jonnyuk

i've not looked on the AS product section but last week they did a screen shot of a new product (was it a class 31 EP), in the background was a box with TT, 1:120. Now i'm not wanting to start rumours but did AS get wind about this or have AS got some TT stuff up their sleeves and Hornby have brought forward their product launch? either way i agree with others, this is really exciting, far more of a buzz than just a new loco. Big gamble and i really hope to pays off for Hornby. in the next 2 months i'm setting up an office, this would be perfect (i had N some time ago but i could not get on with how fiddly it is, drove me crazy).

yep

myself and another bloke where chatting to SK about this, there are no plans for a separate steam generator. he highlighted many issues with loco's going back to Hornby after end users had truley messed up fitting tts chips. He said far too many variations in loco's, places to fit it etc. His words where, let it settle down first pre-fitted, let the product mature and then they will see. i wonder if its a new class 50, surely they wont want to lose that as well as well the 56 and 31.

according to SK, the P2 steam fitted loco will be with us in Dec which suggests its all done and been packed onto boats unless you are referring to something else

did not see any, although saying that a tv show was there filming Mike Wild next to the Hornby stand, so maybe.

think i spoke to that bloke that did not want to be there. i asked about the pullman set, what was on display was the final product, looked bloody good as well! twin speakers, fans are powered by motors, the detail on the underframe looks improved as does the shell, it just looked sharper and more refined, looking forward to the pullman now. Not sure if it was the same guy giving Simon some abuse but i was stood their while Simon was indeed getting a roasting, to be fair Simon was polite, listened and tried to reason but the other bloke was having non of it, thought he was very rude to be honest, no need for it. I had a 5 minute chat with Simon and he came across well, i know allot is said of the bloke but i can only judge him on my own personal experience (all 5 minutes of it).

i don't want this to start yet another conversation about Sam's trains but i did watch his review last night so please lets not go there. I have to say seeing it up close, its a lovely loco and has a real charm about, nice detail, well built, smooth runner, good haulage capacity. Its not my think at all but i'm seriously considering it, more so than i did for the Rocket which i bought, played with for 2 days then put away and then sold as i found it boring with no sparkle. Two for two i'd say for Hornby (9f), on a roll?

like your layout, some nice idea's i may pinch for my new layout in the shed. Lion looks nice plodding along, looks more substantial than rocket

maybe a retooled battle of Britain? crying out for an update, that really would stick it to the red box as well.

interesting take on it, not familiar with the prototype at all but its a loco i'm interested in as "something different", can you go into a little more detail based on the images why its toy like etc, thanks

if it really is in stock then it does imply Hornby where along way down the road, if they choose to get something to market before a rival why is that so bad, that's business for heaven sake. Its up to the consumer to decide if they purchase or wait for another model by someone else, if its a poor model well thats 100% on Hornby and sales of said product will reflect that.

i went to my local hop today to pick up a purple loco (stunning loco by the way), whilst there i saw evening star. now i know nothing about the prototype, have no need nor desire to own one but as a model it was bloody good, stunning, the fine detail and level of details was really good, well put together. For the first time i looked at the Hornby box and thought that's quality, what a difference the box makes (and internals of the box).

i agree to a point, but at current prices how many in that photo could afford a 455, lets assume on current prices its in the £300>£400 price range (maybe more)? if its the younger demographic that's going to drive the hobby then the current trend with prices is going to have a massive impact. To bring this back to Hornby, maybe they need to start churning out even more D&E in RailRoad (even this is getting pricey) , tool up some basic modern DEMU/EMU's, you can start to see this with the amount of 66/67/31/37/47. i'm 44 and count my self as having a little bit of disposal income every month but i've cancelled numerous items and the nice to have's no longer feature. i can't imagine how the younger generation are going to fare, even the ones living at home that rely on mum and dad for spending money, that amount of spend will surely shrink as well. Unless of course those in the model railway hobby generally are awash with money, but i highly highly doubt it.

i saw both the Dapol and AS ones at Rails on Saturday, both looked equally good to be honest. i really could not split them, maybe the boiler the AS looked a bit more authentic.

100% agree, i plumped for a new 91 in swallow livery but i cancelled the dvt and coaches, i'll hunt at train shows for coaches and a dvt at sensible prices.

80% agree. The only thing you could say is Hornby are no longer the cheap(er) kid on the block, they are typically more expensive and so errors both QC and prototypical can be jumped on (to be fair that was the case before Hornby put the prices up), i wonder how much they would charge if Hornby started adding all the detail say to the underside of the bogies that you can't see etc I do feel that this forum is now just a lets bash Hornby on everything and everything. Without naming the manufacturer due to fear of been burnt on a stake they can seemingly get away with anything and everything because well, everyone loves them and won't have a word said against.

does the 37 have the same fitment? i assume so based on the above, can you confirm whether the 1st and 2nd batch will include these changes or has the shipped sailed on those so to speak, ta?

yep i appreciate that, i'd only just re-fitted it, at some point in the running session decide to take a leap of faith.

i hear you, i re-fitted a chain, ran the loco and put it away. Then put another loco on the track and it kept leaping off the track, closer inspection the bloody chain had come off on the track! they are stunning models but by god you only have to look at them funny and something drops off.

If that’s the case owners of AS are destined to never to improve their standard of living nor those of the people they employee. To suggest a new business is setup to merely make a living is bloody ridiculous, people own businesses to secure their long term financial security, not to be “living” to retirement age. AS products are more reasonably priced but you have no idea about the margins that both Bachman and AS have to deal with. we can all assume either AS have much smaller overheads and so cost per item is leas or as the new kid on the block profit margin is smaller whilst they get a foot hold. Give it 5 years then revisit the price comparisons. I 100% agree with your last sentance, although Bachman are starting to be more transparent, just not through this forum.

i often wonder out of say a run of 3000 items, how many are bought by RM members, i suspect its very very low and Hornby deem having a presence on here or addressing concerns raised on here not worth their while as it forms such a small % of purchases.

i'd agree with everything said, i do sometimes wonder if Hornby get more bad press on defects because of how they behave. If they outwardly looked like they care, like AS then defects would be less of an issue (AS deltics have their fair share of problems but at least AS give the impression of giving a damn as did their biomass wagons).

we have many software accreditations (required for contracts), as said above they prove you have written processes, follow them and evidence you have done what you said you do. it has no baring on product quality really. As part of any development you need to constantly QA it through its development life cycle, however that QA will have it's criteria for "done". Only Hornby know what constitutes "done". for all we know (and suspect), inaccuracies, poor fit and finish and a high % of defects is ok, maybe all this is built into the cost (and profit of an item). By this i mean most purchasers will know no different in terms of accuracy (making up most of the sales), and x number of returns.

thank you spotted it now, it had broken from the end of the fuel tank, facing the bogie, i can see how it broke off, the packing sits between the bogie and fuel tank, and if the loco moves or is not gently put in, these will snap off.

mine arrived with some damage as well, 1 step missing (AS have said waiting on spares), 1 step in the box, 1 chain broken off and a small detail piece that i could not see where it was from, until i read this, this is my missing piece. i've actually just looked and still can't see where it is from