jonhall

This is a ferry interfrigo

The Airfix type is a UIC-ORE type 1 van its produced in HO and was strictly continental only. (like the one below) the ferry version is about 1/3rd longer

I'm away from my part converted van until Wednesday evening.

Jon

4 hours ago, billtee said:

 

The 'lump' I am asking about is shown in (a very dark image) a photograph of the rear of the trolley, not the front where the radiator is!

 

Perhaps if you shared a link to the image you are referring to we wouldn't all have to guess?

Jon

1 hour ago, KeithMacdonald said:

It might depend a lot on what version of the Wickham Trolley we're talking about - and there were a lot of versions!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickham_trolley

 

e.g. - "just above the little coupling ... a large horizontal device"

 

 

If the original query is referring to the white painted pole in the photo above, then they are handles, to aid manhandling* it on and off the track.

Jon

* I was going to write 'lifting' but I suspect thats rather beyond the capability of most people, even burly gangers who are used to juggling sleepers.

What on earth would you use a KoF for if it wasn't in the scenario you describe, although don't go overboard with the weathering 

Jon

1 hour ago, WCML100 said:

 

However the sea urchins are a welcome addition to the wagon range, I’m sure i will be having a few of these 😃

 

Disappointing that since they have a number of different donor chassis to choose from in the Bachman range, they have chosen to use the worst chassis from the SPA, and consequently could only do the shortest lived livery.

Jon

3 minutes ago, Hobby said:

I'd see it as more of an "extra string to the bow" rather than them relying on those sales. Though, as plenty of people who are on Continental model railway forums have said, there's plenty of TT modellers over there who have already put in orders for the new trains and others expressing interest, so perhaps best not to dismiss it out of hand... Every little helps!

Yes completely - and done right it will give Hornby volume, which should make for higher sales, and make the whole thing more viable, but if they go for the wrong prototype then it won't sell, and causes them more problems

Jon

22 hours ago, gc4946 said:

If Hornby under its own brand name in the UK doesn't want to take the lead for some models, Arnold could introduce them instead.

I'm thinking of S160 2-8-0, WD 2-8-0 and 2-10-0, many of which spent time in Europe.

Also other train ferry stock such as Night Ferry sleeping cars plus wagons.

 

A Night Ferry sleeping car might not be viable in OO however many people request it because of its limited market, but release one in TT, it's much more feasible financially from their point of view.

 

PS - a few J94s served on the continent so could be rebadged as an Arnold model

The difficulty with the Night Ferry is that the likely market on the continent is France, and as others have said, continental TT is very much an 'East of the Iron Curtain' niche, a quick search for French TT has only bought up a modern loco and stock of a type that can be seen all over Europe, therefore is just a re-livery - MUCH cheaper to try out TT on the French than go it with new tooling.

If Hornby go in with a 'its on the Continent the Europeans do TT, so it will sell' attitude, they will be very disappointed.

1 hour ago, Covkid said:

Good point Jon, and for once no disparity between UK scale and European scale.  An interesting concept with a TT DB class 216 or 218 hauling a mixed freight including VIXs. 

 

Ferry tubes next !!!!

Or actually blue Spanish Transfesas and JZ "hipped roof" vans

There are already DB Hfs, and Tcefs and at least 2 interfrigo ferry vans available in HO.

The choice of 1:120 to match Europe is one of the few 'good' decisions about this from Hornby, there is the obvious potential to sell the Class 66 all over Europe, and the 'Dutch' version 08's, then the more recent exports like 56's, 86's, 92's, 37's, 20's seem possible although as TT tends to an Eastern European market the former that went to Hungary are probably more sensible than the latter that went to Spain and France, which as far as I know don't have big TT scenes. There are all sorts of options in the 'Cargowaggon' and ferry-tank field that have the potential to gain sales volume from selling to Europe as well as the UK, and with a handful of different types 'Modern' TT modelling becomes more practical. 

European sales have the potential to give a much faster return on Hornbys investment than pure UK, which might make the whole thing much more viable.

Jon

9 hours ago, andythenorth said:

That looks outstanding, the livery application is really attractive, and the photography really shows it off. 🙂

 

Obligatory TT:120 request? 🙃  No forum thread is allowed to remain free of that now (I hope you got the memo).

Well it would allow them to sell it to those foreign types if UK 1:120 bombs.

Jon

48 minutes ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

Perhaps uniquely on RMweb, I am a big supporter of Hornby in general and SK in particular - the only thing is that I don't model or collect OO!

I think there is an obvious correlation, you don't model UK prototype, so you are looking at superficially attractive models without knowing or caring if they have flaws, and you are not  trying to buy them, so you don't have issues with Hornby's erratic production and distribution policies. 

If you had 'skin in the game' you might well find yourself critical of Hornby and SK in particular!

Jon

Don't those nose end ladders look great on the 08 

details, details, details

Tolworth Showtrain by Hampton Court MRS

http://www.tolworthshowtrain.co.uk/showtrain/showtrain 2022.html

It takes place over two days and across three halls at;

 Tolworth Recreation Centre
Fullers Way North, Tolworth, Surrey, KT6 7LQ.

Saturday 12 Nov 10.00am - 5.30pm
Sunday 13 Nov 10.00am - 5.00pm

PRICES

Adult  £9

Child  £3

Family 2+2  £19

Sunday Special

One child free with every paying adult

Card payments will be accepted this year

There are normally over 20 layouts representing different eras, scales, regions and countries, along with traders with stands selling every conceivable model item from the smallest piece of scenery to the grandest of steam engines.

We also usually arrange to have some experienced demonstrators on hand to provide tuition on scenic modelling skills, and children may operate one of the Society’s most popular models, Edward’s Junction and Thomas End.

Layouts

FreshwaterNSteam era

BeckwickOOSteam, diesel and electric

OldshawEMBR Western Region

Solent SummitNAmerican modular

Kamiak FallsHOWashington State, America 1970s

WeidensteinHOBavaria, Germany

Kleine AlbulaHOSwitzerland

Hinksey YardNEWS 2010

City Basin GoodsNBR Western Region diesel

Ively MagnaNBR West Country 1950s

Edward’s Junction & Thomas EndOOSodor

RoshvenOOScotland diesel era

Gas Street YardOSteam era

Grindley BrookOBR London North Western Region

Wandleford JunctionOOBR Southern Region 1980s

Staple and AshOOEast Kent 1930s

Scrapworth EndOOUK modern image

Nictun BorrudOOSouthern Region 1965

Nictun 2KOOSouthern Region 2000

Bodmin GeneralNBR Western Region

NorthmoorOOBR 1980s

Trade, Society, and Demonstration Stands

Addlestone Model CentreAspire Gifts and Models

Carriage & Wagon ModelsC&L Finescale

David Smith BooksFenland Model Railways

Gauge O GuildGolden Arrow Productions

Heritage in motionJB's Model World

Kent Garden RailwaysMedway Queen Preservation Society

Model Electronics Railway GroupModel Railway Bits

Model Railway DevelopmentsModels U Drive

P and G Engineering SuppliesRail – Books

Railway Correspondence and Travel SocietyRichard Pane’s Model Spares

Roxey MouldingsRoxley Models

Saddletank BooksScenic Modelling

Soldering DemoSouth Western Circle

Sunningwell Command & ControlTools 2000

The Totem ManThe Wagon Yard

Bus Timetable

We are operating a free bus link between Surbiton Station and the show. The timetable is below.

SATURDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2021

Surbiton Station Bus Stop NNd09:4510:1010:4011:1011:4012:1012:40

To Tolworth Recreation Centerd13:5514:2514:5515:2515:5516:25

Tolworth Recreation Centerd10:2510:5511:2511:5512:2512:55

To Surbiton Station Bus Stop NNd14:1014:4015:1015:4016:1016:4017:20

SUNDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2021

SEE NOTE A

Surbiton Station Bus Stop NNd09:5510:2510:5511:2511:5512:25

To Tolworth Recreation Centerd13:4014:1014:4015:1015:4016:10

Tolworth Recreation Centerd11:1011:4012:1012:40

To Surbiton Station Bus Stop NNd13:5514:2514:5515:2515:5516:2517:05

NOTES

A These services will depart from Bus Stop NP in Victoria Road outside the Halifax Bank

Note:- Whilst every effort will be made to maintain this timetable, delays may be incurred due to traffic conditions. In the case of extreme late running a service may be cancelled to restore the timetable.

I didn't see them on the website, but emailed John and he sent me an e-form, where I could request the numbers that I wanted, and they were printed to order.

Jon

10 hours ago, johndon said:

Probably not something that would affect most but a bit of disappointment with the KR Models Iron Ore wagons tonight.

 

The wagons come with some quite nice instanter couplings.  I’ve fitted a couple tonight and, when hooked together, they are barely long enough to stop the buffers hitting each other on straight track let alone round a curve.  I’ve attached a photo with the bottom buffer heads touching and, as you can see there is hardly any angle between the two wagons.

 

I don’t know what size feet of radius they’d go round but I suspect it’s well in to double figures…

 

 

Its not often I feel inclined to come to KR's defense about anything, but I feel your expectations are unrealistic about what a cosmetic coupling should be able to achieve, particularly on a wagon costing under £30.

Jon

if you (or anyone else) want any of these for the price I paid many years ago (plus the cost of a large letter stamp as postage) it would reduce the volume of clutter in my workshop by 0.000001%

probably worth noting that on the dart castings website one of the jumper cables is shown from the rear!

Jon

 I finally sourced some transfers from Precision decals, so letting has started, I didn't quite get the number series right so it looks like I might have two TSL12800's, and no 12807, but I then started building a further batch, so in fact I'm quite likely to end up with several multiples, some of which will be sold

Jon

We have arrived at a perfect storm, with multiple cost increases hitting exhibition organisers, traders, exhibitors and visitor, but its a storm thats being brewing for some time, and in many respects the biggest cost of a show to the organisers is the staff - which is almost free if you have able bodied members, and exhibitors willing to travel (in return for enjoying their experience). Its clear that the two year hiatus has made a lot of people reconsider what they are prepared (or able) to do. The only reason we have a show scene is because hundreds of people work for free for 2-3 long days. The cost of attending a show is probably subsidised by over 50% even at the minimum wage, and several times that if the 'wage' was at their normal working salary. 

It seems likely to me that a lot of shows are going to NEED to put up their prices to cover significant increases in input cost and reductions in revenue from trade and visitor. That will need care, as there can be a diminishing return, if the increased cost puts off more visitors than the increased income provides. A show that has 1200 visitors paying £9 might not be as attractive to Traders as the same show with 1500 visitors paying £7, but by the same measure, 1200 visitors who are prepared to put their hands in their pocket might be better customers?

I'm sure the hardened exhibitors can recall 'slow' shows where a shortage of visitors has made the experience a bit of a chore, but the opposite can be true - I found Uckfield a couple of weeks ago squeezed far too much in to make seeing layout very straightforward, would I have paid twice as much to discourage half the visitors from coming, so that I could see the layouts better? Possibly.  But that makes the show even more vunerable to outside influences, would a rail strike, petrol shortage (or price spike) or bad weather conspire to stop them coming?  

Jon

That seems to be quite a common problem - I don't know if there is an established fix, because I use the supplied software, but its been discussed a lot further back in the thread - thats the first place to look.

Jon

and are you designing the cut in the supplied software, or importing it from elsewhere?

Jon

6 minutes ago, rab said:

 

It looks right on the screen, fits on the page ok,

but when it cut, the top of the piece was off the top of the card.

 

Any thoughts/suggestions welcome

Is it wrong scale altogether? or just that the start point is too far up the page? If its the latter, you won't be the first person not to realise there are two media loading buttons, one for 'with mat' and the other 'without', if you use the without mat load button, then it starts further up the sheet!

Jon

I've used Traintrax in the past, but they have changed owner, anyone that has a guagemaster account should be able to supply.

Jon

38 minutes ago, Tim Dubya said:

 

Do you seriously think Hornby haven't thought this through and have an understanding of the basics of how a business operates, market research, financial backing etc, etc.

I don't know the ins and outs personally but I'm sure a multi-million pound operation like Hornby do.

 

Unfortunately some of Hornby's recent decisions has made some of us wonder if they do...

...and that seems to be reflected in the financial performance of their business - they are not exactly making money, are they?

Jon

3 hours ago, just fishing said:

An Interesting topic on the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-63216578

or https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/13/climate-groups-legal-action-milton-keynes-road-scheme which is on a similar axis

Jon

22 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

One might almost think that someone had 3D scanned the HO model .........?

 

CJI.

I suspect they would have just sent an HO mode to the factory and said 'we want one like that but 1:120' (as at least one UK manufacturer is rumored to have done with a Lima loco - errors and all). Its a slight shame as the Lilliput model is something like 40 years old, and reflects standards of the time, although it still appears in the Bachman lineup from time to time.

Jon

22 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

That looks to be a straight scale-down of the old Liliput HO model.

 

CJI.

Well it is the same prototype, so it should look the same, but when I saw it in the flesh, I had to check that it wasn't the Lilliput HO, because it has extremely similar production quality (but a bit smaller) or further away

Jon