VXDH92

My NDM has just arrived and I'm really impressed by its looks. Very nice. Something I'm not best pleased with is the panto. Once unclipped, it doesn't raise on its own as I had expected. It seems that the spring fitted is too big and therefore doesn't create any tension. Completely redundant! Is everyone else's like this? I can sort of pose the pan in a semi raised position, but if I push down on it, it doesn't spring back up. No good for running under wires...

I suppose there must be a school of thought that if inflation stays much higher in China than for example the UK for a number of years, eventually it could become attractive to manufacture goods in the UK. Lots of ifs and buts of course...

Just an observation (not a moan; promise!!!)... I'm sure when the Bachmann 90s first appeared, they were around £170/180. So now, not even three years later, they're up by about 25-35%. And a lot of models have gone up a lot in recent years. It's quite interesting to see how much models are increasing over and above inflation. Obviously inflation is measured on certain essential goods and services, not model railways, but it would be interesting to hear an expert's view on what particular elements have led to such big price hikes in the hobby... Anyway, as I said earlier, very much looking forward to these. Cheers Bachmann!

Great to see the new livery releases - the early to mid 2000's era wasn't really catered for in the first batch; now we've got Virgin and FL green. The FL triple grey seems a slightly odd choice with certain specifics in the livery making it quite a short-run livery in real life. I think it only appeared like that from about 2018/2019, then got repainted into the new FL orange shortly after. Not 100% sure tho. Will email Bachmann at some point and ask whether the new chip and old chip can be mix and matched with older / newer batch class 90s because I've got spare chips of the previous version that I was waiting to use in future releases.

I think on balance I would rather the 7 car pack have 1 x motorised and 1 x dummy NDM, because the lack of electrical couplings means no less than 4 x decoders will be needed for a set! I'm personally not worried whether 1 x motorised NDM can pull a set - a Hornby 87 has no problem pulling a whole set of mk3s about including gradients, so I don't think it'll be a lot different. Yes, an APT has up to 14 carriages, but they are short, and the articulated bogies means less drag than 14 conventional cars. We shall see...

I believe at the time preordering, Hornby hadn't actually advertised that the model came with interior lighting. Therefore, although it's not the finest example of interior lighting, for most of us it represents an additional feature that we didn't know we were getting. So maybe a bit of a first world problem... Anyone got any pics of the NDM vehicle?

Don't recall seeing visible capacitors on the set running on Pete W's layout. I must admit, I wasn't looking for them specifically, but maybe there was an alteration made between that preproduction example and the mass production examples...

Finally got them after all the years of waiting for the VT livery (minus the RFM that's spuriously due next year now). Really good overall - colours look better than Hornby's Virgin liveries to my eye, although perhaps still too dark. Quality control is poor though - lots of minor anomalies; even the window tint seems to vary in shade from coach to coach! But the step boards seem better attached than early OR mk3s. Run very well with Hunt Couplings, both pulling and pushing.

Your pics are very generous to the Hornby model - I'm also running a mix, and the Hornby Virgin Red is wayyy too dark and looks more like crimson in low light. You're spot on that for some reason, the Virgin batch of Hornby Mk2Es are all bowed. I've not seen one that isn't. One get-around is to use the newer Hornby Virgin Mk2Fs. They are not bowed, but the roof moulding is a bit warped on most (not as noticeable as a bowed body IMO), and unfortunately they didn't do lights in the F variant. Great pics, I'll try to put some up myself at some point.

Hornby didn't seem to be there, but the 5 car APT did appear on Pete W's layout in the afternoon. Only saw it once myself, but it looked good!

Ahh my bad, so they are. And the TSOs

An even longer wait for those of us wanting the buffet (RFM) variant - due early next year according to OR, though they were unable to explain to me why they're so far behind the TSO and FO. Have you had an email confirming they've been posted to you cbpete? Only none of the online retailers actually seem to have them in stock yet, but perhaps you ordered from OR directly? Cheers.

Does anyone have recommendations for good DCC decoders to use with the Hornby Class 87? I've got Hattons 8 pins in a couple of mine and they do not work well at low speed. As gently as you turn up the controller, they go from nothing to something like a 10mph scale speed which doesn't look right at all! Bizarrely they don't seem to do the same thing in my Heljan 86s. Links would be welcome too! Cheers.

Fingers crossed it's just that they haven't put decoders in the end vehicles at the mo

Hi Ben, Great to have your insight on here, and responding directly to people. I think for me, it's a bit of a shame because it looks very much like the first batch in terms of the TDM cables. I have several myself, and you can feel the cables with your finger nail, so they are definitely moulded on the original batch too. But I find the thing that most makes them look odd is their uniformity - they don't look like a loose cable with a very regimented, square, S shape. Again, this is as per the original batch. To me (appreciating they are not the same prototype), the Hornby 87 looks much more natural than the Heljan 86 with regards to the TDM cables. Wishing Heljan luck with these, but if I'm brutally honest, I had much higher hopes for these and I'm left thinking it's unlikely I'll purchase any for the time being. I just think the 'face' doesn't look quite right and I'm not sure I have the skill to rectify it!

They were moulded on the original Heljan release too, but they are so 'square' and unflowing that it ruins the look for me. They really should be separately fitted a-la Hornby 67, 87 etc. Makes a huge difference to how they look.

I think the RES colours look good, but otherwise it's a huge disappointment IMO. The jumper cables look as terrible as the original run of Heljan 86s, and the blanking plates on the ends covering the old MU cable attachment points look printed. Heljan, please rethink these! I was expecting to buy many 86/4, 86/6 and eventually 86/2s, but on the basis of this, I won't buy any at all.

Haha yes, the thought did cross my mind. Although still makes me question why OR said last summer that they were due imminently if they hadn't even been produced at that point. Nevermind - save the pennies!

The Virgin Trains ones are curious in that I emailed OR last summer to see what was happening and they said they were imminent. Then heard nothing until Feb when they announced they had completed production and would be shipped following Chinese New Year. It's now mid-may and one of the retailers has told me they've been put back to late summer / early autumn. Cheltenham are showing them due Dec 2021! I think everyone appreciates covid delays, but this doesn't seem right - if production was finished in Jan / Feb, why are they now due late summer at the earliest? 5 or 6 months to ship from China?? And why say they were due immediately last summer? I'm afraid it'll be decades before we get HST trailers as it must have been 2-3 years since they announced the VT ones! Love the model, but they must be losing sales by taking so long to produce even new liveries, let alone other variants.

Well you've said it now! You've now got to a) produce more overhead electric models and b) supply the pan systems as a spare! OO gauge 320 / 321 EMU please

Ahh so there is! So is the moving consist missing 1 x articulated vehicle? I thought the prototype 14 car was without the non articulated vehicle?

If you look carefully on the vid, the prototype non-articulated APT carriage is on the table too (also a painted sample). Overall looks mega. Paint shades look pretty accurate. Only minor niggle is that I reckon the coaches could be closer coupled, but I guess it's got to be able to articulate trainset track!

Hi Fran, Dunno if this has been asked yet - will the 92 work with a standard 21pin DCC decoder or will it require a bespoke type as per the Bachmann 90?

Hi Fran, presumably that will mean Q3 or later for delivery? Your website shows Q2 for delivery at the mo, but I guess that won't be achieved if first decorated samples aren't here until late May?? Edit: in fact your website does show you will have decorated samples before Chinese New Year 2021 so could do with updating

The new Hornby APT has been shown with a sprung SF pantograph (see attached) and it looks finer and more accurate than the Heljan 86. Appreciate they are a slightly different variant (different pan head and different mounting). That said, I don't want to bash Heljan too much. The revised 86 does look great overall, and again, it's great to see another good model of an AC locomotive