Nova Scotian

Clearly an HST with 9 coaches available at launch. Maybe they got sick of waiting around for the Dapol 66 and they're going to gazzump them? I would say there's a greater than zero chance of this. Although one of the clues is that it's not in their current ranges (and they took over the OO hattons 66...) What about a class 28 metrovik? Rapido got the n gauge! This would have a tenuous Irish connection too!

Rapido teasing livery sample over on their twitter

This is what the twitter world were speculating on. Scotrail and TFW (Marches to replace mk4s) were both mentioned. However, some (and who knows how well informed they are) stating the MK5As have too many problems to be redeployed. I need to prioritise a trip over before December - last time I was over I couldn't schedule to be behind a 68 with other things we had going on. Don't want to miss the chance before they're potentially gone.

Yeah it was my mistake as I'm in Canada and their site autoconverted to CAD$.

Twitter, so, likely someone more connected than youtube clickbait, but, obviously... twitter.

Oh crap, you're right - it's defaulted to my home currency. I get annoyed when it does that - if I'm ordering from a UK site it goes to a UK address, from a UK credit card. Blackwells, whom I love, are particularly bad for that. My apologies. And yes, $146 is about one decent beer session in inner London...

Hearing more of these are going to storage and their time is going to be up shortly? Lack of drivers, cracks in the Mk5As, the 68s are unpopular with local residents etc.

Right, but the pricing is awful. The image says 100 quid for 150 quid of value, but the price online that gets added to your basket is 146 quid. "Oh look, I saved the price of a half pint in the london suburbs for a box where nothing is likely to be the same era, and I can't even guarantee the livery of the locomotive". This is why I contend their inventory isn't particularly high. There have been much, much better deals on OR (and Hornby) products in past years - 50% and even 60% off as they tried to shift stock. Now we're lucky to see 30%, maybe 40% on a big steamer. This one is more expensive than the box contents https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/products/gwr-locomotive-r3534-and-assortmen-of-vehicles

I was actually joking. I model in OO. I do have some HO for s***s and giggles - rule one stuff. But if we're being pendants, the Roco HO will be more accurate than the Rapido, which isn't Rapido's fault, it's the fault of the scale. However, one purchases the scale that fits everything else you run. Now, someone's going to come along and modify their Rapido to P4 to prove me wrong, and they are far more dedicated to scale than I am!

Fixed it for you ;)

I don't know why some posters are obsessed with the idea that if you have a separate company's house listing then the parent company doesn't control you. It's absolutely 100 false and shows no understanding of corporate governance and ownership. The majority owner of Oxford Diecast, LCD Enterprises, was wholly acquired by Hornby Plc. That means they are the only shareholder - as the only shareholder they have complete control of the company. There are many ways they can decide to treat it - one can have an independent board of directors - or one shares directors across the organizations to be able to divest more easily - or you can delist. Most acquisitions the subsidiary remains an entity on the books for lots of good reasons. My father was listed for 8+ companies, all of which were subsidiaries of a parent. There was no question of the parent not having full control - when the parent was sold so were the subsidiaries (although one could choose to divest). In my last job we would navigate corporate mazes of controlling minority interest, majority interest, ownership, branches versus subsidiaries etc - large multinationals would have hundreds of legal entities, sometimes thousands. The new Hornby Plc CEO was appointed Director of both LCD Enterprises and its subsidiary (of which it had majority ownership) Oxford Diecast. That's pretty clear. Now - what comes next is the question. Hornby could divest itself of the company - through a variety of means. It could also just shut it down so there's no onward competition. It could keep it on the books and do any number of things.

So, June 9th to August 8th is two months for them to have seen my brilliant idea, measured the loco, drawn the CAD then sent for tooling - right? That's it. I'm claiming credit. Or, you can blame me, if that's your persuasion.

They've clearly never been to Great Yarmouth - no way is any part of the town that clean ;)

Absolutely - the range can't expected to be planned when they were two separate entities. However, there should have been a brand and product plan to maximise their value - and I would suggest in doing so that is also supporting the hobby. Had forgotten about the Janus - I liked that one too. Some cracking deals a few years ago on Janus plus trucks. Something like 50 to 70 quid - no way to get that in post-covid times.

I don't wish to speak too ill of SK and others that have since left Hornby - but the brand strategy there never made sense. Reviving Dublo with high-end, limited edition, high margin, diecast range was inspired. Bassett-Lowke steam punk - what in the actual ****? Railroad, Railroad plus - and then Oxford rail in there too somewhere? Hornby Junior - made sense until they had to kill it for Playtrains, which also seems to have not sold as well as hoped? Unfortunately, as I had high hopes for it. Oxford Rail and its line could have found a place in the Hornby brand mix, if they'd known what they were doing with it. Some would go away. Some may come back with improvements. The radial is pretty good, the the second run was better than the first. Maybe it's not back for a while, but once demand picks up. The Deans Goods was fixable. The N7 good. Maybe they needed to better link Oxford Diecast and Oxford Rail? Create a new line of nostalgic locos - but that's where they've revived Triang? Or it could have been the second/third rung up on the brand ladder: Railroad Triang - Nostalgic old tooling Oxford Rail, by Hornby Hornby Hornby Dublo Bassett-Lowke - special o gauge runs (like they did for centenary) Maybe there's just not room for it? No matter the details - it doesn't feel well planned. It doesn't feel consistent. It's certainly not well communicated. With so much potential "value" in their brands they certainly pissed much of it up the wall (steampunk being the worst).

The variation in the texture of the ground is excellent. As is the depth of the detail on the brickwork - it's not flat. But again I keep coming back to the rich varied texture on the floor - I assume it was deliberate to have the smoother texture at the foot of the steps where there'd have been more foot traffic?

Thread on Freightliner storing their 90s: Per other comments lots of failings and factors here: - Slow electrification, no confidence in a plan to deliver electrification - so limited utility of electric freight (eg. fast container freight a 90 can pull you're not going into Felixstowe!) - Refusal of successive UK governments to structure low cost, resilient baseload generation to support electrification - Failure of governments, but especially the last twelve years, to make strategic investments in grid and gas storage that would have mitigated price shocks since February 2022. - Failure of governments to make and implement both policy and regulation to set the conditions for greater electrification and use of electric - Arrival of class 93s and 99s a challenge to remaining class 90 moves, particularly as they'll be significantly more flexible in operation (can run longer stretches not under the wires, such as Felixstowe) It's utter madness to me that we have so many freight diagrams running diesel under the wires. The grid is easier to decarbonize than a locomotive (can only go so far with biofuels and/hydrogen currently), and the point source emissions of particulates etc are undesirable compared to the alternative. We've seen this was the 92s too. And in the passenger world the unsuccessful 769s.

Couldn't see this posted elsewhere. This tweet went past my feed today - a screenshare of a DB article stating they have stored the last of their class 90s due to high electricity costs, and are looking at disposal options. https://twitter.com/pipdunn/status/1683496922189910020/photo/1 They state of the 24 Class 90s on DB Cargo's books half have been stored between 5-20 years. This mirrors the Freightliner decision too. To me this is disappointing and demonstrates that the market has not appropriately priced carbon, and the deregulation of the utilities obviously couldn't hold up to the market strain of an event like Ukraine (not surprising given the government's lack of investment in energy storage - despite being told since the mid 2000s this would be a problem...). I have a soft spot for the 90s having done Norwich -> Liverpool Street regularly.

Don't you just hate it when modellers go with the clichéd stationary on train the bridge ;)

Checking out the new Flying Scotsman bundle and Silver King bundle I noticed this disclaimer: "This bundle does not qualify for the original 15% discount for TT:120 Club members This bundle does not qualify for the 20% back in Hobby Reward points for TT:120 Club Members." Had I paid thirty quid or more to be a member, then found Hornby are selective in the benefits of membership I'd be pretty pissed off.

I would 100% have been in for a brown as-preserved if they'd been straight with us. I don't understand how valve gear works, it does stuff, that'd be good enough for me if they were clear about what they were selling. As per my previous post I'm not buying because I don't like and don't trust them. Which is a bloody shame, because this is absolutely a top rule 1 purchase for me. Sigh.

USATC S160 - not been an OO version of this before. Slightly jokingly: - An HO A4 and/or A3. The A3 in HO has now been done, but an A4 hasn't. Steal a page of out Hornby's pacific book! Infact, you could even follow these up with HO LMS Coronation Class, Royal Scot, and a King Class. Most sales would be NAM, but there are a few odd British HO odd ducks around.

I've been so tempted by this one - and honestly the running sample doesn't look bad. If they were clear on "we can't model this exactly as it is, these are the compromises and why we made them" I think that'd help many people here. It would help me, but the fact they won't and haven't is a symptom of why I won't be ordering this (despite having had it in my cart a few times the last months!). Their e-mails, approach to customers etc just gives me no confidence. That GT3 set of e-mails was just awful. If I miss out I miss out - it's a pure rule 1 purchase, but rule 1 is my heart and that usually overrules anything else. I've made lots of silly purchases I couldn't be happier with because I love the model, the prototype etc. But because it's a heart purchase, if it doesn't feel right, I won't do it. And that's why I've not. Rapido's videos annoy me (sorry, fellow Canadians), but I don't doubt they love the hobby, they're authentic, and that they listen to customers. They are a model for how to do communications, even if their style doesn't fit with mine. Accurascale are another example of how to get it right. It doesn't have to be combative. It doesn't need to be over-egged and overblown - it's the only Bellerophon model out there - don't tell me it's the best oo gauge model ever made, just tell me it's the best within a set of parameters including cost, complexity, realism, and manufacturing technology. I don't have a monthly model budget, so it's not competing against others, just my own reluctance to spend money I'll then owe the bank for!

Wow at those e-mails. I was close to an order for Bellerophon - the first they'll be producing I've really wanted. Hummed and harred over it for a very long time. Was put off in original GT3 by their combative nature and not really wanting one. Then issues with the Fell. Kind of embarrassing to also be British ex-pat in Canada if this is what they sound like... My most immediate thought is a cashflow crunch. Selling each bundle would free up 40k - probably enough to pay for the next downpayment on CAD or tooling etc - and one assumes the ficticious liveries are not selling as hoped. My second thought was "why the hell would you still send an e-mail like that?". A persecution complex in no.1, flying close to the sun on "guaranteed profits" in no.2, and I just can't see it working on anyone. I'm still cringing. KR models off my list for a long time now. Can't trust them, don't like them.

The body sides actually look like a better attempt than the doors (shocking) and the front side by cab. Wonder if for models like that they need to replicate real life - start printing vinyl wraps and applying those.