WisTramwayMan

Already have done - and, given the fact I've dealt with the retailer concerned for a long time, no issues in doing so. Just trying to do 2 things 1) find out if there's a more general issue and 2) warn people to take extra care when handling these.

GWR model showing as received and where the broken off steps should be, ie, at each end of the bufferbeam. Steps were rattling around in the box, which was still covered in tissue paper. No sign of any damage to box or clear plastic shell.

Yes, looking at 9402 the GWR one then I think the knack is to get the rear steps in their recesses then push the front running plate gently down. Extremely snug though - not surprised they're getting breakages (redesign Bachmann ?). I was very surprised, however, to have the issue with a BR Black one as well, ie, the side facing steps. And there probably isn't enough contact area to successfully repair. As always, a disappointment - you read great reviews, look forward to your model arriving, open the parcel and even before you get round to extracting the model you can see the bits floating around and know nuts, it's broken.

On a different note, has anyone else out there had problems with the rear steps broken off ? Have now had 3 arrive, and 2 out 3 (both variants - rear facing bufferbeam mounted steps and side facing) have both suffered from the issue, one losing both, the other 1 only. In both cases, the steps were rattling about in the plastic packaging.

10th ? You may have a few days to wait yet, then. I'm still waiting for something that's supposed to have departed 8th December and hasn't shown yet, believed stranded in some Royal Mail facility in Sheffield. As I said in an earlier mail, if folks wanted stuff for Xmas I hope for their sakes they used a different postal area....

Where I live I spoke to one of the postmen, and whilst it appears that locally they're reasonably up to date on parcels, on letters they're delivering only once every few days due to shortage of experienced staff; masses of agency people, the experienced staff are off not because they've had any actual cases of Covid in the sorting office but because staff have been told to stay away due to possible close contact with someone who potentially has. Correct thing to do, of course, but causes all sorts of further (much less important in the general scheme of things) problems. I just hope what happened about a couple of years ago doesn't repeat itself - loads of parcels got sent to the wrong sorting depot and took about a couple of weeks to sort it due to lack of staff; in fact, one parcel to me went missing and never was found.....

The Royal Mail problems seem quite regional. I too am waiting for something from Sheffield which is supposed to have shipped 48hr last Tuesday, but I've had deliveries from the South West and West of England, both ordered since last Tuesday, in line with their purported timescales. Must be a lesson there if it's something needed specifically for Xmas.

If you look at the Rails website at least 2 of the locos used for the photos have one of the front buffers pointing noticeably inwards and not flush with the front buffer-beam. I received mine (7310) this morning and, sure enough, one of the front buffers was rattling about in the packaging. Upon inspection, it did not appear to have been glued at all, but was easy enough to push back into its correct position. I didn't use any glue, as having trial positioned it it was a pretty firm, snug fit so left it as it was - if it comes lose again I'll put a tiny dab of glue 'n' glaze on it. Other than that, the loco appears totally A1, for which I am grateful after the (first batch) Terrier experiences. Competitively priced as well.

Yet the Dapol website itself says "Due in shops mid-November". That's now. Not so much Rails' prediction as Dapol's. The reason for the delay could be many. Shipping issues, quality issues, a.n.other - take your pick. Assuming it has been delayed of course, and saying it will be delayed for a few weeks is in itself incorrect. I'm one of those who would like one, but after the OO Terrier saga decided to wait and see what the feedback was on these models once delivered. Any potential delay doesn't change that in the slightest.

£260-270's about right for a discounted 117 (apart from the Kernow GWR150 special - add £50) and I think I've just read that each 104 unit will only have one powered vehicle, ie, a bit like the Bachmann Derby Lightweights, whereas the 117 has multiple motors. So logically doing away with one motor should keep the costs down - although that theory doesn't seem to have worked with the Ethel preorders, which I believe are motor-less (but still contain at least some electronics), unlike the standard items. Standard and Ethel appear to be priced the same. As a PS, I've just pre-ordered a Mexican Bean.....

I personally saw a step change between the initial and final batches in terms of quality. Whilst mine are mostly Hornby (and they're not perfect - a recent delivery had one of the condensing pipes broken off) a friend of mine has some of the Dapol versions. Two from the first batch - suffering from missing detail, broken detail, broken darts. One took two attempts to get a good 'un (and even that needed a second set of steps sent to achieve it, for him to fit himself), and the second three attempts, but the final two from the final batch were absolutely spot on, and IMHO if you placed them and the Hornby versions side by side you'd go for the Dapols (which, let's face it, given the extra cost over the Hornby is what you'd hope for). I hasten to add that no dislodged chimneys or twisted running plates were experienced with either batch. A run on the rolling road was also deemed acceptable. These are non-DCC I should also add, so as regards speaker issues I cannot comment. I think the above proves that Dapol CAN supply a decent model, and given that I posted earlier about the issues with the first two it seemed only fair to report on the final two, thankfully favourably. I daresay we all can but hope that the lessons have been learned, and the forthcoming 4-4-0s are right first time.....

Has anyone received a "Brighton" yet ? I've seen one of the new delivery of Boxhill, and it appears to be pretty good, with no glaringly obvious faults. Brighton, though, appears to be in short supply. This could be for perfectly legitimate reasons, ie, busy despatching from other deliveries (ie, Bachmann) or problems caused by Sheffield's Covid status. Having seen the Jenny Kirk video, however, I'm just a little concerned that history is repeating itself - on that video, whilst Boxhill appeared to be OK, Brighton looked to be suffering from one of the problems that has intermittently plagued deliveries to date, ie, a flattened smokebox dart. I'm just hoping that this new delivery is not suffering from at least some of the original issues. Perhaps if any cash-paying customers have received a Brighton they could comment.

Just a pic of the packaging to confirm the new format, this time of my Army one....

And once they're buying their Bachmann stuff elsewhere and find a retailer who gives good discounts, service and back-up, there's a very good chance they'll buy their other stuff from that retailer. I doubt as far the uk market's concerned that it's hardly affected Bachmann, if at all.

I'm afraid I went for it in a big way and bought the four non-BR liveries. All now in my possession. Nice to see they are now in plastic clamshell packaging - the smokebox dart and rail above the smokebox door always looked in mortal danger in the original DJ foam packaging. This is much better. And it's then packed in a heavy duty foam-lined printed box and lid. The NCB Blue/yellow one is the one that's had most running, including up/down gradients. Perhaps the merest hint of cogging going downhill in reverse, certainly nothing to get excited about; then again it still needs running in. And the blue isn't as bright as some of the launch advertising can make it look. Overall I'm very happy with them. I hope they succeed - the thought of further liveries being launched, either by Kernow themselves or via EFE is appealing, but these have to be a commercial success for that to happen.

Re the Apple Green one, as concerns being in service this is hypothetical, so why not issue it with "British Enterprise" etched nameplates (not printed, so could be displayed at the buyer's discretion) ? I think named and in Apple Green it would look superb.... Oh course, it wouldn't be authentic, but then again the only truly authentic one is Battleship Grey un-named.

I made my decision, and ordered the Biffa class 66 today. A Bachmann one. It may not be as sophisticated as the Hattons one, but based on the 6 or so I've got already it'll work and be trouble free. And still have a decent level of detail, plus working lights. And be over £25 cheaper. Now, contrary to what the above may make people think, the above was done somewhat reluctantly. I really wanted the Hattons one to be good - and have decided not to order a 66746 Belmond as a result of the issues aired on this forum and personal experience of the couple I've had so far - one was OK-ish, the second wobbled like a jelly and like more than one other ended up prising the axleboxes off and regluing them. It seems to me that Hattons should put their hand up, admit they've had an unacceptable level of issues, and withdraw the product from sale until they've either sorted the ones they have, meaningfully, into good stock/bad stock or got new stock. The ones with faults on sorting could be perhaps be graded and sold at a decent discount, the level of which depends on the fault, as I would guess that many people on this forum would have the expertise to rectify them. Obviously they should not be paying full price for a knowingly sub-standard product (which, by default, almost seems to be what is happening in many cases now). As for future batches, the cause isn't lost for Hattons. Upgrade the lighting circuit boards, sort the bogie rotation/pivoting issues on some locos, ensure they're assembled with a more reasonable degree of care and redesign the axlebox feature. They must know by now what is needed. Longer axles, so there's more meat to press the axleboxes onto, the axleboxes themselves make sure the inner hole is large enough to slide snugly, but without undue force, over the axle. Inner end must be square - this will butt up to the wheel when gluing, and therefore will hopefully run true with the axle, and on the bogie frame the round holes moulded slightly rectangular in the vertical plane allowing the axles slight movement up and down. The latter would mean, however, that the bogie frames would have to be glued, or clipped, into position. Hopefully, the above would mean it ran smoothly. The class 66 will be on the railways for a long time yet. With the correct actions, the Hattons 66 could still be the best version to have been produced in OO form.

Similar attitude. Yes, I know if it follows on from the DJ models it's got the geared drive system, that going by the reviews at the time never seemed to bring much to the party apart from being a bit of an oddity. However, I'm not going to turn this into a criticism, as I've pre-ordered the LMR version, and am hoping that the rest don't sell out too quickly as I will very interested to see actual pictures of the other non-BR ones once they're received by the retailers (which given the items are supposed to be in stock already at Bachmann should be toute suite). Both NCBs (I always thought the weathering on the Hattons ones, for an RTR model, was extremely good, so I hope "Amazon" is of equivalent standard) plus the Army one could also be in the hiring line - albeit at prices that I wish were 10% lower than the "real" ones at which they will actually retail. Then again, I'm talking about potentially buying them, so perhaps Bachmann haven't got their sums that wrong....

Re the (ex-DJ) J94/Austerity - and I apologise if this has been covered elsewhere - does anyone know if they're persisting in packaging it with the foam surround or supplying it in a clear plastic clamshell like pretty much everything else these days ? I admit I've never managed to mess one up, but I've seen loads of pics of things adrift (usually the rail above the smokebox door, occasionally the smokebox dart), so if they went to the near-universal clamshell it would probably be a good thing.

A procedure similar to Derails might help. Let's not forget that this is meant to be an RTR loco. Consumer intervention to make it do what it is supposed, and advertised, to do should not be part of the package. In the case of the Hattons 66, each loco checked for integrity (ie, no axlesboxes or components fallen off or loose), that the lighting actually works as it is supposed to, plus actually running each loco around a track, curves and points as well, to ensure that it runs without derailing or wobbling. Cosmetically, no glue marks on outside of loco, and nameplates (where applicable) straight. Then, if it passes all of that (and given what has happened so far this needs to be applied stringently, rather than lackadaisically), a card signed (by the tester) and dated that all is OK enclosed with loco. Extending the warranty AS WELL AS the above might also give people a bit more confidence to purchase the product. And if people receive locos that have had the above checks and are still faulty, then, to be quite honest, it deserves to fail.

Doesn't surprise me, I have always found Dapol's website next to useless. Perhaps OK as a forum to discuss models in development, but little else. Far better to use the updates posted on Hattons, Rails etc websites to see what is actually happening. But, keeping on topic, re the Mogul - I see Hattons are now saying they will be arriving by the end of September. Personally, I'd love one of the BR Green/Early Emblem ones, but am holding back ordering due to the dog's dinner they (Dapol) made of the QA on the Rails/Dapol OO Terrier. Given the problems with that, on the Mogul that extended lamp bracket on the top of the smokebox door, in particular, plus the dart itself, look well open to abuse at the hands of Chinese packers. Will also be interested what form the connection between loco and tender will take - I think they've already said that it won't be the four fiddly wires and a tiny socket used by Hornby and Bachmann, and I've seen both the recent "wireless" new Bachmann variants (on their DMUs AND a Liliput HO tender loco) and Rapido variations, so it'll be interesting to see what this will be.

And now we all wait to see what the reworked batch, supposedly due at the end of this month, is like. Will it be the model it should have been in the first instance ? Or once a dog, always a dog ? From a purely personal viewpoint, I sincerely hope it's the former.

You do wonder. Given the recurrent issues on both batches 1 & 2 you would think that each loco should be given at least a test run at some point between coming into stock and sent out to a potential customer, if nothing else to check if it will move (ie to see if the axle boxes have been glued to the bogie frames) or if it wobbles like an unsteady drunk. A check on light function (which seems to be an issue in some cases) would also be nice. As would, continuing the theme above, checking for drunken nameplates. Then again, the potential customer always has the ultimate sanction to hopefully make them do something about it.....

I just wonder if Hattons were stuck in a Catch-22 situation. Preferred option, given the issues with batch 1, to return batch 2 to the factory for rectification, in which case late 2020 makes perfect sense. When the above is proposed, the factory refuses, or makes clear that the rework will be at the back end of a considerable queue. In which case late 2020 isn't going to happen. Horrible choice for Hattons - delay longer than 2020 or let them come in and try to QA sort in-house. Hence the early availability. It's a theory, and in fairness to Hattons they aren't the only retailer or manufacturer to have experienced poor QC from China in recent times.

In principle a similar problem, albeit much worse, to the 66789 I've got. One of my Hattons 66's was OK, and ran reasonably well, apart (da-dah !) from a couple of axleboxes falling off. 66789, though, someone had been OTT with the glue tube, glue all over the outside of the axlebox press-on fittings (albeit, thankfully, not over the outer ends), and in the "bearing" faces of the outer frame through which they fit (what do they expect when they say put glue on before you insert through the bogies frames). So, loco upside down in the clamshell, managed to prise all the axleboxes off, glue luckily proved easy to remove with a craft knife and fine pair of tweezers. So having got them off, with all axle boxes and bogie frames clear of excess glue, and the inner holes of the axleboxes opened up slightly with a pin vice, pushed each axlebox through the bogie frame, THEN put a small amount of glue on the inner end/in hole, push loosely onto the axle, do the same with the opposite end of that axle, then push both on tightly via the outer ends, being careful to ensure that the axleboxes are flush/square to the wheels, and appear to be level. Result is that it runs appreciably better than originally - not perfect, and not as smoothly as my Bachmann 66s, but within acceptable tolerances. As I've said before, I'll give it a month before I consider ordering another one. At least, apart from axle box issues, I've had no body parts or detail fall off.....so far.