Ron Ron Ron

I am truly amazed at the amount of interest shown here in this particular subject. I could say it but I won't........ Anyway.... Well maybe because it's a children's toy and the notion of it being some form of "hobby" seems faintly ridiculous, perhaps? Personally, I think it's hardly likely to be a product aimed squarely as a toy for very small children, except where there may be some other influence such as a railway modelling parent or grandparent. We all know that they'll reach a stage where they'll consider playing with TTTE as "baby'ish and then along with other toys, Thomas will hit the dustbin, or end up being sold off cheap just to get rid. That age is getting younger and younger and even many parents these days, consider it "not normal" to be playing with toys like this past age 8 or 9. Thomas has its place, but if you want "amazing new ways of getting children into model railways", I would most definitely be looking elsewhere. Judging from this topic thread, I think along with many others, you probably are......? Ron .

It's not in the Trix 2014 or 2015 catalogues, so they must have quietly dropped it ????????? .

As for "home" manufacture, or "near home" manufacture; Roco/Fleischmann (Austrian and German) have for a few years now, been building many of their products in Romania at their own new modern factory. Although production is not on home soil, it is within the EU and exploits the cost savings provided by much lower labour costs and other lower operational overheads. Despite the savings this gives the manufacturer, retail prices compared to those in the UK for Chinese made products, are still much higher. Of course I could shoot my own argument down, because there are many reasons why RTR prices are higher in Germany than in the UK. Plus the fact here are some German RTR manufacturers who source some of their range from Chinese factories, but it doesn't lead to UK type low prices. However, my point is that even moving production to low cost eastern Europe, would significantly increase the price we'd be paying for our toys. Bringing production to the UK would come at an even higher price. Oh yes! As this topic is about Bachmann; production is already being carried out "at home". They are part of a Chinese company after all ! .

Also, made to a a quality and superior level of mechanical and technological sophistication, unimaginable back in those dark days. As for the whole post, well said Phil ! .

It's best not to look at the two end points to see what's happened. The story is in between. It's also useful to look at the the preceding four years (2006 to 2009) and the corresponding profit from operations for each year. (HK$ 'ooo) 2006 Turnover 643,216 - Profit from ops 69,044 2007 Turnover 721,709 - Profit from ops 90,896 (big rise in turnover and profit) 2008 Turnover 911,191 - Profit from ops 93,804 (even bigger rise in turnover, but profits increase marginally - recession starts) 2009 Turnover 1,537,676 - Profit from ops 89,547 (take over of Sanda Kan, increased turnover and a reduction in profit - loss making Sanda Kan) 2010 Turnover 1,600,246 - Profit from ops 76,320 (recession and Sanda Kan losses increase) 2011 Turnover 1,299,487 - Profit from ops (113,829) (recession bites, many OEM customers dumped, turnover plummets, profit turns to massive loss) 2012 Turnover 1,251,061 - Profit from ops (97,443) 2013 Turnover 927,773 - Profit from ops (60,981) (Sanda Kan and OEM contracts being wound up - almost halved the losses compared to 2011) 2014 Turnover 825,229 - Profit from ops 4,284 (Sanda Kan closed and losses stemmed) Turnover has now returned to just under where it was prior to the Sanda Kan take over. The challenge is to rebuild profitability. .

The larger retailers have also been selling a lot of steam locos at heavily reduced prices too, so it's not just the DMU's they are trying to move on. The fact that there are residual supplies left for sale may not necessarily be negative news though. Who knows, the manufacturer may have already hedged against the possibility of the last X percentage of stock being slower to move and factored this into the overall rate of return? As such, discounting the remainders to retailers, will probably still provide a profit. The alternative might be smaller batches with a higher retail price. The very nature of the market, with such a wide and varied number models being made available (many of which would have had little or no chance of being made years ago) has inevitably led to the production of models that will have a much narrower appeal than would have been considered necessary in previous times. I'm guessing that production volumes must be smaller as a result? Judging the market and balancing that with viable and economic production volumes, will inevitably lead to some surpluses as well as some unexpected rapid sell-outs. Unless you operate like Rapido (and a few others) who largely build to order. . .

I have indeed read it....and the previous years. (n.b. RMweb gets its now usual annual mention too.) Very interesting reading indeed. They have clearly been very busy trying to get into shipshape, ready to deal with a very different environment to the one we have lived through over the last decade. A completely different but not unrelated story, is how Kader's front line subsidiaries, like Bachmann Europe, are affected by the situation back in China and the challenges the parent places upon them. All that on top of dealing with the challenges of the local marketplace. Naturally we'll not be privy to most of what goes on, but would the extended delays in obtaining supplies of new products, demonstrate that it might be having some effect on turnover? .

Phil, I entirely agree with your post above (post 14), apart from this bit.... Batch production has been with us for a very long time, it's not a new phenomena. What is different is the size of batches , which are mostly smaller and the difficulty in obtaining production slots, which in itself may constrain the size of batches. Add to that, as the wealth and range of subjects modelled has expanded, some/many of the models are now of a more limited appeal or affordability, leading to smaller, or more tightly controlled production volumes. e.g. Blue Pullman. Manufacturers and shops can't afford to keep stuff on the shelves for too long. .

It's certainly true that J. P. Morgan effectively ruined Sanda Kan and probably equally true that Kader took on a bigger dud than they probably realised when they took that company over. The Sanda Kan problems were only one of the problems Kader have had to deal with, even though it was their biggest headache. Remember, they also suffered a very large fall in global sales as a result of the recession and rapidly rising costs has since come into play. Turnover on their global model train business has been down year on year, as follows.... 2012 -19.48% 2013 -19.94% 2014 -16.69% That's roughly a halving of the model train turnover in just 3 years. . .

One of those things Andy alludes to, is the reorganisation and rationalisation of the parent company and its production facilities. It's well documented that Kader have had to make significant adjustments in the wake of the recession and in light of the increasing labour costs in China. One of the outcomes of this, is the much discussed price rises. Much less discussed is the inevitable interruption in the supply of product whilst the factories are reorganised. Add on to that, Bachmann Europe's current short term problems with design and R&D capability. On the evidence we have, there's no reason to suppose that these issues won't have been worked through within a year to 18 months time. .

DCC Concepts are introducing an off the shelf solution for exactly this purpose. I don't know how far it goes to replicate your exact needs (e.g. head codes), but worth finding out if it's of use. Due out in the next couple of months IIRC. Newsletter 2015-03 #14 (Cobalt Alpha Coming Soon) .

I looked at this again today, to see if they were in stock yet (they're not). A couple of features I missed first time around are.... A Loconet-T extension port (wired controllers, occupancy detectors etc). The system can be used without a wireless router, or independent of a wireless network, if you choose. Although a network connection (WLAN or Ethernet) is required for automatic updates, or connecting to computer control. With the (still) very good rate against the Euro, the system is still listed at £240 inc Free p&p to the UK from Germany. p.s. Gaugemaster want £340 for it !!!!! £100 more.....Who are they kidding???? . .

Bachmann can't afford to have unsold stock sitting in their warehouse for too long. It costs money to store products and at some point they'd need the storage space for new stock. Not forgetting that they would have had to pay the factory at some earlier point, resulting with a negative being carried on the balance sheet. Hence the periodic clearances to their trade customers, which are a regular occurrence. If this is a sign that the 350 is being cleared out of Barwell (we don't know), then there'll be no more for a long while, if ever again. Roll on the 450. The card is ready. .

That's just the sound of the naysayers and doom merchants, moaning and making negative comments. I agree 100% Unfortunately I think they will. .

Testing and running under its own power at Old Dalby, the first pre-series Class 800 is now about to start testing in a Signal Protected Zone (SPZ), out on the ECML. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CDk7VIsWMAApzbb.jpg:large . .

There's no need to change the title as the other "system" that's been injected to this topic is a completely different type of product, requiring the purchase of lots of proprietary equipment. A total antithesis to the Bachmann and BlueRail Trains, which promises to do away with expensive dedicated control hardware . p.s. Plus, that other product is a misguided and poor offering IMHO.

Yep. It will all vanish in due course, leaving just the new Crossrail depot and the North Pole depot for the FGW (GWR) SET's. What's left of the old depot is earmarked to be the site of the proposed HS2/GWML/WLL interchange station. . .

The outline details of the lease will probably be announced at the same time as the confirmation of the order going ahead (DfT approval etc). At the time of the announcement of this order, back in March, the news release said that financing arrangements were near to completion. Again subject to DfT approval of the order. At a guess, the ROSCO concerned is very likely to be Hitachi, with a maintenance package and supply of serviceable trains/diagrams contract, similar to that for the SouthEast Trains Class 395 Javelins and for the IEP SET fleet. The end result for FGW (GWR) may be a virtually identical arrangement for the IEP procured SET's and these FGW procured SET's, with only the address where the bill comes from being different; i.e.. Agility Trains or Hitachi. .

I thing Jose Mourinho got there before you Joseph. That was just Mourinho's spin on the result, but that wasn't the whole truth of the matter. Chelsea certainly had their defensive game plan which won them the match, but it took them nearly 30 minutes to get organised as they were being run ragged in that time. Even their solid defence was being split open time after time and only a lack of finishing and some last ditch blocks prevented them going behind early on. Stamford Bridge was in silence. After that Chelsea finally managed to organise themselves and then got their single goal, on a break away. Mind you, in the build up to that Terry got away with fouling Falcao (100% agreement on that from the whole Sky TV panel) to win the possession that immediately led to to the goal. From then on Chelsea's "total defence football" just locked United out, despite United hitting the woodwork and several vital last minute blocks. But United's possession wasn't "aimless" at all. A combination of Chelseas superior defensive play, United's current lack of firepower and a moment of Hazard's brilliance decided the result. A deserved win for Chelsea on their tactics and defensive game, but they only won it by the skin of their teeth. John Terry's interview in the tunnel at the end, showed how much relief they was in scraping the result. As to yesterday at Goodison, a totally different story. It ended up as a fairly comfortable win for Everton. United were largely aimless and unlike at Stamford Bridge last week, seemed to be totally lacking in passion and urgency. Lots of possession and very little goal threat. Everton's game plan worked and they even got a joke goal as a bonus. Well done the Toffee's. Arsenal v Chelsea later on. A repeat performance from Chelsea. "Park the bus" is indeed winning matches. .

I see ships ! Pirate vessel on the port bow capt'n.

Some more details about this particular conductor beam/rail trial. It is a new type (Furrer+Frey ROCS) not seen in the UK before, designed specifically for high speed lines. Apparently NR have chosen it because of its proven reputation for reliability, durability and low maintenance requirement. Quote "the ultimate ‘fit and forget’ system”, with no moving parts and low maintenance requirements". The blurb says that the same or previous versions of the design, are already in use on many lines in Europe, including HS lines with typical line running at 250kph (155mph) on the conductor rail. It also says that it has been tested for operation up to 303kph (187mph). Some more photos... Stanton Tunnel - 1 Stanton Tunnel - 2 Stanton Tunnel - 3 .

While I personally don't think there's anything wrong with speculating, or viewing a purchase as an investment (no matter how wise or misguided); I do feel the onus is on you to make the purchasing decision and not the seller. If you are viewing a purchase in those terms, the risk is entirely on your own head and you cannot expect Locomotion or Rapido to feather nest your own personal agenda. I'm sorry to say that if you get your fingers burnt, it's tough luck. That's your look out. Let the buyer beware. .

Bill, I stand corrected on part of my comment. As Andy has said, Brian says that agreement has been made on producing a specific volume. That volume may be fixed, a minimum or a range from the viable minimum to the point of maximum acceptable risk? The fact remains, at the present time, the only way you can guarantee having one of these models is to pre-order. If you don't, there's a chance you will be disappointed. . .

So, the availability issue is very clear. The model is Pre-order only for the time being. They will only be making enough Sterling Singles to meet the pre-orders. [edit: They will only be making enough to fulfil the agreed volume] If demand and/or rate of take-up warrants it, due consideration will be given to a second batch. There is no guaranteed of a second batch this point in time. As Brian Greenwood says, they would hope that it would become a perennial seller in future years, but that is currently just a hope. .

The Rapido web site says..... .