GWR-fan

Hattons currently have a pre-owned "Devon Belle" train pack the same catalogue number as mine, however the cream banding does not have the tone that is present on my coaches. https://www.hattons.co.uk/1177236/hornby_r2568_po12_the_devon_belle_train_pack_with_west_country_pacific_3_x_pullman_coaches_limit/stockdetail

Apologies for the delay in responding as I had to recharge the camera batteries. The first image shows the difference in tone between the lower "Devon Belle" coach and the typical tone as seen on the "Bournemouth Belle" coach and all other Hornby Pullman cars. The lower car does not have the richness in tone of the upper car. Both sides of the three cars in the "Devon Belle" train pack are the same bluish tint so I rule out UV damage to the paint. The second and third images highlight the difference between the two cars. The last image shows two cars from the "Golden Arrow" trainset and highlights the difference in tone of the cream banding. As the same side of each of the three coaches are the same dulled tone with the opposite side the more common rich cream tone then I assume the degrading in colour is due to UV exposure. I do find it odd that all three cars in the "Devon Belle" train pack have the same bluish tone on both sides and not the rich cream finish normally seen on the Pullman cars. I have had another "Devon Belle" train pack previously and the cars in that pack had the rich cream livery and not the livery of the current pack. I have around fifty Pullman coaches and none of them have the bluish livery as seen on these three "Devon Belle" coaches.

Many thanks, so a pristine livery is a bridge too far but perhaps a weathered/faded livery is more acceptable in the immediate post-war period.

On a recent Hornby "Golden Arrow" trainset pre-owned purchase I noted that the coaches (unlit Pullmans) had a bluish tint to the original "cream" window banding. I assumed that it was due to sun fading. Last night I opened a pre-owned purchase of a Hornby "Devon Belle" train pack which I had acquired some time ago and noted that the coaches in the pack (lit Pullmans) also had the same bluish tint to the original cream banding. The pack had remained boxed since purchased and out of the sunlight. Seems like once again that the store's policy of simply showing an image of a packaged item has once again bitten me.

Many thanks, interesting links.

Post-nationalisation with goods waggons being designated "P" numbering how long would the actual livery of the waggon have survived, please? Were they painted over or left to deteriorate or until BR refurburbishment or condemming? Basically, would a private owner "livery" have been seen in a BR rake of waggons?

Perhaps a video showing the loco moving off from rest with the same load.

i have learned my lesson that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Purchased from the current discounted sale four Hornby train packs/trainsets arrived over the last two days. One the Tysley pack with "Pitchford Hall" ran superbly with no complaint. The other three contained West Country class locomotives (one non-DCC ready) and all three had issues. One was binding and had a split axle driven gear, while the other two, the loco would not run without the tender connected and then very sporadically. As mentioned in another post I was able to combine parts from two dead locomotives to get one to run but then operation was not as I would prefer as the loc had a wobble at low speed. Two of the West Country train packs were unused and only one image showing the contents still factory wrapped was evident, however, the boxes were in excellent condition and that is apparently what is more important than running qualities. The third loco, after some investigation and disassembly, I discovered that some ham fisted individual (possibly factory employee assembler) had stripped the threads in the chassis block on the aft mount screw hole, so that the lower cover plate could not be tightened down and thus breaking the continuity between the phosphor bronze pickups and the raised metal nib on the chassis. Using a screw taken from those that hold down Oxford diecast models to their plastic bases, I was able to pickup some threads deaper in the chassis block. The screw however was about 1mm too long and so I made a spacer from plastic card to securely fit the lower cover plate on the underside of the chassis. After that power continuity was made and the loco ran very smoothly. Given that this was a supposedly never run model, a simple track test, like the store used to do before listing an item, would have shown the model to be a non-runner and likely traced back to original assembly. Three West Country models (two supposedly "never run") and all non-runners. Prior the store policy to protect the integrity of the "highly desireable" factory packaging, all three models would have been test run prior to listing; Alas, they were not. Yes, I could have returned the items to the store, however, this would extend the tension for weeks into the future as I awaited the receipt of the items to the store and then eventually have been compensated the purchase price with nothing to gain for the "pain" endured. I prefer to try to fix any broken models rather than report the issue to the store. The train packs were purchased for very good prices so at least that is some compensation, but then I have had my fill of non-running models received and would have not purchased the models in the first instance if listed as non-runners, no matter how tempting the bargain. I will particularly avoid any future bargain priced sets that include any variation of the West Country, BOB and Merchant Navy rebuilt models. Perhaps in the future I will not be so willing a customer of the pre-owned listings on offer. Over the last couple of years I have seen the price of pre-owned (used/secondhand) items double in price except for one model. It seems that the Bachmann N class is stuck around the GBP60.00 mark as it has been for years. Even old Hornby shorty HST coaches now are GBP20.00 each. As the price of new items increase so do the prices of the used items. The release of the Dapol Manor class saw the old Bachmann models double in price. As a typical piece of four-wheel rolling stock is now around the 30 quid benchmark, old Mainline models now fetch around 15 quid. Not long ago you would not pay more than 5 or 6 quid for them.

To my shame I tend to agree. The saving grace for me is being able to place items in my trunk, thus a cnsiderable saving on postage costs. Once the trunk exceeds 1kg it is actually cheaper to use DHL than Royal Mail. I generally will build up a trunk to around 5kg before shipping. The exception is trainsets as generally due the size limitations these must be shipped individually. Edit: international shipping is not inexpensive, so when the store is unable to supply an item paid for then why is there no compensation for the shipping costs involved. In the case of a train pack weighing around 1.3kg the cost is around GBP28.50 when using DHL. The store simply refunds the amount paid for the item with no consideration on additional shipping costs incurred, nor international exchange rate fees imposed by credit card companies.

Like you I also hunt down those coaches with the metal wheelsets fitted. Over the weekend I purchased several coaches as I look at an item as the sum of its parts. Downunder a pack of ten Hornby metal wheels are regularly listed at $50.00Aud at stores and the usual auction sites for a pack ($5.00Aud an axle) plus postage. A couple of years ago I was purchasing the Hornby 14.1mm metal wheelsets including airmail shipping for $9.50Aud a pack of ten from Hattons. Thus when a coach has four metal wheelsets fitted I see this as a GBP10.00 saving. When the coach so fitted is selling for GBP10.00 then in theory the coach costs nothing (as all I really wanted was the wheels) or vice versa the wheels costs nothing. On Saturday, seen in the pre-owned listings, I purchased an old transcontinental mail coach for GBP5.00, not because I wanted the coach, but it was fitted with a pair of Commonwealth bogies and four 14.1mm metal wheels. The coach body will be thrown out.

It seems to becoming a more common experience. Over the weekend the store advised that an Oxford diecast model showing two in stock was not accurate and thus they refunded me for the second item as unable to supply. This morning I awoke to another refund message. The Hornby train pack that caused a few emails back and forth because the system overcharged me GBP61.67 on the sale price and they refunded me the overcharge on last Saturday, well this morning's message was a refund for the GBP100.83 paid for the train pack (after the refund on the overcharge) as when the wharehouse went to pick the item it was nowhere to be seen. Of cause there was the usual apology and "the IT department will be fully investigating the issue" response. While the store states that such incidents are very rare, I do seem to be monopolising the situation as for me it is becoming more commonplace.

Unfortunately every cloud does not have a silver lining. I believe that I am now cured of my obsession with pre-owned Hornby train packs and trainsets after the last two arrivals. One was an own goal, described as DCC fitted but non-runner. In the past I have had a lot of success simply by removing the decoder and fitting a blanking plate. No such luck this time as the axle driven gear was cracked and as well the "Railroad" style Golden Arrow Pullman coaches were discoloured from exposure to the sun plus one wind deflector was missing from the streamlined casing on the loco body. I thought that I had a replacement gear however, all the gears that I had were around 0.015" larger diameter and could not be fitted. Spent hours wasting my time to no avail. Today, the "Golden Arrow" trainpack arrived in seemingly unused condition with no marking at all on the wheelsets and the coaches were perfect with all lamps illuminating. Excitedly went to test the "never run" loco and a big fat nothing. The chassis is non-DCC ready with the sprung rear axle and power supplied though the chassis. In troubleshooting I rewired the chassis and sporadically was able to get occasional bursts of power, even with the tender connected. Even when it ran for barely a few seconds it was obvious that the drive was binding. To top it off the R/H slidebar broke off its mounting thus requiring a bit more than a bit of glue to get it to stay on. When I revisit I will mot likely pin the metal slidebar to the plastic mount (a pathetically weak design). Disconcerted I packed everything up in disgust at my gullibility in purchasing a supposedly never run train pack based on just one photo of the items packaged in original tissue paper. Never again (alas, I am awaiting a "Bournemouth Belle" and "Tyseley" train pack to arrive in the mail with hopefully no further dramas). Feeling quite peeved I thought that I needed to salvage something from this fiasco so I removed the centre axle from the non-DCC "new" loco chassis and fitted it to the trainset "Golden Arrow" chassis. While it does run there is a slight wobble as the loco moves and it is better in reverse than in forward direction. At least it runs. Looks like I have an almost complete loco in spares. I could not refit the BR early crest body to the now sort of running chassis as one streamlining wind deflector is missing, so I fitted the malachite green "British Railways" body. Other train packs and trainsets that I purchased in the discount sale over the last week were better represented and heavily discounted. The Hornby dublo 100 year celebration A4 "Sir Nigel Gresley" trainset was perfect and in new condition although a teak composite coach had been changed with a brake composite. Also perfect was a Hornby Premier train set with the Hornby HM2000+ power supply, dual oval of track, West country loco andthree Pullman coaches. All were as new and looked to be unused, perhaps never removed from their boxes. I never would have purchased them but for the massive savings, so perhaps some consolation for the dramas the last two nights

Interesting 7mm narrow-gauge layout

I recall that right up until the planned shipping date the Fell was apparently undergoing some modifications to improve it, leading many to think that the body was being correctly portrayed. Is it possible that the company is going to the expense of retooling another 4DD because of criticism of its accuracy? I think not as the "crowd funding" finances (call it what you will) are not a bottomless pit. Personally, I could live with the model as shown, but then I am not in the market for a set.

A very popular van as evidenced by the high prices asked for mint HD or Wrenn models. While I have wanted a couple for a long time I was not prepared to pay "collector" prices for a mint example and similarly I am not prepared to pay around 30 quid for a newly tooled example, even though this is the current ball park figure for other four-wheel models. Perhaps Hornby might "surprise" us and issue their yellow LMS insulated van as a GWR livery example. I would not expect the price to be under 25 quid if they did so.

With their usual courteous and friendly service the store have refunded me the overcharge on the train pack purchased. Surprisingly, the matter was dealt with on Saturday. It appears that the store's payment process did not recognise the discounted prices in the pre-owned sale and this caused a little IT chaos.

Many thanks, the website seems to be fixed as further purchases without hassle. Still awaiting multiple refunds.

Due anecdotal evidence I have purposely avoided both the S15 and the B12. I know a squeaky axle gets the most grease (you never hear about the quiet axles) but I am not prepared to risk purchasing and getting a possible dud. From memory, the models reported as failing all started off just fine but then after seemingly very little running the locomotives stopped and the motors possibly overheated and failed, drawing considerable amperage. I suppose the only way to know if you have a dud is to run it and hope that it does not fail.

I think that I will avoid the Hattons website until they sort out website problems. On three separate purchases tonight after adding items to my trunk and pressing confirm to initiate payment, a screen showing page not found was displayed. In all three cases charges were made against my credit card as verified on my netbank account and no items were added to my trunk. I did not receive order confirmation emails for the purchases so do not know the order numbers to quote for reference. The items that I purchased are still showing as instock on the pre-owned pages.

Bob83a, thankyou for the clarification on the error message. I was concerned that the issue may have been at my end. VAT is deducted on eligible pre-owned items prior to being added to the trunk as well as items processed through the checkout. The store software knows the purchaser's country and delivery address and so deducts VAT prior to the sale progressing. The issue is not VAT, the issue is that the store lists one price but when an item is added to the trunk a higher price is charged on your card. Look to what I actually wrote. A discounted sale on the pre-owned list was GBP121.00. I was charged GBP194.00 minus VAT, coming to GBP161.67. I have an order confirmation email showing the sale price minus VAT (GBP100.83) and yet I was charged GBP161.67. VAT on GBP121.00 is only GBP20.00. I must assume that you are not eligible for VAT removal and so not aware of how the system actually works for purchasers outside the UK.

Curious if others are having an issue accessing the Hattons website. All afternoon I have been getting the following return "HTTP Error 500.30 - ANCM In-Process Start Failure"

If making a discounted pre-owned purchase with the current sale listings take care if you place the items in your trunk as the price shown on the listing may not be the price that you are actually charged. I noticed the anomaly the other day and found that if I went to checkout rather than adding to the trunk that either the price remained at the stated discounted price or the item would disappear and show no items in your cart. This morning unfortunately I was caught out. I added the item to my trunk and only after pressing confirmed did I notice that the price of the sale item had increased and yet the amount shown afterwards in my items in my trunk was actually shown as the discounted price, GBP100.83. The sale price was GBP121.00 (GBP100.83 after VAT), however, the amount that I was charged was GBP161.67 after VAT (GBP194.00 with VAT). The sale price had mysteriously increased from GBP121.00 to GBP194.00. However, my credit card was charged the much higher price (GBP161.67) instead of GBP100.83, resulting in an overpayment of over GBP60.00. I have requested the store to investigate the matter. Edit: the order confirmation email received shows the selling price as GBP100.83 (after VAT removal) and yet my credit card was charged GBP161.67.

I am aware that the thread is about UV activated glues, however, the following is the super glue that I currently favour. It is cheap and works well. I purchase it from the local "Reject Shop" where it is sold in a pack of two tubes for around $6.00Aud. https://www.bostik.com/australia/en_AU/catalog/product/DIY/apac/australia/product-super-glue-industrial-st/

While you have no control over how the retailer stores his stock of super glue, I always refrigerate it to extend the working life. I also stand the tubes upright once the seal on the end of the nozzle is pierced to prevent the glue setting in the nozzle. I also avoid like the plague all the inexpensive brands found in those two dollar stores as not only is the shelf life minimal, the quality is rubbish. In days of old a Japanese brand "Network" was the ant's pants but I have not seen the brand for a very long time. The label actually stated to store in a refrigerator. A pity as it worked wonders.

As I mostly purchase GWR items, I find that items for that railway generally attract a premium price over a similar item from one of the other big four. In the Oxford diecast range a pre-owned "GWR" vehicle will command a higher price than a similar vehicle in a generic livery. Regardless, to an extent, on condition, it usually relies on demand to set a selling price, so a mint item may not be as expensive as a lesser condition item.