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Took the plunge and bought one of these beauties today (little treat while waiting for the Garratt). Ran very well straight from the box, front bogie runs a bit high, wheels sporadically inactive on code 75, but run fine on code 100, a little weight should cure that problem. The only gripe I have is the horrendous packaging, what a faff getting the loco out of the box, and even worse trying to put it back, fortunately I rarely store my locos in their original boxes so it will not be a problem, but it is high time Hornby settled on a style of packaging that is both robust and convenient to use. Anyway that will not detract from this gorgeous bit of LNER machinery, it sticks in the throat a bit being a GWR man to admit that this is a beauty.

Comparison of Hornby and Bachmann Halls should be interesting, I suspect the Hornby Hall may win out, direct head to heads usually favour Hornby in the reviews ( 4mt and B1). You can bet Hornby will go all out to produce a good loco. My late brother in law drove on the Western region and had experience of all types of loco, he said without doubt the Hall was the most satisfying loco to drive, steamed really well and did all that was asked of it. He added that although Kings and Castles were undoubtedly more powerful and faster they had to be worked to get the best out of them, whereas the Hall was easy to drive.

Plenty of time to do your research chaps, Hattons report that they are still undergoing tests and will not be here before June/July

Hmmm it is sad that this Hall has failed to come up to expectations, I hope Bachmann address all the problems otherwise it will not see my money. Interestingly Bachmann have made a whole raft of errors with this loco and it has brought a fairly mild by some standards rebuke. Hornby put a moulded smokebox dart on its 42xx and some people have gone into apoplexy. Ce'st la Vie.

Well done Bachmann for withdrawing the loco to get it right. ``so to answer the original question...A bit of a balls up! (for now)

Think I will wait until there is a less controversial in terms of number, livery etc.model released.

Just going back to Kernow MRC for a moment, I hope they do not take on a limited 43 at present; or a least until the original Warship (D600 class) they have commissioned is with us.

Has Anyone heard when we can expect the first Garratts? I know there was going to be a delay but it would be nice to have an idea.

Hi Paul Roco do a digital booster (part no.10765) which is available from A&H (no connection other than satisfied customer) at £122.

Hi 31A I dont know if you use DCC or Hornby decoders, however the R8249 standard decoder comes with a Matt soft sheath to cover the decoder with. I have used this to great effect making fall plates as it is easily cut to size and is pliable. I find it simply moves out of harms way when the loco goes around a corner and slips back into place on the straight.

I believe the O1 went through Woodford Hulse which is only a few miles East of the area I model so one will inevitably wander on to my layout and hand its train over to a Western freight loco before turning and returning with empties. Just a technical point, Model Rail state that the motor is a 3 pole with a flywheel, others have stated it is the 5 pole motor. I am not aware of Hornby fitting their 5 pole motors with flywheels, can anyone clarify this query? On a practical level it really does not matter as the loco is a veritable Sampson in the pulling stakes.

HMM a lovely proportioned loco, I will get one anyway but I would be interested to know how far South and West these locos may have strayed or was their sphere of duty all up North and West. My layout is based on a line near Banbury and Banbury had B1s, L1s and other assorted ER locos visit, I was wondering if the O1 wandered down this way?

Anyone in the Banbury area on Sunday 9th December Banbury and District MRC are holding an open day (see website for directions). I will be using the Z21 on our test track if anyone is interested in seeing it working. Andi

OK so today i set up my own Z21 on a test track, it took only a couple of clicks to configure my iPhone. I tried it out with my sound equipped Peak, it was very easy to access all the functions and control was very fine, I was able to crawl the loco along at 1kph. As far as I can see you cannot double head on an iphone but I suppose using the ipad you could run two locos together using dual throttles. I have not got a Multimaus but I assume double heading is possible with it. Adjustment of CVs appears to be limited at present, again I presume it is possible to read and adjust CVs using the Multimaus. At present I would say the system is in its infancy but will probably expand quite quickly, I have yet to explore the Z21s potential fully but it looks like it will be fun and really easy to use. NB Removing the Roco locos from the library and inserting my own fleet was simplicity itself, My next test will be to use it in place of my Lenz controllers but still switching my Lenz point decoders.

Went to A&H models today and was able to use the system. I simply downloaded the PIN on the router to the App on my iphone and was up and running in a few seconds. The guys at A&H gave me the Addresses of the locos they had running and I was away, points were automatically assigned so I did not have to configure anything. Loco and Function control was easy, and using the finger slide control allowed fine control of acceleration and deceleration.The Z21 is a superb system, it enables a full range of fine tuning, I must say just walking in and hooking up to a controller with my iphone was great. However like most systems it is a wise man who reads the instructions and becomes familiar with how to access everything first. Once the operator is au fait with the Z21 it will be quite intuitive, and dare I say it the future has arrived. Oh and for those who do not have an iPhone, android phones, computers and multimaus controllers are also supported.

In answer to Big Jim's observations I bought my Z21 from the guy (Dave?) who was selling for A&H on his stall. He was saying that Roco/Fleischmann have already got developments in the pipeline to expand the system further. As it is in its infancy I guess they want to see the market reaction, however the reaction amongst my fellow club members was that it represented a huge leap forward in computer/phone etc control and made the whole job that much easier. R/F have stolen a march on other manufacturers who I suspect will be looking at how they can simplify matters and get a system in place. I am going to the A&H DCC day this Sunday and will see if they know of further developments, the system can still use a traditional Multimaus handset and will work Lenz LS150 point decoders so I can integrate it into my Lenz controlled layout. I suspect we are looking at the future of DCC control, it can only be a matter of time before British companies start producing cab interiors that can be downloaded on the the system, now that would be cab control!!.

Notoriously difficult to render colour correctly or compare unless both tenders are exposed to the same amount of light which they are clearly not in Silver Sidelines photos as one is behind the other and a little bit further away from the flash. Depending on the power of the flash gun reciprocal failure will affect the amount of light falling on the subject even at relatively short distances. Even natural light will be affected by distance. The tenders should have been alongside each other to give them both the same amount of light in both flash and ambient light photography.

I see Hattons are now quoting Spring 2013 for the Garratt, guess there are a few glitches from the pre prod to sort out. On the plus side it will give them longer to perfect this loco, and for me to spread the cost of my orders!

Just saw a glimpse of this on the MRlive website, the only postings I can see regarding this system are at the beginning of the year. Can anyone shed any light on it? I have looked at the catalogue what there is of it and on the face of it the Z21 looks a pretty good bit of kit. But little or nothing has been posted on this site or others. Is the Z21 on the market yet? I have not seen or heard of any reviews (although is there one in BRM this month???). I would certainly like to know more about the system and how well it works; has anyone had hands on experience?

Certainly the most stunning rendition of a Western, they will definitely make an appearance on my China Clay layout

Castle, rarely have I seen such excellent modelling, the photographs, description and general helpful hints make this one of the best threads on RMweb. I am in awe of your skills, but they are inspirational at the same time and I am about to embark on my own project which I hope will turn out half as good as your efforts.

Looking very good, shame about the damage to the footplate. That said it is looking like we are going to get a superb model

Is there any indication when the disc versions will be hitting these shores?