brushman47544

You have got to be joking . Hornby really should take a lesson from themselves about their packaging. I understand the need for a box that will protect a model on its way from China, but the current jigsaw puzzle box really is going too far. If nothing else, the polystyrene should be one piece - several of my locos have "fallen" between the two parts when unwrapping, fortunately only bits that could be easily refitted were dislodged. The "lesson"? Well the current Hornby Rivarossi (and probably Hornby International in general) packaging is much more user friendly. A single polystyrene tray longer than the loco so the add on parts are in a separate cut-out at one end. The Hornby Railroad boxes aren't too bad, although the locos are more tightly fitted than the Rivarossi ones. To be fair, I should also say that I do not like the Bachmann plastic inserts either. At least you can cut away the Hornby polystyrene to avoid knocking off added detailing, which you cannot do with the Bachmann plastic. Back to the thread. I too am very pleased with my Swindon Castle. I have to say my reasons for buying it are the same as the Stationmaster's - single chimney, late crest, Collett tender. If Hornby already offered this on a standard production model, I would probably have bought that instead, particularly as I could have bought DCC fitted rather than fit a decoder myself. Hornby does seem to have gone overboard with early emblem and/or Hawksworth tenders, particularly considering there were more Collett tenders in circulation.

Must be that limited edition box the model comes in - worth every penny of the extra cost compared to the standard models

That would be good, but they haven't appeared in the lists published in MREMag as on their way from China, so I suspect not.

. Now there's something to catch out a manufacturer: 7807 - Blue, 7808 - Blue/Grey, 7809 - Blue. How many would see 7809 and assume 7808 was the same... No thanks on the VEP front, but a CIG or a BIL - Yes please. (It's all down to comfort when travelling in them)

I agree and I'm very happy with my Swindon model. However, I do wish the manufacturers wouldn't paintshop the models in their catalogues and advertising where they know clearly visible detail changes are to be made. I will not pre-order in such cases in case they get it wrong. In some cases, particularly in the rest of Europe, manufacturers wait for sufficient pre-orders from traders to produce a model. The same applies to weathering - compare the original advertising picture of Bachmann's 08173 (black/oily weathering) with the final orange weathered production model. Please manufacturers can we see what we will get. And if I close each eye in turn in bright sunlight I see slightly different colours because one eye is slightly more sensitive to light than the other. But using one or both eyes, I'm still happy that Hornby's green for the Castles is close enough for me.

Uh-oh... None of the A2s are now showing as arriving in the next 60 days or anytime soon on the Bachmann website. Instead, the dreaded § symbol has reappeared. Perhaps I'll buy something else instead...

Me too...too. And very fine it looks. To my admittedly inexperienced eye, the Hornby green does not look too far off and is certainly acceptable. A slightly more gloss finish, rather than the very dull matt Hornby uses, might improve the appearance however. Someone on this thread commented that the boiler band lining appeared to be a different colour to the lining on the tender and cab sides. I thought so too to start with, but now I'm convinced it's the same red/brown colour - it just looks darker on the tender/cab because of the black lining next to it.

Wasn't this 76339...done following accident damage.

Thanks Andy, the bodyshell looks very promising indeed. But getting the window details correct will be important. As kintbury jon says, the top part of the large windows were sliding vents divided in the middle, and I too expect these to be shown as part of the glazing. But they did open once upon a time. However, later in life, a number of units saw the large (two part) windows replaced by a single large sheet of glass (mostly on BI allocated units IIRC). These were done before refurbishment, so there were also refurbished units running around in mixed condition because the MBS rarely went back into its original unit, so an MBS' windows could be different to the rest. As far as hopper windows are concerned, although no VEPs were so fitted, CIG 7391 did get hopper vents in one DTC after a fire, I think at Haywards Heath.

Which types are these? I don't know much about the longevity of the Hawksworths but understand some survived into the 1980s. Presumably some types lasted longer than others? What could I run in a mixed rake with Mk1s by the late 60s/early 70s and after? Or were they kept together in rakes for summer holiday traffic? I've seen photos but it's not clear what was commonplace and what was the exception. Can anyone help, please? They look so good I will need to run a few at least.

Thanks Gwiwer, and others for the prototype photos. I remember being surprised when I visited family in Cronulla back in 1996 and saw a C train stabled in the station - the front looks so like the SR 4-SUB units. Is there a similar design heritage or did the designer just have good taste? The other trains I used to Cronulla and Sydney were the Tangara sets and I have to say they were nice to ride in, although that raked slab front takes getting used to. I visited the tram? museum at Sutherland while I was there - lots of work to be done on the preserved tram cars IIRC. Must take the family out to Oz soon...

Long and useful discussion of the new Bachmann 47s including the Rails L/Es here: Existing 47 thread

You'd then need a Chocolate & Cream (WR) liveried BG as well, since towards the end they had replaced the life-expired Pullman Brakes. Bachmann 39-179B is shown as due June/July.

IIRC wasn't the preserved Rood Aston Hall originally thought to be Albert Hall until they examined the frame and found the "wrong" loco number. Presumably Swindon made a switch at some point. If you want to, you can argue a precedent for almost anything.

I agree that this is good news since it means that production should be back on track. And hopefully 2011 delivery will be achieved. But Bachmann (I presume it's them not Kernow) have done it again... Since the prices have not been reduced, it appears that the two BR Green versions with small yellow panel (K2004 and K2006) are not being produced in the first batch , but they are still doing two plain green versions (yes I know one has a red V but that's not a big difference) in the first batch. Bachmann made us wait for the SYP Class 108s and it seems will also do so for the SYP 2-EPBs as well. Presumably SYP is the most popular livery - Kernow were planning two different unit numbers after all. Have they got something against us or is there a shortage of yellow paint in China? And now that production is with Bachmann, will there be two different unit numbers available when SYP is produced or will they just do a longer production run of one? Time will tell - and I have even longer to save up.

Thanks Summer_Saturday. Overall I'm impressed with the decoration on these Bachmann 47s. So far, of the current batch I only have the Rails L/E 47461 and am very pleased with that. I'm um-ing and ah-ing about 47535, but like others would probably want to renumber it so would prefer non-flush front for both cabs to give plenty of choice. I was present for 47535's naming ceremony at Leicester station (it was pouring with rain if I remember well) and somewhere have a photo I took. I know they were later, but I don't remember noticing at the time that the 5s were a different size.

See my baby Jive - Wizzard

And Blue Peter is here 60532 on a box!, due June/July so before the others, in theory.

WOW, some bands I've heard of... Having a kid who takes over the TV puts you sooooo out of touch with new stuff. Living abroad so not listening to English radio doesn't help much either... Anyway... Judie Tzuke - I am the Phoenix.

Interesting point about the drawings. Perhaps both Lima and Hornby did use the same official drawings...and EE manufactured the locos slightly differently. I'm sure I've read that the BRB messed around with the original design, although how much this affected the bodyshell I don't remember. IIRC this was exactly the issue with the cab windows and surrounding area of the Lima and Heljan Westerns - Swindon's production did not match the official drawings. Scanning the real thing as Bachmann did with the excellent DELTIC for the NRM seems to produce the best results.

Spoken to a friend who has pre-ordered one. They are sending out a "picture" of the loco with confirmation of the order - this picture looks like the 2010 catalogue images of the Castles so presumably has been produced by Hornby based on a pre-production model. This shows a Collett tender.

Thanks - and is consistent with the Hornby catalogue picture, which shows a Collett tender. I hope so - I wouldn't want a Hawksworth tender.

I agree, it looks really good. But I think I'll splash out the extra cash for the Swindon Limited Edition 7037 since at RRP the difference isn't huge. From the picture on the back cover of the Hornby 2010 catalogue, it's basically the same speck with the exception of having a single chimney. However accurate it is - and I'm no expert - I really don't like the look of a double chimney on the Castles. Of course if Tintagel Castle appears in the shops before the Swindon LE is released, then maybe that will get my money instead...

And their huge bag of bits can include every optional extra imaginable... Don't get me wrong - I like Class 50s, and bashed them until 50023 went into NSE livery, but personally I think we're lucky to have what is a pretty good model from Hornby. I hadn't noticed the front window error and it still doesn't really bother me. Yes, the individual livery errors are frustrating, but there are plenty of other newish models out there that are much worse for accuracy than the Hornby 50. Look at the front windows on the new Heljan 86... Much as I would like to see them, and 50008 in particular, I'm not actually convinced there is a market out there for all the livery versions being mentioned - at least as standard models. The standard BR Blue and LL versions must sell because Hornby repeats them. LL with black roof, 50008, 19 etc. are perfect candidates for Limited Editions but noone has commissioned them. Perhaps over fears they won't sell? MREMag, supported by a good number of magazines, is currently running the 2010 British Model Rail Wish List Poll, so there's a chance now to vote for a better Class 50 model. Can't see it happening though.