Hobby

Looking outside the more "serious" forums such as this and away from specialised exhibitions I see lots of people who couldn't give two figs what their locos pull and whether they are "prototypically correct", they just play trains to enjoy themselves, that's why they have an oval or two of track and not much regard for how the prototype behaves. A lot of them, especially on the TT FB pages I'm on also seem to be new to the hobby, so perhaps Hornby have been more successful than you give them credit for! There's a whole world of model railways out there full of people who don't actually worry if the loco and coaches don't match and just enjoy running what they want... Sometimes I feel people can get too serious about what is, after all, just a hobby for fun, not life and death! :)

I don't think it's a scattergun approach at all. They need to establish the scale and to do that they need to produce stuff that will sell in large numbers, not to people like you but to the general public which you might remember was their target market. So the choice of A1/3s and A4 is a very logical choice. An HST is the next big one due out and again a very well known train, even outside the railway enthusiast fraternity. They will, and have, sold to the existing model railway enthusiast, I'm one of many, but I've also seen a lot more new people to the hobby. As regards the anniversary and what they've done, we were told the discount was only for a year and people who joined later got charged 30 quid, so I suppose a free magazine every 3 months and being able to access the club pages where announcements will be made isn't bad. The way it was done wasn't brilliant I agree, but at least we are still getting something for nothing!

I was thinking the latter, you're probably right about Arnold!

😂 Yes I had to look up toucan crossings as well, though I suspect that there's not too many around except in large cities? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toucan_crossing Puffins just seem to be an updated, pedestrian friendly, version of a Pelican crossing so you're safe there! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffin_crossing As far as us drivers are concerned they all have traffic lights so stop if the light is red!! Pelican - PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled Puffin - Pedestrian user-friendly intelligent Toucan - “two can” cross together (pedestrians and cyclists!)... Groan...

In the main with British locos "modified" to fit on Continental chassis?! It's "interesting" looking at that early stock that comes up at swapmeets from Minitrix, etc! Imagine if Hornby had tried that with some Arnold locos...

Agreed, in fact how would they get the 'bike across! In the UK Highway Codes 81 and 82 cover it. Do not ride across a pelican, puffin or zebra crossing. Dismount and wheel your cycle across (81). 82 covers Toucan Crossings - and says cyclists are allowed to ride across but must take care when pedestrians are also crossing.

From what I have seen it was Social Media that blew everything up out of all proportion so people expected more than what was delivered. This is what caused all the froth, direct quote from the Hornby FB page: "Join us next week as we celebrate our first anniversary of Hornby TT:120! We have planned a jam-packed TT Takeover day and would love to share your Hornby TT:120 photos to mark the special day. Tag us in them, share them in the comments below, or email them to us at marketing@Hornby.com to be featured. It's been an amazing journey so far, and with lots more to look forward to, it's sure to be a brilliant day. Stay tuned for updates, and mark your calendars for an unforgettable week ahead!" As far as I'm concerned that was typical of FB hyperbole, and I suspect reflects the type of the people "write" the page for the company. For them all the posts on the day being about TT120, the double points day, free membership for another year (without the discount but with free magazines) and competition (for a prize worth £764!) would seem to have been exciting, for the rest of us who wanted something a little more concrete, perhaps not! But other than that i see nothing to say that things have changed and that TT120 is still proceeding as planned, I'm not sure what more they can do.

I'm sure I've seen the figure of 14750 somewhere (summer club mag?), so as you say keeping it free (no obligations!) would seem a logical step, most people who are at all interested will, I suspect, continue their membership, especially as it doesn't cost them anything to do so.

Really? Where do you get that impression from?

Your evidence for that is where? Another way of reading what's happened is that the initial offers were to get the scale going, once it was (is!) there is no need for all the extras, especially ones like a paper magazine which would have been costing them a lot if money with no return. What they've done seems perfectly logical.

They were in the Summer 2023 edition of the club magazine.

Well, they have to get from one pavement to the other... ;)

I think many of you were, there was no way it was going to be any of things you or others said, but Social Media went wild about it and, as usual, came back down to earth with a bump... I think I was one of the few that didn't expect anything special so wasn't disappointed! 😂

At least he had an HV vest and warning triangle... I doubt many cars have unless they happen to travel abroad in it!

I've just renewed. I suspect (guess!) that there will be some offers over the year to members but as its free anyhow it doesn't make any difference to me. I'll buy where I get the best deal, like most people.

Much, I suspect, to their joint surprise, the two cultures can and have worked together extremely well, the Austin/Rover - Honda collaborations of the 80s and 90s spring to mind. AR were producing cars up to Honda's standards and proved a UK workforce could do it if given the chance.

4s in China and 5s in China and Thailand I believe.

Quite! Regarding the second sentence, the majority of new cars sold in the UK top ten are in the £20 to £40k range, secondhand obviously lower than that so I have to disagree with you, perhaps best that I agree to differ with you and Ron so that the thread can get back on track (or off track bearing in mind half the line's been dumped!)? @jjb1970 I nearly mentioned MG (and other Chinese manufacturers as the ones who are pushing forward affordable EVs in that last post. I am on a Motability FB page which looks at EVs and much of my views on EVs and Hybrids are formed listening to people like me who have them and use them on a daily basis. The MGs seem to be, on the whole, fairly reliable and people seem to like them, they were one of the first to do affordable reasonable distance batteries as well. Fingers crossed they keep developing!

And there are 33 million cars on the road, the vast majority of which are worth nowhere near the price of a Telsa. I said when i started the range debate that I was looking at affordable EV with good range, the vast majority of us can't afford £42k+ for a new (or secondhand) car.

Maybe, but they are not really affordable...

Agree with the first bit but not the second. I'm on the side of the Refs in this case, the pressure they are put under is immense, from the fans, managers, players, etc., etc., they should be cut some slack, not hauled over the coals. They are already held "accountable" by suspending them from upcoming games, that's as far as it should go. If people want to go down that route then holding players and managers (and fans!) fully accountable for their actions should be introduced, I do not feel, for example, that red carding a manager and sending him to the stands (or even home!) where he can still direct the game via his mobile phone to the bench reflects any sort of punishment, in fact I recall Pep recently saying that the view he had from the box was better than he got on the bench!

If the majority voted none of the above then the answer is simple, a new ballot but with different candidates! Surely a vote for Screaming Lord Sutch or one of his cronies is the same thing, though...

I loved both my 1300s, I always wanted a GT but never got one unfortunately. They were rust buckets, though what wasn't back then! Used to get through radials on the front in 8000 miles and going down the coast road at Southport had my back seat passenger bumping his head on the roof! Those were the days!

I did and hence i was saying about radio etiquette, or whatever it's called. It should never be like that, one person at a time, repeat to confirm understanding, etc.. No shortcuts and rushing.

Surrounding the ref should constitute automatic yellows as well. One thing Rugby has right, if my understanding is correct, that only one player (the captain?) can approach the ref?