surfsup

I was thinking about this earlier and wondering when the announcement was due. And.... Please, please can we have a SWT 158 at last!

DfT / GWR's Cutbacks are a bit drastic aren't they - Double 150s in the Summer, a single BMW in the winter!

Ah... I think I've worked out why, particularly as the previous TFW 67 release was also 67025. But the main issue is that Hornby very much appears to have jumped the gun on that, as the real thing hasn't been painted into the TfW Black livery yet (it's still white). oops.

Indeed, as has been done to several of GBRf's 66s so far. I think the Dutch imports ( what became 66748/9/50) were the first to have them removed (not my photos) : You can often tell an imported 66 from a standard UK 66 as some still retain the European ones too (and have bigger boxes for some reason).

Indeed it was - being a big fan of the Caledonian Sleeper Midnight Teal livery, I couldn’t let the produce that hash of a Mk2 (for anyone wondering, it would have been a TSO with the BUO printed on the side - eg, doors windows and all, not a fully tooled up BUO), so had to drop him an email as soon as that came out. Luckily Hornby already had the BSO in their range so changing it made sense - even if, it is a little incorrect for the full train. In reality, The BSO rarely ventured south of Edinburgh, having spent most of there time on the Fort William seated portion, along with an RLO which was added / taken off at Edinburgh. But what’s better - an accurate CS vehicle which, along with a RLO & Sleepers allows you to model the Fort William portion correctly, or a rather awful Mk2 TSO masquerading badly as something it wasn’t. Now we just need that 73/9 now! But that’s for a different thread! Back to the 2023 topic, I was browsing through the catalog earlier and noticed a slightly bizarre array of images for the VTEC / LNER / EMR Mk3s - Did they announce some last year using the new tooling? The catalog photos seem to be a mix of new tooling Mk3 and old Limby efforts.

As @scouse889 mentions, the RLO was in the 2022 range. Fortunately, there's nothing wrong with that RLO as long as the numbers are correct - 6700/01 were built with blanking plates fitted, whereas the later builds had the windows removed and plated over altogether. Not my photo, but here is 6700 at Carlisle back in First ScotRail Caledonian Sleeper livery: So fully accurate - I hope, as I spoke to Simon about this one (along with switching the TSO masquerading as a BUO into BSO 9497).

It might work if your not in the group - if you are it should. Unfortunately I cant change the settings on it I'm afraid as its not my group or video: https://www.facebook.com/834878008/videos/491233049790607/

If I couldn't think these Mk5s looked stunning enough, I see one lucky customer has come up with a set of working destination screens for his over on Facebook (British Railway Modelling - cant post the video as the group is set to private). Well done Accurascale, you've knocked these out of the park again! Credit to Michael Lomax! Absolutely stunning stuff!

I can't really say fairer than that to be honest. For us modern image modellers, I feel that in a range of mediocrity, the only standout is the TTA. A reasonably priced, fairly well detailed 4 wheeler in well thought out range of liveries. But other than that, nothing else screams out at me at all. Plenty of own goals and missed opportunities (eg, see my other comments on the EWS Mk2s over Riviera / Anglia / ex Virgin / FGW, and still surprising lack LHCS Mk3s) - even the much protected Ultimate HST seems to have gone rather limp, with a few releases last year and less releases this year. It's almost as if Hornby want to gift it & the Mk3 to someone who could do a better job of it!

I mean, there's always the LNER PC with... no, wait, there's another missing livery / model! Actually, on that subject and seeing as Mr K allegedly likes to produce sets / specific rakes, I'm surprised we haven't seen the EMT / EMR Angel sets yet - 2 PCs & 6 Mk3s isn't much to produce! But, the Cappagh Blue 60 isn't as much of an anomaly as the DCR Green 56 - It came out far too late to be current, like the Cappagh 60 had little to actually run with it, and by the time the model had been produced, the real thing had been sat in Wembley Yard for some years with a drooped cab after a shunting incident. Pretty sure those ended up in the bargain bins as a result!

That's another surprise actually - still no new Virgin HST. Back in the day (the mid 2000s at least) you'd be almost guaranteed a Virgin Trains Mk3 or HST nearly every year, now it seems to have disappeared. Hopefully, should Hornby chose to do one next year, they'll not only tool up the TGS but produce the right 4 windowed TRSB Buffet at last - They certainly have the tooling as they seem to be producing the 408XX in LSL guises!

Even Riviera Train's Great Briton rake would have been more preferable seeing how much more widespread that has been. Oh well, only the wonders of Margate will know why they were chosen and how well these Mk2s sell. Perhaps Hornby would be better off taking the Bachmann approach and doing regional specialities - I.e these as a Fife Circle set for Scotland? Speaking of Mk3s - I still cant get my head around what Hornby are / aren't doing with the Oxford Loco Hauled Mk3. If only they'd re-tool the chassis, bring it into the main range and produce many more liveries on it. At the moment it seems rather odd, almost stuck out on a limb, in the Oxford range. I'm sure Oxford had planned a sleeper version too?

I too am rather puzzled by these. I mean, while they look rather nice, they have a somewhat limited appeal. I believe EWS repainted these sometime around the mid to late 2000s in an attempt to try and gain a foot in the lucrative charter market. A short time later, they joined into an alliance with Riviera Trains who had a much much bigger fleet of Mk2s. So, apart from a few rail tours in 2007/2008, and a short period of hire to Grand Central in 2008 working with TnT 47s, I cant find any other uses for these Mk2s until the Fife Circle contract came up - and even then they were a mix of the EWS ones and Cargo D's Blue Grey vehicles. So they've roughly spent more time in storage at Toton (& being heavily vandalised at Thornton Yard where DB Dumped them after they lost the Fife Circle to DRS / Riveria) than actually turning a wheel in service. I'd have thought examples from the more widespread Riviera Trains & Cargo D staple would have been a better bet - Ex Virgin, Ex Anglia, Ex FGW & BR Blue Grey than some fairly lightly used Mk2s. Actually, having seen Hornby's attempt at FGW Fag Packet on the Mk3s, I think i'd other wait for Bachmann to produce those!

On this point, the plans regarding the 180s seem to be chopping and changing all the time. They were initially bought in as replacements for the 4 Angel owned HST sets (the ex GC ones). It was later envisaged that they would be retained to supplement the 810s on Intercity duties. However, with passenger numbers still not at pre-pandemic levels on some routes, and the DfT's current round of cost cutting, it looks certain that they will be departing the midlands, but will be the last units to leave after the 222s (this being because the part of Etches Park - The Bomabrdier Depot - where 222s are stabled which is soon to be remodelled as part of the new Hitachi depot whereas the 180s are in EMRs side of Etches Park). Regarding the livery, they aren't painted - just reliveried using vinyls. The blue around the windows, designed to match the EMT livery, is just the remainder of the First Hull Trains livery.

They do indeed, 027 is currently in Eastleigh (and not in Calsey sleeper but GBRf livery) , while the other, 023 and still in Colas, is currently piloting on the sleeper between Edinburgh and Inverness again. They can work solo and have done on some fairly recent occasions, however GBRf prefers to operate them double headed on the main routes as it puts less strain on the locos (I believe the alternator has been one area of concern on the 73/9s unfortunately) as well as for performance reasons. Regarding the 67s, there were some restrictions on them on the Fort William route due to their heavy axle loading - the dedicated sleeper locos received cast steel brake blocks (amongst a few other modifications) which limited their top speed to 80MPH - a 73/9 has the advantage here being Max Speed 90. I do agree though, with Accura doing the stunning class 92 in CS Midnight Teal, and Mk5s following, can someone please tool up a 73/9 pretty please!

I was thinking about this the other day actually, and I would agree that resurrecting the Lima brand for what is / was Railroad would be a good idea, Particularly given that quite a few of what makes up the current Railroad originated in Lima too. I also don't think Hornby has helped itself by having locos in Railroad, Railroad Plus and it's main range either! On the last point, one of their adverts on Facebook made me laugh last night. Not only did it include the tagline of "Ultra Detailed and High Quality Models" but also "Main Range Models" - and showed the SAA wagon (albeit dressed up in Christmas guise) dating from at least 1979.

Unfortunately it's now quite a limited selection if Hornby want's to do anything Metropolitan Railway / LUL related - The S Stock now produced by Bachmann, TC by Bachmann, Sarah Siddons by Heljan, and at a push, the 38 Stock by EFE Rail / Bachmann. So, that leaves either the A62 stock or anything earlier, eg Steam + coaching stock.

How long will it last before we see "it's the wrong shade of blue / the grey band is too grey / they've missed this particular screw head and or rivet" though? 😆

Something tells me 007 should be coming out of the paintshop very soon! Not sure when the 008/009 are due to head down to Eastleigh yet, but they can’t be far off I reckon.

They aren't my wagons but, from the photos he's sent me - R6723 & R6724 both seem to have '83 70 0968 157-0' & '83 70 0968 157-0'.

I was sent some photos from a friend this afternoon and it's revealed another small problem. Both wagons have the same number printed on them. Does Hornby actually check the small things before signing them off?

The Barrier Vans in this picture are the recently refurbished, former NVA Motorail vans, now Universal Barrier Vehicles owned and operated by Meridian Generic Rail. They probably will find some use working with Rail Adventure as they've been designed to operate both in the UK and in Europe. https://www.meridian-generic-rail.co.uk/universal-barrier-vehicles/ It would rather be nice to see the NVAs modelled too - they've carried at least 4 different liveries so far (FGW Green Gold, Colas Ex FGW / TNT branding, Network Rail and Meridian Generic) and have certainly spread their wings around the country since their Paddington Penzance days.

Portishead has certainly shown this - due to the Bristol Whitebeam and I kid you not, the Bristol Onion Tree being located in the Avonmouth Gorge. The frustrating thing is that they have been growing out of the tunnel mouth on the already open section of the line, but presumably upgrading it and damage prevention work to the tunnel would have involved the moving of said trees. And of course a considerable amount of delay and cost increases to sort out said trees.

I wouldn't put it past them given the tie in's with LSL, Hoskings and the 1:1 Collection. I would also hazard a guess a model of a Two Tone Green 47 may also be on the horizon as the broken 501 is now due to go there. Now, what will be interesting to see is what they do with the Oxford Rail Mk3 tooling. Will they finally incorporate them into the main range, address the issues with the chassis, and release them with further new liveries?

Possibly 155s, certainly 150s. The 158s were kept to the more premier routes in the earlier days. Weymouth appears to have largely escaped 158s until the Wales & West / Wessex Trains era (as in your photos above - note the small Wales & West branding on the 150 and SWT liveried slammer in the background), predominately being a mix of Loco Hauled then Sprinterisation then Loco Hauled & Sprinters (the Reggie Rail 37/4s certainly ran down there in the mid to late 90s). A quick look at Flickr even suggests the somewhat rare, and rather comfortable, visit of a Laria based 101 at one point! (Speaking of which, come on Bachmann, isn't it about time the 101 made an appearance in Reggie Rail too?!)