Hobby

I know diesel can burn, but it's not known for exploding, and it's extremely unlikely it was diesel that caused the fire to start, diesel can only ignite with an outside source, so in this case it's that which has caused it, probably an electrical fault, we shall see what in due course.  I can understand you defending reports that are trying to blame EV's, but personally I'd have just waited and then said "I told you so!". Me? I'll just wait for the report.

4 hours ago, black and decker boy said:

The registration plate is visible in the photo: E10EFL

Must be better photos than on the photos I've seen, then, I can't make out the reg plate at all. What doesn't make sense is that it was an "explosion" from the passenger side and if you care to look up diesel car fires you'd find that that simply doesn't happen, unless, as one site said, there's a bomb under it which i suspect is unlikely!

So, as I said, we'll have to wait and see because at the moment what we see doesn't add up to a simply pure diesel car fire, a cloned or modified car that hasn't been declared as such perhaps?

Never say never...

1 minute ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

I was only relaying the information that’s been released.

The car was being driven at the time of the fire breaking out, not stationary with the engine switched off.

The make and model has been given.

They say it was a diesel.

I've seen the two videos, one in front, one behind, but can't find any information that's been released to positively identify the make and specific model or cause of the explosion. All online research I've done would indicate that a diesel would not have given the explosion seen in the video, though a lithium-ion battery, even a "mild" version, could do, and looking at the video it would seem to be the same place in the car as the one in my Octavia, under the front passenger seat. But there again, you've now dragged me into speculating!!

The only V8s i saw as a kid were in F1 stock cars and a very small number of road cars, mainly American but with the odd small British V8 and the 3.5 Rover lump. Even then, other than the American things, the cars weren't very big!

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

You'll find none of those in America my Northern Hemispherical  mate! 

Hence I put the ""! Though perhaps I should have put the word "style" after it - large cars with V8s, not a Northern hemisphere "thing" except in the good ol' USofA, not round here, ours have a bit more style and nowhere near as big, though some have a V8, or even a V12!! 🤣

Bet the Guard was pleased when it was sidelined, the driver and fireman were Ok, having a nice smooth ride, but pity the poor Guard in his little rattle box.

I must admit that I find those large "American" cars just as boring to look at as the small Euro cars you criticise! Once you've seen one large V8 you've seen 'em all! ;)

So you've just done the same thing as those you criticise...

Why can't people just wait and see.

Current reporting, elsewhere on the forum (Level Crossings thread I think!), is that it was a diesel hybrid, the talk is that diesel fuel would not have caused the conflagration that was seen. 

But until there's something official announced who knows...

24 minutes ago, ruggedpeak said:

 I didn't ban EV's but did "ban" charging points being put in confined space or underground car parks as EV's and chargers together seem to be more of an issue.

That's interesting. On our way back from Germany we stopped over in Brugges and the car park we used was underground and had half a dozen or so EV charging points!

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

  It was pretty extreme if 1200 cars out 1500 were damaged.

Smoke damage perhaps?

38 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

ooh look Christmas in February  🤣

That was TT120 last year, so they're only making sure there's a proper 12 month gap!! 😉

Mind you, I'd agree it looks a little silly! ;)

11 hours ago, Covkid said:

Without doubt "Hobby" but would a model railway enthusiast spend more cash by augmenting their trainset than an average Joe? Although we tend to be a pernickety bunch we probably spend more. But do Hornby really prefer to flog trainsets and little more to the average Joe.?

The current enthusiast probably would spend more, "Covkid", if they already model in TT120, but they don't, so are unlikely to buy more than one or two for display/interest purposes unless they are changing scale such as me, whereas with the average Joe with no such commitment to an existing scale the sky's the limit once they've got them hooked. I suspect they'd like to sell to both, but getting a whole lot of average Joes interested gives them a whole new market. So far, judging by the posters on FB, they seem to have "tapped" them quite well.

20 minutes ago, Reorte said:

As a general rule I'm against even more registering, monitoring, ID etc.

I agree, but at the moment it's a free for all with e scooters, even in places where they are registered, accidents and even deaths caused by them are rising year on year, so do we just leave it be and hope for the best? Pavement riding is endemic, and that's no exaggeration so it'll get worse if something's not done.

Especially, it seems, government run and funded projects. 

Good result for the HMRC, I bet they wish all of their investigation made that amount!

27 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

and they were banging on about how long this has been gestating so plenty of time to develop the J94 before the 08,

That's a good point, I do wonder how much of the "hype" we had around what was to come was driven by people clamoring for things and the likes of SK just saying things to "shut them up" (wrong phrase, I know, but you hopefully get the gist). Since he's gone it's been noticeable that we are starting to see more realistic estimates of delivery dates with a lot less set in stone. That's lead to some people saying it's a sign of the business failing but I wonder if instead it's a move towards better managing of expectations. Hopefully it's the latter and in my view it's no bad thing.

11 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

66? Ah ……. Nothing for it to haul.

Perhaps the HAA when it arrives, but my understanding is that the Class 66 is also an aim at the Continental TT market, so perhaps we're likely to see that in the Arnold range in due course, first of the trans continent locos (excluding the Kof!)...

7 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Because I did 009 to death in the 1970s ‘Golden Age’, when it involved carving locomotives out of amorphous lumps of whitemetal sold in boxes with enticing pictures on the lids, and torturing dodgy N-gauge mechanisms to get them to run at all. And, because I’m into industrial, rather than ‘common carrier’ in narrow gauge, and there are some very nice r-t-r industrials available in H0e.

Some nice industrial 009 in the Light railways Stores/Narrow Planet range! Excluding the L&B RTR stock isn't most of the rest (Talyllyn and Ffestiniog RTR) industrial?! :)

(Whilst I model in H0e, it's more mainline stuff, much of the industrial stock for it is a bit of a compromise (600mm gauge stock on 750/760mm gauge), I'd still be tempted to do 009 for industrial NG where i wanted to model 2ft gauge/600mm, but that's a personal preference, just not using Peco CrazyTrack or Mainline, code 60 or below looks much better.)

The point I was making was not about what they preferred but what people "knew", many non railway people know what a Pullman is, they are well known as coaches for luxury travel, a teak coach, not. So selling a Pullman to a non enthusiast will be easier than a teak coach, regardless which looks the best (which is in the eye of the beholder anyhow), personally I prefer the Pullman, the only Gresley teak coach I saw was in blue/grey at Piccadilly in the 70s! 

Regards the market, they seem to have appealed to both markets judging by people's comments that they've bought some so perhaps they've managed it. What they haven't done is developed a fully coherent range, yet, but as i said it's early days and I'm not sure how they could have done it differently when launching a new scale. I see plenty of comments along the lines of "why didn't they make a "Class 30MT tender/tank loco with matching coaches and wagons", but it's one of those "damned if they do and damned if they don't" scenarios, if you ask 100 railway modellers what they'd like you'd get 100 different answers!

19 minutes ago, Hroth said:

* I'm allergic to their initial A3 Pacific....

Agreed! Though I do like the one with the small smoke deflectors for some reason! :)

49 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

the bit that is challenging to understand is why they’ve not offered very much cogency in the range so far

As it's only been going 12 months, perhaps? The range so far allows people to run passenger trains and small goods trains behind the 08. We know from that documentary on them that to take a loco from first idea to full launch takes a long time, in some cases many years. So it's a question of establishing the scale, which they've done, and then developing it, which from what they have said is coming up in the next 12/18 months they will do. OK it might not meet the standards of people who want exact scale 10ft wheelbase wagons (please let's not go down that route again, surely it's been done to death?), but for most of us it'll do...

PS: Why isn't 009 on your list?

32 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

LNER pacifics - no appropriate stock. Pullmans, see comment below, though I accept not 100% accurate they look acceptable for the target market
BR Eastern pacifics - mk1 coaches

08 shunter - one box van. and PO wagons - heritage railways and early BR - though a green or black 08 would be nice

PO wagons - no appropriate locos. see above

SR Pullmans - no appropriate locos. see above

 

Yeah I take it far too seriously 🤣

Funnily enough that list looks just like what was available in the early days of 00, before more stock was added... As I said, give them chance, they've only just launched it!

Regards "teak" stock, many people don't know there's a difference between the SR and LNER loco hauled Pullmans so would find the current range as acceptable to make up a model of the Yorkshire Pullman of the 30s, even though it might not actually be "right".

PS: I do hope the wheelbase on that mineral wagon is correct, though!

Who are certainly also pedestrians and in many cases cyclists as well... Perhaps it's the same people in all three categories that cause all the issues! EDIT: To WG's post!! 🤣

Over 30+  years of commuting into Brum I saw very few pedestrians running red lights, I could count the numbers of motorists on one hand, but I could guarantee at least one cyclist every week. Then we had the introduction of e scooters and e bikes in the past few years which made the whole experience much worse. I would say, however, that most of the miscreants were to be found within a few miles of the city centre, the rest of the commute was pretty tame, especially riding on pavements. I wonder if it's built up areas that encourage it? Luckily I've retired now so don't have to run the gauntlet except when one of the kids books a show at the Alex or Hippo! As an aside I wonder if cyclist and e scooter riders were made to show some form of ID like a motorist does whether we'd see the same level of law breaking?

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! :)