sanspareil

'The Sun' has an exclusive (if it can be trusted) and a source that was told by a Eurostar rep that 5 of the E320's had suffered damage to windows in the recent snowy weather. Detail is limited, it doesn't specify if thats forward facing or side on windows with damage. E300's have also suffered issues in previous years with the challenging environment of the warmer tunnel and snowy colder conditions either side. A spokesman for Eurostar said: "It’s not unusual for any type of train running at high speed to sustain some damage during bad weather. "Following the weather conditions in recent weeks, particularly in France, we have introduced a revised timetable to allow our teams to carry out routine maintenance to make any necessary repairs." He claimed the damage was "not specific" to the E320 fleet. To me it seems Eurostar is playing its cards pretty close to its chest and not wishing to share a lot of detailed info. In the meantime cancellations continue and have done for what, getting on 3 weeks now? Good job this is a quieter time of year for them. Oh and just to also agree I am no fan of the E320's either from a passenger viewpoint. How can the ride be so much worse on a train that has got nearly 30 years more high speed evolution behind it than the E300?

I dont see any further IC Swallow Mk2's other than the RFB already out. Is that it then or are there others to follow already announced pre-2019 but just not yet available?

So that's a full set refurbished when its listed above (as in PC and carriages)? If so that's the project complete I guess, no others? Unless the 374's cant be used/cleared on routes they dont currently operate on the future cant look bright for the remaining 373 sets sadly (even though refurbished), especially now Ashford is cleared. Running a small older non-standard fleet cant be great financially longterm. I wonder what Eurostars thinking is? I have only had one trip of the 374's and like others I wasnt totally blown away, ride was poor. I dont rate the Siemens product based on travels elsewhere also, not just a eurostar issue. IMHO I think the 373's, despite being a near 30 year old design, look more attractive/sleek than the 374's. They have far more character thats for sure.

Sparking up an old thread here but are all the 373's that were planned for refurb now complete (carriages as well as power cars)? Are Eurostar operating any refurbished sets still? I went long haul on last year on an unrefurb example and whilst I loved the original decor/layout the condition they are in now is far from suited the length of journey to the Med.

As an aside i do hope Hornby get their spare parts division in order. So hard to get many parts these days! I spoke to Simon last year at a show on this matter and he was aware of the issue and said it will improve....lets see.

Agreed on the DVT - I wonder if Hornby is aware/gets advice some on how much IC MK3 DVT's are going for on ebay? I think I have seen mint ones going for £150-200. Insane, but suggests a demand for them. Surely a missed easy sales opportunity! Surprised Kernow have not jumped on this with Hornby and done a limited run at an inflated price (but way less than ebay prices)

Indeed lets hope so, but also theres been plenty of omissions or odd decisions previously. Historically Hornby sometimes dont seem to see the bigger picture so well as maybe say Bachmann in that not producing one coach may limit sales of others - or flip side producing one 'odd' coach leads more sales of others. I guess the accountants purely see the production costs of one coach with lesser sales as an unnecessary (without quantifying the potential wider sales effect). Its why back in the day i didnt swap my HST rakes to Hornby given the cut price Lima lash up they did with the TGS, so they lost out on multiple sales due to cutting corners on one coach. I know what i will be putting on those Hornby 'make a model suggestion' forms at exhibitions now!!

I think the price has to be compared to the current (rapidly increasing price) of Bachmanns older offerings. New Class 37's (discounted) are now retailing at about £135? If say a higher detailed/better mech model came in at £150 thats not much more? Its interesting that while it might not be for all that both Accurascale and Hattons think theres a market here in doing similar with the 66/55. Indeed I am not saying I could/would buy them as the hobby in general is getting too expensive for me, but just a wider observation that there seems to be a (niche) market for highly detailed models at a slightly higher price based on Accurascale/Hattons proposals. If it goes for the 66/55 then the same will go for the 37/47.

Maybe the thinking is that as Bachmann have had the earlier MK2's our for so long many people bought loads of these, especially back in the 'cheap' days of modelling (like I did). However with the MK2F hornbys previous release was flawed and then theres bachmanns new pricey offering that has put people off - many people are still sitting waiting to buy something. I am in this camp.

TBH I am surprised Hattons did the 66 and not a 47/37. If I was in this field I would be jumping to do one/both of these but get it right!!! Its critical to get it right given numerous failed attempts. PS Seen elsewhere the MK2 is a new tooling - interesting times!!

I think this could be a smart/interesting move by Hornby (and a general one i predicted in other past posts). I think this might be the starting of a kind of wider super railroad range. A range of products not just made of 30+ yr old dated toolings but a range of models acceptable/affordable to the masses (and not a million miles behind the super detailed items). For me railroad is too basic but newer Bachmann models while lovely (like the MK2) are becoming out of reach. I havent purchased any Bachmann Mk2 despite looking forward to the release, was looking to buy around 11 in total. The price difference over 11 vehicles is not a small amount so here's hoping these Hornby ones are acceptable. I would hope this might progress on to wagons but with such a diverse amount am not so confident. Time will tell if theres a growing market for such models given the almost out control increase in RRP each year. Like with cars everyone ideally would like a Mercedes/BMW etc but most of us have to make do with ford/toyota etc. Maybe it will follow but a big shame no MK2 RFB (like Bachmann) to allow rakes such as XC formations to be modelled.

One question, apologies if I've missed it in glancing over the previous 16 pages. The MK2F - is this a revised/new tooling or the same slightly flawed version from the recent past? Shame Hornby wont produced the MK2 RFB like Bachmann. Slightly OT but my own personal prediction for D&E traction is that in 2019/20 someone will announce a newly tooled 37 or 47 along the lines of what Hattons and Accurascale have done with the 66/55. The current Bachmann 47/37 is good but not perfect by modern standards and with all the options should be good with sales if they get it right!

Lets hope it stays this way - prices have been going up circa 10% year on year (as seems to be the norm now). Next year the 68 could be nearer £140 if there was another batch making the 59 seem 'cheap' if it sticks at £121 (the first 68 batch was about 10% cheaper than the second IIRC). I wonder if you pre-order now if a retailer honours that price even if next year Dapol lift the price before release?

I wonder if we will see separate plates included for all the plates as fitted to the real thing (number/name/makers plate)? Also I see the Rails pre-order delivered price is set at £121 - I wonder if this will stay that way. In modern times thats on the better side of some of the prices we have been seeing recently (especially for a new model).

I dont think its just the last year we have seen stunning wagons, I was impressed with Dapol MRA's/Bachmann Polybulks (thankfully) bought before the rises. Its more a continual road of evolution (no pun intended) in standards over the last 20 years. As a general statement I think the hobby will have to become more niche as costs rise - smaller highly detailed runs at still higher prices for those with deep pockets. I understand even some standard loco production runs are now at just 500 units - historically considered a limited edition. I guess as production levels fall prices will get even higher.

My eye sight isnt as good as it used to be, so I checked once, twice, three times. £50 early bird price for each for a pretty simple open box wagon which are needed in reasonable numbers. Yikes.... The way things are going i need to find another hobby i can afford

I wasnt that close to the front to hear fully but at Warley on his stand I heard Dave explaining about very large financial losses that occurred and so on (I would have thought enough to sink a small outfit). There was supposedly an email going out to those already subscribed to this project IIRC 1 week after Warley, has that been received?

All day on the Saturday at least from what i can recall they had about 5-6 locos sleeveless. 66 one of them but also yellow 57, distribution 47, sub-sector 37 being others i recall. They had more under the counter so not one off's, I saw people buying them and they said leave those on display and pulled one from under the counter instead. It could be that all these had soiled boxes and certificates. Just a coincidence maybe that they all happened to be the least interesting of their ltd ed's too.

Sparking up an old thread here. I noticed at Warley KMRC had several sleeveless/certificate-less locos. they seemed to have a good supply of them and at a healthy reduction, getting on for nearly half-ish price. Could KMRC be removing the sleeves/certificates to 'devalue' the locos but also as a way try to shift them on if sales are slow? As other have stated KMRC have taken a glut of specials on recently and some seem to be of dubious interest levels at a high price. Just as an aside the business of being marked 'limited edition', I understand these days production runs are much smaller than they used to be and its not uncommon to have normal runs as low as 500 meaning many releases are limited editions in varying degrees to effect. Just some have a bit of paper and others not, its demand that affects true value. Often its the likes of eBay that finds the level of the market value of a loco, not a numbered bit of paper? Look at some non-limited editions examples on ebay: IC liveried MK3 DVT (seen some going for nearly £200!!) and NSE 47715 (been selling for over £150 and one listed for £199) - I was told that 47715 was only produced to around 500 examples. In my view many locos/liveries etc have been brought to market that wouldn't have appeared if not for retailer exclusives/limited eds, but others would/should have been mainstream releases. For those it means the retailer/manufacturer tie up has just lead to higher prices to the consumer sadly.

I think that what we are seeing and is difficult for people is that the hobby is going pretty quickly from an almost every-man hobby to a richer mans one. Before most if us could afford all the latest releases, now increasingly that is not the case - sadly choices have to be made either through pure cant afford or just lesser perceived value. There will always be people that can afford and/or will pay almost pay any price and that no level of detail is enough. For others its a balance on detail demands if costs become too high. Only the manufacturers will know through sales what channel they need aim at, or maybe as Hornby have been trying to a degree a two tier strategy. If Bachmann et al maintain their double digit yearly RRP percentage increases that almost seem to be the norm now I am not sure where the hobby will go for the masses, I guess the manufacturers will just have to hope there are enough richer folk around to keep it and them going. I guess its fortunate that the hobby generally is made up of a more mature demographic who maybe have a higher chance of fitting that bill? For me I could afford the latest releases I guess but it would now mean cutting back very much in other areas so I am selective and my spending overall has reduced, I have to draw a line somewhere and its a disappointing decision to have to make. I have a growing personal perceived value issue especially when locos that I bought 5-6 years ago for maybe £70 are now retailing close to £140 for the very same model. As a comparative I am about to buy a new TV, my last was 32 inch 10 years ago and cost £700 (still going just moving to another room), this one is going to cost £500 for 49 inch which improved design and features. On the MK2's well what I want isnt currently released anyhow. If/when they are released the cost is much higher still then like some others sadly I will have to stick with what i have got (given I would want about 10 of them). Just thank goodness I amassed so much stock in general in the past... If I were Hornby I would maybe consider how much it would cost to re-do the underframe on their MK2 to provide something that would actually sell and be a viable cheaper alternative to Bachmanns offering.

Fair point on the cost, still seeing double digit percentage rises year on year so it wont be very long at all (if the rises continue) until the RRP could be over a ton a coach for DCC fitted. I know one thing that has never ever gone up double digit and thats my pay I think swallow and/or virgin in 2019 will be big contenders. Be interesting to see that if it is swallow if a CDL version of the RFB comes out too or if what is already out is it.

Could someone kindly clear something up for me if its possible (sorry if mentioned in another post and i missed it). Whilst i see that the RFB is in swallow livery I see the TSO's are not. I was on the understanding that all the initial batches of IC stock were to be swallow style IC livery based on some photos? I notice none have the CDL lights by the doors, so will we see a future run of RFB/TSO/BSO in Swallow IC with CDL lights? I cant find any Bachmann references to this yet? Given the high cost I have to be very careful and choosy about what I buy now, in the old days I would have just bought and thought about it later if anything else better came out!

You can only access the cab light switches crazily, it would have been a far better design to be able to access the head and taillight switches which surely are the most used ones.

Some of the prices you quote seem much less than I recalled seeing first thing on the Saturday at the returns stand. The prices I saw were mostly pretty high, indeed people were commenting that other traders in the same hall were selling some brand new items at lower price (with detail packs and full warranty too)! There wasnt too much stock shifting, I glanced by later on the Saturday and there were still piles of stock, normally by that time the stand is mostly all sold. Overall (and of course its always a personal opinion based on layout preferences etc etc) I thought the show was a very good show but not one of my best Warley's ever. I look forward to 2018...

Interesting this was brought up. I just got my hands on my 1st 68 model. Overall impressed but as is always the case theres something to take the edge off. For some reason in the box 2 of the under frame boxes were off. I can see there is glue but the glue is only on the boxes and has not made contact with the under frame (easy enough to sort). Another minor but annoying niggle for DC users is the provision of light switches within the body shell (so has to be removed each time you make a change), the only positive being the body is pretty easy to remove. Now back to the quoted post and the most disappointing issue and thats the couplings. On hauling a reasonable train the couplings even on straight track can pull to one side under load. There is not enough inertia in the body mounted coupling springs to stay central. This leads to crazy huge gaps between stock and loco, its at its worst with stock that also has the dreaded body mounted side sprung couplings. After any slight curvature the spring doesn't re-centre the coupling and the large gap remains. The coupling also has a fair bit of vertical movement so if pushing a reasonable load there is risk of under ride.