Nova Scotian

31 minutes ago, big jim said:

 

After getting into the yard it was unloading time, Cement train on the camp hill line while I was being unloaded 

 

 

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. 

On 13/05/2023 at 12:29, Kris said:

Apparently 9 coach class 800's have been announced at the n gauge show in York today. 

Any chance they've improved the livery at all? (equipment boxes on coach ends etc). Interior the right way around?

Not exactly complaining - the quality for the price is exceptional.

7 hours ago, HExpressD said:

Well, the loco is now 'unavailable' on the Hornby website, presumably it has sold out. Guess it goes to show that no matter what any of us think, there clearly is a market for it.

We're allowed to be disappointed by life in general that there is indeed a market for it.

Remember, there's nowt queer as folk. Someone, somewhere, will be into something that makes the toes curl on some of us. 

Tacky purple blingy crap is right up there with those awful Charles and Diana plates I remember so *fondly* from my youth.

Here's hoping they have one more announcement before the end of May - would hate for the last Hornby announcement before retirement to be that Coronation 66... he should be sent off with something special.

There's no denying his dedication to the hobby and the industry. Wishing him a happy retirement.

It was the breathless e-mail "Big announcement" that really stuck in my craw. 

Just be truthful

"Hornby releases niche model that will appeal to enough people they'll make good margin, but is the epitome of tackiness".

I'd be tempted to stomp on every one I see, except that would possibly make the remainder worth more...

As a Brit, but at a distance, the coronation stuff is extremely distasteful.

3 hours ago, Bucoops said:

 

They released this last year - https://uk.Hornby.com/products/lmsbr-class-4f-no-43924-railway-children-era-3-r3022 - but now I see it's for the new film. Totally forgot about that!

But you're right - that's a Studiocanal license - so might be wrapped up by them for the film "franchise" if there is one? You can see the logo on the back.

I guess we'll find out in time!

7 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

Hornby have the licence for Railway Children.

Really? Bachmann did the most recent one set. (lovely one too)

Oh I'm an idiot... Railway Children is Studio Canal.

L&YR Class 25 would be fantastic - stands up in its own right as well as the film link.

And to fit with the cute industrials a Hudswell Clarke 1369 long tank (MSC 067 for railway children).

If Rapido do one or both I'd buy them in a heartbeat.

They could really piss Hornby off and do the James Bond Goldeneye Train that was a class 20 - I thought that'd be an ideal project for Hornby and their Limby 20.

I also suggested once that Hornby could also run a Brief Encounter special of their Stanier 4P 2-6-4T. And Bachmann doing a Paddington 2 LMS Crab and A1 Tornado.

One for EFE could be the Austerity from Chitty Bang Bang in blue.

Fairburn tank from Swallows and Amazons?

I should probably think of some Rapido appropriate examples rather than ones for other manufacturers... but drawing a blank.

Oooooh, City of Truro from Howard's end could be good - would love a brilliant quality city class...

That's a very pretty little loco

Yeah I'm sorry, but they clearly got the compound curves on the cab of that 47 wrong, accentuated by the wrong paint finish. Look how flat and shiny it looks. Barely a step above Lima.

2 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Not only wasn't it a model it, the Birmingham airport monorail was a maglev. </pedant>

 

I was six or seven years old and so not intimately acquainted with magnetic levitation

I'm certain my father brought one of these home from one of his business trips in the 90s - early 90s - either the US or Australia.

Probably 1991/1992? 

No idea what happened to it. I remember him setting it up and running it around - we'd just been to the NEC and seen the Birmingham Airport monorail and not knowing any better I thought this was a model of that. 

A rare, vintage, luxury, highly detailed and accurate locomotive has shown up on Canadian eBay.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/266147753600

It was the class 17s that looked wrong, not the model.

A must buy for n gauge fans

Something to run next to your Rivarossi Royal Scot HO - and a lovely model for the time it was! I have my eye on one on ebay, but not at the price asked!

A few stories on Vivarail today - liquidating assets. 
 

GWR picking up a few employees, some IP and some stock for the fast charge battery product. 
 

this is a quote from Rail Magazine - part of the blame for administration is placed on maintenance cost of the WMR 230s being higher than forecast. “WMT reports that Vivarail was replacing up to three engines a week on its Class 230 diesel multiple units, resulting in low availability and higher-than-expected operating costs.”

What on earth? This was supposed to be a tested, easy to repair/maintain commercial van engine dropped into this product. Was the cooling package wrong? Vibration? This strikes me as very odd. It was the ford 3.2l five cylinder diesel right? No wonder operators were wary of the 230s if this was happening. 
 

Seems like core engineering they needed to get right for their customers, but pulled in lots of different directions with battery, hydrogen etc. That said, clearly GWR saw their battery IP as valuable enough with commercial potential. 

About 15% of the original Class 37 fleet is in use on the mainline, right? Mid-40s out of 309 originally.

Currently mainline in use Class 60s is what, 25? No more than 30, and usually a couple out at anytime. That's still 25%-30% of the fleet on the mainline.

The initial size of fleet plays into it too - at 100 strong and with few shared major components with other classes that's going to impact longevity - the order for 250 66s is far more significant in terms of a unified fleet. As comparison, the 26s were about the same class size and lasted 30-35 years. The 40s were double the class size and lasted less than 30 years, Same with the Peaks, less than 30 years. The 100 86s lasted just about 40 years in passenger service, although a handful made it another 15 years in freight service.

I think if things had been "different" the 60s would have had a better life. They came at the wrong time in privatisation. An order for 250 would have changed their fortunes, and I can imagine we'd have seen sub-classes rated for different speeds, some different power outputs as it was continously improved etc.

I liked the 60s until I finally got the Lima model in early 90s I lusted after (I say finally, it came out in 1990 and it was probably like 91 or 92, but seemed like an age back then!) and it was a disappointment. Not as bad as the Hornby Class 58, but as a kid I didn't really *get* that a model of the real thing didn't necessarily mean it could haul like that real thing... Now they're being rehabilitated :)

11 hours ago, AndyID said:

Lookout Pass ski area on the Idaho/Montana border.

 

Look out for balloons!

15 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Definitely enjoyed it. That leg of the cruise was 2 weeks out and back to New York. We had 3 days in Quebec City. The ship had a prime parking position. Our port in NS was Halifax. The Royal Navy Queen Elizabeth was in port.  As we left there was a lot of horn sounding as we were on a Queen too (QM2). It was September and the weather was pleasant, not hot. However there was much tidying up still from the hurricane that had passed over while we were in Quebec. 

Was that this year? We were absolutely walloped by Fiona in September.

I live and work in Halifax. September and October here are my favourite months, as you say the weather is typically pleasant, but not hot (other than the tailend of a hurricane that occasionally comes through...)

David