JAMES MAY'S BIG TROUBLE IN MODEL BRITAIN 06/03/19

[Bigmet]

You will have to investigate the construction. But I think you will find that improved tooling technique has resulted in one piece upper body shells. This is a shame as earlier constructions with a largely clip fit assembly of sides to roof were very useful for fiddling around and kit bashing. Simple fiddle, because I see trains from one side working down, the other side working up, I alter a few coaches to have different liveries either side so it isn't 'the same trains'.

[Ex-Pat]

Gerrard, Catford, touched a chord when he mentioned Beattie's Southgate shop - my first faint stirrings of fascination began with looking in their window while waiting for the bus home from outings in Grovelands Park.

Everlasting memories of getting my pride and joy Trix Twin "Britannia" there.

[sparkhill]

Quite a bit of talk about Hornbys toy like past but I myself have some of my fondest memories running Triang Hornby model trains, we may have all bells and whistles models these days but when us old geezers have moved onto the big railway in sky it will most likely be bye bye model train hobby, far to expensive and it will only get worse.

[flying scotsman123]

Quite a bit of talk about Hornbys toy like past but I myself have some of my fondest memories running Triang Hornby model trains, we may have all bells and whistles models these days but when us old geezers have moved onto the big railway in sky it will most likely be bye bye model train hobby, far to expensive and it will only get worse.

Ah that point of view has been held and consistently proven wrong for at least the last 50 years!

[sparkhill]

[quote="flying scotsman123 Ah that point of view has been held and consistently proven wrong for at least the last 50 years! [/quote]



Ah but up until a few years ago we never had mobile phones, tablets, X Boxes, Playstations and computers to spend hours gazing into, just give it time

[Bigmet]

... when us old geezers have moved onto the big railway in sky it will most likely be bye bye model train hobby, far to expensive and it will only get worse.

The degree to which this hobby is pursued may change, but as long as steel wheels turn on rails and there's enough cash for leisure activities, there will be a hobby following in some form. There's a virtual future too, want to be on Stephenson's team initiating the UK railway network?

[End2end]

After catching the program at the incredulas 2:30am repeat on Saturday night / Sunday morning, I must admit I feel more enthusiastic about Hornby.
I hope they manage to reach thier goals now the company is not being run by asset strippers.
Thanks
End2end

[Alexander Court]

Ah but up until a few years ago we never had mobile phones, tablets, X Boxes, Playstations and computers to spend hours gazing into, just give it time

Ah yes but not all of us who grew up with those things persue (spelling?) them as much as adults. Half the time I use my phone/tablet for railway/model railway related things, and what with kids and work I don't have hours to play on the games consoles either, even finding time to watch the James May programme was a challenge. But I still found time to sit in bed the other night assembling peco N gauge fencing and then grabbed a few minutes on my split shift's break the other day to fit the fence to the layout, before cooking dinner and showering and heading back to work.
After a while the appeal of gaming and stuff wore off, especially now its all online based pay for dlc nonsense these days, when I was growing up you bought a game and it was all there, even Call of Duty 4 had all the stuff on it when going online, not so much these days, and spending hours as a teenager playing that on a friday night didn't stop me playing trains, getting a girlfriend and visiting the preserved railway most weekends. Even when I ran away to Ireland I still had my track set up on the bedroom floor of the tiny flat we rented when I joined the forum.
The real reason I might not invest as much in brand spanking new models is because I'm poor, I'm on minimum wage and have two kids and bills.

Maybe by the time the older modellers have shunted off this earth I'll have enough disposable income to help support the manufacturers with lots of new purchases, but for now I'll settle for the smaller purchases I can afford.

Alex

[sparkhill]

I hope the hobby does keep going as it is today and maybe I take a pessimistic view of everything these days, I have seen so many weired changes during my 75 years on this planet that nothing would surprise me, I think eventually preserved steam and diesel locomotives will be relegated to indoor museums because they will become to expensive to overhaul, that in itself may have a detramental effect on our hobby, I do however believe that the hobby will continue in the form of virtual or sim style.

[Michaelaface]

episode 2 has left me with some interesting feelings regarding Hornby, I mean obviously its a business and they have to fight for their market share, but is it the best idea to directly compete with 2 of their biggest retailers like that? when the retailers themselves said they only got into manufacturing due to the lack of stock coming out of Hornby (I know you could argue that Hatton's are targeting the modeller after all the detail and hornby are targeting the budget modeller)

bit of a weird one that, manufacturers competing with their retailers

[alex3410]

You could view it the other way around as the retailers competing with the manufacturer.

It was an interesting watch, the build up was for rails reaction, but thought Hattons kicking off was more fun! It could be they had their first reactions filmed and rails got their swearing out of the way before the cameras rolled

You feel for them & dread to think how much they have invested into the models, Hornby said at one point the terrier investment was £100k!

It was fun to watch knowing it was coming especially after the sign incident between rails and Hornby at the show

[luckymucklebackit]

If we were talking about a mass market product I would support Hornby's actions, it goes all the time, think of retailers undercutting the major brands with their "own brand" product, but in the limited and some may say shrinking market for model railway locomotives I find it crazy. It would be far better for the manufacturer's and retailers (and customers) to work together and support each other, if the investment by Rails does not pay off it could potentially result in them going out of business and who wants to see a respected retailer going out of business. We have already seen friction between Hattons and Bachmann and going by last nights revelations it will spread, I don't think it is good for the hobby in the long term, however we will see

Jim

[Bufferstop]

I found it very interesting that after all the mutterings and fist waving mess'rs Hattons and Rails put in the biggest orders for the Terrier. Common sense really, if your going to be undercut or facing a superior product at least get the middleman's cut on the profit. As far as the 66 goes it is just providing exactly what so many on here have asked for, a basic "no frills" loco that will look the part in motion when viewed from around three feet. Sounds just the sort of "in tune" decision that Simon K was known for. I seem to remember a situation where the big three of the time Triang/Hornby, Lima and Trix all had a Western Hydraulic in their range. Although all faced future financial troubles I don't think that situation lead directly to any of them.
It is to be hoped that Dapol (producing for Rails) don't do anything silly with the mechanicals, like DJMs silly rod and gear coupled 0-6-0..
A shrewd move at Hornby putting all the bits for the Terrier in different bags, since they already made a Terrier they were far less likely to attract attention.

[Phat Controller]

I'm about to watch the 1st episode here.

We're about 20 years behind you Brits, and I don't have Pay TV, Foxtel, or whatever you call it over there, so I have to wait til someone throws the episode up online.

I will watch, then maybe I can comment on what's happening, cos atm I have no bloody idea what you're all on about!!

[Byegad]

I can understand Rails and Hattons being a bit peeved. I can understand Hornby thinking 'we do the terrier'. However I suspect that the [model] world situation, where most things are designed here for our market and made in China, made it inevitable that the bigger shops would go into production for themselves. If you don't own the means of production then others can commission items similar to yours and made to a similar, or better, standard.