34theletterbetweenB&D

Just my opinion, but Hornby have had a fine monopoly on mk3 and mk4 vehicles and have slept on it. These are way off the pace compared to the best coaches in their and Bachmann's ranges, and similar stock in HO. Competition is good, and I suspect Oxford Rail have taken on board the criticism of their launch products. If the Dean goods' EP appearance is representative of where they are aiming, then better things are on the way.

Hear, hear. Not least because it's an 0-6-0, a type we really cannot have enough of. The mechanism layout is going to have to be compact to fit in the small diameter low centreline round top firebox boiler. It's got the Crewe wheelbase of 7'3"+8'3", which opens the way to the use of the same mechanism layout in many other small engines built in C19th: whether Oxford choose to go on and offer such RTR, or leave it for those of us who enjoy mangling RTR into a different outward shape.

Fine as the LNER version is, it is the earlier build with the visible GNR heritage that excites me most. If I may, please try and persuade whoever needs persuading, that the GNR tender mouldings as a separate kit, would be a most desireable item in my opinion.

I see a modest amount of RTR HO, various of the European brands, though so far no Heljan. Honestly guys, it's no better than the the general run of current OO product in my perception. Small adjustments to optimise pick up and track holding, some running at modest speed forward and reverse to quiet mechanisms and optimise traction, and eliminate any slight lumpiness or unevenness. This shouldn't come as a surprise, the better OO we have had in the last fifteen years is solidly based on mechanism technique developed in HO.

That's one potential explanation. If we are completely open minded in considering all the potential causes, then transit damage to that box must be admitted (significant drop from a height, or vibromassage in the back of a vehicle with hard suspension, for example) and test equipment and/or procedure failure at the retailer, must also be considered. If you want to know the truth, it is important to approach the situation with no assumptions.

Considering the raft of new subjects that have been announced RTR - and many of them already available - since this series was conceived; as I have posted before it is reasonable to hope for a mk2 version of GBL in some years time. Potentially available off the top of my head: GW Star, 42XX or 72XX, 47XX, 94XX; LMS Coal Tank, Stanier 2-6-0, Garratt; LNE Stirling Single, B12, C1, D16, J15, K1, P2, Q6; SR 700, O2, S15; BR DoG, classes 68, 70, 85. Apols if I missed your favourite new introduction out, the point is I effortlessly got past 20.

Doesn't matter what their business model is, it's no different from what other dominant retailers in mature markets all around the world employ in various flavours. The simple fact is that throughout the developed world in countries with mature economies, the opportunity for growth by a dominant retailer in any chosen segment of the home market is limited.The boards of these dominant retailers are getting it in the neck from investors, about failure to grow the business' value in share price and/or dividend returns. So the board decide to take their proven expertise to another country and see if they can grow the business that way. The blunder is to try this in another similarly mature market. The competitors are there in force already, and some them are hairy arsed bears. The places to go are new territories with immature markets, which have never known the bulk supply at low cost of whatever it is we are flogging. Much more risky in some ways, politically not as stable, got to give the local Mr Big's family and friends exciting jobs, and pay off the terrorists opposition in some other way: but if it flies then the money is there to be had. I spent many years in a business which operated like this, and it was deeply exciting in so many ways.

But that is typically an outcome of a shower of different approaches which are either; proposed but never available, get as far as beta test, or achieve some real customer uptake. Then there's a shake out mediated by some unanticipated factor(s), and the winner emerges. Much whining from the early adopters of the wrong pony, who will still be claiming in 2065 that the market was misled.

They are behind the curve already. Our B&Q has an independent 12/7 Bacon buttie operation out front in the carpark. Rain snow or sunshine there's always a crowd munching away. (The major complaint is that it is too far away from any of the secondary schools to make iot possible for the older kids to get there at lunchtime.) The crowd sometimes includes me! It's a very different, diverse and highly developed retail environment in the UK.

Is that they will find themselves up against a diversity of established credible competitors both national and regional who have the muscle to fight back. Similar case, Walmart thought they could just do their thing in UK grocery, and have crashlanded against their original stated entry objectives. ... or potentially yet worse Hatibat cum Ikea (theshopfromhell). Our local Wickes (central Herts) is still full of proper gear for nailing together, fixing plumbing and all the rest.

Ask yourself the bigger question, just how closely did any build of steam locos conform to the specified dimensions? I have been told by a man who was a premium apprentice to Bulleid at Inchicore that variation in length of frames was of the order of an inch on any given class of locos, standard error of about 0.05%. Never having been into a working steam loco erecting shop I haven't collected the data myself.

I have done successful 'for sentiment' DCC conversions of old locos, couple of my own, some for friends. I feel one needs to be realistic about what is possible: you need to start from a mechanically sound and reliable loco, with a motor which starts every time there is current on the rails. If it's a dog on DC, don't even consider it. With any drive that has a live chassis block with integrated motor, like the vertical Hornby-Dublo type, are you prepared to drill out the live to chassis brush location and install an insulating bush to fully isolate the brush from the chassis block? Irreversible modification and all that... For the old loco you choose to convert as a trial run, budget for a high grade decoder with plenty of adjustments and ample continuous current capability compared to the measured stall current at 12V DC as suggested by '10000' above. (I'd think of a Zimo rated for 1.5A continuous or better.) Do you have any recent model productions? There's a large choice in good current model productions, and some can be got at reasonable prices. Two which would complement an N2. Hornby's J50, Heljan's Baby Deltic. Put a good but modestly priced decoder like the Lenz Standard in these, and see the running quality available: that's a benchmark against which to assess the performance of an older loco with the necessary expensive decoder to manage a high current draw motor.

Catching up with progress since last looking in I was particularly pleased to read: Doing the job with attention to the forms of classical ballet, a true marriage of performance art and civil engineering. Or possibly an autocorrect triumph.

The factor of adhesion was unusually high on this class, about 5.5 even with the side tanks and bunker half empty. Typically anything over 4 was seen as adequate in UK design. (Bear in mind that factor of adhesion is 'rule of thumb' as it relates the estimated tractive effort to the design estimate of the load on the driven wheels. Neither of these were exactly accurate figures in steam engineering, and the design values changed as the machine wore in service and parts were machined.)

He was after maximum adhesion for the transfer freight work on the GNR's West Riding lines which had some heavily graded sections; the class was designed to replace 0-6-0 tender locos on these turns. I believe these were the heaviest 0-6-0T type built for a UK railway company.

Following a rally is fun, if a little time consuming; great crowd atmosphere during the event and at the social veues for the sleeping and eating. The IoM TT is similarly fantastic, but the casualties have led me at least to sadly conclude that it really is too dangerous. Especially in the regular 5 lap club circuit race with an early JAP engined Morgan trike. Exchange of positions on every straight and every complex of corners.

It's a worthwhile question: is there a manufacturer's standard ex-factory 'livery' / paint job which at least some locos carried when performing as a demonstator or on lease, loan or trial with a customer? If the answer is no, then definitely best supplied carrying actual user liveries.

That statement is helpful, and it generates a follow up question. While realising that this model was a commission, is this approach to construction likely to be the normal method on DJM product?

...and visibly falls short against best in class achievements in other respects. For sure make your own decision, based on a perception of the value of the qualities on offer for the money. For those wanting a Gresley O2 it is this RTR model or a kit build. Since it convincingly has the bones of the O2 about it as far as appearance is concerned, and an experienced modeller group have had examples running on extended test, it looks a worhtwhile deal to me at the proposed price. I have always assumed that Heljan sell nothing like the volume Hornby place in the market, that alone enough to account for a price differential between what are comparable models.

Cannot comment on Dapol, no experience. Bachmann, simple observation is your friend. Look at the tension lock coupler. If it has a downward step in it of approx. 2mm it has an overheight pocket. (I have totally lost track of where they are on coupler pocket position, having produced scores of models with the pockets too high against the NEM standard over the years, but latterly correcting this. As a result you can for sure buy plenty of 'new' items that have sat on a shelf since release, old enough that they have the high pocket.) Hornby's completely newly tooled in China introductions of circa the last ten years have the coupler pocket in the NEM specified place. (But there's stacks of older models in their range still with the coupler mount applying at the time they were introduced, applies especially to their wagon production.)

Running some thinned matt black paint into the interior flanges of the glazing by capillary action usually effects a siginificant improvement; and since Tim has kindly shown us just how easily access may be obtained that will be an early job when I finally get one.

Would that be an ultrasonic vapour generator, of the sort that are also used to create 'fog' effects in domestic toys? How small do they go? All the units I have seen would need a gauge 1 model, or a large O gauge prototype to fit.

Slightly tangential, but these 'wonderful' layouts and models featured in the magazines in the 1960s were often rather disappointing when seen at shows. Usually they still looked good, but half the locos didn't run at all well, and those that did run reliably were often 'coffee grinders'! I fully include myself in this category, having built a few coffee grinders of my own! The difference now is that RTR routinely offers quiet and smooth running that one sweated blood to achieve with the relatively poor and expensive mechanism resources of circa fifty years ago.

It's your choice obviously. But I can tell you that a typical L1 sounded nothing like an N2! An L1 sounded like no other ex-LNER type when running, they didn't earn the 'cement/concrete mixer' sobriquet for nothing.

It certainly has for one significant sector of its potential customer base. I rather doubt that it is so successful over the entire potential customer base, and particularly the group that regarded the print catalogue as just as significant part of the Hornby product line up, as the models displayed within it. That's no criticism of what Hornby's marketing team have decided to do in the way of changing their customer engagment methods. It is their business to run, and these are decisions they are fully entitled to make. The business results will supply the verdict on their performance.(With the internet enabling collaborative effort it seems to me that catalogue enthusiasts could create their own unofficial Hornby annual catalogue; emulating the football fanzines emergence in supplying what club programmes singularly failed to deliver to those enthusiastic for the kicking of balls.) Personally having seen Hornby transform their product delivery from sluggish and unreliable; to briskly delivering more new product variety, albeit with some small reliability issue in exactly hitting release dates, it's much better than before. Was anybody counting just how much completely newly tooled OO product went on retail sale in the UK in 2015? It feels like Hornby swept the board in numbers of all-new releases, to the extent that I would guess their total probably matched all the other OO players combined total. Why get agititated in any way about what future all-new product Hornby have in the pipeline is my attitude? After all they are banging out the all-new product fast enough that it will soon be revealed!