davknigh

Rapido is not the only manufacturer that does pre-orders in North America in fact most companies have gone this route. The thing is that the vast majority of these companies have form so potential buyers have a good idea of what will be in the box ahead of time. Another factor is the involvement of dealers in the pre-ordering process. I ordered my GMD-1 through a dealer, had I not claimed it, it would have gone into general stock and been sold later, so as long as the manufacturer produces good product the system works. Cheers, David

Andy Hayter wrote "As I started, Who would be a model railway marketing analyst??" This is precisely why companies like Rapido have gone to pre-ordering so as to determine if a market exists in the first place. How many times have you heard someone say, "Oh, I'd buy one of those" until they saw the price then backed out for any one of a number of reasons. Cheers, David edited for clarity

Nice touch for modelling to be found in J540 with the white patch on the bridge for the signal. Cheers, David

Actually it said on or after October 31st. The previous notice said October 8th as the date and the one before that mentioned the end of August. The dates are getting closer together, could this be A Good Thing? Let's just hope Barclays holds off doing anything silly. Cheers, David

Well if the froth that has accompanied the announcement of the Peckett is any indication then they may be on the right track. Now to see if they last long enough to get it to market... Cheers, David

Well yes, in a way you do, but then when you think of the law suits that would probably arise from the bereaved families and the ink spilled by the Red Tops it would set mainline steam back for years. Better they should be charged and fined, say, 5 000 quid? Cheers, David

I'm puzzled as to Hornby's thinking. The (hopefully still) upcoming Peckett is shown for pre-order on Hornby's website for 79.99 GBP and the same locomotive is listed at a well know west coast dealer for 70.00 GBP. Does Hornby really think that anyone will pay an extra 10 quid to get the item factory direct? Cheers, David

Just for reference, when does Barclays have to make their decision, or when are they likely to be making their decision? Cheers, David

This scenario plays out with every diesel or steam engine with a bogie/pony wheels that comes in and it's down to the penchant for mounting couplers on bogies so engines can go around corners. Said couplers would wipe out the contents of the buffer beam the first time out so we are given a choice; to mount or not to mount, but at least we have the choice. Oh, and each time this happens there is always a group who will moan about it so the manufacturers can't win. And then there's the "too much fragile detail" group. We're a hard bunch to please. Just one final point; please, appropriate powers that be, don't let a hedge fund take over Hornby, 'cos then we are doomed. Cheers, David

Pre-order is a fact of life now. Rapido moved to that format after getting stuck with a large quantity of stock in their first venture and now if you want an engine you have to order in advance or work through a dealer and essentially do the same thing. That said, Rapido has form now so people know what they are going to get in terms of service and quality. Veering back on topic I notice that Hornby is taking pre-orders for the Pecketts as is Hattons (and I imagine others) albeit at different prices. Now to wait and see if the orders can be filled Cheers, David

Funny you should say that, I heard much the same thing about 50 years ago when I got back into model railways :declare:That said, if you are right then we'd better enjoy ourselves while we can, eh? Cheers, David

Just to put things in perspective it's worth remembering that the entire market has been at panic stations for the past while. The Saudis have caused the price of oil to plummet, the Chinese workers have decided they need a living wage and air they can breathe and an infinitesimal drop of profits seems to set all the automatic trade thingys on SELL!!!! mode. If Hornby is worth saving then it will be saved. Cheers, David

Well, presumably someone at Hornby is monitoring these posts (one would hope anyway) so if it appears that there is enough demand they just might do it. If Porcy gets 100+ likes/agrees on his post we might just have the start of a movement. The time line is good as the model is not due out until October and really Hornby can leave out a step in production by sending the model unpainted which is the way most US and Canadian RTR undecorated arrive. Cheers, David edited to add more fuel.

Judging by the write up on the Hornby site the engines were delivered in 'leaf green' and lined out leaving the job of numbering or naming to the purchaser. This would seem to be a good starting point for Hornby. Given the nature of the engines many of them will end up being re-named anyway (I know mine will be) so why not make life easier by following real industry practice? Cheers, David

RE: C2209, The original Nickel Plate Railroad Berkshires (2-8-4) were built by the Lima Locomotive works. Cheers, David

And just ahead of mine! So not such a bad thing after all Cheers, David

I got a notification from that nice shop in Liverpool with the same information about the liveries. They also mentioned a delivery date of October 8th 2016 which pushes things back a bit, sigh. Cheers, David

He is but has just returned from illness as explained here:http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/12280-brass-betsy-for-pennsylvanian-shortline/?p=2152833 Cheers, David

A marvelous study for a bit of heavy weathering from the oil stains on the saddle tank and chimney from the lubricator to the welded repair patch on the tank side. It would take a fair bit of skill to do this convincingly without over doing it. Cheers, David

If the engine is given a decent gear ratio a flywheel would have to be quite large to have any impact at all. The trick would be to have some form of compensation so all wheels are in contact with the track at all times and get rid of the insulfrog points. Insulfrog is a concept that is well past its 'sell by' date and should be towed out to sea and sunk. (Puts on tin hat and flak vest) Cheers, David

David, Been there, had all that with my Mum. It's a trying time but they made them tough back then. Best of luck and good wishes. Cheers, David

Pardon my ignorance but I've noticed in the electric pics that the Woodhead engines always seem to have both pans up whereas WCML engines only have one up (or even only one pan per engine). Is there any special reason for this? Cheers, David

I believe the correct response in this case is, ahem, "it's your train set". Cheers, David

Knuckles, What sort of a run would you need to have in order to make a special order economically viable? Here's my thought, there are bound to be a group or club interested in a particular prototype that's not done by the Blue/Red box guys let's say for an example the LNER class W1 with the high pressure boiler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_W1or even a bog standard Barclay pug 0-4-0T. How many would they have to commit to in order for you to be able to make a go of it? The idea being that this type of manufacturing makes it feasible to do models that would not be economical under normal circumstances. Just a thought Cheers, David edited for dodgy punctuation

I have a HighLevel Neilson pug that runs with a 108:1 gearing. It does not scream, it just trundles along at a very appropriate pace. But then I don't use it for express passenger work either.... Cheers, David