John-L

YouTube pays per view over a certain amount. So he should get something like £1 per 1000 views, or something like that. He will be making a couple of hundred quid from each video. Honestly his subscriber numbers and viewing figures don’t seem high enough to generate a full time wage, so I’d suggest he is not having to pay for a mortgage or council tax etc. He shoots his videos in the attic of his parents house (based on what was shown on the TV show) so I guess he just needs to earn enough to pay them digs money? That could be achievable with his viewing figures?

Perhaps. But it doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect firm release dates for phase 3 locos. They are supposed to be available within the following twelve months.

Just watched the ‘mistake’ video. He really bases a lot of his assumptions on that poll doesn’t he? He actually states at one point that 90% of railway modellers have no interest in the scale, as if his poll somehow represents all of the market? Theres no doubt Hornby are behind schedule, and the lack of new info and new locos is frustrating, but to claim it’s a mistake or failure is to ignore the sheer number of A1s and A4s Hornby have shifted since the launch. We know that they’ve restocked numerous times, and if the batch numbers are to be believed then they’ve sold somewhere near 10,000 of these locos between the sets and the individual locos. That’s pretty impressive! Id say the April announcements will be the true test of how successful the range has been so far. If April brings new model announcements and firm dates for the roll out of the phase 3 locos (especially the 0-6-0 and class 37 / class 47) then naysayers like Sam will not have a leg to stand on. April will either be the boost that gets things into high gear or a red flag that Hornby are pulling back from the scale. My money is on the former.

Been looking forward to these livery variants, especially the green landrover.

Very true. Perhaps they will start offering wagon packs in the next round of pre orders. A wagon pack would meet the minimum for free postage? I'm still looking forward to Phase 3 & 4 but it's a shame to lose the discount! :)

My memberships ended now. I’ve moved onto the 2024 no discount version. It’s definitely going to change my spending as I move forward. The first year has been very pre-order heavy!

My Arnold VTG Cereal Wagons arrived. Haven’t had a chance to run them yet but they look fantastic. Not wagons that run over here but really too nice to pass up. Hopefully we get models of some UK loading gauge versions at some point.

We will also need a source for the Hornby nem pockets. I lost a coupler from one of my coaches, so I ordered a packet of spares from Hornby only to realise they don’t include the clip on pocket! Luckily I found the missing coupler and pocket in the end, but I would have been unable to use the coach if I hadn’t. Surely there must be a way to get replacements?

Have you tried contacting Hornby customer service? I’ve always found them to give excellent after sales support. They might be able to help solve your problem.

Nice. It’s a beautiful model. I couldn’t justify getting one, but I was very tempted. The detail on them is incredible, and seeing one running on the display layout at Warley was very impressive.

Thanks for the heads up on this power supply. I grabbed one from Hatton before they closed. My last order from them.

It’s possible the two launch sets are about to be replaced by the British Pullman and the Mainline Express (both of which appear to be the same locos/carriages but swapped around and with different liveries). So Green BR A1 with MK1s and Blue LNER A4 with Pullmans.

Stick it on eBay. Someone somewhere will be missing that bit.

Who’s being held back? I’ve not seen any complaints beyond an impatience for the future phases. The next year or so should see 0-6-0 tanks, classic mainline diesels and the first modern image stock. Seems like more than enough to tempt anyone who’s currently on the fence.

These wagons should be ok for late era 5? They would be hauled by steam trains when new.

Yes seem pretty good. A tiny bit of binding at first on some of them but free up after a little running in.

Yeah it’s just mad that they don’t combine shipping. I received two parcels today from the delivery driver. So both were packaged and sent out at the same time.

Nice to see these etched details becoming available for TT.

My first batch of TTA wagons has arrived. Beautiful models, incredibly well detailed. Unfortunately Hornby are shipping them all separately instead of combining shipping so it’s going to be an expensive order!

According to Hornby it’s not a mistake. They have removed the discounts for this model. Why they’ve done that is open to speculation. There are plenty of other models not due until Autumn or even next year which do have discounts so I’m not sure your theory holds up.

The original membership gave a 15% discount on Hornby TT store purchases plus 10% in Hornby points. Those perks were only valid for 12 months and most members are nearing the end of that period. New members don’t get the discount, and existing members will have lost it by the time the new models are announced in April. The green Class 08 was leaked/announced early so Hornby don’t seem to be honouring discounts on pre-orders of that model.

I had a reply stating that member discounts are no longer being offered, which is true for new members but doesn’t make sense for those of us with a few weeks discount remaining. Very harsh for those who sprang for the paid membership as well?

I just received the email letting me know my TTA order has been dispatched.

They must have sold out. I placed a pre-order on Monday. This sounds like a re-run of the preorders for the first three wagons, those also sold out on pre-order. Hopefully Hornby add more production slots, these wagons seem to be really popular. I’ve not seen any appear on eBay so buyers are definitely holding on to them.