leavesontheline

I've been looking for the thin slot in my photos and can I find it? Can I @! I thought that the operator said that the piece of 'test track' he had alongside the scenic display was a one-piece casting? Might have misheard him though. How did the cradle attach to the strimmer wire? When the loco was 'coupled' to the wagon the two did run very smoothly together. Next challenge will be to put some curves in there! Quite apart from how the thing actually ran, I was blown away by the level of detail achieved in the scenery at such a small scale, such as the fencing, the bridge, the building etc etc. Amazing work!

When I saw it I think it was a Pickfords removals van or similar! Great show. Paid a short but sweet visit earlier today after missing it for a year or maybe two. Very high standard of modelling I thought. Although all layouts had their own appeal, what some of the N gauge/2mm FS layouts achieved, I think I'd struggle with in OO/4mm! Some inspirational modelling. Always nice to see a layout in the flesh that I have previously only read about in a magazine (or here on RMweb). Kind of like meeting a celebrity! This time it was Lower Rose Goods, which featured in the June edition of Hornby magazine I think. Looked just as fantastic as the article. Just wish I could have spent longer there....

Tunezzzzz! I suspect those two songs may not be familiar to many rmwebbers!

At least the sun came out for your last day!

I have never met you Jim but I have very much enjoyed your photos on these pages! Good luck in the new job and hopefully you will be able to continue this invaluable topic once settled in with your new employer!

When I was young(er) we had just such a decoder. The system was called "Zero 1".

There's only one way to find out which is better...... FIIIIIIIIGHT!

Got to agree with bigherb. The Barclay is a very fine model indeed but the Peckett is just that bit finerer all round IMO.

Were people expecting 29 'new-tool' models or something?! I see some new liveries on 'high-end' models that have so far proved very popular (and some folk missed out on) = good news. I see re-introduction of some older models (LMS coaches and platform/other infrastructure items) that are aimed more at the grass-roots/train-set end of the market and to be honest should be/have been permanently available in shops, but haven't been = good news. On top of all the 2018 announcements at the start of the year, I think this is pretty good! There may well be other isolated announcements as the year goes on, as Hornby have already done more recently (i.e. last 24 months?). With the dropping of the Thomas range, which to be honest is expensive for a toy that appeals to children for such a short time-frame before they grow out of it, perhaps they are putting a bit more time and effort into the train-set/Railroad end of the market so in 10, 15, 20 etc etc years time they have the next batches of customers for their main range products coming through who by that time will have their own expendable income. I just don't see any major negatives! In hyping the announcement up, obviously that has created significant froth levels on here, but it has also created 36 pages of people talking about Hornby products, and what product(s) they would like the announcement to be and 'no publicity is bad publicity' as the saying goes! It will undoubtedly have led to a number of pre-orders being placed today which could give them an up-front indication of the levels of interest in each model. Someone mentioned flooding the market with Pecketts - well Hattons seem to be doing quite well with their P Class and Andrew Barclay models recently released which arrived in multiple variations from day 1! In the time we (I include myself in this) have spent looking at this thread and had fun speculating as to the nature of the announcement, how much time and attention has been spent on new announcements from Hornby's main competitors I wonder? I can't remember the last time I purchased or pre-ordered a 'new' Bachmann model - probably not* so far in 2018. Over the past year my red box purchases have probably outnumbered blue box by at least 10:1 so Hornby must be doing something right? In fact I think I have spent more on Hattons and KMRC special commissions than Bachmann in recent times. Hattons Class 66 announcement today was timed to perfection! Interesting and exciting times for us modellers/collectors(insert chosen title here!) with such a fantastic choice in RTR. I hope all manufacturers are successful in what they do, big or small, so we continue to enjoy this choice. *Edited to note I just remembered two! - Colas and Europhoenix livery Class 37's due later this year? Maybe? ......

Maybe they have retooled or found the old tools for the Clan Class?

This is still making me chuckle... Could the seating layout shared yesterday fit a bus?!

According to my extensive research (approx 10 seconds on Google), 'yes'. However, further in depth investigation (another 10 seconds on Google) would suggest 'no' and that this was only achieved using another dmu and a conversion kit! Oops. Thinking too laterally maybe anyway?!

As May 8th is the 128th day of the year, maybe it will be reintroduction of the Lima Class 128 as a Railroad model? (given that the Heljan version occupies the other end of the market)

Update, image below of BR 705 - the reason the 'copper' pipework was stuck where it was on removal from the packaging is that it is actually steel wire, so was held in place by the motor magnets! Commendable that such an item from the cab detailing should be metallic! Quite how it got there from the cab, with all the silicone sheeting in place is still a mystery to me. It must have been packaged like that surely? Removal of the body was a delicate operation as there are so few places to hold onto, even with my small fingers! One point to note, in the Hattons instructions it shows two pipes to ping out from under the tanks on either side (ringed below, easy to get out, not quite so easy to get back in!) but it doesn't tell you about two other pipe/valve assemblies that you may or not need to remove on disassembly but will most certainly need to ping out on reassembly (like the other two, they are not glued). These are also ringed in the image below and there is one both sides. Again, they just clip (or un-clip) into place under the running plate/footplate floor and the attached pipework is plastic so fairly flexible, hence why you might not even notice them on disassembly. On reassembly you just need to pull the valve end of the pipework downwards away from the running plate and move outboard a tiny bit just to aid the body fitment back onto the chassis. Then getting to the cab space was quite easy, more screws separate the boiler/cab from the metal running plate and then the cab outer parts separate from the boiler and back-head by gently sliding the cab upwards. I just glued the 'copper' pipe back in place at the top of the back-head. There are tiny location holes in the running plate where I assume all three 'copper' pipes are supposed to locate but with the cab in place there is no way you could hope to line these up! Probably why this particular one popped out in the first place. Anyway, it hasn't popped out again during re-assembly so this one is now sorted!

Well my three arrived today. Not quite the same 10/10 for the 'perfect P' but still pleased overall........ Katie does have the warped cab back wall but it looks like slightly snug packaging. I may try to wedge something in between the back wall and the inside front of the cab (or maybe just across the 'door' gap?) just to push it back out, for a few days maybe. As I have been typing this Hatton's Dave reply has just come in. It certainly looks like a packaging issue to me. Katie also had what looked like a damaged handrail and at first this looked like it had been snapped out of the forward lug but luckily it just popped back into place with no real harm done. Also one of the small hand-grabs on the front corner of the running plate was missing. Again it looked like this had been snapped off as the tiny hole looked like it was still filled. Luckily the minuscule part was floating around amongst the foam packaging (seemed like it might even be metallic?) and hadn't snapped off but just slotted back into the hole. Will need some careful gluing! GWR 705 just has some slight paint blemishes. They are only small and at 'normal' viewing/running distances they would not be visible but then the detail on these models is so fine your eye does tend to become drawn in to the smallest of details - particularly with the amazing cab detail! I may yet return this one to see if I can get a better one. BR 705 had what looked like some spare copper pipework wedged under the saddle tank handrail. It took me a while to work out where this had come from but eventually located it as missing from inside the cab! Quite how it worked it's way out of the cab, and under the handrail, whilst the model was encased in the silicone sheeting I do not know! Anyway, hopefully I will be able to separate the cab parts and refit this pipework. It just looks like insufficient glue had been used (same as Katie's grab handle). I can't imagine this 'snapping' off in transit - it must have been packaged like this at the factory! I did wonder if the reason these models had taken a week to go from 'order processed' to delivered was due to additional QC checks by Hattons (as someone else on here had been told) but with my three I'd say this was not the case! Certainly the faults with Katie and BR 705 would have been immediately obvious to anyone! So as I say, not quite the 10/10 with the P Class models but a solid 6/10 which may rise to an 8/10 once I have resolved the faults!

It was also on the Hattons 'news' page for the Andrew Barclay loco that they have updated throughout ..... http://www.hattons.co.uk/NewsDetail.aspx?id=186 (Edit: Scroll down to the 12/03/2018 entry)

Picked and packed, it (they!!) should be with me by the weekend.... Luckily I've had fellow RMwebber's excellent photos and videos in this thread to whet my appetite in the meantime!

You are lucky! I ordered mine in December - albeit with 'standard' delivery - order processed and funds taken Friday, still waiting for 'picked and dispatched' email! Does make me wonder for the future if there is any point in 'pre-ordering'? I guess with my Hornby H&P Peckett it was worth it!

Having just gone through my emails from the past few days I came across this BRM special offer and the second email 'correcting' the first one. Clicked on the link - no luck here either - just a blank screen. The link provided above does not work either. Just a blank pocketmags screen. Oh well ....

Order processed here too. Standard delivery so I'm not expecting them until next week now but if they are as half as good as the P Class they will be worth waiting for! Edited just to add that the 'order processed' email from Hattons usually means just that. You normally get another email when the order is picked, packed and posted......

It could be R3371 in that case, or possibly the same model but from a trainset.

Does it have window glazing? If so, possibly R2339?

And the divorce settlement....!

I have to say top marks to Hattons for these models. They are superb. I am very impressed with the finish, decoration and running qualities. The detailing externally and inside the cab is right up there with the best RTR. For me, Bluebell 323 was pre-ordered purely on looks .... and I have no regrets! It is probably my most impressive 'Rule 1' purchase along with the H&P Peckett - maybe it is the blue colour that caught my eye in both cases. Looking forward to the Andrew Barclay ....

Could have spent hours watching this layout at the Nailsea show yesterday. Superb - well done sirs!