3rd Rail Exile

Yes, they definitely have!

I guess it's the rose between two thorns (Swindon and Reading) . It's just not the ideal place for someone whose primary interests are SR and BR(SR), and specifically (due to birthplace) the former South Eastern division of the Southern Region. But work led me to the area 30 years ago, and ever since I've been trying to understand the fascination some have with the "local" railway here! It's nice being able to watch sheds going past the window though...

I've got one of the Hornby 60s (the Drax one), and a couple of the Hattons 66s. I'd say the Hattons 66 is far better in terms of level of detail and the like.

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It's really difficult to judge what proportion have "issues" - most satisfied customers won't feel the need to post. My two (66088 in EWS and 66593 in Freightliner - no DCC, sound or other fancy gimmicks) are great, but then I'm not afraid to stick axle boxes back on if/when they come loose. After a while it stopped happening, so I reckon I've fixed all the loose ones! I honestly wouldn't have noticed some errors if they hadn't been pointed out here. But what these models certainly do is spark a debate on fine detail versus usability. Every time I get them out of the box I'm worried about dislodging some of the pipe runs (particularly near the bogies - bogie sides used to be my preferred place to put fingers whilst putting diesel bogies on the track). And God forbid that I ever need to get the body off as bits will ping off into the wild blue yonder as others have mentioned. Are they better than my Bachmann and Hornby 66s? Undoubtedly, by quite a long way! Am I a bit reluctant to use them for fear of damage? Yes...

Similarly, "James Aloysius White" was a warning that I'd done something serious - my middle given names are actually "Charles Peter". However, I was luckier than my brother, whose given names are "Richard William Peter", or as he puts it "Dick Willie Peter..."

It was mentioned at the time, but the model of Oliver Cromwell in the R3607 pack was accidentally supplied without sanding pipes fitted. Hornby acknowledged this minor omission and were able to supply the items for fitting. Now I've got more time on my hands I might actually get around to fitting them!

I think the "blatant error" comment is specific to the colour of the Caley Sleeper model...

I could see the DCC aficionados playing around with it (if you can have servo-operated pantographs then why not valve gear?) but to the average DC user (of which I suspect there are still many) it would be just another expense-increasing feature that they can't use.

To be fair, us Southern / BR(S) modellers have been very well served in recent years, both by Hornby and other manufacturers. Probably about time we fared slightly less well (recovery time for the wallet etc...), it's just a shame (and maybe slightly surprising given the locational bias some suggest Hornby has) that it has coincided with the anniversary year...

Last time I checked it said April 2020... I don't think a pinch of salt would be sufficient, but you never know! I tend to take the view that "it'll get here when it's ready" - I've got so much on pre-order that I'm always paying for something, and as long as everything gets here in the end I don't mind which order it turns up in! Having said that, only the GWR Steam Railmotor has been on my "pre-ordered" list longer than the 117...

It's the "free market economy" that allows such things to happen. It may appear brutal and harsh. but that's business... Any mechanism which might give small manufacturers some protection from the "big boys" isn't a "free market"... A disappointing but entirely understandable decision from Cavalex.

Hook, line and sinker, methinks... Brilliant!

I think (I'm sure I'll be rapidly corrected if I'm wrong...) that's "Generator Units" - also known as the diesel engines!

I might be wrong, but I'm sure some of the colour queries regarding Rocket have been distinctly "tongue in cheek" as a response to some of the more ridiculous colour-related statements made in other discussions. It's an "out of the ordinary" "must-have" model, so I'm having it!

As others have mentioned, "1st Class" signs with white backgrounds and the GWR initials for the nose would come in handy as well. Maybe even the silver box surrounding the top headlight at the 1st Class end as well.

"Ends up uncomfortably close" is OK (the tweaking to make it more plausible is all to the good) - it's still a well thought out and researched generic coach. A model actually purporting to be of a particular prototype, carrying a livery that the prototype didn't and wasn't ever remotely likely to - that's an entirely different matter (to me at least)...

I beg to differ... "Generic" coaches done up in SECR, LSWR or LBSCR (or for that matter SR or BR), I can live with as "early" coaches on a layout set much later. "Genuine" pre-grouping company coach designs done up in liveries they never carried would feel "more wrong" to me. Sure, those who model whichever railway(s) designs were selected would be happy (but would probably still note any minor inaccuracies), but I don't think they would sell well to many other people. There's a difference between "a well researched and thought out work of fiction" and "downright historically inaccurate"

Same here, but replace "Hattons" with a well-known Cornish retailer

Not sure about hotels half way between the two, but there are reasonable hotels at the A34 Milton Interchange which is only 2 or 3 miles from Didcot. Henley will have hotels, but likely to be pricier… How many people will be travelling from "afar" for this - as a Didcot resident who will be attending the first day on foot, but then driving to the second day, I'm likely to have a few car spaces for anyone who needs to travel from Didcot for "day two", and be dropped off back at Didcot afterwards...

Atom for atom I'd agree with you (you've quoted the relative atomic mass of zinc at 65) , but it's the density that matters... Zinc 7.14 g/cm3 Copper 8.96 Iron 7.87 Lead 11.3 Tungsten 19.3 Mazak 3 6.7 (there are actually a variety of grades of Mazak, with densities between 6.4 and 6.8 g/cm3) I guess cost, plus ease of casting and working are the main factors...

Graham Muz explains here: https://grahammuz.com/2019/01/07/Hornby-announce-2019-range-including-brand-new-bulleid-59ft-coaches-and-ex-lswr-diagram-1543-20-24t-brake-van/

Having a read of the links provided by Fat Controller yesterday is interesting. On the manufacturer's website there is a link to an RCOS Statement on Corrosion, which explains how they try to avoid bimetallic corrosion and how some of our ancient civil engineering manages to overcome those precautions... https://www.furrerfrey.ch/dam/jcr:2116c345-4099-4194-bec9-0d1e4bc6c4f2/181025_rdn%20ROCS%20corrosion%20statement.pdf

Unless someone on here can provide the technical details, we don't... I'm simply saying that any electrical conductivity between the copper contact wire and the aluminium (which as you say is almost certainly an alloy of some description) support would be a seriously bad thing...

The copper won't plate the aluminium because the copper won't actually dissolve. However, the presence of the copper will vastly increase the corrosion rate of the aluminium in a damp (presumably salty atmosphere) to the point where it will be useless as a support. If feasible, an aluminium wire would be preferable, but I don't know what this would do to the wear rate of contact strips etc... Edit: Or alternatively ensure that the copper contact wire is not in direct contact with the aluminium support (plastic coat the aluminium or something similar)