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2024 Range Announcement - 9am 2nd April


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I wouldn't hold out too much hope for things like a catalogue at the minute, I don't think there will be all that many things that weren't included in the first one as being for later phases or that we are fairly sure are coming. Hopefully there's a couple of surprises coming, but a pessimist is never disappointed. 

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Well the announcement does specifically mention ‘adding to the range’ so that strongly implies some new announcements?  Fingers crossed for some more early blue diesels and some BO-BOs 🙂

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Before people get too far ahead and overly excited, I think the announcements are primarily going to aimed further in the future, just like we were told about class 43 and 50 when range was launched Oct ‘22 and they are coming through now. Would be nice if a little surprise was not much more than a couple of months away, and hopefully it’s not all just about locos either. 😁

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1 minute ago, Rallymatt said:

Before people get too far ahead and overly excited, I think the announcements are primarily going to aimed further in the future, just like we were told about class 43 and 50 when range was launched Oct ‘22 and they are coming through now. Would be nice if a little surprise was not much more than a couple of months away, and hopefully it’s not all just about locos either. 😁

In the October 22 catalogue Mk1 full brakes and open seconds were mentioned. February 2023 Gresley coaches were seen at the Glasgow show so hopefully at least one of those will be in the new list.

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Very mixed messages coming out of a Margate. Some people were recently told at the Rails of Sheffield and MRS events "not to expect much." But the announcement material suggests that there will be surprises. I'm inclined to go in with lower expectations. We're in the very early stages of Phase 2, so adding Phase 3 for preorders doesn't make sense based on the information we've been given about announcing things closer to delivery. If they announced Phase 3, the products might not ship for a year. 

 

I'd love to be proven wrong, but we should try to control expectations so people don't get really disappointed on April 2. The following is a list of upcoming products and my best attempt to guess when they will arrive. New A4s and new Mk 1s are essentially guaranteed. You can see confirmation in the TT120 magazine. The 0-6-0T is likely to arrive. The best guesses I've seen is that it will be a Jinty.  This is backed up by a few things. There's some evidence of it being a Jinty in the TT magazine. It's also a historical locomotive for Hornby. And finally, it's also a good companion for the forthcoming LMS locomotives. Simon did confirm they wanted to do a Terrier, but Southern region has no large locomotive. So, that points to an LMS locomotive. That way we'll have A3/A4 and J94, Duchesses and Jinty, and Castle and Pannier Tank. 

 

As an aside... The goal seems to be to get a large loco and a small loco to cover every region. Accelerating the Jinty and J94 makes total sense. Get the existing large locomotives their smaller companions ASAP. Then work on the Pannier to be released alongside the Castle. The GWR Castle, Pannier, and coaches should all be released within a short window. Eventually, an LMS black 08 would be a good companion too. Same obviously goes for the BR black 08. 

 

Beyond the new A4s, Mk 1s, and 0-6-0T we can expect the British Pullman Set. I retain my prediction William Whitelaw will be in its LNER Garter Blue livery. If it's BR Green, I will be surprised. I also predict the Easterner set will live on. Stockists are still taking preorders. While it's technically the same locomotive, William Whitelaw in the Easterner and William Whitelaw in the British Pullman Set should look distinct enough to justify two different sets. Someone who owns both a TT Mallard and a TT William Whitelaw from the Easterner can verify they look quite different while both being A4s. 

 

My final prediction is the launch of new Pullman coaches. The existing named Pullman cars have been out of stock, and there's no indication of resupply. Octavia, Plato, and Zenobia are not going to make it out of the event. New Pullman names will be added into the range. Hornby caught some criticism for choosing Southern Railway Pullman coaches. It's possible that Hornby might launch LNER/ER Pullmans this go around, but that would require new tooling for the bogies. It's possible. But either way Pullman fans should have a good event! 

 

From there, it's more speculation than anything else. Things like new private owner wagon liveries, new A3s, Teak Coaches, and the J94 are also possible. There's also the possibility of something entirely unsuspected. But there's not a clear picture. 

 

Whatever happens, I'm sure it should be interesting!

 

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2 hours ago, clive-1265812 said:

Well I sincerely hope they do a test run of their audio & video this time as their previous release events have been terrible esp the Q&A session this year.

Agreed, the sound quality has been appalling, does undermine the professionalism of the company. 

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I’m not expecting too much, I just want a new catalogue of current ranges and some of the already announced future phases in picture form and any surprises will be lovely. I just like looking through a catalogue and dreaming.. my original catalogue is out of date now so it doesn’t work so well anymore!

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8 hours ago, Generic Hornby Username said:

I'm inclined to go in with lower expectations. We're in the very early stages of Phase 2, so adding Phase 3 for preorders doesn't make sense based on the information we've been given about announcing things closer to delivery. If they announced Phase 3, the products might not ship for a year. 

We seem to be in the shipping stage for Phase 2 so giving release dates and prices for Phase 3 would seem logical?  We already know the Class 37 sound files suggest an early 2025 release date so preorders for products due within the next 12 months isn’t uncommon?

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@Generic Hornby Username the only evidenced release I can see that’s missing from your list is the LNER HST which is mentioned with the British Pullman set as being due in October for the Christmas season.

So the British Pullman set could be a replacement for the Scotsman and then if, as you suggest, the Easterner remains (as an entry level set?), the LNER & Pullman sets join it at a higher price point. 

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I thought we’d ironed out the sets question? 🫣

I’m pretty sure the British Pullman will be an amalgamation of the two current sets. As has already been announced, so that means Willy in green as per the eastener, with Pullmans from the Scotsman set. 
Both current sets being dropped. 
If an A4 gets a new livery surely they’ll have a name as there’s so many to pick from. 
 

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Yes that seems most likely Peachy.  The new sets being content swapped versions of the existing sets, meaning mainline express is BR green A1 with MK1’s and British Pullman is LNER Blue A4 with Pullmans.

I was hopeful for a duchess set with 57’s but it’s not looking likely.

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43 minutes ago, Peachy said:

I thought we’d ironed out the sets question? 🫣

I’m pretty sure the British Pullman will be an amalgamation of the two current sets. As has already been announced, so that means Willy in green as per the eastener, with Pullmans from the Scotsman set. 
Both current sets being dropped. 
If an A4 gets a new livery surely they’ll have a name as there’s so many to pick from. 
 

I think @Generic Hornby Username was making the point that Easterner has sold out but pre-orders are being taken, so it seems it might still be staying in the short term. The Pullman sets will be more expensive than the Easterner, as the Scotsman is now, so that does make sense. 

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2 hours ago, Moccasin said:

@Generic Hornby Username the only evidenced release I can see that’s missing from your list is the LNER HST which is mentioned with the British Pullman set as being due in October for the Christmas season.

I thought Hornby described the HST as an “East Coast mainline” in the 1st magazine, which of course is different to LNER? 
Or maybe they hadn’t made their mind up? 
Ones a grey livery the other’s red. 

Edited by Peachy
Poor spelling
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5 minutes ago, Peachy said:

I thought Hornby described the HST as an “East Coast mainline” in the 1st magazine, which of course is different to LNER? 
Or maybe they hadn’t made their mind up? 
Ones a grey livery the other’s red. 

Tt1004M in the current online catalogue is called  “LNER East Coast Mainline HST” (page 5)

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