Ouroborus

This levelling of the playing would, to my mind, only work if people change their spending ways because everyone is charging the same price. I order from Rails/Hattons/MRD because there isn't a shop local to me that I can get to for the £4 it costs me in postage. Its going to take me a couple of hours and a few quid in petrol, plus parking to visit a nearby shop. If I know that the model is going to be effectively be the same price everywhere, then assuming I still it want it at the higher price, I'll go to the one that costs me the least time and money to get it. The "Amazon prime effect". Click now, have it tomorrow. Unfortunately, I don't see any answers to this problem of how do we support the little guys unless perhaps they take their outlets to Amazon. We all like to say what a nasty pasty Amazon is, but at the end of the day, it's bloody convenient.

Having just completed an inventory of my locos, I think there are a lot of us around

Have a look at the Easy Models warrior mcv 80, although it is 1:72

Any chance that you could repost the above pic showing the speaker in place - I couldn't quite get mine to fit as you've done, especially in the power car. Non-powered car was easy

Sitting reading all these posts on a beach in Kos. Very interesting. Keeping small shops going is great (I own one, I would say that) but in my opinion, price fixing will do all when you have rates increases of several thousand pounds year on. Plus rates. A couple of quid on a toy train doesn't dent this. My worry is that as prices rise, sales fall. This is inevitable. The consumption of toy trains is not inelastic - there will be a point at which all of us say "too much". Where is that point? Well, I don't think anybody really knows, it's going to vary from person, but year on year hefty price increases outstripping wage increases by some measure will accelerate the onset of the tipping point. What I do see is a noticeable increase in the number of people here and elsewhere grumbling about prices and cutting pre-orders. Claiming or trying to make a claim that toy trains are exclusive in order to make high prices viable seems a quirky argument. Burberry and Chanel were cited. Burberry and Chanel are aspirational products - the chap on the street knows they've 'made it' when they can afford to wear these. Flashing the label down the local flashes your wealth. You get gratification from displaying your wealth. Do you honestly think this group see toy trains in the same light? That they can show their mates that they've made it when they display their Blue Pullman? Pull the other one. The hobby has an image problem as it is. Hornby, Bachmann, Heljan are taking a gamble, doing something to try and shore up profits, but is that something right or will it be the final nail in the coffin? This is a hobby where more people are leaving than entering - just look at how many kids are at train shows to tell you that. Trains4u's post also gives evidence - more stock coming back than going out. Are these collections being sold off because owners are broke or dead? My Facebook feed today announced that Hornby have done a deal with one of the film studios for commercial tie-ins. That's rather ominous for toy trains because, aside from Hogwarts (and that ship has largely sailed), it looks like Hornby are starting to look elsewhere for sales. Interesting times ahead. Won't be too suprised to see major announcements in the next few years

Not a surprise though surely? They were hardly likely to say orders have been poor. More likely whip up a bit of worry that you might not get one unless you order soon. The proof how popular it is will be when/if it starts to drop in price.

Is there any evidence that a 4CEP sold at £69 is sold at a loss or is this just speculation?

Yes, not just TTS,some of the previous Hornby sound chips were way too loud. I did change 182, but it made little difference. The next step would be to reduce the engine sound itself. The thing is, TTS chips have got form for being a pig to reprogram. I'm not convinced 182 has changed much at all.

I'm not sure of your point. I also think its unwise to speculate on the popularity of a livery based on its current price. Those bargain bucket 150's were green or blue/grey 101's not too long ago.

The 150 could recently be had (and may possibly still can) for around £95, so long as you like centro. A better example for his point would have been the second runs of the 4cep or the nanking blue pullman

+1. When it left Steam I thought it's future was sealed. I got to drive 33 at the ELR 20 years ago. Looking forward to seeing it move again

Haha. Yes, I think at the time, we thought the factory applied weathering was somewhat ground breaking. I think there have been worse. A class 37 springs to mind?

My oldest and newest meet:

I apprecaite there is more than one sheffield shop. This is from Rails. https://railsofsheffield.com/products/34840/Hornby-r3658-oo-gauge-network-south-east-class-50-033-glorious-co-co-diesel-locomotive

Thanks. I'll have a look at the body fit. If I remember, after putting the decoder in, it was a bit of a struggle to clip the body back down. Will post how I get on

techie question - On Robert Burns, with nighttime running, I'm getting 3 tail lights on, but only at one end. DCC via a Hattons chip. Anyone else have this?? Decoder issue? - wrong way around?

I remember selling a Hornby mk3 buffet for £1.25 on eBay. With free postage!

You see, I don't understand this. I own two commercial properties - one I work from, the other is rented from us by a different business and a tenant. When it was empty, we were still hit by council tax and rates - nearly £10,000 a year. Renting the building passed these bills to someone else and we got the I come fro their rent. All in all, £20k difference. Maybe I've just got a rubbish accountant

Apologies, it does only seem to have one, I need my glasses re-grinding. 1165 :

Post 1165 seems to suggest that the cross arm has two. I'll have a look at mine when I get home.

Was that the RRP?

the windscreen wiper is pointing the wrong way

Yes, I know, its not so fair to start speculating wildly at this stage.....but! The blue at the side of the real thing seems to fade sharply from deep blue at the cab corners to grey-blue and remains at this grey-blue for the rest of the 'sweep'. On the model, it seems to fade more gradually and almost to white, though as CJL points out, this could be the studio lights. If it is studio lights, its odd the grey of the body side and blue of the cab seem to be uniform in chroma.

Let me be the first to say that I think the shade is wrong.

What's the colour match like with those Oxford coaches? In the video above, the loco colour seems quite a bit different to what seem like Hornby/lima coaches