D9001

11 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

I've been hearing that for at least forty years. 

 

First it was mail order that was going to kill them. It didn't. If anything it made them more viable as you could sell stuff to people all around the world rather than just a few people living locally.

 

Retailers that don't adapt will go, most of which are run by people close to retirement age. Are small shops that only sell one or two items really viable? They can't survive by selling a few packets of track pins.

 

Just like all the scaremongering about the Death Of The High Street (usually coming from people who want to buy up the properties on the cheap to sell as prime locations). Notice how many have mysteriously turned into hotels and gyms? Most of those companies are ones that should have went years ago. When was the last time you shopped at BHS or Debenhams? Exactly...

 

The queues outside Primark suggest otherwise. Shopping habits change, but it's not going away anytime soon. People like shopping.

 

 

Jaso

I suggest you read retail guru Bill Grimsey’s three reports on the High Street; with nigh on 50 years in retail starting in a market and finishing as boss of Tesco and also the biggest retailer in the Far East, he knows what he is talking about. High streets will have to change massively, many Town Centre shops will be converted to residential, it’s already happening, many big names will probably go exclusively online, many High Streets already have virtually no shops - see Baldock, Herts. Where there is a very large Tesco in a former lingerie factory at one end of the Street and a small Londis or Mace or something at the other and nothing in between but estate agents, flats, offices and pubs.

town centres will need small, independent quality retailers to offer something different and quirky to create USPs to attract people to come, otherwise there will be no need for people to go there.  Sadly, I can’t see model shops being a major force. 

Many out of town shopping malls like the Metro Centre in Gateshead are now in trouble because they have lost so many stores, particularly the large ones like Debenham’s (huge in the Metro Centre), BHS, John Lewis, Boots, and The House of Fraser (again, both huge in the Metro Centre)  It was happening before Covid which has made it much worse. 

Hey: Remember Beatties? 

I really miss the model shops I used to frequent: Rolling Stock I’m North Shields and C and G in Darlington were truly excellent, I was always in both but both lost owing to their owners passing on. Peter’s in Middlesbrough and Harburn in Edinburgh are now the two closest to me, 160 miles from each other! I guess it’s a microcosm of the national and international trend in retail. 

3 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

Yes, rust was always a very common problem. This M reg. (Aug.'73- July'74) Marina would have been less than six years old when I photographed it in April 1979.

 

 

 

Vauxhalls used to dissolve as they left the dealers 

On 10/04/2021 at 23:00, stovepipe said:

I received their spring 2021 flyer with a recent order from TMC, which says Imminent Release, and points to the website where there are now pre production samples. 

TMC advised me today that it would be “some time this year but there is no definite date yet” so it’s going to be a while by the sound of things. Gives me time to save up for payment.

On 10/04/2021 at 23:00, stovepipe said:

I received their spring 2021 flyer with a recent order from TMC, which says Imminent Release, and points to the website where there are now pre production samples. 

Great! Thanks

5 hours ago, locoman462 said:

Can anyone confirm if GT3 ran with a one man or two man crew. I assume that a two man crew (driver and secondman) was more likely in the early 1960s.

 

Can’t imagine Aslef would ever have allowed less than two crew then.

if Buckton was involved he would probably have insisted on six

Okay, genuine question; were tarantulas unwelcome but common “cargo” in the banana bunches in these vans? 

11 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

But that is not my past experience.  I have regularly pre-ordered from my most local model shop over a good many years and I know exactly how many of each main loco version they used to order from Hornby although that number was increased if they had additional pre-orders.  The shop knew its customer base, knew who would inevitably pre-order what or come in to buywithout a pre-order, and how many models they wished to take into stock..  

 

But when Hornby applied rationing because overall retailer orders exceeded what Hornby had ordered from the factory that shop had its allocation cut - in one case by 90%.  On one occasion I had to wait 18 months for the shop to have its entire original order filled (yes, I remained loyal and didn't take my order/purchase elsewhere).  So on the basis of evidence alone - albeit past evidence (but that was not an isolated case - rationing often happened) - what you are saying is incorrect.

 

What might well have happened, but we don't know, is the way in which Hornby distribute the agony but what we do know is that Hornby nowadays sell direct and seem at times to have supplies of models which retailers don't have.  As I said previously it comes back to a matter of trust between 'manufacturer'/retailer, & end customer (i.e. us) and if that trust is broken for whatever reason something is wrong and someone might suffer.  In this case we don't know what,  where, or why, it is wrong but clearly there is a problem somewhere.

 

And of course every retailer trades within Hornby's terms - they apply across the board be it a big outlet in volume or a small one.  The most recent (some while back now) change was the ending of the early payment discount but that was available to all retailers although larger concerns more likely had the cash available to take advantage of it.  Hornby have consistently denied for many years that they offered any additional discounts to the box shifters and what little evidence which has crept out seems to confirm that.

Had to smile when I read the bit about your local model shop. My local model shops are 60 and 100 miles away respectively

It’s been nearly a year since the last TMC update on this. I appreciate the effects of Covid and the new importing regulations but is there any further update ? 

I could fully understand this given the mayhem of the last year, it would just be nice if someone, whether Hornby, Hatton's or both, would issue an official explanation. 

If anyone is still searched no for a green or blue Dapol brake tender take a look at this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dapol-00-GAUGE-HM014-DIESEL-BRAKE-TENDER-BR-GREEN-B964039-NEW/284249887289?hash=item422e9d1239:g:AL0AAOSwlxhgAbMR

Yes, just shy of ONE HUNDRED QUID! 

Profiteering? Never......

I hope Dapol do another issue of these to end such extortionate pricing. 

ANy further information in when this model will be coming out?  I, a bit worried because I ordered min through Hattons.......

2 hours ago, Ken.W said:

 I've not previously had any problems with pre-orders from Hattons until now...

 

For my R3835 A2/3 60523 Sun Castle pre-order, I received the following e-mails;

 

09/03 Order processed notification, and payment taken

 

11/03 A message saying that due to a technical problem with their system the order was processed in error and they didn't currently have stock to fulfill it. More stock was expected from Hornby, and my order was refunded and placed back on pre-order backdated to my original order date.

 

17/03 Canceled, as not able  to acquire obtain stock to allocate to my pre-order.

 

Then, this morning, an email my pre-order for R3844 W1 canceled, unable to acquire stock for order.

 

Still have a Std.2MT on pre-order with them, but now considering if I should try looking elsewhere

Pricisely the same as my situation.  I have ordered 78047 from another suppler now to make sure.

How accurate is Hornby’s umber colour? Compared to photos I have seen of Pullman stock it looks dark, i seems to remember it bing much loser to Humbrol’s “mid brown” but I know film varies enormously!

1 hour ago, John ks said:

Just got the same email 

Not happy Jan

John

Me too. A month after they cancelled my A2/3 order so doubly disappointing. I am a big fan of theirs and a regular customer but i will not be pre-ordering anything from them again, I feel that I can’t rely on them delivering.

 Ordered one now from Hornby direct, hope it materialises. 

7 hours ago, InterCitySpud said:

This model wouldn't need "influencing" even if it were possible!

 

A fantastic looking class 86, a big thank you from all us electrickery lovers. Just make sure the class 81 is just as good.

Class 81? Wishful thinking or have I missed something?

3 hours ago, Tramshed said:

I too am 61 but ever the optimist! Following all the feedback from purchasers of the A2/2s, reporting poor build quality, missing parts, etc., Hornby may have decided to delay release until they run the whole batch through an additional QC check. It would be a pity if you had to send back a faulty one just as the grim reaper............

There’s a jolly thought. Hopefully they have a large layout up in Heaven.  And locos are the right shade of green .

4 hours ago, jonnyuk said:

i don't see the issue, still less than 2 years from announcement to delivery, thats about the going rate for a model these days.

i've got an original on order and i'm sure it will be worth the wait

The issue is that my personal egg timer is rapidly running out of sand.....

I am seriously beginning to think that I may not live long enough to receive my Hush Hush. I’m 61 for God’s sake get a move on! 

On 08/03/2021 at 11:17, Mike Bellamy said:

OK so who's going to be first to build a 7mm layout using the Natural History Museum Dinosaurs - at a scale of 1:40 that's almost O Gauge!!

 

Mike

Just the sort of daft thing that that awful  “Great British Model Railway Bake Off” programme would ask modellers to incorporate, along with a stiletto shoe, a space hopper and an old bra. 

Received mine today.

What can can I Say? It is a stunning model and clearly an early contender for Model of the Year. KR Models deserve all the praise they are getting for delivering a truly outstanding, quality model of a prototype which none of us ever  thought we would see, within a relatively short timescale (it probably would have been 6 months sooner had it not been for Covid) and at a good price.

KR  have also had to take on the chin numerous totally groundless, cheap comments, criticisms and attempts at undermining them and this model on these pages and at all times have kept their dignity, patience, professionalism and good humour when their critics certainly haven’t. If KR are “gloating” then good for them because they have earned the gloating rights. 

I can’t wait to get my Fell at the end of this year! 

Received my email, my GT3 will be here at 11 am tomorrow.

Hello? 

Anyone there? 

On 15/03/2021 at 17:45, Edward Thompson said:

Had an email from Hattons, apparently my Steady Aim is in the second batch so I won’t be getting it just yet ☹️☹️☹️

I’ve had an email from Hatton telling me they can no longer fulfil my order for Sun Castle as they won’t be getting any more. 

Fortunately and thanks to a couple of people on here, I got the very last one in stock at Kernow Models. Thanks for the suggestion, gents.

what worries me is that I have four other locos of various classes on order with H, so am I going to suffer the same problem?   Think I need to order duplicates from other sources.

19 hours ago, landscapes said:

Hi

 

The smokebox door should come away from the smokebox as they are only glued in,  it it depends on just how much glue was applied.

 

I managed to remove the plain stove chimney on my A2/2 but the smokebox door is well and truly stuck on so I am just going to leave it in place.

 

Some others have complained that there model arrived with the smokebox door having fallen off.

 

Good luck.

 

Regards

 

David

Many thanks