[kristopher1805]

I suspect that the manufacturers are acutely aware of the costs of getting going in modelling trains, it is very easy to blow thousands of £'s so it is necessary for them as manufacturers to 'hook' the customer especially now that there are so many alternatives in the hobby market, even an expensive Macbook laptop is hardly more than a half decent layout ad this is where these coaches come in handy.

We old codgers droning on about accuracy (not that I do not try to model the 19th May 1962 or anything specific like that) know what we want and have built this up, even here I trade out stock I am not in love with get some cash back and use it to buy what is more appropriate.

So here comes Hattons surely the biggest sellers of all even allowing for the fact that Bachmann have fallen out with them want budget stock they can shift so ok a 10 foot generic wagon with Sid Bloggs anthracite markings sells for about £12, a complete train if with a smokey Joe and 5 such wagons then it can be say £18 for a loco and £50 for the stock, a decent express loco and 6 Bachmann mark 1's cost £400

So the manufacturers and retailers are desperate for stock they can pass on and if it is a fond grandparent buying for a child then anything will do and the more colourful the better so seen in that light it makes loads of sense for the likes of Hattons to produce a knock down cost coaches. The other factor maybe the desire to run something other than 1960's steamers and have a cameo day - say Great Central and other pre grouping but again you need period stock so this move by Hattons for a generic multi liveried set of coaches again makes sense and if you want accurate you buy a kit, so well done Hattons if the sales take off then a follow up may work as well.

What could be smarter than Butler Henderson in 1961 repaint condition?

 

[kristopher1805]

My view as an engineer is that although rear axle drive is fine the motor needs to have the load on the driving wheels so having little load on the front drivers for say a 4-6-0 makes little sense you end up adding weight to compensate such as the Bachmann 9F does, so you may as well put the can motor where it is most effective, still plenty of room for the decoder up front or the tender if you prefer. You can make a dogs breakfast of this such as the Bachmann Ivatt 4MT where they manage to leave space for a DCCConcepts nano decoder and nothing much else.

However to minimise research and development and to make something with lots of scope mechanism wise then the answer may lie with the Bachmann 1FT, here is a diminutive loco that pulls like a train, so if you can get this performance level out of something this size then you have a mechanism that works for anything bigger so smaller costs and more flexibility - thats the way to go!

A great little good 'un the 1F tank

 

[kristopher1805]

Hattons have announced that the O2/2 from Heljan is on the way expected sometime in Q4 in 2020, deffo on my list and I think there is a good chance I can get one before I croak sometime in the next 20 years, so a good chance I'll see one before I croak in the next 20 years!

 

[kristopher1805]

The A2/2 and A2/3 are of interest although most of all I would like an A2/1 very free running locos and the final version of W1, I would take a streamlined Bugatti style P2 but no one has offered this although Hornby have the mechanism. The rest is not for me but perhaps the only Heljan I'll try is the Baldwin L&B 2-4-2t and if that is naff I'll give them a pass evermore.

There are still others outstanding of course and some OO9 models including a double Fairlie so maybe that'll be better and a Quarry Hunslet.but I have given up on the V2, revised J39 and sundry others, the 78xxx 2MT will be worth a try I suppose as I recall seeing loads of them so I am finding the OO scale scene going stale right now which given models sales are doing well in the lockdown is a bit of a shame.

 

[kristopher1805]

I think an L&YR claddy tank would have more appeal, but then again what do I know. I can only suppose they saw the appeal of the Peckett W4 and thought that industrial locos would do well and after all they could be anywhere so no regional specialisation.

 

[kristopher1805]

Bachmann SDJR 0-4-4t is a collectors club model and the Midland version has sound at £250 which is more than I am willing to part with.

The Heljan 2-4-2tank for the L&B is £203 plus pennies when it turns up and I hope it is better than the nicely presented 2-6-2t Manning Wardles that have issues.

So I contemplate for the first time in 20 years nothing new for Christmas! although Hattons owe me £50 but do not seem to want to sell me a replacement Garrett 2-6-6-2 (with £50 off) so I don't know what is going on with the manufacturers, perhaps one day one of their marketing people will suggest that you need product to sell or you go out of business

Although I feel fed up with Heljan I might after all give an O2/2 a try when ever they appear, perhaps....maybe....urm.....

Then as above A2/3, W1, J26/7, well cannot buy what I cannot see!

Perhaps this Christmas will see me finish the OO9 model layout, repairing the various black 5's and sundry other locos, the P2 I fixed and set that back to work and I have a bit of maintenance to do although I repaired one of the gradients that was causing trouble and have done some track cleaning of late.

 

[kristopher1805]

Fair point Hatfield man, I will at some stage buy a Quarry Hunslet I like the look of the Baldwin as a sort of ugly but interesting loco.

Mind having typed my note I then decided to *odd it and bought a new Heljan Garrett as I had been waiting for one to come along, on this Hattons service has been a bit of a let down and in this regard they have work to do, I just hope this one is better than the older one which was a dog, I will keep it to Christmas day to unwrap so photo to follow after this date.

In the meantime I would still like
1. SDJR 0-4-4tank
2 Late BR N7 (I have a builders plate for one built at Gorton)
3. O2/2 yes another O2 from Heljan they dislike curves and are fussy but they do work and pull quite well
4 .A P2 Bugatti style streamlined (one day?)
5 .W1 similarly styled
6. an A2/2 or 3
7. A J27
8 The new V2 if it ever materialises
9. a new J39 (one day Rover.... one day)

and some others, guess we have a few options and it would be better if Hornby service could be as good as Bachmann's service

I missed the Peco/Kato collaboration - tell me more!

 

[kristopher1805]

Following up on post 104 I got the Garrett out and the front of the footplate fell off, OK no big deal, I fitted a decoder as usual with 8 pin jobs my goto DCC Concepts nano, the slot for this is in the firebox and is easy but despite this there is not a great deal of space in there, you can see the blank in place here, as opposed to the black spagetti in the older loco this one has red wires as well but the wiring still looks a bit Heath Robinson.

Once this was done I tried to prog the loco, I had added the program on the ESU tester but it would not respond, if you look at the photos below you can see some wheels are dirty and others just cleaned by me, just cleaning up 6 wheels used up 10 double ended cotton buds and they were still not great, they were so dirty that the loco would not respond at all, so after a mammoth cleaning session I got the loco to run, sorry I need more pics as the others are poor, I eventually got the thing to run but it objected to the GC line track somewhat but I got some circuits out of it. I am left with the view that this is not a new loco but a reworked one

So £221 new price but I was granted £50 for the trade in for the Beyer Dog, someone is having a laugh here at my expense! I could have bought a new middle section and with some work I could have had a decent report, as the wheels were so dirty it is clear that no one tested this loco after assembly? repair? rework? pre dirty newness?

Not the fiorst timer I have had a dirty dog from this source by the way so I am a little disolutioned.

 

[kristopher1805]

I have 9 Bachmann 9F another converted to an 8MT using a Hornby Brit body (as 91004) and a Hornby Crosti, however this has a tendency to rail climb, what I would rather have is a rebuilt crosti as I recall seeing these working Stanlow to Liversedge traffic whilst the original Crosti was long gone by 1964, with the base mechanism it should surely not be too difficult

 

[kristopher1805]

I must be missing something with the Hornby range as in my review coming up is the section on the 9F and none of theose featured are actual photos or drawings so is a new version about to hit the retail market?

 

[kristopher1805]

OK well I will certainly try one, the old 9F was OK but not a patch on the Bachmann so I sold them off and I do wish they would put some effort into a V2 and a BR class 5MT as Bachmann have neglected these for far too long, also as they have the Crosti already a rebuilt crosti would be good in fact I have one with a crownline adaptation but my dad built it is a hurry (as he usually did) so its not great but maybe only tender drive I still have.

Like you Hatfielder I rate the Bachmann 9F as the champion to beat and I love 'em.

 

[kristopher1805]

K4 not interesting enough so maybe a V4 or perhaps a Riddles 8MT 2-8-2 but my favourite would be more dramatic such as a 2-6-6-2 KK4 now that'll sell well!

 

[kristopher1805]

OK so I coughed up £171 and have ordered an A2/2 now awaiting delivery so interested to see how that'll turn out.

Heljan have an advert out and includes the L&B 2-4-2tank and this is priced at £239 - a bit optomistic is my view, after the 2-6-2t effort having issues then I'll not pay anything like that for one although Hattons price this at £203 but still too high for what is a simple model really and not with complicated valve gear although very nicely decorated, however mine are working locos not shelf decorators.

Meanwhile Locomotion models are offering a 94xx tank for £134.95

Rails advertise the new Bachmann V2 for £229.95 and a hefty £329.95 presumably with DCC and sound. It looks really good but over £200 starts to get serious money.

Rails also have an LNWR Precedent 2-4-0 at £220 DCC ready from Bachmann

from the same source a Caley 812 looks veery nice from £179 upwards

a Wainwright D class is also shown but not priced.

Model Rail Magazine has some new models that include a Vale of Rheidol 2-6-2t

this supplier also has J70's at £127.50

16xx pannier tanks at £149.00 a bit heavy for this one methinks

and USA tanks at £129.95

meanwhile KR models have produced the GT3 which looks a very nice job if this appeals to you the dcc ready version thought to come in at £195 which given the write up seems fair enough

Hattons show some of the new Hornby locos
new 9F £189
new P2 £189
new A1/A3 £189
and the new W1 also £189 this is on the shopping list and the V2 would be as well if it comes out at this price!

there are some sparky and some deisely things as well

 

[kristopher1805]

Sadly very typical is why I do not pre-order, in many cases this works the other way as sales do not reach projections and surplus stocks lead to discounting so some really great products like the K1 for instance get knocked down, As to Hattons since they fell out with Bachmann they will be doing everything possible to keep every Hornby customer happy if they can, just be aware that they will resell ones that have been returned, I have had new locos with the brakes rods already fitted, my crosti had wheels so dirty it would not run and so on so examine your purchase carefully but I am sure it is just not them, OK I get that the manufacturer wants some surety they have a winning seller on their hands but they experiment at our cost and frustration level.

However a BR W1 would be on my list along with some others, I'd still like a Bugatti streamlined P2 in late BR - way to go! they should have been given to Gorton which was wanting them in WW2 for the huge loads it was dealing with and with super heavy infrastructure and no level crossings would have been a good outcome. then the new V2, the 78xxx class, the new J39 (one day I'm sure) - a matter of funds more than a matter of desire.

So back to the old Roman way - Caveat Emptor!

 

[kristopher1805]

So at last Hornby have decided to produce a Bugatti style streamline 2-8-2 at a likely £210 worth of beer tokens but hey I gotta have one of these so just got to hope the family cars behave themselves (big bill being most active of late)
The D class in SECR livery looks really well, after all very Great Central as Watkin had been the Chairman of both railways. so who knows that may be in contention.
Still waiting the Heljan 2-4-2t Baldwin for the OO9 layout said to be in Q£ which is any time from now, just didn't say which year. a North Eastern G5 is on the way as well in 9 varieties so good luck with that from TMC.
Meanwhile Accurascale have a GWR Manor coming along from £170 each for release in late 2021. Dapol doing the same model so who will win the race to get it out?
also not to be missed Oxford rail have a J27 out - now? anyway hope to have a BR late version whilst a J26 is in the works.
Dapol large prairie is also due so some interesting models coming along, some of no interest but some certainly so.

 

[kristopher1805]

Just ordered a Heljan 2-4-2 Baldwin tank for the OO9 layout - I know I must be mad!

 

[kristopher1805]

A5 looks good to me, I have one as a kit.

GCR A5 seen at Adolphus Sq station Towcaster

 

[kristopher1805]

http://imgur.com/h3p0R9k

 

[kristopher1805]

Sonic Models (new to me, no prior knowledge) bringing out an LNER A5, 4-6-2T suburban tank loco, an elegant Robinson design for the GCR and a good performer to the end of its BR service. Gresley had a slightly modified version built for the LNER, which were allocated to the North-Eastern section, and A5's also worked on the ex GNR line out of KX on occasions, all of which should broaden the appeal. Good subject choice altogether, as there simply hasn't ever been a RTR OO tank loco of GCR design, which will integrate well with the three tender loco models that are available.

got to have a GCR version, very classy livery and turnout.

 

[kristopher1805]

I liked mark 2D stock, good ride, first class partitions and nicely raked seats, just too late for my railway early mark2 was in the maroon livery until 1966 onwards so maybe if I push it but really I need afew more Bachmann mark 1's as I am behind 34c in stock levels in that regard.