Robin Brasher

You will be pleased to see that my R60032 BR Conflat and Container 'Tri-ang and Pedigree' has now arrived at my local model shop. Unfortunately the box has been damaged somewhere either in the post from Hornby to the model shop or in the shop. For a purchaser the condition of the box is sometimes as important as the condition of the model. There has been no damage to the model. I don't recall the boxes being damaged in my postal purchases from shops like Rails, Hattons or Kernow and I thought that the items purchased directly from a model shop would be less likely to be damaged.

I think at the present state of the market for Hornby the best thing to do is to wait until their products come on the market and then choose the best retailer to buy them. I have got caught out with the R60032 BR Conflat A. I pre-ordered it around January 2021 from my local model shop which is in tier 2. Now the container wagon is widely available from other retailers like Hattons, Cheltenham Model Centre and Peter's Spares but I have heard nothing from my local model shop so I assume that Hornby has not delivered them yet. I am keeping my order to try and keep good relations but I think that it is a two way process and the model railway shop should keep me informed if there has been a delay. If Hornby runs out of stock before they deliver to my local model shop it may be a blessing in disguise because I am not sure if Hornby have made the Pedigree container in the correct shade of blue and the container is a planked one whereas the prototype container was probably made of plywood sheets. I think that my Tri-ang Pedigree container illustrated may be a more accurate model than the new one.

I was surprised that it took the 00 gauge model railway manufacturers so long to produce such a popular subject as the "Flying Scotsman" when Trix and Triang-Hornby first produced them in 1968. I wonder if anyone has compared the Trix version with the new Hornby version. When the Trix version came out I thought it was the best ready to run steam engine that had ever been made.

I would also like to see a release of the Flying Scotsman in BR green with smoke deflectors and the late crest as used on current rail tours.

My Tri-ang Pedigree container has come out a lighter shade in the photograph than it is in reality. I agree that my version is blue-black but Tri-ang also produced another BK8900 in black. The new R60032 Pedigree container appears to be in a lighter shade of blue than the Tri-ang version. I have not seen a colour picture of the prototype but it looks like two of the three colours used by Tri-ang and Hornby are wrong. There is a discussion about this model in 'Collectable Vintage- Tri-ang Conflat L'. It looks like the prototype had plywood sides as modelled by Tri-ang rather than planked sides as modelled by Hornby. The Tri-ang model may be more accurate than the Hornby model both in its colour and its details. Although the Hornby model is widely available at Hattons, Cheltenham Models and many other outlets the model that I ordered from my local model shop in January 2021 has not yet appeared. If, or when, it does appear I wonder if the staff will discuss the merits of the model's livery and whether it should have plywood sides over a cup of tea as a reward for remaining loyal to my local model shop.

You will be pleased to see that the R60032 BR, Conflat A, Tri-ang has now appeared and is widely available. I pre-ordered mine with my local model shop, which is in tier 2, so I hope I will get one eventually. The model is authentic and I have seen a picture of the prototype hauled by a BR 2-6-4T in a railway book. Meanwhile I enclose a picture of my Tri-ang R561 black version whereas the new version is dark blue.

You will be pleased to see that the R60032 BR Conflat A, Tri-ang is now widely available. Unfortunately I have not got one as I pre-ordered it last year from my local model shop which is in tier 2. If I ever receive it I will be interested to compare it with my R561 model dating from the 1962 - 1971. Mine is BK8900 which is fairly rare. I was interested to see that the container is based on the prototype and I have seen a picture of it in a book hauled by a BR 4MT 2-6-4T.

I am not sure that Hornby are still doing the tier system. I thought that Hattons are in tier 3 yet they have just received a delivery of the R40029, R40030 and R40031 Maunsell dining cars and the R60032 Hornby Pedigree Pram wagon. These are available elsewhere but not in all tier 1 and 2 shops. It does make it difficult for customers to chose where to order models from if there is a shortage of supply.

If the prototype exists in purple livery then the Hornby model must be historically accurate.

I think that Hornby should present him with an "Elizabeth ll" locomotive. Money does not always buy happiness but a purple locomotive to remind him of his grandmother might.

If they are selling at £270 there is no reason for Hornby to reduce it. I am surprised that people are buying it when many people have to chose between heating their homes or buying enough food and a purple West Country locomotive is only appearing on one preserved line for a limited time. It looks like a lot of people are applying Rule 1. Lots of people are moaning about the cost of Hornby locomotives but are still buying them. Either the Hornby King locomotives did not sell well or Hornby made too many of them but I would have thought that more people would buy a King locomotive that ran on many main lines than a repainted West Country that is just running on one preserved line for a short time.

Only 1,000 for the first Maunsell pull-push coach set and this was not a limited run although the demand was much greater;

I think that £269.99 is too expensive for "Elizabeth ll" as the rebuilt West Country has been in production for a long time and Hornby should have recovered its development costs. It is also more expensive that Bachmann's "Tornado" which has a recommended retail price of £199.95. For these reasons I have not bought one although our local railway club is modelling the Severn Valley Railway. I wonder how many models of "Elizabeth ll" Hornby will sell. If it turns into a Hattons bargain next year I might buy one.

I thought that the normal production run of a Hornby locomotive or item of rolling stock was 2,000 or less.

We seem to have wandered off topic. Whilst I agree with the comments about Lima trains my Lima class 33 is still running after 50 years whereas a few of my more recent Hornby and Bachmann locomotives are not. It looks like I was unlucky when one of the driving wheels fell off my Bachmann Ivatt 2-6-2t but the derailing of the N class was a production fault. I doubt if the Hornby "City of London" and "Golden Fleece" will arrive before 2023. I have ordered these for nostalgic reasons but I don't think they are as well engineered as the Hornby Dublo versions. I like to run trains rather than count rivets. I think that Hornby will have recovered the development costs of these locomotives a long time ago and I feel that I am being ripped off. I think that people will be more selective about buying new models and may look at the second hand market. I missed out on the "Duchess of Sutherland" and bought a second hand one for £70 which seems as good as Hornby's present offerings.

I assume that the "Raspberry Ripple" set is the crimson and cream set but I thought that most of the coaches in the charter trains were named and include a kitchen car. You cannot buy these ready to run but an ordinary rake of crimson and cream Mk1s creates a good impression of a charter train.

I like the crest on the tender.

I did not think that my Lima class 33 was a good quality locomotive when I bought it in the early 1970s but it is still running now. It received some very rough treatment in the Swanage Railway layout at Swanage Station. Later models like the Bachmann Ivatt 2-6-2T and the Hornby T9 have not stood up to the test of time,

I would be interested to know how many purple West Country locomotives Hornby have made and what the customers are going to do with them when they have bought them. The only place that the customers can run "Queen Elizabeth ll" without being criticised by the RM Pedants is on a present day model of the Severn Valley Railway. Members of the South Dorset Modellers have got models of Highley and Arley stations and Victoria Bridge but I am not sure if many other people are modelling the Severn Valley. Perhaps they will end up in collector's showcases or as Rule 1 engines. I would be interested to see some pictures of the locomotive running on RM members' layouts.

I cannot access anything on the RM site on Google and a big advertisement is blocking access to the subjects. There is no ''x' on the advertisement so I cannot delete it. I can access the site on Avast but I have to delete a small advertisement which obscures some topics.

Have you returned your T9 to Hornby to be repaired? There was a manufacturing fault with the Bachmann N class 2-6-0 causing it to derail at the slightest provocation. I returned mine to Bachmann when it was several years old telling them that the derailments were a well documented manufacturing fault. I expected them to charge but Bachmann repaired it free of charge and it is now running perfectly.

Sorry, I have got no idea what happened just now but I highlighted the last paragraph and tried to reply. It was not just Hornby which was reliable in the 1950s. I had a Tri-ang Princess that I ran virtually every day for 13 years until I ruined it by trying to convert it with scale wheels. The Tri-ang Winston Churchill was a good representation of a Bulleid Pacific and a friend ran it until the flanges wore out on the driving wheels. The Lima diesels were only designed to last for a year but my Lima class 33 that I bought in the 1970s still runs well now. It has suffered some very rough treatment by the boys who were supposed to look after the Swanage Railway layout at Swanage Station and there was hardly any paint left on it when I retrieved it but I have often run it since. I am sure that many of Hornby's locomotive will give good service for many years but there are some that will not. Hornby is still making the H class and T9 which are examples of the latter.

One of the locomotives was a Tri-ang Flying Scotsman but he also used a Hornby rebuilt Bulleid Pacific.

The Railway Modeller could do long term reports on the locomotives they use in Pecorama.