Trains4U

I'm pleased to say that Trains4U is one of the retailers invited to stock Little Loco Company models I very much look forward to their arrival Please let me know if you want to pre-order.

We need to make it clear to all rolling stock manufactuers (are you listening Siemens/ Hitachi/ Alsthom etc...?) They have to make all locos/wagons/multipe units etc EXACTLY the same design for Europe and UK markets, just build the UK ones 12.65% smaller. (But be careful with the gauging please) Then us modellers can enjoy cheaper models on both sides of the channel as the HO and OO mouldings will be exactly the same!

To be fair, you can search by postcode/town or by county It's nice to see that Hornby are reacting to the issues, - I said before that things were showing signs of improvement in terms of relationships with retailers, lets hope it continues! Now if they could get that sort of exposure on TV again... (Santander's scalextric/Mclaren advert did wonders too)

To be honest, a stepladder and a VERY long lens would have been useful. She stopped about 1/2 mile short of the crossing to take on water. When she set off, she created the most tremendous cloud of steam, which drifted up ahead and across all four lines, which she burst through before throttling back for the red signal at Holme junction. Conington fen is about as backwater as can be, but there must have been 90-100 people there. Holme was practically impassable, with cars parked halfway back to Yaxley and hundreds upon hundreds of spectators. I didn't spot any stupid behaviour, apart from some very inconsiderate parking and obliviousness to traffic on the roads. some people had climbed the banks up tot he fences - there were a few NR and BTP people knocking about though.

I managed to get a few shots at Conington fen Level Crossing the amount of traffic was ridiculous! And there were some Choc and cream carriages in the rake... and a slightly more modern Flying scotsman...

I'm not sure where you got that trader's margin from... But if that loco was £123 at cost, you'd have to add VAT to it - and based on current (reduced) margins the MSRP would be closer to £185 - not £135 Hornby also offer a trade rebate, which would eat into that original £123 And none of this factors in overheads (support staff/marketing/management/R&D/tooling/shipping) I suspect your calculations are far too simplified, and are based on individuals assembling whole locos. In reality, there will be dozens of people, all doing different things. one person might be able to assemble 50 wheelsets in an hour, three might assemble 50 chassis in an hour - one person might tampo print a bodyshell in two minutes - how do we know for sure? The likely outcome is that through use of production lines, the overall effort for producing a loco is no more than two or three hours overall. The peckett, for example - if Hornby have to make 45%, would have to come in from china at about £25 a unit. - but I suspect that they would be significantly more than that - with other models that are simpler to produce and have amortised tooling producing vastly higher margins, and subsidising the production and tooling costs of the new items.

Since the catalogue was released (and we can make a more informed choice), we've placed our 2016 order. - though for the third year in a row, I'm not ordering everything. Perhaps others have done the same and the Feb figures might start to look more promising!

Chris Harwood (Sales and marketing director) used to visit regularly - once or twice a year until his retirement (2010 I think)- he even stepped in to demonstrate products at our 2009 open day, playing Scalextric with the children. A great chap who really knew his market and was incredibly supportive of the retailers. Since then... I don't think we've seen anyone other than our rep, and even that is a rare occurrence these days. I think he now manages everyone north of Bedfordshire, so he is spread very thinly.

erm... http://www.scalextric.com/uk-en/our-ranges-explained Take a look at Scalextric Digital (Available since 2004)

If the current incarnation should fail, the outcome will almost certainly be "Hornby PLC subject to takeover" I doubt the brand will be allowed to fail in that manner.

Indeed. a few customers scoffed at that one, yet we sold out of them.

I'm basing that on what I'm selling! the name of my business kind of gives away my main focus of trade, proportionally, sales have changed since 2012: 2012 - Proportion of Hornby sales divided by brand: Railways 77% Scalextric 13% humbrol/Airfix 10% 2015 - Proportion of Hornby sales divided by brand: Railways 69% Scalextric 11% Humbrol/Airfix 20% Proportionally, Humbrol/airfix has doubled, whilst railways have shrunk considerably - and given that Trains4U is, first and foremost, a model railway shop, it is quite a concerning drop. What is also interesting though is what is happening with Bachmann - Excluding Woodland scenics Overall sales share is about the same as it was in 2012 (Approx 20% of my turnover) but: 2012: Bachmann Branchline 80% Graham farish 20% 2015: Bachmann Branchline 66% Graham farish 34% Which shows a significant growth in N gauge.

Why? Airfix kits and Humbrol paint are the only Hornby brands selling well right now...

Hornby as a brand will never disappear - it is far too valuable. (and that includes the other brands as well) In the unfortunate event that Hornby's management is unable to rescue the company from it's current position - I wouldn't be surprised if another manufacturer, possibly US or Chinese, buys a majority shareholding and takes it out of public ownership.

I can't say I've seen any evidence of that. Though timing of invoices has been a bit erratic of late. (I suspect down to their computer system gremlins, more than anything else)

I suspect an element of this is down to how the trade has been treated over the last few years. (though things appear to be changing lately) Cut margins, whack-up prices. Push direct selling, with discounts that make it difficult for independents to compete given the reduced margins draw down on sales reps and their support (I can't remember when i last saw a rep) The real issues began with the massive discounting online - selling direct for less than cost (Which Dapol now seem to be doing as well) One other key mistake was dumping lots of items to the trade last year. Significant discounts on major lines, many of which were 2015 items. Retailers who had been stretched by the price increases couldn't capitalise on this, and couldn't sell existing stocks of those lines because of the crash in market value. They've done a "Black Friday" Everyone is now waiting for the inevitable discounts instead of placing solid orders and buying in a regular fashion. But simply, the products are too expensive. I've said this before - a major restructure of pricing is required, particularly for accessories, where economies of scale can work to their benefit. Why should anyone pay more than £1.50 for a plastic platform section? (Current list is £4.99) At £1.50 I'd sell hundreds, instead of a few dozen a year and we'd all make more money. Scalextric cars at £40, when a higher spec toy car or remote control car can be had for £25 or less. Cut prices, make the hobby more accessible, look after those that sell your products (Instead of competing and strangling them) and see things change

In seriousness, if you have some plasticard, slide it between bodyshell and tabs, then gently (But forcibly) pull at the bogies - perhaps alternately to "Wiggle" the chassis out. You may want to take the bogie sideframes off first.

Pull harder... (And hope nothing breaks off)

Ours arrived just as we were closing up at 14:00 today.

We received our invoice last night, so there is a good chance they'll turn up today.

Surely, by swapping the cables over (As suggested in the PDF) I am splitting out the negatives on half the LEDs and making it common positive. I made the mistake of swapping all the cables over, not half. - I had an idea that was what I had to do, but didn't know which ones to swap. The 60 has colour coded wiring.

It is, but by swapping various wires around, it can be changed to common positve

Excellent, thanks - I had started swapping the wires around, but didn't know exaclty which ones. I started with the white wire giving directional lights, and nothing from the black, I finished with the black giving directional lights, and nothing from the white. I knew there had to be a happy medium there somewhere!

Very easy, the cab interior is part of the chassis casting, when you take the body off the entire cab including seats are open

I've been trying to fit an ESU Lokpilot XL to one today. There is a complex lighting board, with a dip switch to control appropriate headlight functions and to turn tail lights on and off. Unfortunately it would appear that it has been designed as a common negative circuit. It would seem that configuring the lighting for DCC, without a major rewiring, is impossible. I'll be writing to Howes and Heljan for advice, but currently I'm stuck and not prepared to strip out the wiring (yet)