nathan70000

Are either the late or early crest examples suitable for renumbering in to the BR batch? I had either 69001 or 69003 in mind...

From the language used it does look like there will be something brand new, but I don't think it will be as expansive as the Hornby announcement. Probably one or two new locomotives at the most. Quite frankly, they've missed the boat on the Manor. Hornby could perhaps pull it off, but competing against not one but two manufacturers is a very bad idea. Their best bet would be to pop a new DCC-ready mech under the existing body and sell it at the sub-£100 mark. One thing I could see them announcing is a Stanier 8F, given that they'd just need to "reverse shrink ray" the new Farish model. That said, I hope they don't. The pool of viable steam-era models is still very deep, and I'd like to see some more pre-1923 designs, particularly small, useful, branch and secondary main line locomotives that remained widely distributed right up until the advent of DMUs. A C12 4-4-2T would be extremely useful- they were of course of GN origin but could be seen in East Anglia, Lincolnshire and the East Riding in LNER days with substantial allocations as far north as Hull. I do fear that we could see manufacturers eventually devolving in to a competition over popular subjects; so we end up with the "definitive" Black 5, 9F, Hall, etc. being announced every year without any new ground ever being broken.

I'm surprised noone has noticed that the GWR ones are a fairly good match for the coaches the company inherited from the Taff Vale Railway, several of which have been restored and preserved. Granted, they're not identical, but the brake end arrangement is very similar. Not sure if there is anything suitable RTR to pull them though.

So, I've gotten a pair, a six-week third and a four wheel brake! My first thoughts is that is not a "Railroad" quality product, it's good quality and quite good value for money. The four wheel brake in particular is a very useful little piece of rolling stock, good for variety on parcels/express van trains as well as tiny branch line freights. It is obviously Stroudley-esque, but in truth I'm not too fussed as long as the quality of decoration and construction is high, and it's certainly better than I could do. The six-wheel third is similarly nicely decorated, but I did notice a little bit of black over spray near the ends. Not enough to make me return it, but this seems to be a recurring problem with recent Hornby products. I'd also advise people getting the lighted ones to be VERY CAREFUL removing the little white paper tab- it wouldn't budge on mine and I was worried I was going to break the coach. The lighting itself is bright and consistent, but- and it's a big but- it actually shines through the thin plastic on the body sides, which isn't a great look. It runs well and it just about gets through first radius curves okay, but the downside is the rather high amount of drag. I think Hatton's solution to the six-wheeler problem is probably a little bit more elegant, and I'd be interested to see how a little locomotive like a Terrier or a Peckett handles a full rake of six wheelers when confronted with even a slight gradient. Overall I'd say 7/10. Good value for money, the six wheeler runs okay but not as well as it could have done, and the lighting solution probably makes more sense than Hatton's, even if it is a little too bright. That being said, if these are good value for money, then the Hattons ones at almost the same price are spectacular value for money, and whilst I'll definitely complete my crimson rake with Hornby generics, I'll probably have an LNER rake from Hattons.

Unfortunately, the LBSC brakevan that Hornby have done only entered service in around 1921, I think, so only really useful if you're modelling the very end of the pre-grouping period. The idea of generic brakevans probably isn't a bad one- there were several companies that used very similar designs. I think the SECR and the Midland definitely had identical brakevans and there was a WD/ROD design that was used by a number of companies. Perhaps a generic underframe with two body styles would give you brakevans for the GN, LNWR, SECR, LBSCR and the Midland? Really, all those pre-grouping PO wagons Hornby churn out are "generic" so brakevans would be a logical extension. SECR modellers in particular have all the ingredients (assuming they're willing to do a bit of renumbering) to do an RTR layout, except the brakevan. Unfortunately if an accurate SECR brakevan were produced, it would inevitably be the Dancehall type, which, like Hornby's old LBSC van, is only suitable for post-1920 layouts. A generic, "period-literate" brakevan would look more accurate with pre-WW1 livery locomotives.

Interesting choices, Bellerophon is definitely the one I'd be most curious about, but as has been pointed out, it's going to be a very fragile model and there's probably going to have to be compromises made somewhere. As for the Hunslet and the torpedo wagon...okay, interesting choices but will they sell? Yes, the railgun sold, but that was at Oxford Rail prices. I think I would have chosen something a little bit more widespread.

92194 is a useful locomotive for anyone modelling Lincolnshire, this site has a lovely photograph of it in Grimsby on an express fish train, which could be recreated in model form with a mixture of the Hornby Blue Spot vans and the older ex-LNER wooden vans made by Bachmann. These trains operated via Louth in the BR period, through the Lincolnshire Wolds. Part of the line is now preserved.

I know Oxford usually make an announcement at the London Toy Fair around this time of year, that is cancelled of course but will anything be taking place online? Obviously they've yet to deliver on what was announced in 2019 and 2020, which is understandable for such a small manufacturer, so it wouldn't be surprising if they took a break. The Oxford announcements have always caught my eye the past few years- unlike Hornby, Oxford seem to be targeting the smaller, workaday locomotives that fill significant gaps in the market. Their choice of wagons have also been (pleasantly!) surprising.

It is a delightful oddity, but hardly representative of typical GWR branch line power? It seems to have led a fairly inauspicious nomadic existence and I highly doubt it was ever used on revenue earning passenger trains by the GWR. For what it's worth, the Adams Radial has never been produced in Drummond green by either Oxford or Hornby. The LSWR model that Hornby have produced is in the earlier sage green and is sold out everywhere. Not even any on eBay.

Loads of missed "train pack" opportunities here: "Lyme Regis Branch" - LSWR Terrier and four wheelers. "LSWR Suburban" - LSWR Adams Radial and four wheelers. "LBSCR Suburban" - IEG Terrier with four wheelers. "Mid Suffolk Light Railway" - BR J15, two crimson six wheelers and a Toad B. Instead they've gone for the one combination which makes the least sense! Someone noted above that the J15 was a slow seller; I think this was simply because they over produced models in that period, rather than a reflection of low consumer demand. The LSWR 700 and the K1 seem to have suffered similarly.

Actually the DVLR is very model-able and I'm surprised it's not more popular. Out of the current roster we have the two Rustons as well as the blue 03 from Bachmann. Presumably it would be easy to renumber it as 03079. Going back a bit, they used 04s repainted in company livery as well as loaned 08s (I think?). The preserved J72 and Hardwicke operated excursion trains, again from the Bachmann stable.

Well this is very cheeky. The BR(E) ones are just the thing for generic East Anglian branches. They definitely lasted in to the early 50s, long enough for locos pulling them to gain an early crest. There's a slight lack of joined up thinking here, though. The LNWR ones are orphans in the Hornby range, unless they do something next year to complement them. The NBR ones *don't really* have anything accurate to pull them, either, as Maude is in preserved condition. Would it have hurt to push the retooled A3 back a year and retool the J83 instead, allowing for it to be tooled in NBR condition? Perhaps with the GWR 2721 following? It's curious that out of all the announcements it's this one that has sparked the most discussion. Houses aren't getting any bigger and pre-grouping suits smaller layouts, so I suspect that this is a market that will only get bigger. Smaller locomotives means smaller prices, too: look at the going rate for the J15 vs. an A4. Far more affordable to the average modeller, and I seriously wonder whether all those £200> diecast Pacifics will actually sell when they start mass producing them.

Never seen this topic before, I simply cannot believe that a company is taking this on! I did a double take when I saw the title! I think the plain grey was only for the works photoshoot. There's a very good colour photo of it in ex-works condition, but I don't think it ran like that. Every photo I've seen, it's been lined grey with no crest. On some photographs it looks like the panel that would have the crest has been painted out in a slightly different shade. I'd go for lined grey (no crest), BR Black and SR Malachite Green.

A cheap, sound-equipped Railroad 0-6-0 (preferably the Jinty or the J52, as they are by far the best models from that particular stable) would go down far better than a modern MU with younger modellers, I think. Moving parts, interesting sounds, and there are plenty of Jintys running on preserved lines as well as the J52 in the NRM. Preferably upgraded with NEM couplings. I would really like more NER and GER origin locomotives but I don't expect any more for a while. The J69 would be a sure fire bet but I think they'll want to show a little love to other regions after a few LNER-centric years. One minor wish for the 2021 announcements I have is a Stroudley Terrier in Isle of Wight Central livery. It's niche, yes, but it's a very pretty livery. The other thing is I'd quite like them to run those retooled 3, 4, 5 and 7 plank wagons in pre-grouping and big four liveries. Over 70% of freight stock in the 1920s and 30s was four wheeled open wagons and whilst not strictly accurate, they would at least allow big, realistic looking trains to be built up fairly cheaply and quickly. I think they did an LSWR one this year but I'd love a few LNER and LMS ones.

It's all good fun though! The annual speculation about big yearly announcements is always enjoyable and I'm sure if the hobby was more mainstream bookies would place bets on it! I actually don't think there's many ways Hornby could go wrong. I'm sure many of the suggestions mentioned in the thread so far would be very profitable for Hornby, and I would wager that if they did do the Raven Pacifics, they would sell out on pre-order! How many people ordered an original W1 because their layouts really needed one? Yet it has been a massive success, and I should know, because it was a pain trying to find somewhere that was still taking pre-orders. I actually think the riskiest proposition suggested on this thread would be re-tooling locomotives like the Black 5, the 8F, the rebuilt Merchant Navy and the 9F. These are already excellent models (admittedly the Hornby 9F is quite dated but the Bachmann one is fine) and I don't think many railway modellers are quite as preoccupied with fidelity as the user base of this forum might suggest. A lot of people will make their purchases based on cost-effectiveness, and if you've already got a Black 5, are you going to spend upwards of £170 on a new one? I wouldn't, but I'd certainly put that money aside for a Raven Pacific. And I think you'd be surprised at the amount of people who have roundy-roundys and run pretty much according to "Rule 1", who would make the same choice. I actually do prefer specific area(s) and eras, but I'm willing to make exceptions if the locomotive is special enough. I reckon the cumulative impact of this effect ("I've already got X, so I'll buy X instead), as well as the supply of second hand and mint ex-estate examples on eBay, would lead to retooled Black 5s, 9Fs, RbMNs etc. sitting on shelves until they are inevitably reduced and snapped up for about £120. A specialist company aimed specifically at enthusiasts (like Cavalex) could probably pull it off, but a big mass market one like Hornby would struggle with the large production runs required. I actually think things like Raven Pacifics, streamlined P2s, Great Bears, and Turbomotives would be more successful in terms of profitability. That write up was much longer than I thought it would be when I started it!

Even odder than the DVT was the "Test Coach 1" painted in Prototype HST livery! Or was that just a coincidence and not a deliberate homage?

91111 looks incredible. I'm not a fan of those lights, they look completely wrong but the rest of the model looks excellent so far. I wonder if they'll do a TTS chip with the characteristic "hum". I grew up with the 91s so I'd definitely consider pre-ordering one, but ONLY if they announce some MK4s to go with them...no point in just buying the loco by itself. The old MK4s aren't actually that bad, there's very little detail they'd need to add, NEM couplings, tinted windows, and lights in the DVT and job's a good'un. Obviously they'd need to tool up a TOE and modify the windows on the buffet for the post-GNER sets but it shouldn't be too much outlay for them.

That would be the one I'd be getting! That said, Hornby could have easily done the Gresley B17 named "Hull City" in 2017 and they didn't. I believe there was a HST set decorated for the City of Culture celebrations as well. Let's see if they do 6240 "City of Coventry" this year!

Off the top of my head, there have been six "eras" on the ECML since the Class 91s were introduced: Intercity Swallow: 1991-1997 GNER: 1997-2007 National Express: 2007-2009 East Coast (effectively nationalised): 2009-2015 Virgin Trains: 2015-2018 LNER: 2018-present So if you're modelling the modern day ECML you have to choose your year very carefully! IIRC they were all rebranded very quickly so you wouldn't have seen an East Coast set hanging around in to summer 2016 for instance.

What I'm hoping for, and what I expect, are two very different things. I'm hoping for a J21, a B16, a D20, an E4 (ex-GE of course) or a J69. But I suspect out of all of those the Buckjumper is the only one that has a chance this year. I think Hornby may have been put off small anonymous black 0-6-0s by the relative commercial failure of the J15 and the 700, which is a shame. That said, the J36 seems to have sold well. What I predict is that they'll do another big, headline-grabbing one-off steam loco that will inevitably sell out on pre order. My guess would be the LMS Turbomotive, with the added bonus that it shares quite a few parts with the big LMS locomotives they've already done. The Great Bear is another possibility, but I'm not sure it has the same wow factor as the Turbomotive. Even the name sounds like something from a cheesy 80s sci-fi show! I predict they'll be no more than three locomotives this year and at least one of them will be a re-tool of a smaller locomotive they've already done. I think the Caley Pug is a good shout, especially if they tool for the NBR and industrial versions as well. That leaves one more locomotive, which I reckon will be a BR Standard of some kind. Not a 9F- I'm not sure where all that speculation has come from, but surely that would be an extremely risky commercial proposition given all the recent Bachmann and "Railroad Plus" ones kicking around? I think it will be the Clan, they make loads on eBay, and I'm sure there's tons of demand. All the other major Pacific classes and many of the minor ones are now widely available, excluding one-offs I think it's just the A2/3s and the Raven A2s now?? As for coaching stock, I wouldn't be surprised to see the LNER Coronation/Silver Jubilee sets and the MK4s already mentioned. In fact I think MK4s are inevitable, I would be shocked if they didn't announce them. What is the point of retooling the 91 otherwise? (*Whilst I would love a Raven A2, and I'd never say never, I do think it's an exceedingly unlikely 100/1 outside bet.)

What an interesting choice of wagon, it's lovely to see more items unique to the North East in model form, albeit this one is particularly geographically restricted. They might have found a wider audience with the ex-NER wooden bodied hoppers, of which numerous examples survived not just in to BR and NCB ownership but also in to preservation. Hornby have done a Consett 9F, 92099, but somehow I doubt that they put the correct braking equipment on it (modfications were also made to the Class 24s used later on). Aside from that, I'm not aware of any RTR models of the locomotives that pulled these trains. Perhaps a Q7 might be KRM's next project? I think these wagons would sell in N Gauge, the line lends itself quite well to the scale.

And here you have it! A revised version, with the extra crossover and an overall roof. "Atmosphere" is the key word here- not a 100% accurate recreation of a particular time or place, but certainly reminiscent of places like Liverpool Central. Does anyone know of a plastic kit for an overall roof that will fit a double-track terminus? The bay platform at the top could be a passenger platform, but it could also be used for goods vans and perishables traffic, perhaps?

So I've been planning a UK layout for quite some time and I have considered quite a few locations, mostly in the ex-LNER area but the variety of lines between Liverpool, Manchester and West Yorkshire have always caught my interest - think "dark satanic mills". One of my favorite layouts I've ever seen was in this sort of setting- I can't remember the name, but it was set in West Yorkshire and featured quite a lot of grubby WDs, green diesels, and a bridge running over a canal. Somewhere I have the magazine it featured in, it was quite a long time ago, something like 2001 or 2002. I do however have quite a space restriction- the layout can't be on display all of the time and ideally the boards need to slide underneath my existing US layout so they can't be any longer than 4ft long and no wider than 2ft wide. That's quite a restriction when I'm aiming for a fairly busy inner city terminus. I've been playing around on SCARM and I've come up with this: It's a fairly crap drawing but it does meet the criteria- it's on two boards, one 4' by 1' 2" and the other just 3'. All the point work will be on the 4ft board making it a little bit easier to manage electrics-wise. I already have a bit of wood I can use to mount the fiddle yard. It uses Hornby semi-flexible track and Hornby's longer points- all easy to get hold of and relatively cost effective. It is somewhat inspired by the "Minories" plan, but slightly compressed (I imagine an off-scene crossover within a tunnel, followed by a goods yard on the other side of the tunnel). I could expand it further in future taking inspiration from the American "modular" approach. The road over bridge in the centre of the layout disguises the join between baseboards. It will be surrounded by retaining walls but the focus is more on operations than scenery, to be quite honest. However, the period I intend to set the layout in will allow for lots of evocative advertising which should brighten things up. So what about the setting and the historical background? Well, first of all I decided to make it an exchange station between the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) and the LNWR, somewhere in an urban area west of the Pennines, possibly Stockport or Liverpool. I haven't yet decided on an exact location, but my excuse for the small footprint is that it was built right at the end of the railway-building age (in about the 1880s at the earliest) and the CLC were strapped for cash, and could only afford a tiny slither of land. Because I'm a contrarian and everyone seems to set their layouts in the 1950s or 60s, this one is going to be set in the decade from 1920 to 1930, taking in the last years of the pre-grouping period and the formative years of the LNER and the LMS. I do love the idea of "transition", but it does seem like the only transition that is modelled is the one from diesel to steam. The CLC/LNER side of operations will likely feature J11s, K3s, D11s, J50s, and J72s, whilst the LNWR/LMS trains will feature Coal Tanks, ex L&Y Class 5s, Midland Compounds and hopefully an Improved Precedent. I intend to light the layout, and use lit rakes of Hattons Genesis coaches which should convey an good impression of the period. No locomotive larger than a 4-4-0 and no coaches longer than a Hornby/Triang Clerestory. Yes, Pacifics and Mk1s are banned! In future I may play around with the era a bit, the bay platform is designed to fit a Class 105 DMU...you never know. So, I have a few questions. A), does the track plan work? B), what would station in such a limited space look like? I've toyed with the idea of a low-relief station building at the far left end of the plan and an overall roof, like a very tiny version of Liverpool Central. C), how would it be painted? In CLC/GC colours, or in LNWR colours?

I've pre-ordered Hush Hush in original condition from TMC, but when I click to view details of my order it states "This item has sold out". I haven't been charged but I assume they would not accept pre-orders if they lacked the stock to fulfill them? I'm glad- but not surprised- that this is a very sought-after locomotive.

Turns out it's not really a flaw with the N7- over Hornby 2nd radius it was fine, but the Kato Unitrack stuff I prefer is a lot finer and the trailing wheel rides up over the joints in the track.