[cbeagleowner]

Has anyone got the new A3 Prince Palatine yet? I was hoping to find out how accurately hornby have managed to get. Most of the outside looks Ok, but is the cab itself RH drive? Is the tender matching RH drive as well?

My only concern is whether the reversing mechanism is still on the LH footplate?

 

[spongebob]

I've seen that the sets are available but that's about it. Assuming the previous loco drive A1's and A3's were accurate in their portrayal of the various prototypes then I'd say it would be a good bet this one will be too. Probably have to wait 'til they start splitting the sets to add it to my collection.

 

[cbeagleowner]

hattons were splitting them, but rails don't seem to have them yet and their pictures are usually more detailed.

 

[37197]

I used to be big Rails fan but they seem to be falling by the wayside

, they all ways seem to be last to get the latest releases and when they do, the stock is very limited

, for me Hattons reign supreme a very quick and efficient service, and price wise theres nothing really between them, Rails is usually around 50p cheaper

.

 

[Gofer]

QUOTE (cbeagleowner @ 1 Jun 2006, 22:47) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>hattons were splitting them, but rails don't seem to have them yet and their pictures are usually more detailed.

Rails are showning them today as in stock for £199.50. As 37197 says, nothing between them a Hattons price wise.

 

[37197]

I've noticed that Hattons have the new Skaledale road system in as well and Rails are showing it as a forthcoming release, anyone have any experience with the road system yet

. As for the A3 I cant see any splits being offered from Rails

.

 

[cbeagleowner]

you can get #52 on ebay from Jadlam racing models. I've never been a customer so I can't say what their service is like. The good thing about Rails is that their pictures are usually very close and clear so you can see any problems with the model easily whereas the hattons ones are slightly less detailed. Still beats having to go to cambridge though!

 

[spongebob]

Saw the roundabout on Monday but from the box it looked shit. Darker than the surrounding roands and nothing like any roundabout i've ever seen apart from being round of course. Surprised Hattons are splitting the sets so quick though I suppose there will be more demand for the components than the whole. Begs the question why bother doing such an expensive set? At least this one has a different loco in unlike the one with the BoB in it.I'd have a read through the minefield of neg feedback about Jadlam before buying from them if I were you. Major sellers but it seemed around Christmas not exactly major promise keepers.

 

[cbeagleowner]

cheers sb. I've had a look and see what you say. seemingly selling off th parts individually is the way forward. I agree though, why bring outr a boxed set with an analogue controller for £199. It's interesting when you compare the price of some sets in magazines eg boogaloo to what you can get them for now!

 

[37197]

QUOTE (spongebob @ 2 Jun 2006, 16:43) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>.I'd have a read through the minefield of neg feedback about Jadlam before buying from them if I were you. Major sellers but it seemed around Christmas not exactly major promise keepers.

I bought some skaledale from them last year and waited bloody months for it too arrive

, I sent countless messages asking for the where abouts of my items, with no reply , I had to get really shirty with ebay to get a response from them and eventually I got a reply to which they stated they were waiting for stock from Hornby, fair enough but why the bloody hell could'nt you tell me that in the first place, I did'nt mind waiting all I wanted know that they got the order and were processing it

. Previous to that I had used them on numerous occasions and found them to be very prompt at processing their orders, very good prices for their skaledale packs like walling etc.

 

[spongebob]

Kind of suspected thats what they were doing especially as the volume they sell suggests either a large capacity warehouse or just a middleman. Probably best looking elsewhere then. Its also against ebays policies to pre-sell things you don't actually have in stock without saying so in the listing. Whether ebay would take action is another matter especially as they must be raking in fees from them. Its always the little guys that are stomped on.

 

[spongebob]

I know that real roads are seldom all the same colour but I think maybe this is a bit too toylike for me. Could incorporate the signs and other road furniture though.

 

[37197]

Like you say Ebay will be raking the fee's in and are unlikely to stop such a seller, up until then I had no problems with them and in terms of their price they are much cheaper than the high street, the set I bought was a station set all arrived apart from the offending item the small waiting room

.

 

[spongebob]

QUOTE (cbeagleowner @ 31 May 2006, 13:44) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Has anyone got the new A3 Prince Palatine yet? I was hoping to find out how accurately hornby have managed to get. Most of the outside looks Ok, but is the cab itself RH drive? Is the tender matching RH drive as well?

My only concern is whether the reversing mechanism is still on the LH footplate?
Sorry its taken a while but my stuff is currently all boxed up and I don't like trying to unpack the hornby boxes too often but I've had a look at the 2 i've got and one 60077 the white knight is left hand drive and Great northern is right hand drive. Looking at the hornby catalogue illustration Prince Palatine would appear to be right hand drive as the thick pipe(apologies I don't know what its called) is absent from the shot of the left hand side. I know its just an illustration but I would assume the loco to be correct.
If the reverser is the handle directly in front of the drivers seat then on the above loco's that is also on opposite sides. Don't know about the tenders but again both are different so I would also presume it is correct. Hornby appear to have done well so far in modelling the differences especially the as it is now Flying Scotsman.

 

[Kal]

Looks like hattons are out of the split Palatine. I wonder if they will split another batch of the Master Cutler?

 

[cbeagleowner]

It wouldn't surprise me if they did. I think they split a second batch, though I wonder what they do with all the controllers and track!

It's good if hornby have got the drive side right, and the sloping tender (I think its slopes). The bit I'm wondering about is on the next to the rear LH side splasher, which should be on the drive side.

 

[spongebob]

Looking again at my 2 examples there is a bar protruding from the base of the cab across the rear splasher above the footplate then drops through it and continues forwards. Maybe the hornby website will show it clearer than I can describe it.
hornby class A3's
Holding them side by side you really appreciate the differences between the 2 models even in the cabs.

 

[cbeagleowner]

SB, firstly let me thank you for all your help on this one!

The BIG question is is that bit on the footplate the same side as the reversing rod, and on the same side as the pipe that runs along hte boiler side. Once again, many thanks.