Future of Hornby Mk3 coaches

[GWR_fan]

Long both admired and bemoaned about as there was no substitute Mk3 coach in the market, the more I see photographs of the upcoming OR version, a little voice in my heads wonders just how hot the inferno sale will be as Hornby flog a dead horse trying to compete against the new upstart on quality. I do have a soft spot for the Hornby coach, however, it is chalk and cheese for basically the same MSRP. I cannot see the logic in a retool given Hornby's 2017 commitments and dwindling credit reserves, so the market price will determine just how many future Hornby Mk3 coaches will be sold. There of cause will be the diehards where only a red box is acceptable, but the release of the OR coach will make even them question their loyalty.

I was sceptical at first of OR's Mk3 intentions as I thought that they were biting off more than they could chew, however, given the decreasing criticism on another site, it seems that OR have brought home the bacon, without compromise. I feel that livery may be OR's only possible problem in that those who wish to add to their existing Hornby coaches will have second thoughts if the livery is not an exact match. Many are simply too anal and want everything to match exactly.

Hornby had a monopoly market for nearly twenty odd years with only livery changes, thus bringing this on themselves. Recent production with the dark tinted windows had the incorrect interior mouldings fitted which highlights to me that Hornby see the line coming to a close or perhaps preparing the market for a trimmed down budget Railroad version. Only time will tell what will be the lowest price we will see a Hornby Mk3 coach from the usual suspects. Current low is GBP14.00 for a seemingly unpopular livery.

[thebritfarmer]

I will buy the MK3s by Hornby for my HSTs, just need a few more anyway and I am done. As the power cars have a giant tension lock I think I would have problems using them with the small tension lock that OR will provide. For my train pulled MK3s I will be using the ORs which I will then convert to Kadee couplings.

[Metadyneman]

I have two full IC125 sets one in Blue grey (original) livery, the other in the IC "Swallow" livery both of which are the all wheel drive units and I must say I am happy with the level of detail on Hornby's Mk3 coaches that go with these, after all what is there to add to a monocoque bodyshell with little or no external parts unless you are a rivet counter? My only criticism is that Hornby never spent a bit more money on redesigning the BT10 bogies with NEM pockets as they have done with their rather nice Mk2E coaches instead of retaining the coupling design which goes right back to the days of Airfix Mk2d coaches from 1971!
I won't be buying any Oxford Rail Mk3s, as nice as I'm sure they will be, I just don't feel there is a need to replace what I have with something that has a little bit more detail which is lost when looking at the coaches from normal viewing distance.

[Bigmet]

It's the livery match that I suspect will lead to the most angst. Those wanting a 'matching set' - and these coaches were operated in this way most of the time - are probably going to be restricted to buying one type or the other to create a particular formation.

The opportunity for Oxford is to tool up comprehensively to cover all the major variations for both loco hauled and HST vehicles, to a matching standard to what has been seen in the Bachmann and Hornby Pullman cars. Hornby can put theirs in Railroad, and everyone is happy: pay more for a more sophisticated product, or make a saving. There's room in the market for both.

What I am waiting for is Oxford's plans for matching traction. Surely they will be offering HST power cars on their own account?