ColinB

I think this year seems to have been extremely difficult for Hornby unless there is a sudden flood of new models in August, it has been extremely barren for new releases. I bought a new Mausell Dining Car, it came with their design of magnetic couplings (there is a post about it). They look to be very good, but when I enquired if they would be selling them as spares, they said yes but no estimated time of arrival. So what is the use, I can't couple them up to my other coaches as they won't have them. It is the sort of thing they could be making at a profit, ok not as big as a loco, but sell enough and you get there. Having watched the series, you do wonder if there are too many "just jobs" from Simon that interrupt the normal production.

Topcat I am a bit like that with the ones I pre ordered. After the Hattons debacle I did limit the amount of models I preordered. I do preorder the "Rails" specials, but even those are cheaper than a current Hornby loco. I expect the wait for those to be a long time as it isn't "Rails" main business and if you want one you have to preorder. Generally though now I buy second hand or secondhand broken, and fix them.

Hornby tend to use 3 pole motors with a flywheel so that explains why it runs so smoothly. I cannot understand why they bother, we all know by now the price of a 5 pole motor from China, so given the price, why are they bothering to cut corners. They don't make enough to make much of a difference financially. The irony of it all, is if they standardised on one type of motor they could get the number of units up and find that they could get a 5 pole motor for the price of a 3 pole. I am not even sure that adding a flywheel to a 3 pole doesn't negate any savings on the motor. Most 3 pole motors perform ok, it is at the slow speed where you notice the difference.

A year that is nothing, most of what got ordered in the 2021 catalogue has not arrived that is 19 months ago. I can't remember if Hornby has had pre production samples of Evening Star their 2021 catalogue front cover item. The class 87 has not arrived either. The Hornby Dublo items did arrive at the time they specified though.

I must admit I forget what I preordered off Hornby in 2021s catalogue, it was such a long time ago. Trouble was I spread them around between retailers after the issue with Hattons. I didn't pre order much out of the 2022 catalogue as there wasn't much that appealed. I did order a couple of locos with steam generators as they were good value, but I doubt if I will see them for a long time, I think Hornby will struggle with the technology. I did order some LNER coronation carriages, that should be easy to make but who knows. Imagine if you are a Model Shop, you need new items to sell, you can't keep trying to sell a Flying Scotsman when most people already have one.

I suppose you might get it eventually but the three year wait is a bit much. The only good bit is they fix the price at the moment. From a commercial point of view not a particularly good model to use for sales. To survive as any organisation you need new products as soon as possible, not offering them and not releasing for 3 years. They would be better off announcing that there are going to make it, 3 months before they release it to the public, not produce a catalogue where virtually everything is not available.

I suppose the good news is at least they are telling us, mind you who knows if they will meet the new timescale. A lot of the issue is they have no control of production so they are reliant on slots in the Chinese company's schedule, Covid has made that difficult. I do wonder, as they haven't released much this year. There was a big thing made of the retooled Evening Star has it appeared, no. I waited 3 years for the Merchant Navy Eastern Asiatic Company. There was a joke around that Hornby need not produce a 2022 catalogue, all they had to do was photocopy the 2021 one.

It is the time of year for discounts all the Retailers seem to be doing it. Also Hornby haven't had that many major releases lately so I suppose they need to shift some of their old stock to make money. I don't know if many people are like me but I preorder locos I really want so I pay a high price for the loco, but if it is a loco that has been out for a while I will search for the cheapest price.

Yes VESPA I was wondering the same. Hornby increased their prices by 10% on 10% within a six month period, to me the second 10% pushed the price of all their locos way above their competitors. Whenever I mention that on this site I get told by certain individuals that they are good value for money and that is what it costs. The locos I have bought new this year have all been Bachmann ones, compared to Hornby's prices they look like discount land. I bought the class 90 and if you compare to a Hornby comparable model like the class 91, it actually has a pantograph that can be raised or lowered by DCC and is cheaper and with the sound option it is even cheaper than adding sound yourself. I did the same with the Bachmann class 47. Of course as I mentioned earlier in this thread all these rumors about cheap Hornby locos with dodgy motors doesn't help matters. Another manufacturer that seems to get things right is Dapol, their locos are reasonably priced, their latest steam locos have novel ways to fit DCC and their rolling stock is dirt cheap, By manufacturing in the UK they also pickup the souvenir trade, by making plank wagons for many preserved railways. Ok, they are not as detailed as a Bachmann but £15.00 verses £40, means I can buy twice as many. Funny I bought some Oxford Rail vans last week, again very cheap, but that is now owned by Hornby.

Jenny Kirk raves on about them but then they sponsor her site. I have one in one of my split chassis Bachmann locos which means it is pretty reasonable, as most decoders blow up in these.

Sam so far has had three dodgy ones in the OO gauge from Hornby. Anyway glad that yours are ok.

I assumed you must have got from Hornby JJ. I suspect their Outlet store is there to get rid of items that have been stuck on their shelves for ages, hence the dust. At least it hasn't got a dodgy motor, as the ones Sam of Sams Trains picks up cheap from Hattons. That is a big discount.

I assume you bought them from the Hornby Outlet store.

Well my new coach arrived this morning and I hate to admit it but Hornby look to have made a very good job of the coach and the couplings.

It isn't.

No, you don't remove the USB lead. You need to have the USB connected to the PC but you also need to have the WiFi on the PC connected to the DR5000, instead of your internet server (the box from BT or SKY). You then, if you are using a smart phone connect its WiFi to the DR5000. They do explain on one of the posts why you have to do that way, the PC acts as a message centre for the DR5000. I had the Z21 app working on an old Samsung smart phone so I know it works.

No, you don't remove the USB lead. You need to have the USB connected to the PC but you also need to have the WiFi on the PC connected to the DR5000, instead of your internet server (the box from BT or SKY). You then, if you are using a smart phone connect its WiFi to the DR5000. They do explain on one of the posts why you have to do that way, the PC acts as a message centre for the DR5000. I had the Z21 app working on an old Samsung smart phone so I know it works.

Well Sultan I won't know until I receive my new Hornby coach. I am hoping that they are made of better plastic that is a lot more flexible and not so brittle. The original Hunt ones weren't quite wide enough for the NEM slot in some of my Hornby coaches. I will let you know when I get the Hornby ones. I know I can use PVA glue to glue them in, someone mentioned it ages ago, I prefer not to do it.

Actually it wasn't that difficult once I knew, if the guy in New Zealand had added that to his video it would have made things so much easier. I did mail DigKeijs and they hinted at the answer but didn't realise I was stuck on the basics. If you don't want to use the Wifi app and just the USB it is a doddle. The other big advantage is it doesn't need a license, so you shortcut all those license issues you get with RM. I just like the fact I can control 5 locos at a time by just clicking on a windows combobox. I can also control all the loco sound functions without going through multiple menus on the Elite. I assume you can do this in RM. The product just looks like something I would write so probably that is why I like it.

Yes, this bit is the bit that is a bit tricky, DigiKeijs don't explain this very well. You have to go to the wireless menu on the PC and connect to the DigiKeijs, you should then find it will work. I used a really old PC running Windows 7, I will go up in the loft and retrieve it off the railway. to double check what I did. I do know I spent ages getting it to work, but the really important bit it making the DijiKeijs part of your PC network. It does seem weird connecting the DijiKeijs with wireless and USB, I assume there is a reason for it. The only big issue is by connecting to the DigiKeijs your PC it is no longer connected to the web, that is why it is best to use an old PC.

Hornby did a 10% and then 10% price rise on all products within 6 months of each. So that is why the price rose.

I know there was a shortage months ago but I am not so sure now. I am pretty sure the Elite uses a PIC processor, it is probably more likely that as this flavor is quite old they have probably stopped making them for the moment. Trouble is most manufacturers that use this PIC have probably moved on to newer processors, still PICs but faster, so it may that there is not a big enough market out there for a manufacturer to start a new run. When I worked in microelectronics it was difficult to order less than 1000 processors, manufacturers just weren't interested. I doubt Hornby make that many Elites so that is probably the bigger issue. As to the replacements if your read my earlier posts you will see which one I recommend.

Brewman I am assuming they use permanent magnets as per Hunt couplings. I also think they probably thought "that is a good idea" and from the looks of it made a slightly better product. I got an answer from Hornby today, which is really quick. Yes they will be available but basically they don't know when. If they are a better implementation of the ones marketed by Hunt I am sure I will be buying lots. I like the idea and having used them, if they didn't pull out they are brilliant.

I will add mine was a brand new loco. I would have returned it to Hornby but I was unsure if was just something to do with my layout. Sometimes it cut out after one circuit, sometimes more.

The issue I have with NEM couplings on my layout is they are always uncoupling themselves. The old Triang couplings are really solid but the NEM ones seem to be a pain. I have tried the Hunt couplings and they work really well, the issue I have had with them is the build material, because the plastic is quite hard they don't have the springiness that say normal NEM couplings have, so they pull out of the holder.