Nova Scotian

Anyone else seeing new stuff on the Hornby website? A "railroad plus" Class 40. Various A3s in Dublo, including the Pegler USA tour spec. Class 802 TPE. Class 423 in southwest and Southern. 800 GWR trainbow. The prince of wales P2 new build. Streamlined P2. Standard 2. Class 100 as a "railroad plus". Class 50 can't tell if new liveries or retool. And then tonnes of TT - HSTs, big diesels, kettles, etc. Or did everyone already see this? Struggling with the search function tonight... went through a few pages and couldn't see it.

When in the sequence is Stroudley improved engine green?

I haven't got a clue - but I expect if 2021 and 2022 models then almost certainly? I was thinking about how one would speed match two of these to two E1 (Thomas chassis) using resistors - using these as "booster" bogies on the front of a 4-6+6-4 garratt monster with all four motors wired in parallel, and some lead flashing. Unfortunately the 0-6-0 chassis aren't on the same sale... Totally pointless, would just spin its wheels etc etc. Not prototypical, but 20 driven axles on an articulated garratt would be fun. Not sure how you'd pivot the bogies (0-4-0) chassis, nor get enough weight into it with the height available. Or maybe a Fairlie?

Anyone who's a Hornby collectors club member might like this - a brand new donor chassis for twelve quid https://uk.Hornby.com/products/2021-Hornby-collector-club-locomotive-r3953 or https://uk.Hornby.com/products/2022-Hornby-collector-club-locomotive-r30202 And by chopping it up you might make the remaining "collectibles" more valuable ;)

If I didn't disagree with you this would be funny ;)

Remember SK saying they got wind of a competitor re. HST.... What better way to follow a 37 and 47 than an HST?

Any 442s left unscrapped? Maybe some new third rail (despite the rule against doing so) along Marston Vale. Rejigged to a 3 car unit it'd fly! You could even stick a diesel engine and generator in the front half of one of the driving cars - a la Class 210 - voila, a bi-mode and you don't need to worry about overhanging platforms anymore. Paint it NSE though.

Unfortunately I can't imagine seeing Castle sets on the Marston Vale line. Just don't need that power-to-weight ratio, top speed, etc. And the door configuration, seats etc are all a bit silly for 16.5 miles. That said, there were the top-tailed 37s (then 68s!) on mk2s in East Anglia on routes not much longer. I assume the biggest challenge will be some form of rolling stock that meets accessibility standards and is currently sitting around waiting for lease opportunities? For the other lines, maybe TfW would entertain an HST? That'd be fun. The other potential here is someone comes along, offers creditors 30pence on the pound but has to assume the existing contracts - everyone gets to hit the reset button a bit and creditors are happy to see 30p back rather than nothing. (30p chosen as an example, not as someone with an inside track). There are times that a business can be sustainable, but the debt load it carries is too much - a sale that buys out some of that debt and cancels the rest is often still better than no sale and a liquidation of assets. Personally I wanted to see them succeed, because if they can be "more sustainable" with less fuel consumption, a decent overhauled set (passengers seem happy with them), and they can push rail service into communities where no other model makes sense that's a good thing. I also feel for the employees. It's tough being a new entrant to a market like this - your future may depend on developing and implementing a step-change technology (eg. the battery storage side), but to get there you have to get a product out the door with revenue, your runway keeps getting shorter and any slippage in the commercialisation funnel makes it harder and harder. Small firms can be scrappy and do things the large firms can't due to interia, but they're not resourced and financed like the big firms, obviously!

GWR is starting to dispose of the Castle sets :)

On the topic of advent calendars - Hornby doing one again this year too. Day 1 is the chance to win some number of hobby points. https://uk.Hornby.com/christmas/advent-calendar

Interesting, I thought it was because he'd got ahead of himself (it says day-2, but it's the 1st December). But changing the link manually doesn't work! The newsletter e-mail for once doesn't give a "view online" option. This is the day 1 item, a Gaugemaster Track Cleaning Wagon in RTC livery https://railsofsheffield.com/products/gaugemaster-gm4430103-track-cleaning-wagon-br-rtc 30 quid, 33% off as was 45 quid. I'm signed up for the newsletter and got it at 8am UK time.

Greatly saddened by this.

When still in use in Devon you had a 2+1 pacer plus class 153. The 153 was always filled before the pacer because of the difference in comfort (ride, sound levels etc). The pacer did do what it was meant to do. That doesn't mean it wasn't a blight on our railways as compared to if they had invested in proper rolling stock. They weren't going to do that, so we got what we got. They did not see the economic benefit the railway brings as important enough - bean counting indeed. I will maintain they are awful machines and are suitable only as public toilets (their other main use). The 230s are a massive step up from them. The difference a set of real bogies makes.

I found it interesting that there's some US ownership and a very short time before entering administration they shipped a second product to the US. I'm disappointed by what's happened here. I think their product had application and was promising to maintain rail service in some areas - and much better than the pacer was. They were set back by a number of clear problems - a fire, the software for the Isle of Wight (must have cost them a fortune), and then a "thermal incident". I don't think the D stock are ratty, or can't be made to be good - particularly the bogies. However, I do think the choice of D stock caused one massive problem that's been talked about before - a 60mph top speed. This causes problems for any pathing on mainline. Anything else (passenger) out there is 75mph plus. Pacer was 75mph (if it ever got there and didn't give you brain damage shaking at that speed).

"As the doors open at Warley Model Railway Exhibition on 26th November 2022, visitors to the Hornby stand will be given the chance to experience something special! If they'd said "new product launch" then this thread would have been different. Not just a special announcement, they said "chance to experience something special". We all tried to parse the experience word and what was meant by that. I can't imagine in the world of model trains "any publicity is good publicity". Not how this works. Noone trawls their way through 15 pages of rmwebbers doing what we do best and thinks "I'll just hop on the Hornby website and buy something I hadn't already planned to".

Rolled my eyes so hard I have a headache

I'll bite. You may place your pre-order through Hattons, Rails of Sheffield, Kernow, TMC, Derails, Gaugemaster, or any of the myriad of other ones. This might be because they show capacity for pre-orders, they are doing a discount when the manufacturer is not online, or that you just like to support a shop from good experience beforehand. Many stores aren't just a physical location, they are supported significantly by their online sales, and shipping in the UK is cheap. These stores take a risk by pre-ordering stock that may not sell (or may sell out - and they've left money on the table by discounting when it would have sold at full price) that makes the case for a manufacturer to produce a run. They stock other goods you need, and if you give them a call they'll give you advice. I think the "omni-channel" approach was working mostly well for the consumer - you can buy online direct, buy from your modelshop direct, or go in in person. However, any accountant will tell you you're giving up margin (for both sides) in this model, which is particularly important if your demand outstrips supply to the end consumer. So, retailers start commissioning runs, and it means they can also get small runs of niche products done the manufacturer won't. The manufacturer looks to maximize margins on popular product. The problem that I have with this is when the manufacturer appears, on multiple occasions, to have reneged on allocations - with the threat of no future allocations if a fuss is made (various threads on this forum allege this). Essentially they have destroyed good faith, chasing extra margins, despite pissing off both the retailer and the original consumer ordering (hoping there are tens-to-hundreds of consumers that want the in-demand product to make up for every one you upset). So, coming back to the announcement - as an "experience" it would be fantastic to see them reengage with the retailers. Working with their retailers to enhance displays, stock, inventory, and ensuring that allocations are strong and kept to. Online, direct selling remains part of the picture, but not the whole story. The work that Rails and others have done to expand their stores, run sessions, make it more interactive - it's making it more about the hobby again, about crafting - rather than just buying boxes. So much more to modelling than just buying a loco - the scenery, electronics, accessories - and of course speaking to someone who knows what wagons would have run in that era with that loco. When I hear experience I hope for a partnership where hobby sales can increase across the board because we all want to model more because our retailers are stronger from the partnership. I expect to be disappointed.

Not afraid to report I went SR, GWR, LNER and LMS. Seems harsh as I do like Coronation Class, Royal Scots etc, but Gresley has the edge in big engines :) Then GWR tank engines push them into second for me. As a kid I didn't like the King/Castle compared to the big LNER and LMS engines, but have come to appreciate them more with age. Lord Nelsons, Schools, Bulleid Pacifics etc push SR in to first place. The engineering challenges they faced, and then looks + utility. Of course, once it's BR I'm a Western Region fan, and Scotland :)

It's just of an incredible scale. Admittedly I only ever saw Woodhams late 80s and early 90s because of my age, but I can't imagine there were ever this many locos parked up anywhere in the UK. A few gems in there as well. Going to have to win the lottery and make a visit to buy some of my favourites.

A chance to experience something special? Something new and exciting for all of us? They must be committing to decent model shop allocations of their range for popular preorders. And not cancelling those allocations to redirect to online direct orders. That would be a fantastic experience we could all appreciate.

I'll take mine in Loadhaul livery or not at all.

Not surprising - it's not fast enough nor regular enough to ever make sense for my business travel (a one-two day conference becomes 5 days, whereas with a flight I can often fly back the night before and sometimes in the morning of). The quality of service is declining as a tourism operation, no dome car or observation car. It's not useful for intercity travel unless Moncton - Halifax, but even then it's much slower than by car. It doesn't go through the other two main NB cities. If the Via / the feds kill it, I hope they come up with real options for travel in the maritimes, preferably lower carbon. It's seven hours by bus from Halifax to Saint John, or four hours driving by car. Halifax to Charlottetown and/or Moncton a little better. Local air service was hammered by COVID, such that YSJ, YQM, YFC, YQY and YYG have had quite significant cuts. YQM and YYG probably the least, by virtue of size, and location. I doubt the service could ever be profitable given they don't own the tracks, the track quality in NB is such that the speeds are very slow, they have no economies of scale in staffing, resourcing, equipment etc from having any other service out this way. Any investment in new equipment isn't going to pay off, even if it did increase ridership etc. I can imagine the breakeven point is just too out of reach for the volumes of people that would travel. Ultimately the lack of decent public transport out here is what will probably drive me out to look to live elsewhere.

My parents were on the "Ocean" in the last month and commented on the buffer car - of course this is in addition to the trainsets no longer being turned and therefore not having dome/observation cars, but they do have Budd sleepers. Rail service - at least to the east coast - continues its decline. I assume as new Siemens trainsets come online the rest of the country will be dripfed any coaches that can pass an inspection as we wait on a decision to other recapitalize the rail fleet outside of the windsor-quebec corridor, or for them to finally pull the plug. As a side note I've been looking at tickets for December on the Ocean - very, very little sleeper availability. It doesn't seem unpopular - but I doubt there'll be any analysis of lost revenue (due to capacity) when doing profit/loss for the line.

Fella in the boom crane from this segment on looks like he's in an Austin Powers movie (eg. parody of generic henchmen from Bond type movies. It's the high collar black uniform!). 880 seconds in, 14:20, if the link doesn't start there immediately Also the Q1 does not belong on this list. Probably the best 0-6-0 - power, power to weight, maintenance, cost and speed of production etc. 51 ton loco with that tractive effort is outstanding. Especially with proper size (ish) driving wheels - unlike the J38 which barely belongs on this list as the wheels are so much smaller (so pure freight rather than having eyes on mixed use, even if the rest may not have been great mixed use!). Q probably the most disappointing. 4F the most limited for its inherent capability otherwise?

If only they'd put as much effort into weathering the track and ballast as they did the roof to the right. Very unrealistic, trainset type set-track. Far too clean and uniform.