RJennings

I appreciate you guys are both very busy people but any chance you could please give an update on how the 320/321 project is progressing assuming I am not pre-empting something for this weekend in which case please ignore this . . .

As far as I recall when speaking to the people on the LTM stand at Warley it was dependant on numbers interested in either one loco (or both) so as to convince folk higher in LTM / TFL that it was a viable commission. Guess looking at the above e-mail simply lack of interest was an issue . . . Shame really but may still see the light of day if enough people became interested in the future hopefully.

Fantastic announcement! Just need to save £8k now . . .

A loco or unit that has carried 29 liveries? Was a while back the rumour of a newly tooled class 86 though not sure how many liveries the prototype has carried though.

Whilst I am not convinced about the renumbering on these being 'up to standard' compared to factory done printing to me it is no more concerning than a factory fitted wonky nameplate on a £150+ model in this day and age. Likewise on some of the more complex vinyl commissions that have been done over the last few years I have to say mine are not 100% perfect and both of mine suffer from minor imperfections but these do not detract from the overall appeal to any large degree to the point I am overly bothered. In terms of price lets not forget that you are in effect getting 2x powered cars (with directional lighting) and 2x trailers so based on say the current RRP of a Bachmann Class 25 for comparison sake thinking mechanically here (£109.95 approx) and a Bachmann Mk1 (£39.95 approx) that still equates to £299.80 for perhaps a like-for-like train pack setup. Add on the exclusivity / Custom tooling then even £330 does not appear to be overly expensive in reality and at the current price of a little over £270 it does feel like a little bit of a good deal in my honest opinion.

Going to say either class 185 or class 700 ... something modern if it’s a new product I hope rather than anything else in which case meh ...

Just seen on Kernows Facebook page 47625 'City of Truro' to be available from South West retailers . . . http://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/59837/31-655TL-Bachmann-Class-47-4-Diesel-Locomotive-number-47-625

I assume the DCC sound option is now sold out for pendo 132?

Whilst impressed by the sounds for what is in effect a budget decoder I am a little puzzled as to the lack of installation instructions provided with these. I ‘tried’ to install one of the class 67 TTS chips / Speakers into Hornby’s Arriva 67 (The newer model) and was surprised that whilst it has space to put the speaker into the fuel tank (perfect fit in fact) there was seemingly no room to get the wires and decoder from this through the holes in the chassis (By the Day / Night switch) without cutting and resoldering the wires between the speaker and the decoder. Could not really see anywhere else the speaker could physically go or where the wires could otherwise go from the fuel tank area without either being squashed by said fuel tank assembly or fed through close to the bogie. Far from impressed TBH though not giving up yet as can’t be that difficult to install these ??? Edit: I am aware that there is the chance these decoders would be fitted to other models so appreciate Hornby would be unable to accommodate all options

Some pictures from Gaydon 07 October 2017 of the IET;

Fantastic announcement! Excellent to see 47701 in NSE, The FGW class 150 and GW Mk3a Sleepers. Admittedly a bit meh with 47306 though to be honest looks very nice so may still order one at a later date. Just need to figure out how to explain the forthcoming dent in my bank account though to the other half . . . Again . . .

Not much - Had decorated samples of the TPO coaches, SECR Birdcage and the Army Green VDA van on display as well as Engineering prototypes of the Mk2E (FO and RFB) and the Carflats.

I would like to volunteer Duddeston in the West Midlands . . . Frankly depressing on so many levels and not exactly a place one wants to spend any time when the sun goes down.

Will hopefully be at Wythall this Sunday as well all going well.

The next question is for those who have ordered this through Hornby will we automatically get a refund of the balance or do we have to try and ask for it?

Just checked mine ones (Ordered through Hornby themselves) and they are the older variant. Also noted the small image on the back of the outer sleeve does show the the more recent tooling with the hoods.

Hope you don't mind me asking but could you please advise whether there are any updates on how these are progressing and when the order book will be opening to order accordingly? Thank you in advance

As a fellow crowd funder to this project and the N equivalent I would 'expect' to see some sort of updates every now and then indicating there is ongoing progress with said products design and manufacturing but perhaps there is simply nothing to update us with at the current time and maybe even DJ is waiting on others for information or samples etc that are perhaps not forthcoming either. From my viewpoint as long as work is progressing on this I am happy to sit back and await news as and when there is anything to share / report on

Has any thought been put to doing weathered variants of these as well either now or at a later date potentially? I have noted when these run on the Dollands Moor to Daventry working at the moment most seem to resemble various shades of brown nowadays with the odd bit of graffiti here and there as well on them.

On a similar note to this the factory fitted sound ones I ordered (1 of each so 6 in total) through Ian Allen Birmingham (Supplied by Gaugemaster) only 4 actually ever turned up - The 2 DRS ones and 1 each of the Scotrail and Chiltern . . . Whatever happened to the other two is a mystery as all were ordered at the same time. I can only assume that with such a high demand certain shops may have had less than there orders thus some customers have missed out depending on when it was ordered and in cases like Ian Allen what they had received already. On the upside of all of this is the numbers that I missed out on have been announced as part of the next batch so not exactly a bad thing end of the day just annoying.

Wild guess here but may it be something as trivial perhaps as DB red class 66 with the newer style LED light clusters on the front ends?

47798 in one of its various royal train liveries? Edit: Always helps to put the right number in ...

I'm fearing that my initial order for 2 may well be increasing with the pics of the latest samples ... Still, looking very nice Kernow!

I am also getting more concerned with the sound ones as some retailers have had them and sold out by the looks of it yet others don't appear to have had any at all. Perhaps it is just busy in Chirk with these and the MJAs as well having now arrived so maybe another few weeks patient waiting is required.

Ian Allen in Birmingham had there delivery of DCC ready models start of the week - Still a couple of Scotrail and Chiltern ones left (They had both of the Chiltern ones) - £125 each.