alfsboy Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 (edited) It takes time to produce a model .Its called manufacturing but few in this country have heard of it after Thatcher "saved " us .Peco needed customers to know that a loco to match their rolling stock and track was on the drawing boards and a reality .Hence Railway modeller announced it.A lot of it is all new as well .We dont know if the model will throw rods ,shred gears and wobble yet ,all considerations when developing a tiny out side cranked miniature .The Roco BR 99 ran sweetly for a while I gather and then went awol. Exciting though .Do you buy unseen and maybe buy a dud design or do you wait for all the other suckers to buy it and wait to see what happened...and miss the chance to get one at all ....O ye of little faith . :-) Edited June 13, 2013 by alfsboy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted June 13, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2013 They have said it was at a very early stage when it was announced and they are aiming for 2014 from that statement. I'd expect to see the next info at Warley to be honest. Maybe early CAD if we're lucky in the run up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyberspice Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 (edited) Plenty of companies in the UK make things. They just don't make them in the UK. We're the ideas people. You just can't compete with far eastern manufacturing costs. Either you pay people a decent wage but then can only afford to employ a few of them or you pay them a pittance but can produce products. However that is changing. Costs of transportation together with manufacturing optimisations where the designers and the production designers can actually talk to one another makes the difference between far eastern production and home production less of an issue. So for some quantities (e.g. the raspberry pi) it can be made here again. Again for premium products its worth it because there is a profit margin. Where the margins are less its harder. I recently bought a couple of 00 gauge items from Hornby and Bachmann. Compared to when I was young they're 1000% improved. The level of detail you now get comes at the cost of overseas manufacturing. You simply can't afford to do that here. Peco have said they wont make an engine for precisely that reason. The downside to overseas production is the iterations you have to go through with the manufacturers before they actually get the product right. That takes time. I suspect that's what Heljan are going through now! Edited June 14, 2013 by Cyberspice 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
invercloy Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 It takes time to produce a model .Its called manufacturing but few in this country have heard of it after Thatcher "saved " us .Peco needed customers to know that a loco to match their rolling stock and track was on the drawing boards and a reality .Hence Railway modeller announced it.A lot of it is all new as well .We dont know if the model will throw rods ,shred gears and wobble yet ,all considerations when developing a tiny out side cranked miniature .The Roco BR 99 ran sweetly for a while I gather and then went awol. Exciting though .Do you buy unseen and maybe buy a dud design or do you wait for all the other suckers to buy it and wait to see what happened...and miss the chance to get one at all ....O ye of little faith . :-) Little faith? Absolutely not! I'm merely asking as I didn't know if it was usual for periods of radio silence. Remember this is a new experience for us 009 modellers I've heard more info since posting my query which is reassuring. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian777999 Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Is the first RTR 009 locomotive for British narrow gauge ? I am thinking of modelling in this scale/gauge and I am not yet familiar will all the available products. What happened the Minitrix 2-6-2 chassis ? Are they still made ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted July 1, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 1, 2013 Is the first RTR 009 locomotive for British narrow gauge ?Yes, although there are several HOe rtr locos which is 3.5mm on 9mm track. Some of the minitrains, Roco and Lilliput locos are suitable for UK preserved or industrial themed lines. What happened the Minitrix 2-6-2 chassis ? Are they still made ?No but there are lots of alternative 2.6.2 chassis. Have a look at Parkside Dundas website to get an idea of what's available and there's also the specialist narrow gauge forum NGRMonline which a lot of RMweb members also belong to. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted July 1, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 1, 2013 One of my Manning and Wardle 's packed up yesterday. I now need a new Minitrix motor for it. They will be replaced by the Heljan locos though. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLD Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Is the first RTR 009 locomotive for British narrow gauge ? A moot point... depending on your definition of RTR... There have been various small suppliers who sold hand-built models, Ready to run by the end user (Paul Windle still does); but it is the first mass produced example by a mainsteam high volume manufacturer... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil gollin Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 . Was it Fleischmann (????) that announced an OO9 Festiniog Double Fairlie about 5 years ago ? Does anyone know how far along they got with developing the model ? . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Madog Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 Roco announced the 009 FR Double Fairlie in 2009, but later on dropped this project for lack of interest(?)! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcampbell Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 One of my Manning and Wardle 's packed up yesterday. I now need a new Minitrix motor for it. They will be replaced by the Heljan locos though. Ian You can fit a Mashima, I think it was described in the 009 news a couple of year's back, or there is a thread on the NGRM forum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted July 2, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 2, 2013 You can fit a Mashima, I think it was described in the 009 news a couple of year's back, or there is a thread on the NGRM forum. OK thanks for that. Will have a search. A friend is a 009 member so will ask him if he has the relevant issue aswell. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 OK thanks for that. Will have a search. A friend is a 009 member so will ask him if he has the relevant issue aswell. Ian If it is the same Minitrix motor that ended up in the PRR 0-6-0/4-6-2/2-10-0, then I have a few lying around (attached to junk locos) if you need one. I would, however, suggest a more modern motor if the option is there. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted July 2, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 2, 2013 Thanks Adrian. Not sure if they are the same. However if the Mashima doesn't work out I will look into this. regards Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyberspice Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 If you want a replacement chassis for a kit built Manning Wardle then RT Models has started making the valve gear, bogie kits and outside frames so you can utilise the rather good Bachmann/farish 08 chassis. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hippo Posted September 14, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 14, 2013 The latest (October) issue of Railway modeller has 3 cad images provided by Heljan. They look great. Owen 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 46444 Posted September 14, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 14, 2013 I wondered when this would get mentioned. Totally agree that the CAD images look fantastic and are discussed in depth on another site: http://ngrm-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/8781-Heljan-manning-wardle/page-2&do=findComment&comment=162110 Hopefully Andy can get some access to the CAD images and post a new thread under the 'News' section. Cheers, Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingsignalman Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 At the 009 Society convention at Kegworth last week there was a Heljan poster stating that the price would be £185 (so I'd better start saving). It is hoped that it will be available by Christmas 2014 (if not slightly earlier). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil gollin Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 . I didn't expect it for £90, but at that price I think it will not be a great seller. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted October 7, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 7, 2013 (edited) . I didn't expect it for £90, but at that price I think it will not be a great seller. A bit of a chicken and egg situation. Prices will only come down if the models on offer grow the market for r-t-r OO9. That won't happen unless the likes of Heljan make them, and they won't do that unless it produces similar returns to their more mainstream products. The unit cost of making relately small quantities of high-quality 2-6-2 mechanisms in OO9 is going to be much higher than that of a comparable OO model (e.g the Hornby L1) which can achieve adequate performance with far simpler engineering. The price is more or less what I expected and it's still less than half that rumoured for a Double Fairlie planned (but not preceeded with) by a continental manufacturer a couple of years back. John Edited October 7, 2013 by Dunsignalling Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasslands Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 £185 - steeper than I expected, but I presume this is quite a risky new market for Heljan. I'm game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasslands Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 RE: the roco Double Fairlie, wasn't the other issue that no one could work out whether it was going to actually be OO9 or if it was HOn3? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted October 7, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 7, 2013 Remember that's the rrp and you will probably see discounts As John said you've got to start somewhere and they have to reduce the financial risk. It's not much more than the special edition diesels and while smaller it's more complex. Have a squizz at the Bemo ready to run steam in HOm starting at £300 and going up a lot more! We aren't going to get sub £100 unless there's a lot of them made to share the R&D costs. Not cheap but realistic if the model is up to the expected standard established by their HO steam, and cheaper 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasslands Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 So what livery options are possible for these models? I presume the Southern livery is the main one. Wasn't there also a darker green and rusty brown colour scheme? This is a model that would be quite interesting to offer in non-lined base colours too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben racey Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 £185. Fair. Both compared with other european NG steam locos, and the size of the market, I'll be saving up. Regards Richard. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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