JamFjord

A sad loss to the railway modelling community but an understandable decision by the club, based on the statement released. I went to Warley once, in 2022 for both days, and frankly was in awe at the amount of organisation, dedication and plain old graft it must have taken to successfully deliver an exhibition at that scale. The reference to financial risk is a key point, I think - something that people perhaps don't consider unless they have been involved in taking these risks themselves. Having been away from the hobby until relatively recently, it did take me by surprise that one single model railway club (venerable as it may be) had been running an event at such a huge scale for so many years, with all the work and risk that entails. Bravo and thank you to all those involved who had made Warley the massive success it was.

Thanks, I wasn't. I hope both batches go ahead, even if my wallet is a little nervous about that prospect.

Done the same, seeing as I won't need to put funds aside for Barclays any more...

I very much hope so! I've been impressed by just about everything within the Hattons Originals range, but I have a particular fondness for the Barclays (I had four from batch 2 on pre-order, with the intention to up that to the full nine when funds allowed). The build quality, detailing and mechanisms have been near perfect on the models I picked up from batch 1 (up there with Hornby's Peckett in my experience, limited and ignorant as that may be). I'm aware that there were limitations to the extent to which all variations of the prototype could be represented with the tooling, but that's a reasonably common issue (although seemingly less so in recent years). Still, imho Hattons Barclay is an excellent starting point for further customisation and a damn good model in its own right - it would be a shame for the hard work and IP to be wasted that went into designing and manufacturing such a lovely little model.

I sincerely hope that any Hattons employees who may be reading this thread are able to take from it the widespread appreciation of the fantastic, dedicated work they've done, and ignore all the rampant, unwarranted speculation on what is causing Hattons to close, along with the news being callously treated as tea leaves by which to predict the doom of this hobby. Pack it in, please, and have some compassion.

Such sad news, especially after 77 years, and a shock. They seemed quite an innovative bunch, I thought each of their Originals models that I got were up there with some of the best offerings out there. I also found Hattons trunk service very useful and appreciated it as an innovative service that I would like other retailers to adopt (although it can't have been cheap to run). Like many of us I've talked to a good few of the Hattons team over the phone, at shows and at the shop - they've always been pleasant and helpful and all seemed like good people, I hope they all manage to find new jobs very soon.

The road transition to the backscene is melting my brain. And before anyone tells me I need new glasses, I just got this pair.

@Ruston - have you already written a guide to how to do this elsewhere? If not, pretty please with knobs on :) Considering how quickly the occasional pre-owned models from batch 1 sell out, this is a surprise. Mine are all listed 😬😟

The postie brought my paper copy this morning so I've been enjoying a flick through with my coffee. It has some cracking layouts and I'm enjoying the improvements to the format, the practical tips (all of them) will no doubt come in handy, and I particularly enjoyed the (new?) Community and Prototype features as well. The design improvements look good to me, I find BRM the best looking and easiest to read of the railway modelling mags these days, which is probably why it's the one I subscribe to - I only tend to pick up the occasional copy of one of the others when there's something that catches my eye. Not sure what I could suggest as an improvement to BRM over and above what's been recently improved. What's the publishing equivalent of "compliments to the chef"?

Thanks, Keith - useful tip! Still not built it yet as there isn't much call for a Clyde Puffer in Powys...

I remember watching one of Simon's interviews where he said something along the lines of "not currently, probably later" but I've obviously been out of the loop with regards to how imminent it was... pesky real life getting in the way of my tiny trains fun.

Thanks @simonmcp - sorry I missed this at the time but in all honesty Taunton would've had to be a "long-weekend" type of commitment for me where I'm currently living. I'll keep my eye out for Shwt appearing at other shows though (one can hope).

Interesting development; Gaugemaster have announced that they will be stocking Hornby's TT:120 range. https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/news/article/view/id/1259/ Also looks from the above link that the HST might not be too far off.

Thanks jimbofin, sorry I didn't spot your comment earlier - it does indeed help! In the end I decided to take a different approach with the layout (which I've summarised in another blog post if you're interested) but it's useful to know about all those sources and suppliers as I'm hoping this layout will be the first of a bunch. The link was also useful - I can appreciate your point about the printing, judging by the listing photos, but there are some interesting building shapes in the range which could make a good 'skeleton' to overlay with texture sheets and detail packs. But not for this layout, probably, as I'm already struggling to find space for the structures I've already bought 😅😬

Indeed. Doesn't Llangollen have an autocoach in GWR livery?

Thanks for that, Jason. 'Efficient' is one of the locos I always made a point of seeing at RSR, along with 'Alexander', Heysham No. 2 and Pug No. 19. Certainly no criticism from me on the quality of the paint job as originally applied, and the current patina adds to the appeal imo. I still think Hattons have done a decent job considering the tooling that would be required to fully represent all the possible variations seen in the full size AB prototypes, especially considering the price. Maybe Planet Industrials could be persuaded to design another cab kit? I also love that photo, thanks for sharing it - and yep, H&S would probably shut that down in a second these days. What could possibly go wrong on a bumpy light railway? 😬

Aye, but I was thinking a conversion would be doable. There would need to be a fair bit of weathering and detailing added anyway to match current condition iirc.

T Thank you, thank you, thank you, Hattons!! I guess I wasn't the only person pestering Hattons staff about this model every time I spoke to you. The price of these and the new P Class batch is also a nice surprise in the current economic climate. I can't tell you how happy I am that 'Efficient' has been included in this batch, but all the liveries are really nice - I think I probably need them all. On a completely unrelated subject, can I interest anyone in a couple of pre-owned kidneys? Some signs of use and buyer will need to collect.

If you decide to go ahead with this, could I politely ask that you please share your process? I'd love to recreate this little beastie myself. Incidentally, I heard a rumour that the 1:1 scale version is being (or is about to be) restored - I'd be very happy if there was any truth to that. I understand the logistics and financials involved, but it's still a crying shame that this example has sat rusting away for so long - same could be said for Peckett 'Daphne' on the Ribble site. I just need to pick the right lotto numbers...

Another lovely layout, loads of potential - good luck to those who enter the giveaway

@bazil31 I'd suggest there's nothing to stop you learning why that's not a good idea, then attempting it in a way that doesn't risk damaging your decoder/SA. Unless that was just an April Fool, of course...

I like that you're rethinking the framing / viewing angles in line with the context within which the scene exists - got me thinking 🤔

Not even close 🤦‍♂️

Because orange is the best colour* It's between this and Colas, can't make up my mind... which is probably a sign that I need both. * all colours are equally lovely, of course - we embrace diversity here at the Fjord

Living the dream right there... or my dream, at least. Congrats on your first kitbash, looks good to me. I'm interested to see how the house turns out.