GWR-fan

Why do we need to justify why we wish to purchase the coaches? Cannot we buy them simply because they are to our liking and most likely far better than most of us are capable of matching.

I believe that there is an interaction between lead and PVA glue.

Many thanks, I might just be tempted now.

This "fix" may rekindle my interest in getting an S15. I have held off so long because of reported "motor issues".

Personally, while not prototypical, I actually like the livery as presented. It will fit in well with other BR grey unfitted stock. The livery actually "persuaded" me to pre-order two of each wagon.

For several years I have resisted purchasing a Deans Goods due the "bad press" about running performance and the later I believe coreless motors (or did they go back to standard motors?). With stock seemingly getting low at my favourite store (Hattons of cause) I decided to purchase an ROD version in khaki to go with my two Bachmann Ambulance Train Pack locomotives for a WW1 theme. Barely a week later the loco was at my door and it seems that my reluctance to purchase may have been very misplaced. The loco straight out of the box is one of the smoothest and quietest models that I have ever received. The performance is amazing. Unfortunately, now I need to decide if I want the Great Western version in green as well. I have an old Mainline version, however, while it runs well it sounds like a chaff cutter.

The other day I was watching a 1949 UK movie "The Small Back Room". Towards the end of the movie the "hero" steps off a gate stock set and while I did not take note of the loco, from memory it did look a lot like a Jinty.

Would appear to be a popular item where supply has exceeded demand. The new batch of Rocket train packs may rekindle interest.

I thought that these were as rare as rocking horse doo-doos and yet this Victorian store has more than ten instock. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/324622583137?hash=item4b95038561:g:8b8AAOSwKZxgnMMJ

Alas, in today's contiguous world admitting you are wrong is opening you up to a world of law suits. An apology is an admission of guilt. If it was me then I would tell the aggrieved party that I was wrong and I would fix the problem to their satisfaction, but then I am not a corporation, just someone who was brought up to take responsibility for my actions.

Well it was plain and simple to me. If Hornby published a list of tiers 1, 2 and 3 stockists then simply because you are a tier 2 is no guarantee that you will be able to supply pre-ordered items, so would not a customer pre-order where he is assured of receiving his item, i.e., a tier 1 seller, at the expense of a tier 2 stockist who may or may not be allocated enough items to satisfy any pre-orders that he may receive.

Well, I went to the "dark side" and purchased two railway related Hornby Skaledale buildings from Amazon UK and even though the store charges the local 10% GST, I still came out $10.00 in front when compared to a popular tier 3 UK stockist of Hornby items. I had previously never considered looking on Amazon for Hornby items.

Hornby uses multiple manufacturers in multiple countries. The logistics of the same part number for an identical part across multiple items will only work when there is one supplier. While the part may be identical it is highly likely that the same part will be manufactured from different tooling in each factory. A factory in say China is not going to manufacture say a tender chassis that is common to multiple locomotives and then ship that part to another country to complete the assembly of a loco in that other country. The part will be produced inhouse and have a specific part number associated with that specific loco. While it is logical to have identical parts with matching part numbers, it is practically impossible. For instance I needed a new axle mounted gear for from memory a 61XX as the gear had split. No replacement part was available. I did however have a replacement gearset for a "Duke of Gloucester". I seem to recall that I used the 8F gearset to fix the prairrie 61XX. Ideally, as the 8F gearsets were then available, commonality of part numbers would have made it easier to source my 61XX gears, but given the logistics of production across multiple countries with multiple suppliers, will require a part number specific to the factory assembling the loco.

Tier 3 stockists can still order from Hornby, however, they cannot pre-order and the items they are able to order MUST be actually instock with Hornby. Given low production volumes these days it is quite likely that pre-order quantities will account for most of a production run, thus exactly how much stock will be available as "instock" is debatable.

When one places a pre-order he has an expectation that such order will be fulfilled. Now where does he go to place his order? If Hornby are so sure that their new tier system is the bee's knees then where is the list of tiers 1, 2 and 3 stockists? We know it is pointless trying to pre-order from a tier 3 stockist so that leaves us finding a tier 1 or tier 2 stockist. Given that a tier 1 stockist is most likely able to supply our order then obviously we would want to deal with them at the expense of those tier 2 stockists whom we would normally purchase our new items from. Now where is that list of tiered Hornby stockists? Oh, there is no published list of graded stockists because the grading system that the manufacturer is so proud of will disadvantage those stockists who sell their product.

The elephant in the room is regardless of tiers or not, how would Hornby be attempting to protect smaller retailers if they had allocated most of a production run to but a few major retailers? If actually protecting those smaller retailers then Hornby would be spreading the allocation of stock across both large and small retailers. If a large retailer was able to secure a large proportion of stock to the detriment of others then is it the dealer at fault or the company in its oversupply of stock to that retailer? Do not be fooled, the tier system and the explanation letter are merely a bandaid solution to production issues we are not privvy to. We will never know actual production numbers, so eliminating the "big boys" and spreading their pre-ordered allocation to other more compliant stores is masking a problem.

My once pristine livery is also fading with age.

In a hypothetical world company "A" awards a manufacturing contract to an overseas contractor, company "B". However, company "B" insists that its inhouse design team have a greater involvement in developing the design and cad work for the proposed project. Company "A" responds that it alone will retain all research, design and cad work which leads to a disagreement between both companies, leading to delayed production, inability to meet production numbers and loss of face to company "B". Is such an apparently hypothetical situation able to explain current circumstances?

I had no idea who or what John Lewis is (or was) so had to Google some information. This is what I found (quote:) "Shop new season trends in homeware, furniture and fashion at John Lewis & Partners. Discover the latest beauty products and browse must-have electricals, ....." Now little Johnny wants a trainset, so where do we go to find Johnny his new toy train? Do we go to a store selling homeware and beauty products, or do we go to the local Aldi or Tesco to pick up a cheap trainset on special with no backup support, or do we go to a model railway specialist who is able to advise and meet further hobby needs in the future? A trainset purchase from a beauty or homeware store is a one off purchase and most likely to finish up with the trainset in the attic or the basement ignored once the initial enthusiasm has subsided. Would an aspiring model railway enthusiast actually think to go to a beauty store for his first trainset? If so then the purchase would have been along the lines of "Oh, look over there a toy trainset on sale. I never would have thought to see toy trains on sale in John Lewis". Such a purchase would be a spur of the moment decision with little Johnny over excited as to receiving a new toy. Did he really want a toy trainset or was it just another toy? Hornby got a sale of a trainset but did they convince a budding enthusiast into the hobby? My opinion is hardly likely.

As one manufacturer who relatively recently vacated the hobby leaving a host of unfilled orders and promises, when dealing with Chinese manufacturers one must show respect for them. Think of biting the hand that feeds you and then think why has production been severely curtailed.

How long will it be before "successful", i.e., compliant tier 1 retailers are invited to join an elite band of premium retailers who will be given premium access to new items, preferred retailer status for pre-order allocations and preferential discounts for meeting key performance achievements. What of the smaller retailer who cannot compete with those "successful" dealers, will they have their tier grading under threat? Hornby tried their boutique high street retail network some years ago and from memory all of those elite sites have vanished from the trade.

Could the tier system also be a method to keep retailers "in line"? From previous postings from retailers on other threads in the past it seems that Hornby's terms of service can be quite forceful as in the abortive attempt a few years back to restrict sales to international customers. Failure to abide with those terms could lead to a recalculation of a store's tier rating or the perceived threat thereof.

Surely a competent manufacturer will have some idea as to the volume of a planned production run and would convey allocations to their retailers. Quote: " Prior to the release and trying to learn from previous years experiences we created an allocation system which we hoped would prevent retailers placing large orders first and therefore by default reserving all the planned production. " No responsible retailer is going to take pre-orders unless they haven an indication of what numbers of each item they have been allocated. A responsible retailer would also not exceed their allocation. Ideally, expressions of interest should precede pre-orders. This would give the manufacturer an idea as to the popularity of the item to predict a production volume. I find it hard to believe that two or three large retailers would absorb the majority of the production run thus restricting sales to smaller retailers and that Hornby would have allowed this to happen in the past. The excuse seems more like blame shifting and an excuse for their current method of online sales and listing discounted current release items through Amazon.

After purchasing a few hundred locomotives from Hattons I have never received a note stating the loco has been tested. Rails also has never supplied a note stating the loco has been tested but for one returned loco I asked for testing to be done on the replacement. I requested Rails to test a loco prior shipping that was a replacement for a complete dud of a loco. Guess what, the "tested" loco was barely better than the returned loco. One store that prided itself on testing locomotives and issuing a certificate supplied me with two new locomotives that could not run due mazak embrittlement. Odd that they tested fine in the store but two weeks later upon receipt were useless. I have only ever returned one locomotive as if I strike an issue then I fix it.

The timeline is important. Some fanboys are suggesting that the tier system most likely was in effect prior pre-orders being taken by stores and thus any store not eligible to accept pre-orders was doing so at their own peril. As a tier 3 stockists would Hattons rely on there being so much stock left over from tier 1 and 2 purchase pre-orders that items would be instock at Hornby for purchase to satisfy all their pre-orders? Tier 3 stockists may only purchase instock items and are not permitted to accept pre-orders. Would Hattons and other reputable stockists risk their loyalty base by accepting pre-orders for items that they were explicitly forbidden to take? The tier system came into effect apparently after 2021 pre-orders were in place and obviously post-2020 pre-orders. From my discussion on the topic of cancellation of pre-orders the news came out of the blue to many stockists and in one case, the stockist after being refused his 2021 pre-order tally for not meeting the criteria of a tier 1 or tier 2 stockist, was several weeks later offered a reduced number of items to his original order.