Chrissaf Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 Hi Hornby Do you think you will do your TTS sound chips for class 52 westerns, As your others are good why would people want to pay £100 upwards for one?RegardsMike G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 Mike, I have retitled your post.Where the post creation box says 'Title' it means the title of the post.....not your name title..You might like to review my TIPs on getting the best 'user experience' out of this forum. You can find the TIPs here:https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/tips-on-using-the-forum/.See TIP 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 Don’t they only make TTS decoders for locos they produce? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fazy Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 I don't think hornby have done a class 52 for years. And I wouldn't be surprised if the tooling was lost when the previous management had a clear out. So why would they do a TTS for the class 52. Has for why spend more? well because they are better/sound? more sounds on the chips, and will have adjustable functions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_Spiegel. Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Hornby have recently shown they are prepared to release Railroad class 66's with TTS against established competition from heljan and then dapol models ..... and they have both the margate western [ let down badly by its standard wheelset] and the Lima Western ..... for which similar adaptions from the Lima range have been made mainly by changing the motor bogie .... but maybe the windscreen position needs correcting too.admittedly the 66 is a current diesel with over 250 in use in the uk? wirh b.. and h... as competition at a higher price point.and h0 versions offered on the continent by otber makes.52's are in preservation and recordable. ...and one of the best looking diesels of all time ...their redeeming feature against having been forced to transfer to Paddington and the Cornish Riviera Express when the Atlantic Coast Express was withdrawn in 63/64 when tbe western took over from southern region to North DevonAlso ... by offering separate TTS decoders for PAST products, as they now do, Hornby are gaining in the market and being environmentally friendly ...something a more open 'spares' sales parts would also improve on ! ....WHY is it apparently left to 3rd party providers to supply non-warranty spares .. unlike Roco , or Bachmann ( to quote a chinese factory example) to openly offer spare parts. Why are replacements for out-of-warranty mazak-rot chassis not available as a spare part for purchase ? [why was there no recall !] ....as the locos involved are still in production [ albeit with revised electrocal connections which probably also reduce the stress on tbe affected area ...but fundamentally make the difference between scrap [and dodgy ebay sales] and a working loco. Whilst spares are not openly offered, the impression of simply being an irresponsible throw-away children's toy manufacturer is projected and not a precision-engineered model supplier.??? overseas out-sourced manufacture is an excuse not a reason...more akin with the previous 'management'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 As I said before surely they only produce TTS decoders for locos they currently or recently produced. I don't think they have made a Western for over 10 years. 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_Spiegel. Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 walking the dog repeated his observation that ; "As I said before surely they only produce TTS decoders for locos they currently or recently produced. " adding"I don't think they have made a Western for over 10 years."Phil: Which is precisely my point .... after an interval of 10 years its time for anorher one of these attractive diesels ... whether cheap and quick with the lima moulds, or an all new model ....the latter less likely as others are making westerns...but that didn't stop a terrier or a 66 or a 2f but may have help2d produce a 59ft bulleid rather than another 63ft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 I see your point. The Dapol version makes the old Hornby/Lima version look very poor, even for the Railroad range in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremiahBunyan Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 There's absolutely no proof or guarantee that Hornby still own their own Class 52 tooling or Lima's Class 52 tooling. Even if the tooing did exist, it will need substancial upgrades in order to bring it upto current standards. The Class 52 as others have said, won't even been good enough for Hornby RailRoad standards. It will need upgrades to the couplings, new wheels, a chassis with DCC sockets and so on. Upgrades that are going to cost a lot and upgrades that might not necessarily give Hornby the returns that they'd need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_Spiegel. Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 The necessary modifications you mention are simply the same as the modifications they have made to other models of a similar period and reintroduced as Railroad models.Between batches, most models feature some modifications to keep them saleable ... such as NEM pocket, DCC socket, improved pickups, space for a decoder ( still missing on some with a socket !! ), improved electrical / mechanical coupling between loco and tender, and provision for sound .. whether tts or otherwise, lighting, cab lighting , day/night lighting, smoke...They sell the modified ex-Lima Warship as a Railroad Model ... it too is a diesel hydrauliv and has a better model from competitors.... so whether a modified lima version or a totally new model (less likely) you either continue to release models or you give up.The 52 is available to make sound recordings, and therefore, even without releasing their own new model, there is a market they could sell the decoder to, at lower cost than the competition ... both separate decoders and individual modeld each have their own costs and profitability. TTS decoders do not tie up the same production lines as locos / rolling stock ... and the difference between types is simply in the programming uploaded into them ... produced here in the UK ....Yes, it tales time for a small department to prrouduce multiple projects - but 'another diesel' albeit hydraulic is not totally new territory.Similarly there is a potentially large market for Heritage (low revving) and Modern (high revving) DMUs ... as these sit idle in stations for a long time at terminii, idling away ... when a steam loco is relatively quiet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huwsie Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 The Western was probably my favorite Locomotive. The current Heljan and Dapol models would be an extremely hard act to follow IMHO, and why would anyone else even try? it would be difficult to get a return on that investment becasue everyone that wants / wanted one probably has one by now - the surge to own a Western from people of my generation has passed. I have one with sound, here in the foreground, weathered, and whereas TTS is good, this sound is outstanding.All the Westerns in the Depot on this day - Western Heaven 😀 /media/tinymce_upload/fb4eb8a3154bd9166ce69c1481c87512.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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