jonnyuk

there seems to be two camps here which is unfortunate but that' life on a forums i guess. I can see both sides here, there are some issues with the product, QC, packaging (which is unacceptable in my opinion), scale accuracy, compromised lighting and livery faults on one model on the flip, it's generally a stunning coach, great detail, lovely finish, just looks gorgeous at the end of the day this is a coach, unpowered but commands loco prices (Dapol for example, not far off a AS 37), within this in mind i think some of the highlighted issues leaves allot to be desired and should not exist. Would i send my product back because of them, not a chance, i can live with the issue of height and lighting, and now i've glued my detail parts back on QC and packaging are irrelevant. customers have right to air their opinions having spent allot of money on a coach, lets not bash them for that.

i've used a Lais decoder and i think everything is working, interior lights, step lights, blind and headlights, anything else? the ride height mentioned is a little high and i've had a few QC issues, the horns and one blind glazing panel were floating around the box, easy fixes, it's not a perfect model with room for improvement but my word it's still the best coach out there.

my gripe on packing was not the presentation (that is great), its the outer box been not sturdy or substantial and the lack of foam round the coach, the ice cube is not hard, it can deform very easily and with the lack of additional foam/bubble wrap it does run the risk of the coach getting damaged. Anyway, that NSE coach looks stunning, livery is gorgeous. I have to say i think this is the best piece of RTR rolling stock item out there, by someway, i include anything from AS in this as well.

well i had an unexpected surprise this morning. Stunning model, 1000 times better than i remembered when i've seen it as shows. Will try a Lais decoder later and report back. a few minor points, two pieces of detailing fell out of the box (now glued back in place), the packaging is awful, the internal box and ice cube i think should of been more substantial given the price. The delivery box was simply a thin slim box with the product box inside, no bubble wrap, just rattling around in side, minor points to improve on i feel.

what makes you say that? i would assume it did work,it allowed Hornby to create a market for TT by keeping prices lower, sales have been good, they took the risk. Now its got going the retailers are less exposed and hopefully the scale will grow further.

just bagged a lord hinton, was really have 402 but late to the party, unusual for them to be released on a saturday

not the first retailer to say the same thing, asked pay in full months in advance of the product and always without fail receive the goods long after they have appeared on the AS web site and in most cases sold out. back to the 37's. picked up concrete bob off the bay a couple of weeks ago, lovely runner, do i need something blue, black and yellow to pull Caroline, heart says yes, wallet says no, decisions, decisions.

Hornby needed stuff that would sell, and sell in numbers. no point making lots of small tank engines that don't capture the buyers imagination, the loco's on offer we widely recognisable as steam trains, by this i mean seen on TV, the internet, known names like FS and SNG etc etc. when i came back into the Hobby my old loco's where all Pacific's, i had no clue that's was the generic name for them but they where big and sexy and looked great whizzing round the layout (along with a 91 and 90. My next purchases where along the same lines until i found this forum! we are going over old ground here, ground hog day.

track screws. I can't remember who asked but i'm sure its on this thread, someone asked what track screws i used, got them from this place https://www.railwayscenics.com/black-miniature-self-tapping-screws-c-2_86_103_455.html

i'm sure cost plays a small part but i think it's more to do with the new darlings of the trade. Some of the Bachmann 37's are now cheaper than their nearest competitor (after discounting). anyway after the colas 70 in particular my wallet needs to breath so hoping their is nothing for me in the next release cycle. I wonder if there is a trend in regards quarterly releases, are the certain release cycles that are a bit dull purposely giving Bachmann a breather before then hitting it hard in the next one

why? Bachmann stuff is on a par.

08 seems a strange one, AS mentioned in a news letter a possible new announcement at the making tracks 3 weekend they are hosting, an 08 maybe? putting 2 and 2 together and getting -4 :)

They may know it’s a train and called a tank engine, that is entirely different to knowing what a tank is and what they are used for prototypically, they are not going to know what a j94 is, where it was located and what it pulled

Same old rubbish from the core Hornby haters on this forum. Every manufacturer has messed up, I would agree Hornby do have their fare share of car crashes but they are really the only ones to have every single problem (big and small ) raised, re raised and raised again like a broken record. I go back to me experience with the darlings of this forum, AS have provided me with no fewer than 4 products that where /are defective, been told to hack my £74 wagons make them go round 2nd radius curves and said in a flipper way is not acceptable but that was quickly brushed away and heavens for bid actually raising it, chased out of town. can we get back to tt:120 please, how many Joe Public want a small tank engine, would they even know what they are, used for or when? before I joined this forum I had no clue about era’s, regions, what ran with what (and still don’t out side of ex lswr and modern gwr and infrastructure.

I’ve used screws on my tt and OO, I’m way at the min but on my return I’ll dig out where they are from. I’m never going back to glueing now.

how much of this is because its Hornby, i suspect majority of it. If one of the new boys (if you read my other posts you can guess who i mean) had started tt:120 i would almost bet my house on it be lauded, fanfare, party poppers, lots of arse kissing. This forum is not the barometer for the hobby, it's a small glass house. I've a large stock of OO from nearly every brand (can't think of one brand out of the 7 well known i don't own) so i have no over riding support for one or another but i'm onboard with tt, i have a nice 5 by 3 board layout for the cold winter months when the shed really is not a nice place to be. The loco's are great, rolling stock nicely detailed, the buildings are good, track is abit pants and most of mine is peco. I've a couple of the eastern BR loco's so in reality i'm done until some BR diesels arrive. I really hope Hornby stay in the tt game. Will it replace my OO, not a chance, will spending in OO out strip tt, yes and by some margin, tt will be very specific with no impulse buys. Just a final thought on Hornby, given this is a Hornby thread. I was in my local a couple of weeks ago. In walks a father and son. They wanted to get into hobby, despite the shop having tons of other makes on clear display (including starter sets) they wanted a Hornby starter set, other makes were shown but Hornby it was. Additional track was also talked about, Peco was shown with reasons for it, but again, they chose Hornby and in particular the Hornby track packs. They walked out with a starter set, track pack and i'm almost certain a couple of wagons. This 20 minute sales pitch really hit a tone with me, despite allot thinking Hornby are a dead man walking clearly to the new starters they are the go to brand. With this in mind, i can see TT sticking around for along time. Don't under estimate the power of brand, a old brand that to most out side of the hobby is model/toy trains, i only have to mention trains to friends/family, conversation is then centred around Hornby and them having a Hornby train set or knowing someone who did when they where younger.

possibly but AS are not immune to QA issues and a good number of their products have "compromises" others would get hammered for, i have 4 that fall into this bracket. AS don't have a back catalogue of baggage, you have to judge manufactures on what they produce now if your going to compare and this was my point. They are all capable of making great products, equal to each other.

i think the problem is allot of members on here just assume AS will make the best of everything and no other manufacturer even comes close, even wish listing extends to it. If AS did this it would be best loco ever, great clearly allot of crystal ball members, can you tell me the lottery numbers for Friday please. Other manufacturers do make equally as good product, Bachmann consistently make very good stuff on a par with AS, Hornby when they put their mind to it do as well. Dapol's Manor is every bit as good as the AS from the physical models i've seen at shows and also at Rails on display.

thought the comment at 10.04 by the Bachmann guy was interesting. As for the model, looks very good, good spec and i'm sure Bachmann will do an amazing job, they don't really make lemons these days. Price wise, for a commission i think its good, cheaper than Bachmann's current diesel's. as a side note, thought the mk3 coaches looked good in a train, first time i've seen a video of them running in a train.

support your local shop, this forum is always bashing for not supporting them, so rather than buy direct, go to your local.

my a3 turned up yesterday, well packaged with bubble wrap and tight fit in the outer box. I have to say i'm in love with it, in my opinion a better detailed loco than the A4, maybe because its not streamlined you see more bits but it just looks more detailed. Nothing broken, no glue marks, nothing wonky, coal load even looks better than the A4.

i wonder if i should send my 08 back now, its all use to me if want to run the a4 at the same time (i'm not buying another dcc system)

hm7000 is dcc in some ways and they do have stay alives, if a hm7000 is not going to fit then it kinda blows my idea out of the water to use hm7000 for my TT stuff. my layout is all live with no insulating fish plates which makes dc a problem now,

mine arrived today, forgot how small it was (last time i saw it was at one of the shows last year). one of the pick ups does not touch the wheel so i need to sort that. it does show every flaw in my track not been 100% level, i small stay alive would be ideal. I have may missed something in regards the decoder, so the hm7000 wont fit? bought one for my a4

thank you :)