Edge

From what news i have heard, Dave is concentrating on the J94s, and the Claytons will be produced in the future. If I recall correctly (and please feel free to correct me here Dave) the Claytons were still at CAD/CAM stage with a vague possibility of being ready for tooling. I want them too, but lets give Dave a chance to sort out one set of models first we await the J94s with baited breath.

Lest we forget as well, the DJM 'Austerity' is also on its way out. A fair few of those reached industry

Looks damn good. Nice to see a steam equivalent of the Diesel Sentinel engines that have been coming out. I predict that this will be a good seller

Elgar - Nimrod Holst - Jupiter Dvorjak - Slavonic Dances / New World Symphony Bizet - L'Larsienne (Spelling uncertain )

Loco is sold by a very select few places I the uk, tootally Thomas is the most obvious example. However I personally found it cheaper to order from the USA. No where has them in stock at a reasonable price at the moment, but hey are due some time in May

Can we all please jump back to talking about the Model Rail USA please and quit talking about international credit card transactions - it is getting a trifle dull now

has Minerva ever considered branching into 'OO'? Consdiering the recent spate of industrials, the 'Victory' may be a bit of a hit.

Its just not viable. Youre talking about thousands of punds of additional design work for the benefit of a few modellers who MIGHT want to do the conversion. The market for such considerations just doesnt exist in the British model railway world.

Actually there were legal problems. Neither engine is allowed to be sold by Bachmann in the UK anymore as it was judged that they were infringing upon Hornby's licence for Thomas related products in the UK

The restriction applies to the tooling itself, which as a physical product rather than an intellectual right is subject to whatever contractual restrictions are agreed on. The gentleman I spoke to on the Bachmann stand was not hopeful that we would see any TR painted models adapted from the Thomas range. the situation is summed up by saying that if Bachmann produce Talyllyn using THAT tooling then they would lose the right to make Skarloey. As a member of the thomas range, that it guaranteed to cut their sales of the model considerably. In a choice between the two, economics will ensure Skarloey wins all of the time.

Had a chat about Skarloey at Ally Pally in the Members Club Lounge. Turns out the liscensing issue is twofold: Hornby resricts Thomas models being distributed by Bachmann in 4mm scale in the UK. this in itself would not stop a model of Talyllyn being produced. However, the owners of Thomas only permitted the likeness of Skarloey to be produced on the understandign that the tooling itself or associated data was not used to make anything else and that the models were for the US and Continental Europe markets. Simply put, if they want to do Talyllyn as RTR 009 then they have to scan it again and do a completely new tooling for it. A shame. That being said, the narrow planet conversion kit is a good way of converting with minimum surgery to the model and produces a very accurate looking result when completed.

Hey 1 in 6 aint bad odds

If the 2.5 kgs of weight thing came from my video, I'm pretty sure he was saying that it could HAUL 2.5 kg of weight The only downside for me is the Cartazzi trailing truck. It just doesn't look right to me

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AAARRGH. Gimme a few minutes guys, I certainly havent deleted them myself - this all worked so well when I was reporting from Warley

The models shown today are early samples which contain none of previously named improvements - the cab doors were mentioned I managed to grab a couple of videos: https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/m3ntsSCOTYpmS1LxoJlLkRwAkGGjnHrhM1ja3IYqKLc https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/OxYJeJ5SiK73sDWWfLiZ3RpRgrocVr4M5BjKdAnP4bc https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/dYgHMdB05eOMLpDCWluUaDur7TAEGqC4cetkc1sYL9m

Try it now, have adjusted them. Apologies for the problems

At Ally Pally today there were a few samples in the members lounge. Not so much sneaking required - permission for photos freely given: https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/sYY4yuc7JqL7kbqXM3xRNbQQZldFXx8dpCM0Yie66R1 Apparently all of the doors on the covered wagon open in order to allow for more modelling possibilities https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/2Gaq993SdWgtOQDPhoRrYZIJOSy3th8rBjZqINOEGmQ This photos don't do the Baldwin justice. Stunning model. All drive is transmitted through the firebox so there isn't a hint of the daylight under the boiler being obscured. Definite sale here

Whilst none of us here are privy to the details of the license, I suspect that the issue that Hornby had with Bachmann before was the selling of a model developed FROM a Thomas loco (Thomas and Percy sans faces in the digital set), which I can actually understand. If you have spent a lot of money marketing and developing your engines, then you don't want another company making profits from their competing range if they have not won the license themselves. However, I suspect that in due course we shall see Talyllyn and Dolgoch appear in the Bachmann 'proper range', as they are models of real engines, not fictional ones. Provided that they never officially sell Skarloey or Rheneas over here, I can't see any way that Hornby could challenge them legally.

Nicholas Smith has now sold out of the engines (at $82.99 i'm hardly suprised), and for info I'm being charged about $33 for international shipping. This seems to be about the going rate for all suppliers that I have spoken to in the USA

Managed to locate a few american sources of these engines: http://www.nicholassmithtrains.com/store/product/68292/NARROW-GAUGE-SKARLOEY/ - remarkable price of $82.99 (about £59.00 at todays exchange rates) not including international shipping costs (charged at cost plus $2) http://www.oakridgehobbies.com/Bachmann-trains-58601-hon30-ho-scale-thomas-friends-locomotive-engine-skarloey.html - $95.59 http://www.hobbylinc.com/Bachmann-t-f-narrow-gauge-skarloey-diecast-ho-scale-model-train-diesel-locomotive-58601 - $103.04 Hope this helps some of you out there - although caveat emtor guys, as these models will likely be sold without any sort of guarantee. These deals are certainly better than the £100 upwards prices already being commanded on eBay

Well now, this is interesting, it appears that i'm not the proud owner of 400 Hornby shares. Hmm. Wonder if the price is going back up any time soon :S

California Girls - Beach Boys

Dream on - Aerosmith

Any info on the NCB Janus?