andyman7

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...

They're both definitely LIma tooling. the lighter one is a train set budget version which omits some detail decoration.

That's a later MTK kit with the brass bodyshells and etched door reliefs. I'm just finishing off a 4 CEP from that era of MTK kit - previously built and painted but it came to me un-numbered and missing some details.

The Hornby model was a great advance in its time, but the tooling/design is nearly 20 years old and the Cavalex one is a comprehensive upgrade. We have two in the household, a Colas one for my teenage son (being paid for by various chores), and I picked up an 008 Romanian example. We've come so far from the days of applying the livery spec and a number to the point where specific locos are modelled with their specific variances at a point in time. Re the DC question, both of these are DC. Once the specific non-sound decoders are available we may get those. I have some sound models but don't insist that everything is DCC sound - the cost adds up if you tend to acquire lots of locos.

Given that various Airfix tools ended up with Hornby via Dapol, and they have also (since 2007) owned the Airfix brand I think I'll be disappointed if they don't do an Airfix Railway System anniversary wagon at some point to join all the other anniversary ones 🙂

The overstocks were caused amongst other things because Airfix coaches and locos were contract manufactured in Hong Kong. In the mid 70s when the range was planned model railway sales were still high, kids still routinely got train sets, high street toy shops stocked model railways and so the orders for the original range items were large. The sale of model railways pretty much fell off a cliff from the end of the 70s and a situation similar to that faced by Meccano/Hornby Dublo in the early 1960s prevailed, whereby once initial demand had been satisfied, there was a glut of product that simply wasn't moving. In the case of the Mk2s, the Brake 2nds and 1st Opens had been part of the initial range, but the 2nd Open was only added in 1980, a year before production of Airfix Railways ceased. So there were perversely far fewer of the most popular coach and large excesses of the less popular ones. The Airfix range was taken over by Palitoy/Mainline so they took charge of the remaining stocks. However, when Palitoy themselves were shut down by the parent company General Mills, it was Dapol who were then just starting out that purchased the Airfix stock and tooling as well as the Mainline tooling that was not owned by Kader. Dapol issued ex-Airfix items into the 90s, some in original boxes and a lot packaged in Dapol boxes. Going back on topic, Hattons' traditional business model had relied on its ability to strike deals with holders of these excess stocks, taking large quantities at knockdown trade prices and using them to underpin their offers. One of the nails in the coffin for their classic business has been the loss of this huge overstock grey market - model railways are produced primarily for adult buyers and in much smaller quantities than the years prior to the 2000s.

It is possible that the realisation that the MB Klein acquisition was not going to provide the growth needed was one of the reasons that Hattons itself decided to wind down. The sequence of the announcements does not necessarily reflect the sequence of decision making.

The Margate ones were engineered like that but from 1998 the China Ringfield models had all-wheel pickups

Brake ends and 1st class, naturally....

Thanks, they prove the concept. Ideally what I want is a version that rather than having free wires can replicate the tabs that make contact with the connectors within the Bachmann pocket. I might try and have a play with these suggestions if I can justify the cost on experimental grounds

The cottage in the background is an amazing piece of work

I was wondering if/when Bachmann or perhaps a niche supplier might be able to offer an aftermarket substitute for the electrical NEM coupling bar as used on various Bachmann EMU and DMU models. The most recently tooled models such as the 158 and 117 have a multi pin coupling plug-and-socket which is fiddly but bearable - but I really dislike the fiddly and delicate 'bar' type used on the CEPs, the EPBs, the 150s and various other models. Four car consists are a nightmare to assemble and decouple. Given that these fit into a standard NEM socket with two electrical strips, I can't help thinking that is must be possible to make a magnetic coupling that fits the socket and is electrically conductive to allow vehicles to be easily set up and parted. I'm just putting this out there in case anyone has though of the idea, maybe tried to design something or indeed knows of an obscure provider!

The Southern ones adapted from the GWR ones vaguely represented Maunsells. Seen from nearly 50 years on you may call them hideous but they were a step forward from BR Mk1s painted in big 4 livery. In the 70s if you wanted scale models you built kits, simple as! Very quickly after that Airfix and Mainline began offering properly tooled pre-nationalisation coaches of various patterns, albeit you had to make do with a Brake 3rd and a Composite or similar. Then, 20 years ago or so we began to get superdetail models with enough variety to make up proper rakes, the odd vehicle excepted.

I also agree that earlier generation superdetail diesels with 'cold' white LEDs now bug me compared to the realistic warm white tones achieved on modern models.

I like the ''Given away free with each 3 -rail loco' list which was no doubt comprised of things that Norman had thousands of and was unlikely ever to clear through normal sales 🙂

It looks like the instructions aren't that clear. Although the mechanism has been amended the body/chassis looks unchanged from the original. Body removal is easy but you need to locate and ease back the extensions to the window glazing clips that actually secure the body to the underframe - there are slots in the chassis to facilitate this, bit that's obviously not as helpful if they don't point that out!

Over the Christmas period I finally managed a visit to Pendon museum. It really is spectacular...

Unfortunately I suspect that the constant escalation in overseas postage costs and bureaucracy was one of the reasons why their business model was becoming unsustainable.

First Class accommodation was situated in various parts of BR SR EMUs - CEPs had a CK in one of the centre coaches; VEPs and CIGs had sections at the inner ends of the driving coaches; the REPs had a BFK in one of the centre coaches. The 317s were built with a central 1st class section in one of the centre cars. So being at one end certainly wasn't the default

In the recent interview with Richard Davies, the subject of the Class 28 came up - it appears that Hattons still have an interest in this but as with their other assets, it is very likely that this will pass on to someone else as part of the disposal (possibly to Heljan themselves but this was not a given); however it will hopefully unlock a rerun

There are two different sizes of wheel used on the Lima power bogie but the Warship is fitted with the larger size as per class 26, 33 etc.

It seems to have become commonplace from the 1990s when such services as the Croxley Green branch and certain chords in the Clapham Junction area were substituted by buses. This seems to be contemporaneous with the 1993 Railways Act superseding previous legislation and making the closure process much more bureaucratic, so that running a bus was easier than going through the process. As you note, the original 'Parliamentary' trains were those required to be operated in Victorian times for the benefit of workers with fixed 3rd class rates. The current usage refers to the requirement for passenger routes on the network to maintain a minimum advertised service of one train per week unless formal consent for withdrawal is given after following the required statutory process.

On a different tangent of ebay madness, is anyone else getting fed up with the AI generated item description feature? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285588752488?epid=18050629652&hash=item427e6a8868:g:5sUAAOSwdIVla7Ny&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4PbaC3rTS1ynv2c%2FrAydxb%2Fj8OjGlEPO%2BPx16npjQPsB0uwqB0PWDRrrEWAVtwfrhY%2FvnacUIRlYdrYk8flEiY6euaUwnweqmkZ%2FA8jIX%2FrYiMdDZsG9wATJeKzIuuif4H%2FSfhAoh0wTuq7vpby%2F%2FjQW%2FhOqInWBa%2FUsuYQMBrpNyI%2B%2Bw3UgbTvvgW2IJOsV3gaLPx0GjKj2OdZKYHl9yS6LfguOli%2BbaGVBAZjU7mNkbuSz3WdJslmpjrFRTuA7%2BNqk%2FS%2Fai3rastV%2BGtCcNoxEOHTW%2FmzGVU8WXqB1uKqW|tkp%3ABk9SR466_7GkYw

No problem, I have sold on a couple of these in the past (I got a bit carried away buying them) and I had to explain the light functionality in the sales description to avoid the inevitable 'the lights don't work properly' challenge....

This question has been asked again and again since the 73 came out. The headcode lights are not directional - they are simply backlit blinds as on the real thing. The model is a few years old so lacks the separate control of lights at each end that the latest spec models from the likes of Accurascale and Bachmann - the blinds are simply 'on' or 'off'. Bicolour LEDs would allow directional display of red lighting but is not prototypical, on the actual loco a red blind is wound in front of the blindbox and on the model you basically have to choose a 'back' end and apply a red blind label.