jjb1970

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.

Bourton unfortunately is like most touristy small towns, congested on nice days and dominated by tourists however it is a very nice place and there are reasons it attracts visitors. Many of the towns in the Northern National Parks suffer from the same problem of being a bit too touristy. I would still recommend Bourton as a splendid day out and the model shop is very good.

Given that MG re-launched in the UK quite a while ago the rarity of their cars is quite telling and their dealer network seems to have gone backwards. At one point there were biblical discounts on the MG6 to try and move stock. In fairness reviews seemed to consider the chassis was pretty well set up with potential and it offered a lot of space if they could get a decent engine and give the cabin and touch point quality a makeover. Whether you'd want to sink your own money into such a car is doubtful.

Sounds familiar! I made an appointment by telephone to test drive an A3 with the 1.4 turbo petrol (we'd already decided that was the engine we wanted based on driving other cars with the engine) and duly turned up with licenses etc to take the car out. We were then asked to sit down and asked how much we wanted to spend on a car. You'll note the word wanted. I politely asked about the car we'd arranged to test drive and got a load of guff about how it is no use test driving a car unless we could afford it and therefore he would only talk about what I'd spend. Because, of course I am in the habit of wasting my time driving going around car dealers test driving cars I can't afford Since my wife was there who doesn't like making a scene I decided to just let him have his say them disappear, so told him how much I wanted to spend, which wasn't very much. He then proceeded to tell me I might be able to afford a poverty spec A3 with the base 1.2 petrol engine followed by almost ordering me to take out a finance deal there and then and telling me it was the only car I could afford. At that point I dropped politeness and pretty much told him not to call me and I wouldn't be calling them, it was an appalling experience. I will say the VW dealer (part of the same group, oddly) was completely different, no hard sell or pressure, gave us a car for a few hours and offered a great price on a pre-ordered car in their system which was close enough to the spec we wanted to be attractive.

This is the normal practice in Japan and to be honest whilst it is clearly a bit of a conjuring trick to fool the eye I believe it works better than most actual N gauge catenary. The problem is that unless you are skillful enough to engineer your own catenary the stuff you can buy looks way too heavy to my eye and ends up dominating a layout in a way which is completely unrealistic. This is a problem with a lot of HO catenary and it is much worse in N.

When we replaced the A1 we got my wife a VW Golf, initially we looked at the Audi A3 but the local Audi dealer subjected us to probably the most demeaning retail experience of my life and we walked out. Had a look at the Golf and bought a 1.4TSI with DSG box which is an incredibly accomplished car. The 1.4 turbo with cylinder de-activation and DSG is not that far behind the TDI and is quite warm in terms of performance, the DSG gear box is outstanding. Sorry for talking modern cars. On older cars I'd still love a Citroen DS, I'd also love a Lancia Monte Carlo which is probably far from being a sensible car to want but I always remember as a boy thinking what a glorious looking car it was. A quirky one I'd like is a Subaru SVX, the coupe they made a few years ago which was expensive in its day but a very interesting car.

These days most cars are platform cars (including some seriously expensive ones from Bentley and RR). If done well the concept works, but it is annoying when you get in a car and it's shared DNA with cars a lot cheaper is quite obvious. We had an Audi A1 which is essentially a VW Polo/Skoda Fabia/SeatLeon in an expensive suit and despite being fully aware of its platform underpinnings thought it was an excellent car. That said, there is no escaping the fact that you are basically paying a large premium for nicer cabin plastics.

I've always been well served by Hattons. Anything I've ordered has been delivered promptly and they do have some cracking bargains. Therefore I really have nothing negative to say about them. I think the courier issue is much wider than Hattons. I've recently had bad experiences with John Lewis, a store which is supposed to be at the high end of the retail market and which plays on a reputation for quality of service. M&S have had some high profile failures. I've started having bad experiences with Amazon despite having had nothing but positive experiences from them for over a decade. The problem then may be woth couriers but the retailers also have a big problem as notwithstanding the fact they are responsible for fulfilling their orders they are suffering real damage to their reputations as a result of failures in delivery. The problems may very well be with the delivery company but to the customer it doesn't matter, it is the retailer who is responsible for fulfilling their orders. Whether or not the issue is with City Link (now in administration), Yodel, Hermes or whoever does not alter the perception that ordering becomes higher risk. Certainly I have dropped using John Lewis on-line and am probably not going to order anything other than books and discs from Amazon going forward. So, whilst I do not blame Hattons for failures by Yodel, I do think they should monitor feedback on couriers and act, and certainly where a customer selects Royal Mail then Hattons should deliver via Royal Mail.

I'm in a bit of a quandry now as the ambulance train is one of the releases I have been really excited about. This is an ideal cross over for me as my principal hobby/interest in WW1 and the history of Europe in the decades leading to WW1 (much more than my interest in railways) and I love the GWR. So this ticks a lot of boxes for me, now however it seems to be a fantasy release. I really do not know anything about ambulance trains, a few weeks ago I didn't know it was a fantasy and was desperate for the model to be released. I'm almost certainly going to buy it as at the end of the day the set does look very nice and it still straddles some major interests of mine. The railway children set looks terrific, a fascinating subject to model and it is nice to see Bachmann model something a bit out of the ordinary like that. I am very tempted but will probably resist as it appears train packs crossing over between interests of mine (the Southern Dunkirk return train, Churchill funeral train and the GWR WW1 troop train all announced by Hornby) as well as the ambulance train are becoming quite a nice little stream of releases.

Yodel seems to be either very bad or very good according to your local deliverer. The low cost couriers are certainly cheap, and they're really winning market share, I've stopped buying from John Lewis on-line as I had a couple of dreadful delivery experiences, they're using Hermes and based on my experience they make Yodel look positively high end.

This is the stand out new model in the Hornby program for me and fantastic news. If this is as good as the King Arthur it'll redeem a lot of Hornby's issues over recent years for me.

I think the Hornby 4 VEP falls into that no mans land of models in that it is clearly not perfect and suffers from some significant failings yet at the same time it is a good enough representation to be an acceptable model and there are no other RTR 4 VEP models. So I think it falls between a great model and an out and out disaster, which is not unusual. Whilst I certainly see the faults with this model and think it should have been better I'll also say that I honestly do not regret buying my example at all and that when viewed from normal distances on a layout it looks fine to my admittedly inexpert eyes. Certainly I will be buying one in blue/grey, for sure compared to the wonderful Bachmann 4 CEP I am not expecting much but I do think it is a good enough model to enjoy as a decent representation of the real thing and be happy with.

Bourton on the Water is a terrific day out. We go there sometimes, the kiddies love the bird centre and model village, and the car museum is worth a look. While it may be a bit twee and touristy it is nevertheless a lovely little town. The model shop is well stocked and the staff are helpful, it is the sort of shop I suspect many of us once took for granted which is increasingly rare. A nice town, a beautiful area, loads for the family and a great model shop, what is not to like?!!

What a beauty, although not fitting in with any of my interests I cannot resist buying one.

The future of Hornby Railroad is interesting. Originally it seemed to be a way of offering low cost models to the trainset market and as basic offerings for those who enjoy conversion and detailing projects utilising old pre-China Hornby and Lima tooling. The newer Railroad models are now offering slightly de-spec models that are obviously pitched at the model market and are good enough for many enthusiasts. At the same time the main range seems to be like a rabbit in the headlights trying to decide whether to retain elements of design clever or return to all out detail (eg. the King). Maybe Railroad will become what design clever was meant to be? Or there will be a three tier range, economy Railroad pitched at the cost sensitive end of the market but nevertheless real scale models, the main range balancing detail and cost to try and hit a sweet spot and a halo range? PS. I hate to start talking about trainset toys,serious models etc as the gap between people following the track mat approach to a 6 x 4 layout based on a trainset and fine scale modellers is trivial compared to the huge gulf between both groups (and all in between) and the majority of the people out there who think all of us are a bit nuts.

If they have cancelled orders then that is inexcusable. If it is a system glitch then they should contact retailers and assure them that their orders will be honoured (communication goes a long way), if they really have just decided to cancel orders then there is no way I'd try and defend Hornby on that. On delivery dates, I now have an attitude that models arrive when they arrive and just accept it as delivery dates for all manufacturers are what might be politely termed "elastic". I have a similar issue in my job, some people get obsessed with long range oil and gas price projections and at the end of the day the price of oil and gas is what it is, if we don't know with reliability what they'll be in a months time how are we meant to take seriously forecasts for 2030.