Roy Langridge

There will probably be some political pressure through the DfT to take the Mk5s thus avoiding bad news as we run towards a general election. Roy

And you are now the proud winner of a ticket to the back of the queue 😉 Roy

Don’t need software, it is easily configured in DCC. Roy

I didn’t unfortunately. I was trained as an electronic engineer so relatively simple for me. I am away at the moment, when I am back I will pop the body off and take some photos. Roy

Funny, when I look at 00, I see 9 steam, 11 diesel, most rolling stock. Roy

I hardwired a small decoder in my four, a Zimo a MX616R by memory. A fairly straightforward job. Roy

I can’t help feeling that there is confusion here between writting off assets and recovering the costs of tooling. You can recover the costs, i.e. recoup the costs of paying for the tooling costs, and make your desired profit margin on a first run. That tooling still has value on the books, but there is no hole as alluded to above. Roy

Saltaire crosses included on this sheet from @railtec-models if you want to add them: https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=1045 Roy

Language evolves, that is life. Always has, always will. Just don’t get stressed by it, it achieves nothing. Roy

We all know the sea food diet joke Andy 😉 Roy

Don’t forget that the price of Bachmann is regularly discountedand the that Accurascale stock rarely gets discounted. In both cases profit will be being made, the costs are broadly similar in my opinion and the business models not so vastly different. Roy

That is often said, but I had no issues converting mine to DCC. I wonder if the tolerances are a bit wayward? Roy

47s were quite squat, and ironically did look a bit tubby. As soon as I saw a head-on photo of the Heljan offering it looked “pinched” and too tall/thin, and that was without comparing it. Roy

Looks pretty much spot on to me compared to photos at the same angle on Flickr. Roy

The 104 is looking like it may be one of Heljan’s crackers. I am looking forward to it, but my don’t pre-order Heljan rule still applies. Roy

Indeed we did as it was a model I really wanted, but as you say, that was only when they reached a price point where I was happy to do work needed. As I and others have said, if they are are going to command the highest prices, they need to do better. Roy

Very nice and, rather unfortunately, very tempting. Can I justify these? Going to be a bit of a battle and I am not sure which side of me will win. Roy

Simples, what they had said, they are arriving in *three* batches spread across that period. Roy

I think all the time people argue that poor models are ok the drive to do better is diminished. The 45, people argued that the flat sides were ok, they are not. The 25’s cab shape and doors are incorrect. The 18100 has beading missing, the PWM was badly designed and assembled. All this, but you still get some saying there is nothing wrong. Or do some modelling. I am not against doing modelling, but at today’s prices the base model should be correct. Roy

No, just brand new and on its first working 😉 Roy

Indeed, it is that level of honesty in reviews that is needed. I have bought models before that had glowing reviews to spot errors instantly when unboxing them. That used to be a bit annoying, but with the cost of models / state of economy today, and with spend being more targeted, it now goes beyond that. I too wonder about the Heljan business model. Basic errors are let “slip through” sometimes to be corrected on later models, sometimes not. Often these have been pointed out. Why so? As I have said numerous times, Heljan can make some crackers and nearly always have great mechanical performance, they should be knocking others out of the park. Where Heljan choose to go up against other manufacturers, they must at least get it right, aiming to be as good and able to exist alongside the competition, if not beating it. Roy

That is my thoughts and ties in with them being at the Statfold Model Railway Exhibition Roy

Definitely not a new tooling 47 as the cab front footsteps are in the right place. Roy

Whooooshhh!!!

Fore and aft does not allow for changes in gradient on a curve if you have camber for example. You don’t need a lot of movement, but gravity is your friend as locos tend to sit at their lowest natural point. Pick a real 47 up by its body and see how much movement there is in relation to the bogies. Roy