Before its too late ...

"simon" wrote
One of those last few is a definite, so get rid of those old Airfix 0-6-0s - lol. :-)
There's another LNER 4-6-0 promised and some suitable coaches, along with a Pacific which duplicates one already in production from their main competitor.
Really don't understand the logic to that last item, but we are talking about Hornby.
John.

I don't know why no-one has made an LTSR 4-4-2 tank and some varnished teak coaches.

I knew it. Am in the middle of buliling a Wills 4F :-) But at least can do a right hand drive with midland chimney and dome.
Cheers, Simon

Whereas they are nice looking lttle locos they were part of an almost secret railway. Some were to be found on the LTE lines but did any find their way elsewhere bearing in mind their"flat country" design?
They could also produce a very similar 0_4_4 T (LMS 1900 etc) which in my youth did the Bristol St Phillips to Bath Green Park shuttles. As a 9 y.o. I found them more appealing than the new 1200 class tank engines. It would not be a bad idea to modernise the Deeley/Johnson 2P & 4P (compound) models which still fetch a very good price.

Whereas they are nice looking lttle locos they were part of an almost secret railway. Some were to be found on the LTE lines but did any find their way elsewhere bearing in mind their"flat country" design?
They could also produce a very similar 0_4_4 T (LMS 1900 etc) which in my youth did the Bristol St Phillips to Bath Green Park shuttles. As a 9 y.o. I found them more appealing than the new 1200 class tank engines. It would not be a bad idea to modernise the Deeley/Johnson 2P & 4P (compound) models which still fetch a very good price. ================================================= Was thinking the same abouot the 4F till saw real one and realised just how simple an outline they had. About the only significant change they could make is one of those fancy backheads. Are they not Fowler 2P and 4P (slightly modified versions from previous CME's) ? What would be nice is to add a Johnson tender to those and the 4F, but may need to be right hand drive then ? Of course as John would say it might be nice if they had a proper Fowler tender :-) IIRC Bachmanns 3F will have a Johnson tender, what about an enterprising retailer buying 500 4F's and 500 Johnson tenders and package them together - under the name of Hornbann perhaps ?
Cheers, Simon

Agree, wouldnt think Tornado would be a brilliant seller, nice to see the B1 though - Bachmann have been ekeing out that and the old Scot, second hand B1 prices should drop enough for me to get one (out of era, visitor to region). Would have preferred something to continue the recent sequence of innovations with Q1, M7, T9 and L1, hence the suggestion of a POW.
Cheers, Simon

Manufacturers model ranges aren't about supplying what modellers want, they are about identifying items that will sell. (and supplying them)
For example, say the choice was between an L&Y "Highflyer" which they identify as likely to sell 200 models and an LNER A4 which firm XYZ currently sells 1000 per annum, the manufacturer would attempt either a better A4 which could gain the top 500-1000 of XYZs sales or a cheaper version which might gain the bottom 500 of XYZ's sales plus a few more from those who couldn't afford XYZs prices. Dublo, Trix, Hornby and Bachmann have all done the A4 ;-)
Greg.P. (all numbers made up)

But our comments were based purely on economic grounds. Now had anyone said why are they doing the B1 as that belongs to Bachmann as suggested on RMWeb forum (one of my few forays on there) then you would be right in saying was talking rubbish and making your comments. Incidently my prediction for the year is RMWeb will collapse under the weight of fluff within the next few months. Owners comments on Hornby 2010 seemed a personal rant. Original thoughts are rare - 90% is just 'and me' comments. Thought police jump in as soon as anyone hints at disagreeing as well as make themed comments under their moderator id's. Never mind, another one will spring up.
Cheers, Simon

I think the LTS service pretty much ran them into the ground.
starts with some interesting stuff.

The last Tilbury 4-4-2T was the reason I gave up collecting numbers as a boy.
I made a special trip to see it, but the following year it had been withdrawn but wasn't in the ABC.
At which point I realised I was more interested in seeing interesting engines than copping the numbers.

Even it's admin now appears to have lost patience with Hornby?
I've seriously considered setting up a rival PHPBB3-based forum to RMWeb. Among other things I hate the way the current incarnation splits product threads by manufacturer.
(kim)

: > Incidently my prediction for the year is RMWeb will : > collapse under the weight of fluff within the next few months. Owners : > comments on Hornby 2010 seemed a personal rant. Original thoughts are : > rare - 90% is just 'and me' comments.
Indeed, must of the original though comments were being jumped upon during their supposed server issues [1], being judged speculation or (worse) undiluted "frothing" from rabid mouths, so now most members seem to have been cowed into posting nothing more that those "Me too" replies.
[1] server miss-administration issues more likely IMO
Thought police jump in as soon : > as anyone hints at disagreeing as well as make themed comments under : > their moderator id's. Never mind, another one will spring up.
They also seem to jump on any criticism of either RMweb its self, supplier or manufacture - unless, in the case of the latter two, they are posted by "Andy Y" himself or one of his hench-men...
: : Even it's admin now appears to have lost patience with Hornby? : : I've seriously considered setting up a rival PHPBB3-based forum to RMWeb.
Someone needs to, someone who can afford to *not* be sub-servant to advertisers...
: Among other things I hate the way the current incarnation splits product : threads by manufacturer. :
What got me about the 2011 Hornby announcement threads was how most of the separate (and more sensible), model specific, thread were locked and thus everyone was forced to read/reply to the one started by "Andy Y", no less traffic created by doing so, but know everyone - bar some discussion re the 5Bel - has to way through (at the time of this post) 636 messages over 26 pages to find comments about specific models - a less charitable person might deduce that the reason for "Andy Y" locking those other thread was simply to make himself look like the 'man who can', never mind that his initial message only repeated what everyone could deduce from visiting the relevant pages of the Hornby website...

What makes me smile is the idea that some owners and contributors think they influence the choice of new models/variants. My guess is Hornby wieghting is :- 1% - feedback from retailers 1% - comments in magazines 1% - comments at exhibitions 97% - complexity of manufacture, re-use of components, sales of previous items.
Cheers, Simon

The quality of some of the more technical posts leaves a lot to be desired too, especially the electrics and DCC forums. Quite a bit of ill-informed rubbish.
MBQ

There are plenty of other forums already running. A quick Google for "model railway forum" returns, in addition to RMWeb, all of these:
I'm not sure whether to conclude from that that the market is so big that there's easily space for another, or that the market is already saturated. I'm inclined towards the latter opinion, given that a couple of other forums which I know used to exist seem to have closed down.
RMWeb's problems and strengths both stem from its sheer size. It has an order of magnitude more contributors than any of its stablemates. That has the advantage that, whatever you want to talk about, there will almost always be other people there who want to as well. It has the disadvantage that topics can get very large, very quickly and easily spawn multiple threads on the same topic which makes it hard to navigate. But, whether you like it or loathe it, the fact is that the reason it's by far the most successful forum is that it works the best for the majority of its contributors. It's also the only forum, as far as I know, that the manufacturers and media consider important enough to interact directly with. So, while it's easy to come up with ways in which you think it could be improved, it's hard to argue against the fact that most of its users are satisfied with it.
Mark

[re RMweb] : It's also the only forum, as far as I know, that the : manufacturers and media consider important enough to interact directly : with.
Trouble is, that interaction causes direct open - warts and all - discussion about those manufactures to nipped in the bud by the mods (no doubt for fear that the above interaction will stop), thus complaints about a manufacturer or product are so often locked by a mod with a curse comment about taking it up directly by email.
: So, while it's easy to come up with ways in which you think it could : be improved, it's hard to argue against the fact that most of its users are : satisfied with it. :
Just as most people are also happy with fast food from the likes of McDonald's and Burger King, or the service from the big four supermarkets in the UK...

Definitely the latter. To much bandwagon jumping. There are also various magazine led forums, or used to be, I don't have any time for them.
MBQ

True, but they have to be careful and avoid believing customers are their right, remember what happened to IBM. McDonalds, are still top in terms of marketing and never take their customers for granted. So many people follow fashion like sheep, once a few of the more useful contributors get fed up enough to move away (and they will) then the rest will follow in droves.
Cheers, Simon

:
: > : > "Mark Goodge" wrote in message : > news: snipped-for-privacy@news.markshouse.net... : > : > [re RMweb] : > : It's also the only forum, as far as I know, that the : > : manufacturers and media consider important enough to interact : > directly : > : with. : > : > Trouble is, that interaction causes direct open - warts and all - : > discussion about those manufactures to nipped in the bud by the : > mods (no doubt for fear that the above interaction will stop), : > thus complaints about a manufacturer or product are so often : > locked by a mod with a curse comment about taking it up directly : > by email. : > : > : So, while it's easy to come up with ways in which you think it : > could : > : be improved, it's hard to argue against the fact that most of : > its users are : > : satisfied with it. : > : : > : > Just as most people are also happy with fast food from the likes : > of McDonald's and Burger King, or the service from the big four : > supermarkets in the UK... : : True, but they have to be careful and avoid believing customers are their : right, remember what happened to IBM. McDonalds, are still top in terms of : marketing and never take their customers for granted.
Indeed, but just imagine what service would be like if the food in supermarkets or McDonalds was free, paid for (and profits made for the retailer) by either the producers or the in-store advertising - that is the scenario that the 'customer' is faced with at RMWeb!
So many people follow : fashion like sheep, once a few of the more useful contributors get fed up : enough to move away (and they will) then the rest will follow in droves. :
Yes, if a few of the big names (both writers and manufactures) move on so will others, as indeed has happened with this on Usenet over the years few years - never know, perhaps URMR and other Usenet groups will have a revival. :~)