Ian Hargrave

If you read post 68 above you will see that I am far from writing Hornby off.But your post seems to imply that as Hornby are a larger company Hattons should give ground to them and not proceed with their own DJM edition. Exactly how are they to manage that now ? Undoubtedly,contractual obligations and financial undertakings are already in hand in any case.There is a myth that a large organisation will succeed because it has greater resources and clout. In this world,the crucial factor is control of the manufacturing process,.In that respect,the saying 'small is beautiful' holds good.For example,consider Jason and Rapido Trains. Hattons have been in business a very long time and need no lessons from us in their commercial decisions,besides which they,like the rest of us ,have no real clue as to what Hornby's decisions will be. Finally note that model railways are only a part of the Hornby conglomerate..

Considering Hornby's present precarious position,you are I am afraid,making assumptions which may not materialise. In any case,Hattons have already cast their net upon the waters in providing their own market .They know exactly what the state if the market is and have a proven successful record in this respect.They can and no doubt will retail both their own DJM version and ,if it materialises,Hornby's too..They did this with their own commission 10000/10001,selling alongside Bachmann's production. To wait and see is not an option in this day and age.In life,as in business ,there are but two types.....the quick and the dead. Hattons and Kernow are in this respect the glue that's holding the construct of manufacturer and retailer together now. Retailers need shelves filled with new ,not recycled products. Having the boldness and initiative to go out there and finance your own produce is one way of keeping the trade afloat rather than waiting for it to appear from neverland.

Found appropriate card for Elizabeth to celebrate our anniversary ( 49th !) "WE ARE NOT OLD WE ARE RETRO ".......it reads...

I think the simple answer to the question why is that Steam asked Hornby a while back to produce this as a special commission and are obliged to 'run with it' now. I realise that there are many who are disenchanted with the Star and 42/52/72 tanks with genuine reason.That is obviously due to Hornby having its 'mid life crisis' as it were. However,to dismiss them out of hand is to forget that they also have produced a Grange and a damned good Castle...for all it's QC failings. It out-performs most things on my tracks and still brings me a glow of nostalgia. One dreadful year must not obscure a decade of 'such things as dreams are made of'. Remember the Triang/Rovex years? Alas,we have short memories.Please let's put things in perspective,

Jihadists everywhere,it seems....

Ian ,I think this announcement was made solely to coincide with Bachmann Collectors Club Day on the KWVR,which is the present home of the Coal Tank....an excellent piece of theatre which gave pleasure to those who had made the trip to be there...wish I had myself. I don't believe there was any other motive than that. Remember Bachmann have a pedigree in producing vintage tank locos and I can't see any competition on the horizon to take that reputation from them ATM....unless of course there were Danish espionage agents in a hot air balloon above the Pennines last weekend... Regards,the other Ian.

Question......exactly WHEN was this CAD scanned ? Is this current,ongoing.....or archive....perhaps activated in response to the Hattons/DJM announcement ? Hornby must surely be aware of Steam 's interest in the production of a new King to replace the current model,having already produced a Castle and a Star for them.....always assuming that this IS what members think it is and not a red herring. The announcement yesterday may thus have forced them to declare their hand early.If so,it proves they're not asleep,which is encouraging in a backhanded sort of way.Just hope it doesn't backfire.Is duplication in the present climate necessarily a good thing for manufacturers and retailers? Maybe we're about to find out.I hope it will not be a case of "Last man standing".

A telepathic event....or sheer timely coincidence ?Today being the 1st September,I have just turned over to the new month on the Bachmann Collectors Club calendar which hangs on the wall above my pc.It is a reproduction of a painting by Malcom Root of 2001 leaving Grantham with an express.

United Welsh..of course...another name to hit the memory spot.Regards,Ian.

In the 50's,the Central Wales Swansea-Shrewsbury passenger services were largely the province of Shrewsbury's (84G) Fowler tanks.The Swansea-York mail usually produced something grander...a Black 5 or Standard 5, a Caprotti version occasionally.Jubilees were latecomers on the scene.Barrow Road's allocation...or some of them...found their way to Shrewsbury after being displaced by Peak diesels in the early 60's. As a boy,the top deck of a Mumbles tram was a great way of spotting the final section of the line as it ran along the beach wall into Swansea Victoria.The only problem was the long hours of inactivity on the line seemed always to coincide with my tram journeys. My Ian Allan Loco Log Book reveals that on 4//3/1957,I spotted Caprotti Standard 5 73132 (84G) on Paxton Street shed. Many thanks for your shots of the contemporary scene from Llanelli to Port Talbot.My heavens,what changes there have been since we caught the Vale of Neath train from Aberdare High Level,changed at Neath General onto a Castle-hauled semi fast to Swansea. The highlight of the journey was to look out of the right hand side of the train as we passed Landore shed.The magic 87E.! Then a walk to the Mumbles Railway terminus and a ride to Oystermouth,where there was always a short pause for refreshment at Forte's Ice Cream Parlour.The final destination was by South Wales bus...either Rotherslade Bay ( a favourite of my mother's) or Caswell Bay. The return journey always left an opportunity to spot the evening arrivals at Swansea High Street....Castles with red-backed nameplates and names soon to disappear..."A1 Lloyds" ,"The Somerset Light Infantry,Prince Albert's"...then homewards on "the five to nine" in fading light.

Why ? It's a Collectors Club event after all . A piece of showmanship at a special event matched by a special announcement. Therefore....why not ? We can all enjoy a theatrical announcement and the attendant publicity can't we?. We have a Coal Tank....praise be! Let's enjoy it.

Agreed.Very French in styling.Maybe in the genre of Andre Chapelon ? No doubt a strong influence on locomotive development here in the 1930's.She was tested...I think ....at Vitry-Le -Francois on the (then) main Paris(Est)-Strasbourg route.Styling by Bugatti.How's that for the romance of the railway at its zenith . La Belle Époque of the railway !

Mickey Mouse 2-6-0. 2MT...ability to work tender first. Bachmann do one.Just one suggestion.

Well there you are Mike....it DID happen after all.For myself, I couldn't be better pleased.This year,with this and the 64xx pannier and the autocoach,theValleys lines of my childhood are recreated. Thanks to all at Barwell for this nostalgia fix.

I think I did suggest you contact Hornby for the answer to that question.Unfortunately,members of this forum aren't party to decisions on their design and engineering.

Yes,Rob,thank you,I have done just that.It should give me the security of obtaining a model I want,at the same time putting cash into the coffers of NRM Shildon.That might be interpreted as one way of giving them support,though from your recent experience,I see that I must needs be cautious with the use of that particular word.

Read again,please.What I am stating is that Heljan in global terms,is as much a "cottage industry" as DJM and Kernow. In fact,in this section of commerce,model railways per se can be defined thus in pure blanket terms....a minnow. There is a genuine attempt here to keep development and production on side and under UK control. Is it not a good thing to give it as fulsome a support as we can ? Thus,Simon,I question your assumption of an "open and shut case" in favour of Heljan...without evidence to substantiate this claim.If you have such,please let's see it here. If you produce it .I'll be more than happy to retract.

What on earth makes you think that ...in global terms...Heljan itself does not equate to what you unfortunately term a "cottage industry"?You are skating on thin ice here...unless of course you are in possession of information that the rest of us are not party to. Be very careful of making assertions that you cannot substantiate. In any case,much as most of us applaud Heljan's influence in the UK market,is it not essential that we support UK generated products from Kernow and DJM ?.We would all be the poorer without both of them...and,right now,their joint initiatives are generating creativity and genuine sparkle into our world.

I have chickened out and approached Locomotion Models.I did have a problem with MRD last year in pre ordering a 2-BIL.Like many,they have problems in juggling supply and demand.In the end,I went elsewhere.That,however,was my choice and must not be seen as a reflection on them.

That's just my way of expressing it so that all would understand.A'rake' could be misinterpreted as a dissolute person,anyway. Posted with tongue firmly in cheek....and with cream on my chocolate.

What I AM saying can be seen in my reply to SAC (above),which is an operational experience and can be seen ...for me,at any rate...as a direct comparison on my layout,using my Gaugemaster controller. Don't conclude from that that everyone's experience will be identical to mine.You'll perhaps try it for yourself,if you haven't already done so.For the rest,if you have a concern...and you obviously have one....I would suggest you contacted Hornby for an answer.

Whatever !....roll on Sept.26th.....just hope the paint job is as good as 2800 'Sandringham'...

It depends entirely on the quality of the product.If you are using the example of vehicle engines,consider that my own VW Polo has a modest 1198cc engine yet develops more bhp than its 1400 cc counterpart....105 bhp in fact....simply because the way the system delivers the fuel is more sophisticated..and because it is turbo assisted. As I've posted in reply to SAC Martin,we have to wait and see.I suspect we will be pleasantly surprised with the performance of this loco. Incidentally,I would be interested to know whether you have models of R3191 and the 3 pole Silver Fox of your own....and are thus speaking from your own experience when pressing the "disagree" button.