just a guess.

Mazak rot is not a new issue, it has been around for many decades. Railways modellers became aware of it when Mazak chassis construction became the norm but diecast models have suffered from this problem for a lot longer. There does not seem to be any link with source of manufacture, for those who might think it is a sign of poor Chinese quality the big European train manufacturers have suffered from it, including when their production was still in Germany and Austria, and diecast models were suffering it long, long before production moved to China. The fault is not that common, something that does not help if you have a model that is afflicted, I've had a handful of diecasts hit with it and once you discover it then the model is finished. On life of a model, it clearly should be more than six or seven years although equally it is not an open ended the model will never die type of life either. I have never really considered the question. The motor will have a life, things like the transmission will eventually fail and I suspect the main cause of body deterioration will be customer handling and crashes and falls. Nowadays most locomotives have electronics on-board and they will not last forever, a DCC chip is probably to be considered a consumable but if the board blows a component then it is more than swapping out a plug in DCC chip. On Hornby and others knowing about it, they cannot really know which models they supply will become faulty no more than TV, car, computer, stereo or any other manufacturers can tell you which products will fail in advance. I am not aware of any manufacturers who include data such as warranty return data in their sales brochures or other indicators of durability or quality. Hornby are handling this in a much better way than most other manufacturers I've seen, their £100 voucher along with returning the bodies strikes me as more than fair. For all that Mazak rot should not happen it is not that common and given the choice between an old Lima plastic chassis and pancake motor or a modern Hornby, Bachmann or Heljan equivalent I'd take the risk that the model might be afflicted. And in the case of Hornby at least the manufacturer is looking after its customers if the worst should happen.

Hitachi know how to make a train, the Shinkansen network operates to a standard of speed, intensity and reliability that is pretty much pushing the limits of what is practically possible and clearly the reliability of the trains themselves is critical to this.

Whilst I agree mazak rot should not happen and it is clearly a failure of product quality it is not really Hornby's faults if a customer leaves it in a box for six or seven years and thus has had no enjoyment from the model. As a supplier they are offering a £100 voucher to customers who bought a defective product six or seven years ago who have had the opportunity to have a lot of pleasure and enjoment out of that model. That is way outside the warranty period and Hornby are not obligated to do this and having suffered this issue with some diecast models it is very unusual in my experience for a model manufacturer to do this. True, £100 will not pay for a replacement super detailed Hornby diesel unless it is in their last chance bargain section but you can't expect them to give you a voucher for say £150 when the SRP of these models six or seven years ago was nothing like what it is now and when in those days discounts of 20-30% were quite normal in many suppliers. I know it is popular to see Hornby customer care negatively but in this case I really think they are acting in an exemplary manner.

I do not think Hornby can be faulted on their handling of this issue. If a model is 6 or 7 years old then it is long out of guarantee, the purchaser has had a few years good use and enjoyment out of it and £100 is probably more than it cost in the first place. That is excellent customer service IMO.

My favourites vary according to the time of day but the Schools, M7 and rebuilt BoB/WC are never far from number one spot on my list of favourites.

Personally I think the team behind this effort should be very proud of themselves. An N gauge Pendolino will be made, it is mission accomplished either way.

Thanks for the Youtube link! I think from this I have two thoughts, it is not as good as full blown sound systems (as expected) but that it is actually pretty good and is very attractive as a means of adding sound to the layout on a tight budget. For what it is I think Hornby have done a great job with this and deserve a lot of success with it. I do not want it to replace high end sound but I do not think it will as TTS is pitched at a different market and I think Hornby may have a real winner with this.

I cannot speak for the backers, but I would have thought that the idea was to get an N gauge model Pendolino produced. In that case this kick starter campaign has already been successful and achieved its aim now Rapido has made their decision. The kick starter bit is a means to an end, if it has shown there is enough demand for Rapido to take the project on regardless then the aims of getting a model have been satisfied and it is a great result. I do think this will alter the kick starter dynamics for this particular project but it would have been wrong of the backers not to reveal Rapido's decision I think. By telling people up front it allows an informed decision. Maybe the kick starter target will be met but if it isn't then we have the opportunity to buy a regular release from Rapido. If I was an avid UK N gauge modeller then I'd pledge without question however my N gauge interest is Japan and whilst I'd like this as a nice addition given that I travel in the things regularly it is quite a bit to pay up front for something that is not really a core interest. The option of not pledging and maybe then buying when it is released (assuming the kick start fails, and to be honest I'd like it to succeed) is probably the best option for me even if the price goes up. On other kick starts, if anything this decision will encourage others as it demonstrates that even if you cannot meet the target the campaign can influence a manufacturer to make the model. Even if not immediately as in this stage I'm sure other manufacturers will be monitoring kick start efforts for their own market research.

Hi Ben, Thank you for that, it is much appreciated. I'll um and ah tonight and see, regardless of that I do appreciate your passion and commitment to this project and genuinely wish it success, John

I'm curious to try the large logo class 47. I am not expecting TTS to match full fat sound systems but at the price if it sounds pretty decent then it may make sound a normal part of modelling rather than a niche given the price. The old Lima models do feel very light, however they seem to be smooth runners.

If I were to pledge (I am not a British N gauge modeller but this would be nice to run with my Japanese models) and this goes into plan B could I ask the following question please: If I pay the 50% up front and the project gets delayed significantly will there be a get out clause? Apologies if this is a bit negative but we all know what model schedules are like and with the best will in the world I think it possible this schedule might slip. I am OK to pay the 50% up front but I think if things do slip it'd be nice to have some sort of get out given that we're paying a fair sum up front.

I'm not in the collectors club but have been thinking of joining this year. The reason being the air smoothed BoB that is listed as a club model. Presumably I'd get the £20 membership back by using the voucher against the BoB then the 10% discount might come in handy later.

That WD Jinty seems to be a very good choice for a club model in being a quirky and oddball prototype that probably would have little appeal as a general release (it wouldn't be much use on a wartime French layout as it is the wrong scale) but is attractive as a bit of a curio.

This is not one I'd be interested in but it is nevertheless nice to see an initiative like this and I wish the effort success.

I'm of an age where I clearly remember when all locomotives were rail blue and all coaches were blue/grey with a vanishingly small number of exceptions. At the time I remember wishing there was more variety yet for the last 25 years I've looked back and thought that the blue/grey era was a better corporate image than most that have followed, notwithstanding that I do like quite a lot of the liveries that followed. The Hornby model of the 4VEP is a keeper for me, I'd have bought it regardless but it is good that there have been some improvements. For me one of the great developments in modelling over the last few years has been manufacturers producing good multiple unit trains. For many years despite trains like the 4VEP and others such as the 4CEP, 108, 105, 101 all done wonderfully by Bachmann being workhorses of British passenger operations they were terribly overlooked in model form. I hope we see more contemporary releases too to go with Bachmann's excellent 350 and Hornby's very good 395. I wonder who will be first with the IEP?

I must admit I've been an analogue hold out. All my own stuff is analogue however I'm building a digital trainset with the boy which uses Hornby Railmaster and E-Link. I must admit I am now converted. Most of my modelling friends went digital years ago but I think two things put me off - the fact I had so many analogue models and also my friends seemed to go for Lenz and it seemed awfully expensive to me . Then when some of my fellow luddites made the shift using cheaper systems like the Prodigy Express which always seemed a very good way into digital in being affordable whilst having enough functionality for what I'd want I did not have a layout nor the time/money to build one. Now I'm really getting into digital will be going that way for future purchases. I think kiddies love sound equipped locomotives, but paying £200 - 300 per locomotive is way beyond that market, and lets be honest how many people would buy something like a sound fitted Hornby Bullied pacific and then give it to their kids to play with on a 6x4 or 8x4 trainset? These TTS models make sound achievable for a market which loves the idea. On DCC and jargon in general, Iam reminded of the great RJ Mitchell who once said to a colleague that if somebody tries telling you something about engineering and you can't understand it then its balls!

My attitude with regards all suppliers is that models turn up when they turn up and to just write off schedules as more an expression of hope than one of probability.

I think it'll be interesting to see what TTS does for entry level digital systems. I think it is a bit odd that many are intimidated by digital and see it as horribly complex when in fact it makes wiring a layout much easier and after a few minutes of use it is easy to get used to controls. One problem at the lower end must be price, people will look at the extra cost of a DCC chip and also for the train set market even a basic DCC controller is probably seen as being very expensive. Some of the higher end DCC suppliers and specialists do not help either by using a lot of jargon and making it look a lot more complicated than it need be. There are some good basic DCC systems, despite some negative comment I'm finding Hornby Railmaster and E-Link very good, as a standalone DCC setup the Prodigy Express from MRC/Gaugemaster is a good, solid system which is probably good enough for most trainset type layouts and won't break the bank. I think TTS may be a real shove for the digital market at the lower/entry level of the market.

The TTS models offer remarkable value for money. Although the old Lima tooling for the diesel models is basic with none of the refinements expected of new tooling they are still pretty good representations of the prototype, they run very well with the Hornby mechanism which is in a different world to the old Lima pancake and £85 for a DCC fitted sound equipped model is almost too good to be true. My little lad got a Hornby Railroad RES 47 in his Christmas trainset and despite the age of the tooling it looks like a 47 and for the trainset market the basic all moulded quality actually becomes a bit of a virtue. OK the sound system may not be as good as high end sound systems but for many enthusiasts I suspect it will be considered pretty good at the price, whilst for the trainset market I think it'll be a transformational product.

The DJM announcement is interesting, the tone seems to infer that he will push on if the crowd funding effort fails. As such it offers an insurance policy to N gauge modellers wanting the Pendolino. I have no idea how much DJM did for the project before it switched to Rapido but if he expended some effort and has materials to give him a good start on a Pendolino model then he has every right to continue. I'm guessing that DJM will await confirmation of whether Rapido goes forward before making a decision as the potential returns from such a project will be compromised if a large part of the potential market has already bought a rival product. If the crowd funding fails then there will be no duplication.