andyman7

Brexit, the changes import rules requiring VAT to be paid upfront, GST, the huge increase in overseas shipping charges are all recent events. As you say, why would a business take a regular loss? They put up with it short term but I don't think they could sustain it. Put it another way, if serving overseas customers can be done profitably and cheaply, why isn't anyone else appearing to be able to do it?

There's the thing - there was no-one to touch Hattons for export. But the problem is that they couldn't make it pay - the reason everyone abroad loved Hattons was because they were effectively taking a loss on international shipping given the issues of GST, VAT/IOSS payments etc.

Understood - I live south of London. However, John Dutfield is half an hour by train out of Liverpool Street station and I fancied an afternoon out. It was just a personal choice, but also based on the store itself being an Aladdin's Cave of stock with no internet listings so well worth an enjoyable rummage...

I chose my Cavalex retailer on the basis that I could collect and pay in person - no courier angst or wondering where I was in the queue for packing and delivery, and at the same time saving the retailer the need to pack and post it. I know that's not possible for everyone but it's worth a consideration. (They also ended up selling me an extra one, so wins all round).

The night before Hattons stopped taking pre-orders I had a look at the pre-owned uploaded that day. I don't think I've bought any S/H from Hattons previously but there in front of me was a Class 56 'kit unknown make'. A quick look showed it was obviously (to me) and MTK kit. They wanted £42 which is generally beyond what I will pay for MTK models but this was a chance to buy something from Hattons right at the end, and the Class 56 is not a common MTK model. It was advertised as a 'poor runner'... Well it turned up today, and I have to say is beautifully built. It's fitted with an Airfix A1A mechanism which needed a service and then was fine. The only other change I have made is to swap out the glazing - the model came with clear sheet glazing but I had a spare set of MTK Class 47 glazing which with a small amount of adjustment allowed flush glazing and a 'frame' effect around the front screens. OK it's not Cavalex but it is a worthy addition to my heritage MTK fleet.

And here it is, my very last parcel from Hattons, delivered today

One thing I have noticed on the SWT version is that the cantrail orange line is missing on the cab fronts of one of the DTC vehicles - it's there on the other end. They all seem to be like this (including mine). Not sure whether 3455 actually was like this or if it's a production error.

The Hornby 56 was a very good model for its time and still does a good job. The tooling is however around 15 years old. It covers the significant variations pretty well, but the Cavalex model takes things to a new level matching the current 'expert' market, where the tooling doesn't just match the basic differences between builds but is custom honed to each specific example modelled. It also has the lighting and sound functionality that now accounts for multiple light operations and sound effects rather than 'lights on' 'lights off', 'sound on' etc which typified early 2000s models like the Hornby one. Alongside my Cavalex 56 I have one of the recent Hornby blue ones which I picked up new for £130 in the recent sales - they sit happily side by side. My Cavalex one has replaced my more-than-a-decade-old Hornby Romanian one - I was able to sell it on to part fund the Cavalex purchase. That one did have working fans run of an elastic band drive from the motor; latterly however the band had perished and they no longer turned, and the feature was left off later models. Remember that the Cavalex model is batch produced from limited retailers too - so Hornby can still sell their model through their much wider retail network with their higher brand recognition. As for getting the body off the Hornby one, it was reasonably straightforward. But a removable hatch in the roof is much more so!

Hattons had a big, highly visible secondhand presence but it is a mere fraction of the pre-owned model railway stuff winging its way around the universe. The biggest single portal of all is ebay, but that is because it is aggregating private sales, hundreds of smaller dealers and bigger operators such as Rails. But you only have to go to a few model railway shows or preserved railway events to see that there are also a number of dealers who buy, sell and shift a lot of secondhand stock. Take a look a Facebook Marketplace and you'll see a pile more. Log on to The Saleroom and have a look at the industrial levels of stuff that go through conventional auction houses (many of which feed the stock of the full time dealers). That's not to say that Hatton's modus operandi didn't fulfil a specific niche, because it did, and one that its users will miss. But it was still a small part of the total amount of secondhand model railways traded across the country.

Thanks, useful. I assume you managed to nab one of the ebay ones with an additional 20% off - they'd all gone by the time I looked; I sourced an SWT one elsewhere with a loyalty point boost that takes £25 off a future purchase so not too bad a deal. The power car does feel really heavyweight now - the overall model comes over as really good. Looking back at how disappointing the originals were I think this is a really transformed model. Six or seven years ago the Bachman CEP and Hornby VEP were at similar prices but the Hornby one didn't match up in quality; now the VEP comes in at 25% cheaper than a non-sound CEP at RRP and the quality is pretty much identical. Looking forward to some other liveries - it would be great to see early NSE on the non-facelifted bodyshell and I'd love to see a Connex one too.

Refurb CEPs? As it happens I managed to snaffle an NSE one for £388 from Model Railways Direct. Still a lot of money but not quite as steep and commuting on NSE refurb CEPs occupied over a decade of my life so pretty essential. I may be interested in others but only if there are deals available at some future point.

My cynical view is that because pretty much no-one under 60 uses landlines anymore, they figure that anyone answering a landline is much more likely to be a potentially vulnerable pensioner.

I can't confirm whether this was actually made, so apologies if you search for this fruitlessly. My main interest was the blue ones, at least one of which was announced but never made (32-062 810 'Cockade' in factory weathered finish).

The only one was a DCC fitted example 32-051DC D867 Zenith. https://www.hattons.co.uk/38475/bachmann_branchline_32_051dc_class_42_warship_d867_zenith_in_br_green_with_late_crest_dcc_fitted/stockdetail

We have two of these fine models in our household - having seen the real thing up close at York a couple of years ago my teenage son was dead set on a Colas one which we pre-ordered. I went down in person last Friday to pick up from John Dutfield and succumbed (as I rather suspected I might) to a spare Blue 56008 for myself which replaces a Hornby 56013 as my 'Romanian' example. By way of contrast, I was having a browse at the final Hattons pre-owned items added today and one of them was a built MTK 56. Anyone who has been following the thread I started in Classic/Collectable will know my guilty pleasure at finding and restoring MTK models so I now have a companion on the way for my Cavalex one 🙂 https://www.hattons.co.uk/1562092/kitbuilt_kb3055_po_class_56_56133_crewe_locomotive_works_in_br_large_logo_blue_built_from_unknown_/stockdetail

Oh lordy, I thought I was finished and yet I had to browse the 'pre-owned'. I don't think I've ever previously bought any Hattons preowned items because I am exposed (through auctions, shows, my MRC, toyfairs) to more than enough secondhand. This was - objectively - overpriced at £42, but it is very hard to find, a genuine, built MTK Class 56. It's listed as a 'poor runner' but in the world of MTK that equates to 'It works! Mwahahahaha!'. And it means one final order placed in the last 24 hours of trading. I shall pose it proudly alongside my Cavalex Class 56 🙂 https://www.hattons.co.uk/1562092/kitbuilt_kb3055_po_class_56_56133_crewe_locomotive_works_in_br_large_logo_blue_built_from_unknown_/stockdetail

As Phil says. the current model (albeit not currently catalogued) is a completely newly tooled Class 43 that shares nothing with the previous Bachmann Class 42. The Class 42 model was originally issued by Mainline in 1980 with a pancake motor and directional (bulb) lights. In the late 1990s Bachmann resurrected the tooling with a revised central can motor driving all wheels but without the lighting. The model was refreshed around 15 years ago with a 21 pin DCC decoder interface, new circuit board and LED lights. It has not been produced since the 'new' Class 43 was issued.

The offers are targeted and algorithmic so not everyone gets the same discount and although they generally come out every two weeks they do skip on occasions. Interestingly I too got the offer on Sunday rather than Friday this time but the date range was still shown as Friday -Monday. However the offer only goes 'live' once accepted so if they don't tell you until Sunday then it is effectively two days only.

I concur that the controller is probably not up to the job. From your notes it is tripping after several minuted of continuous running and the motor itself is not hot. Both Hornby and Bachmann trainset controllers are designed for modern low current motors and wimp out at the older stuff

The Combi is not a feedback controller so won't damage a decoder. The decoder will also need to have been configured to allow DCC running - I'm assuming that's as supplied?

As others have noted, there is a separate thread on the issue of persisting with old controllers. The conversations falls into two parts: 1) the risk of harm to the user from using very old kit where the insulation may have broken down and/or other parts used in construction may have deteriorated so as to pose a risk to health. To summarise this debate, if the users' electrical knowledge extends to just plugging it in, it's time to stop. Those with electrical knowledge and the confidence to repair/rewind/renew/replace components are a different matter, but no-one should be using a controller of great age just because they've never got round to replacing it. 2) the risk of harm to mechanisms. As the OP says, for many years the maxim that 12v DC was 12v DC was 'good enough' because there were usually no components between the pickups and what was normally a hardy motor that was capable of taking a pretty wide range of voltages, including spikes. Even then, things such as 'half wave rectification' could cause overheating if used too much. This pretty much changed from the early 2000s when RTR locos began to use circuit boards to manage lighting and motor current and 'can' motors became the norm - having taken the top off a Bachmann loco circa 2003 recently it's astounding how simple the early circuit boards were, but they and their associated components have quickly grown in complexity and are allied to mechanisms that are much more sensitive - that is what gives us fine slow speed running and smooth drive characteristics but they do want an equally smooth delivery of current from an electronic controller without PWM.

The PCB on which the decoder sits is under the roof so it would have required a much bigger redesign. At least the body comes off very easily!

As usual an entertaining show, My favourite layout was 'Two Bridges', a riff on the Three Bridges area of the Brighton Main Line, circa mid 1990s and the transition to privatisation. This worked for me as it ticked a number of my favourite themes - plenty of EMUs, a stretch of line that absolutely captured the character of the area and timescale; continuous running with no lengthy gaps, colouring just right, not too garish and nicely toned. But the one other thing I loved was that apart from the kit built EMUs the diesels were all detailed and weathered Hornby and Lima 1990s models running on their original mechanisms. I've always said that properly cared for and lubricated and fitted with extra pickups these can still do a fine job so it was great to see the proof in a smooth running and reliable manner!

Back when the Hornby model came out the novelty of being able to view a separate fan through a grille was I think enough to distract them from actually making the grille prototypical. I've still got a couple of Hornby 56s which are really pretty good for their time, however the Cavalex one is bang up to date in all sorts of areas that we're now coming to expect - proper, configurable lighting in warm tones where appropriate; servo-driven fans; and a tooling suite coupled with research that accurately matches the specific build of a loco to the livery and detail variants. We've come a long way!

The relocation of the motor was announced when the revised tooling SWR and Southern models were revealed. The only failure by Hornby has been to not update the images (which are manipulations of the original release) but the change is not a last minute decision. Body removal is indeed easy, a marked contrast to the Bachmann EMU fleet! I suspect that the cost of complete chassis parts will be less economical than simply buying an entire SWT or Southern model and swapping bodies. Can anyone confirm whether the bodyshells for the old model are a straight swap? The more ambitious may also want to graft new cab ends onto the older models...