ColinB

If you haven't already reset the decoder, sometimes that fixes issues.

I have some of these old Gresley coaches which I replaced the wheels with modern metal ones and they run really well. I also have the latest super detail ones. The only major difference I notice although I am sure there are lots of detail improvements, is the paint job. On the original 1980s ones they do look very plastically but other than that they are perfect on a railway layout. They are also substantially cheaper than the super detail ones. I am thinking on buying some more of the 1980s ones as if you want a reasonable rake, they are a far more cheaper option. If I wasn't useless at painting I might consider just repainting the old ones to look a bit better. I did add lights and passengers to four of mine but again because of the cheap plastic, I had to paint the insides matt black.

The easier solution is to replace it with a two pin plug and socket solution, much more reliable. I did this with my earlier Margate based models when I added all wheel pickups.

The issue is going to come very soon when someone's two year loco that they paid over £200 for breaks, and there are no spare parts to fix it. On a £50 it is not so much of an issue but if lets say a W1 at £224 breaks then I think there aren't going to be too many happy customers. Then of course if a particular loco, has a reputation for a particular part breaking, then their resale value will drop like a brick.

I buy a ton of spares from Lendons, they generally are always cheaper than anyone else. Trouble is Lendons can only supply spares that Hornby produce, sadly for a lot of models now there are little or no spares.

You can resolder the wires you just need a reasonable temperature controlled soldering iron. I have done many. As I said on another thread I generally remove them as they are so problematic and easily broken, and replace them with the later 4 wire solution. Last time I looked these were not available new.

I suppose it could have been worse, I fitted a neo magnet to one of my old locos and it picked up anything metallic on my layout. Needless to say, I took it back out. Funny I have used them in my Wrenns and had no such issues.

I fitted some of the 1980s smoke generators, the ones from Stowe etc. into a couple of tender driven Duchess locos. I worked on the assumption that the chassis of the Duchess was diecast so very little chance of warping the body as it did on Stowe. I ran it off DCC using a Zimo decoder. The current for the smoke generator was just below 100 milliamps so it might have just worked with Hornby TTS but I didn't want to chance it. They work a lot better on DCC than DC, as the voltage is constant. In the end though I converted the 3 Duchess locos they were in to loco driven (the old 1980s bodies fit the new chassis), so I disposed of the smoke generators. As 96RAF says they are awfully messy, my bigger concern was the heat distorting the body.

If it only sells for £45 to £50 then you are better off selling it as bits. Loco is worth about £30 or more, carriages about £10 each or more, controller at least £5.00. I bought this set new in1979, Boots used to sell them then, it was in their sale. I sold the class 37 loco recently, I am sure it went for about £40, it is a class 37 which everyone wants.

They trade on EBAY as hobbyzone356.

Hornby along with a lot of businesses need to take a long hard look at their supply chain. I assume they must be anyway because one political decision and that is your business gone. Hornby have released some new releases and according to their website more are to come in September, although it looks like they are ones from the 2021 catalogue.

Generally when I have used them there are no issues and I have used them after Brexit. A lot of the time they are a little bit cheaper, the only down side is it takes a bit longer to come, but no hidden charges. Perhaps Hornby should do what Bachmann do and handle the spares themselves, but do it properly like Bachmann does. They already have a spares system set up they just need to stock it better.

I got the mailshot from Hornby, they are changing £254.99 for the loco, far too much for me. This is one of those that would have been a good idea to preorder with Hornby, then (a) you would be assured of getting it (b) it would be at the old price.

Yes I have used that one in Malta. I always Google, it is amazing the price difference for the same part. For the part I ordered this morning surprisingly Hornby were the cheapest. Normally Lendons wins hands down. The famous one is always more expensive than anyone, but sometimes they have parts that you can't get anywhere else. Sadly though they are running out of those.

Well I noticed the different liveries of Hush Hush are now available, so perhaps Autumn will bring some more new releases. I wonder if they will add another 10% this Autumn?

Oh I forgot, I found my part by Googling it, it then took me to the right page.

They still do, I ordered a part off them today. As Paul Daniels used to say "not a lot". That sort of sums up my view of them.

They obviously don't tell their Retailers either, one item I was looking at was quoted as December 2022 but on the Hornby website it was winter 2023/24. I suppose it is a thing passed over from Triang, I remember when I was very young going to the toy shop to buy a wagon because the catalogue said it would be out, only to find it had still not arrived. I think after about a month I gave up and didn't bother. Originally I think there were originally two reasons to transfer production to China, one was cost, the other was the ability to fit smaller parts. That is what they said at the time, if I remember rightly. Trouble is at the moment many industries are getting very jumpy about their production in China, especially the automotive. Virtually every Hornby does not contain sophisticated electronics so the worldwide shortage of integrated circuits is a bit of a red herring. The only exception is probably the Elite, but there the issue is more likely that their uptake on processors is probably not enough to do a new production run.

Yes Yelrow all firms have good individuals and if your broken item reaches them then there is no issue. It seems so variable though, we have posts where people have got them sent back saying that they can't fix it. Generally from all the posts I have seen on this website Hornby Service will do all they can but if the company doesn't hold the spare parts then there is nothing they can do.

Well when I did a Google search on RJ12 EBay had them so I assume Amazon has them. What I don't know is whether Hornby did anything special to the cable, I let one of the other guys answer that. Looking at the web it is basically a telephone cable, so I imagine with any cable there are good quality ones and bad ones.

Yes rpjallan I totally agree with you. I wondered why I dislike Hornby so much, what you have posted is probably why. They seem to want us to buy their products, but are making it more and more difficult, reducing the amount they allow Model Shops to sell, having endless lead times on their products. Fortunately for me I have all the Hornby locos I want, I have a couple on preorder but I seriously wonder if I will ever see those. I am tending now to buy locos when they are released, the only exception is the ones from Rails where given their small operation I understand the delays. Trouble is when the loco is over £200 a go, you are less likely to want to scrap it if it breaks its valve gear, similarly with the Elite, a new one if over £250.

Actually Bachmann are not for locos, my brand new class 90 with DCC controlled pantograph was about £20 to £30 cheaper than the nearest Hornby equivalent. Yes for rolling stock they are, although with the carriages you not comparing the same beast. Actually the British disease is a bit of a myth, the Nissen car factory in Sunderland is the most productive in Europe and I think Japan as well. Also most of the Ford engine plants in the UK rate highly against the German plants, generally the German plants score higher as they cost things differently. It might have been in the 1970's but with robots and a more flexible workforce it is not like that anymore, those plants wouldn't be here if it was.

On virtually all my locos I replace them with the later arrangement of 4 pin wire and connector. I run DCC so normally there is not enough room in the loco for the DCC decoder and with all the wires it makes putting the loco body back difficult. So I have loads of these drawbar connectors as when I take one off to replace it I keep them. I must admit they all look the same length to me. I have also had issues where there is actually a short internally on some of them. The only ones I don't replace are the original Bullied Battle of Britain or West Country as Hornby changed the mounting points for the tender on the later ones so you can't use the later tender chassis, plus it is the only loco where there is loads of room to easily fit sound in the loco with a decent speaker.

Andy Mac I don't think anyone was suggesting that we be forced to buy British, they were just suggesting it might be a selling feature. Currently there is a huge issue with getting things made in China plus the Shipping costs, which don't seem to have come down since their rise after the pandemic as a lot suggested they would. Then we have the price issue, these figures of twice to 3 times the price keep being banded around, when actually nobody knows, because nobody in the UK does it. Take a Dapol cheap wagon, made in Wales cheapest available, ok perhaps the underframe is not that detailed but that is just a change to the CAD if they wanted to. Most of the production process should be automated, we know the moulding is, the paint/print is, we have seen Hattons printing of its carriages, so it is the separately fitted parts that are labour intensive. I have just bought an Accurascale Deltic which is priced at about £150, I bought the sound one so I am not sure of the actual price of the non sound one. Now if I compare that with the class 87 that Hornby were supposed to release last year at £161, it is now about £220 (well this week it is). Now the Deltic has more engineering more parts than the class 87. Now I am pretty sure Accurascale are making a profit on their loco, so why the huge difference. Is Hornby using its diesels/electric locos to subsidise its steam ones or the rest of the range. A quick scan through Rails new releases generally shows most are cheaper than Hornby and these are specialist small batches. The only one I did find is the new Bachmann class 37. On large quantities of orders where you are ordering a million plus yes, the savings can be great, not so sure when you are talking small quantities of less than 5000. The overheads of shipping and difficult communication have more an effect on the product. Either way it is not going to change but if you can't supply a product, which Hornby appear not to be doing at the moment, the future doesn't look rosy.

The trouble is with firms like Hornby, if lets say China do a Russia with Taiwan. then sanctions come in and that is your business gone. There is not the money or expertise to move production back to the UK quickly. Given how many new models they have released this year, there are serious issues.