YesTor

Hmmm, okay, so for the sake of debate, let's say that over time you might manufacture at least a further 1400 units, wouldn't an additional £1000 translate to £0.71 per unit? Even with tax and profit margin on top, surely that doesn't seem so bad? Or am I missing something? This isn't a criticism incidentally, just that for what to me seems like a small additional cost per unit, I personally would be more than happy to pay for fully working lighting... not sure how others would feel... Best Al

Agreed, absolutely stunning!

Hi Ben Have you tried Phoenix Precision P149 Rail White? Best Al

Hi Wayne Firstly, best wishes and good luck with this project. Being in the midst of track planning myself and very much contemplating the 00-SF route I can only say that this is a most welcome product line. One point I would like to highlight, and if I can quote Mr Wynne here: in that the above would be an absolute essential aspect for me. My reason for even exploring point kits in the first instance is to have something that is very much adaptable to the user's individual track plan, and indeed to replicate those "flowing curves of prototypical pointwork". Hopefully this is something that you will consider in your designs? I very much look forward to any further developments with regard to 00-SF. Best Al

That's correct - stiff credit card pieces for removal, flexible card/plasticard for reassembly That's a pity Still, I guess at least next time you need to disassemble one you'll know what to do having had a go previously. Hopefully you'll get it sorted. ps... you could always exchange for a non-sound model and pick up a sound decoder from Charlie and have a go at fitting your own... these ones are really easy to do, even I can do it! Best Al

Hmmmm, it's a while ago now and I can't quite recall if my issues were exactly the same as you have encountered, but yes, something certainly wasn't lighting up as expected... A quick removal of the body and it became immediately clear that the switches were set as per a DC only model, ie. all six set 'up' (K1–K6), whereas K3 & K6 should be 'down' as shown in the instruction manual. Top model: DC only Lower model: DCC sound Best Al

I've three factory-fitted sound models and none of the inside switches were set correctly straight out of the box. So it might just be worth looking inside before returning... Al

I think that we've perhaps been here before... maybe once, or twice, or...

And a superb book it is too - certainly helped me 'wise up' a bit on signalling. Best Al

That's my deliberation too Chris. The GBRf orange numbers need to be a good match, so I'm not sure who's will be the better option... Al

Hmmm, interesting. It's only a guess, as the statement above seems slightly ambiguous, but my way of reading this is that the seller will need to specify the VAT rate when creating a listing? Presumably at that point the seller will be able to specify whether their business is VAT registered or not, and if so what the appropriate level of VAT actually is? If the business is non-VAT registered then there won't be any VAT to collect. I'd imagine that eBay will need the VAT number for each business as well - I've no idea if that's something requested by eBay anyway when registering as a business seller? It may well not be the case currently as I seem to recall seeing dotted around eBay that it is, "every business's responsibility to take care of their own tax affairs"... I guess all that is about to change as we exit the EU... Best Al

True, in which case it sounds as though some people on this thread are in the wrong place and instead should perhaps be looking at the Hornby 47, already in stores at around £70? Problem solved? To elaborate: Hornby Class 47 - tooling dating back to the 1970s (or maybe even earlier), cheap 'n' cheerful, no features = retail price £72 Heljan Class 47 - new 2020/21 tooling, significantly more features/detail = it ain't gonna be £72 Straightforward really - quantum mechanics, this is not... Best Al

I'm in a similar camp - whether the price is £200 or £50 is partly academic at this point - the main thing is getting the shape right, so too with the Class 45, 25 etc... Time will tell...

Agreed. Whilst I'm no expert on patent law, what I do know is that you have to have something pretty damned unique to justify protection. At the end of the day these are wheels, mounted on axles, rotating within a bogie frame. The only thing even remotely 'different' from a standard loco axle is the fact that the axle rod is longer - hardly a design 'revolution' I wouldn't have estimated? Not to mention that several US model manufacturers seem to produce models featuring rotating axle-boxes based upon a similar/same design... Al

Absolutely no disrespect to yourself or little 'uns, and I know that times have changed massively, but at the tender age of 10 I remember 'wanting', as my first diesel/electric model, a Hornby APT for Christmas. However, I most vividly recall receiving one of these beauties in my stocking... "But it's not an APT, Dad...". The response, "It's blue, isn't it? Like it, or lump it, kid!". Of course, by 10 years of age I knew my Dad well enough to know that there was no point complaining and that it was better for me to display gratitude - even though underneath I did feel pretty 'hard done by' at the time. The point being, has it really detracted me from modelling? In short, no. If anything, the limitations imposed by childhood have only succeeded in making me more determined to push myself as an adult and perhaps become even more of an obsessive for detail/quality; but alas, if for whatever reason I am unable to buy the best, then I'll at least attempt to achieve something as close as possible myself. And by doing so, whether I am successful or not, I am at least learning along the journey. And ultimately, that's what makes the hobby 'fun'. In my view, the desire 'to model' comes from within and whether as a child you have the latest 'flash-bang gizmo' sound-fitted Class XX loco, or something from the 'basics' range, will in the longer term prove irrelevant, as it's the strength of the interest in railways in general that either will, or won't, be the driving force, as opposed to how expensive the contents of the Christmas stocking may be right now. ps... In fairness to my long-past Dad, I did eventually receive a Lima Deltic (maybe one or two Christmas later). Okay, it still wasn't my ideal/most-wanted model, but it was good enough and I learned to enjoy what I received. And if anything, I guess I respect him and his philosophy of, "We can't always have exactly what we want", now, more than ever. It's not a bad lesson to learn. Best Al

Not really. The clue was in my original post, ie. profit - which I've always understood to be the final figure remaining following the deduction of all costs. I'd agree though with the latter point re UK markets etc. Best Al

Ditto, I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't particularly favour one manufacturer above another either, because as you say it's the quality/accuracy of the model and whether I consider it something I either 'need' or 'want' that are the deciding factors.

Exactly. It's all about perception: Loco "A" with a run of 300 units, profit £10 per unit sold, flies off the shelves in 2 days flat = Perceived roaring success Loco "B" with a run of 3000 units, profit of £30 per unit sold, takes 3 years to sell out, with perhaps the last handful 'reduced to clear' = creates image of 'hanging around on shelves' + reduced price = "Ooooh, it must be a failure..." Neither of the above totally fictitious examples could be regarded as a 'failure', but it does show that things might not always be what they seem...

I'm glad someone else has highlighted the above and I have to totally agree on both points. The RAILS website has been truly awful since its 'upgrade' IMHO, it doesn't seem to matter what you search for, or how you search, you either generate "0 results", or potentially several thousand items yet still no sign of the product that you are actually looking for. As you correctly highlight, searching for "Class 89" reveals in excess of 1900 results, with no actual Class 89 in sight: Your option then is to either wade through 80 pages of non-relevant stock, or attempt to "Refine your search" (an oxymoron if ever there was one), by clicking on either "Accurascale" or "Diesel/Electric loco", whereby still no joy - okay now down to "53 items", but strangely still no sign of the seemingly elusive Class 89 whatsoever on any of the 3 pages presented, and unfortunately this seems to be the pattern for pretty much whatever else that you may be searching for: There is surely no way on Earth that this haphazard method of presentation and searching is going to attract the casual customer? And for those who already know what we want, well, how can a store expect to sell something if you force your potential buyer to search high-and-low for a product - and alas still not be able to find it? When you walk into the supermarket and are dazzled by the unusually huge display of cheap, brightly-coloured plums, it usually means that plums are in season this week - not next week, or the week after, but right now! And the retailer wants to sell them to you - and by the truckload! How fewer plums might be sold if they were awkwardly tucked away behind the toilet rolls, adjacent to the grubby fire exit... Online shopping can be even more competitive than physical shopping and potential customers even more fickle, so it's absolutely vital to present whatever it might be that you want to promote right upfront, in the customer's face. Instantaneous eye-candy is absolute key to scoring the impulsive purchase. I realize that the above may sound scathing, and to be absolutely clear, I have no gripe with RAILS per se, as I have always found the general service and delivery etc to be absolutely faultless, the staff both friendly and super-helpful. However, sadly I generally only order once or twice per year - simply because the website is so frustrating to use, more often than not resulting in me clicking away elsewhere in pure exasperation, having not been able to find the product that I know is actually in stock at RAILS. As a side-note, generally speaking, if I really wish to locate a product via RAILS then I will run a query via search-engine, so in this instance searching via Google for "Rails Class 89" instantly generates the desired page. However, that's really not the way it should be, as not everyone is likely to instinctively follow this procedure, and it certainly isn't going to score a sale to the casual buyer with a couple-of-hundred quid burning a hole in his pocket... Hopefully - and before I'm shot down in flames - the above can be seen as constructive criticism, as personally I would like to spend more at RAILS than I currently do, but unless they render their website less of a pain to actually use then very sadly my orders tend to still go where I know that the product I want can be found almost instantaneously... Best Al

Hahaaaa, I was incredibly tempted by that one too... It looks as though you've made a really nice loco out of it. Al

Firstly, I'm really excited by this announcement and wish you the very best of luck with the project. Secondly, a question regarding the lighting specification, in that as these locomotives more often than not operate in pairs, and equally often as top-and-tail, will the red tail lights be operational at the rear end only of the locomotive? thanks Al

Apologies in advance if I read any of the above incorrectly [it's late in the evening]... but I'm not so sure about this if pre-ordering what are deemed to become 'standard range' items? At the end of the day any order - pre-order or otherwise - is categorized as distance selling, whereby as such any customer has the right to pre-order/order, pay for, receive the goods and still has the right to return for a full refund if they are either dissatisfied or simply have a whimsical change of heart. I cannot really fathom how cancelling prior to despatch could justify a potential claim on the part of any retailer? On the other hand, if an item is manufactured specifically to order, or individually personalised to a customer's specification then the rules can potentially become slightly blurred. Even so, if the finished product does not match up to the customer's expectation - whether that be specification-wise or quality of manufacture - again the customer reserves the right to dispute/cancel. This is why it's important to obtain clear and concise clarification of specification in such instances, so as the precise nature of customer expectation could be dissected more readily if such a dispute were to arise. As you rightly say though, simply because something is enforceable does not necessarily mean that it is anyone's interests to actually enforce. If model manufacturers made it their business to potentially sue all of their cancelled pre-order customers, then all well and good, but good luck with the next project as you successfully frighten everyone away... The bottom line to all of us I guess, read the terms and conditions of sale before ordering. Best Al

Thinking aloud here as I don't own any Bachmann 45s, but how many of the wheels are pickup wheels, is it fair to assume it's only the centre two axles? If so that can't be helping matters. I know that some of the early Bachmann 66s were 4 wheel pickup only. I added additional pickups to the remaining axles and running improved somewhat. Maybe it's possible to add additional pickups where possible? Al

Lights: Essentially, anything with the larger headlights (often referred to as 'bug-eye') are affected with the lighting issue... Affected models are: 66404 DRS 66621 Freightliner 66418 Freightliner 66727 GBRf 'Barbie' 66740 GBRf 66847 Colas 66848 Colas 66743 GBRf/Royal Scotsman 66746 GBRf/Royal Scotsman Hope that helps... Best Al

Ahhh, fair enough, if it's just a case of the switches being set incorrectly then no problem. To be honest, all of the sound-fitted models I have all came with the switches set incorrectly. At least the possibility of deeper issues are out-ruled. Al