Heljan new models announced

With no supporting justification whatsoever, I had always assumed that the vacant class 80 was for the converted Metro-Vick gas turbine E1000/E2001.

I saw a blue one at Toton think it was D8233 in its departmental number

Well, I have to hope that Heljan will do one in green with double arrows... :-)

Ian J.

Same here, I would also like to see Hornby do a Class 31 in green with double arrows, IMO it was the best livery combination they have ever carried!

When was this though, it was well off the beaten path and one has to wonder why it was even there (AIUI they were all ER based, Kings X, Livp St, Stratford, Finsbury Prk, through out their lives as ETH heating units), could it actually have been in very faded green?

":Jerry:" wrote

Don't hold your breath, if it didn't have SOUTHERN emblazoned on the side Hornby don't seem interested. ;-)

John.

No, there was a blue one. I have seen a colour photo of it somewhere but cant find the link. It was during its departmental phase, but was not like standard BR blue. I tried to word my answer carefully ;)

It could still have been like green, this was my point, I'm not doubting that people *think and believe* they have seen one in Rail Blue.

I will tell you what I think, and feel free to flame because I have no definite evidence for this.

I think the manufacturers bring out locomotives that they consider will sell well. You may say - "well duh!".

However, ER based modellers did very well up until the appearance of the K3. Judging only by the numbers still being shown as in stock by large internet retailers after 6 months or so, I believe sales of this loco were very disappointing. (This is most likely because the class was largely extinct by 1963). Compare this with the B1 which must still be selling reasonably well after many years despite calls for a complete upgrade. The earlier B17 probably confounded this argument purely because there was not a lot else available then, and football team names will always add extra sales.

Therefore, if a manufacturer gets their fingers burnt on one particular model from one particular region/era, they will give that section of the hobby a wide berth for a number of years.

The popularity of Falcon has probably ushered in a revolution in the manufacturers' thinking, as they can now see that very limited production runs of a small (or single) locomotive class are likely to be the way to go, at least until one version does not sell. When that happens, say farewell to any other prototypes that have not been produced already.

So, if SR modellers want many more loco classes to be produced, they will have to make sure the ones already on sale continue to sell out quickly. I have heard rumours that the Q1 may be the SR's 'K3'.

The sad thing, from my point of view, about the K3 episode is the effect it must have had on any thoughts of producing an exLNER 2-8-0. This is a great shame, as I am sure an 01/04 would sell well, but there may be too many variants and rebuilds of the basic engine to make one particular version popular. However, I live in hope.

I suspect that we are seeing a shift in how manufactures see their business models, short runs, high detailing and higher prices do seem to be the way things are going, people are now prepared to spend the sorts of money on RTR models that was once the sole preserve of the kit manufactures. OTOH, Falcon was a success for three reasons, in the days when it was on test (and owned by Bush) it was tested on both the ER and WR and then spent many years on the WR - it's total life was ~

I'm more worried about HS Kestrel, I can see the logic for Haljan choosing it from a logistics view point (most of it's time on BR was spent running on Class 47 bogies), but lets face it, its life was so short that many people who lived on the ECML never actually saw her running - its steam equivalent would be Hornby modelling Gresley's "Hush-Hush" loco using a modified A4 chassis), unless Heljan are aiming solely at the collector I do worry that they will get their toes burnt.

Thank for that link, it blows my suggestion that the Cl.15s spent all their days as ETH on the ER out of the water!

An even better example of what I was getting at in the following image, note the faded Rail Blue on the Cl.03 and then compare it to the blue on the SR Cep (collision damage, Clapham?) on the right - there is no way that the Cl.15 is in anything other than faded green! The picture, which has been 'lifted' from it's parent page, has a caption that says it was taken at Vic berry's scrap yard on

Perhaps this photo may explain the confusion - you'd quite easily think the right-hand photo was blue, if it were not for the blue on the coach.

It is so easy to decide which Ks to do

K1 K4 I think, anyway the one on the SVR and the one on the NYMR

I suspect that you are right and there won't be as much natural demand for the Kestrel as there was for the Falcon, but I reckon that Ebayers and profiteers buying them will take up the slack and they will sell out pretty quickly.

Fred X

K1 is fine, and NE modellers would at least have one loco seen in the region away from the ECML, but would there be demand for a K4?

How many folk model the West Highland? Personally, I would prefer a K2 but these were withdrawn even before the K3s began to disappear en- masse and I doubt many would be sold.

A lot of people buy what they know, a lot of people have seen the two preserved K engines so they are better known than ones all scrapped.

True for the toy or collectors market, for the model market people by what either appeared or could have appeared in their chosen location setting and les so what they simple like - why did Bachmann choose the K3, clue, consider the driving wheel diameter of the K3 and the V1 or V3s...

wrote

Just for information Hornby have (last year from memory) 'jobbed out' Q1s and Granges, presumable because they didn't sell, or sell quickly enough before the next batch arrived.

John.