A Nod To Brent - a friendly thread, filled with frivolity, cream teas and pasties. Longing for the happy days in the South Hams 1947.

[gwrrob]

11 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

Can't beat a new Bush Mr Sweet.

P

 

Glad you twigged it...

[Oldddudders]

Leaf it out, you two!

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Mallard60022 said:

Can't beat a new Bush Mr Sweet.

P

 

And they're much neater than they used to be...

[2ManySpams]

On 09/10/2022 at 18:33, gwrrob said:

Back from GETS and apologies straight away for the quality of my photos taken in testing lighting conditions.

 

First we have the Dapol toplights in crimson and thanks to Neil for getting them out of the cabinet for me to handle. These won't be available to early next year due to production problems My photos don't do them justice, they are superb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are they available in green?

[gwrrob]

11 hours ago, 2ManySpams said:

 

Are they available in green?

 

Do you have a photo I could pass on to Dapol chum.

[toboldlygo]

Anyone in need of an ambulance???

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

On 10/10/2022 at 08:50, gwrrob said:

 

Richard Webster wasn’t there so nothing new was gleaned, sorry.

And you won't get anything out of Joel - very nice bloke but probably the tightest lipped chap in the entire Uk model railway business😇

 

On 11/10/2022 at 11:14, checkrail said:

They've obviously been having hush-hush conversations with Peco for quite some time, so it's a moot point where the original inspiration came from. As soon as I saw the Peco announcements the other month for TT track, buildings and accessories I began to wonder which major manufacturer had TT locos and rolling stock up their sleeve.  So it was Hornby.  I guess Bachmann were already fully committed to Graham Farish N gauge, while Dapol have three scales to play with.  Big investment. Will be interesting to see how it goes.  But it will be hard to compete with 00 even with new modellers, given the vast range of products available in 4mm scale including kits, specialist items, aftermarket products etc.

Been a fairly open secret among some folk for quite a long time.  I got fed up with entering it in the annual Hornby guessing game thread on RMweb - I gave up because I thought they'd given up on it, but obviously they hadn't.

 

I've long been saying they needed to innovate and have tipped TT as that innovation because I knew some years back that they had been doing market research among TT-3 and 3mm scale modellers.  But now of course it hasn't emerged as TT3 although that might be a consequence of most of the original development work being done in China (so i understand) or maybe it was the way they were thinking all along.  i do know that their initial research among 3mm scale modellers was reportedly somewhat less than enthusiastic so made they were thinking 1120 back then?

 

It will definitely be hard to compete with very well established 00 and even, to a lesser extent, to compete with N but alot depends on how well it is accepted in the wider market and how quickly it starts too pay back against the massive sum which would appear to have been invested in it.  time will tell - one way or the other.

 

If I were to have any immediate concern at all about it that would be whether it will reduce their investment in new models in 00 - they can't spend the same money twice and if they are going heavily for this will they fall back elsewhere.  In the longer term the main question is a simple one - will it help them carve out a new market which is largely theirs and will have a big positive impact on their bottom line?  Or will it turn into a financial millstone that wastes money they could have got a better return on by investing it in something else?

[gwrrob]

52 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

And you won't get anything out of Joel - very nice bloke but probably the tightest lipped chap in the entire Uk model railway business😇

 

 

 

It wasn't him I spoke to, it was Neil and he was suspicious of my motives for wanting to take close up shots . So I told him who I was and being a long time RMweb member with this thread. He thanked me for the honesty and got them out of the cabinet. I just wish my photos had been better, I can't imagine having the same access at Warley next month.

 

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

And you won't get anything out of Joel - very nice bloke but probably the tightest lipped chap in the entire Uk model railway business😇

 

Been a fairly open secret among some folk for quite a long time.  I got fed up with entering it in the annual Hornby guessing game thread on RMweb - I gave up because I thought they'd given up on it, but obviously they hadn't.

 

I've long been saying they needed to innovate and have tipped TT as that innovation because I knew some years back that they had been doing market research among TT-3 and 3mm scale modellers.  But now of course it hasn't emerged as TT3 although that might be a consequence of most of the original development work being done in China (so i understand) or maybe it was the way they were thinking all along.  i do know that their initial research among 3mm scale modellers was reportedly somewhat less than enthusiastic so made they were thinking 1120 back then?

 

It will definitely be hard to compete with very well established 00 and even, to a lesser extent, to compete with N but alot depends on how well it is accepted in the wider market and how quickly it starts too pay back against the massive sum which would appear to have been invested in it.  time will tell - one way or the other.

 

If I were to have any immediate concern at all about it that would be whether it will reduce their investment in new models in 00 - they can't spend the same money twice and if they are going heavily for this will they fall back elsewhere.  In the longer term the main question is a simple one - will it help them carve out a new market which is largely theirs and will have a big positive impact on their bottom line?  Or will it turn into a financial millstone that wastes money they could have got a better return on by investing it in something else?

My assumption about HornbyTT is that they are keeping the production costs down by having very limited runs. IF it proves successful, it will then be offered out to the retail market as well.

 

Its still a big IF……

 

Looking at their marketing strategy, they are going after a new market, hence the social media and mainstream newspaper advertising…. I guess they are not aiming at us, the diehard modellers.

 

Will it lead to reduced investment for 00? Time alone will tell… maybe that is why they increased their investments 6 months or so ago….

 

37 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

 

 

It wasn't him I spoke to, it was Neil and he was suspicious of my motives for wanting to take close up shots . So I told him who I was and being a long time RMweb member with this thread. He thanked me for the honesty and got them out of the cabinet. I just wish my photos had been better, I can't imagine having the same access at Warley next month.

 

That’s a shame… let’s hope they see the light when it comes to Warley 😎

 

Good luck

[longchap]

On 09/10/2022 at 19:33, gwrrob said:

Back from GETS and apologies straight away for the quality of my photos taken in testing lighting conditions.

 

First we have the Dapol toplights in crimson and thanks to Neil for getting them out of the cabinet for me to handle. These won't be available to early next year due to production problems My photos don't do them justice, they are superb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, they look so incredibly good! Thanks Robin for persevering under trying circumstances to get these to share with us and as a result, the six car Set 2 has found its way onto my wish list, destined for my trunk soon enough.

 

I was wondering what I might get for Christmas.

 

Bill

Edited October 12, 2022 by longchap

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, longchap said:

 

Wow, they look so incredibly good….

 

I was wondering what I might get for Christmas.

 

Bill

HaHa Bill, I cut out the middle man and ordered them myself.

 

Call it a Birthday cum Christmas present to myself

[2ManySpams]

On 12/10/2022 at 19:40, gwrrob said:

 

 

It wasn't him I spoke to, it was Neil and he was suspicious of my motives for wanting to take close up shots . So I told him who I was and being a long time RMweb member with this thread. He thanked me for the honesty and got them out of the cabinet. I just wish my photos had been better, I can't imagine having the same access at Warley next month.

 

 

Good grief, do they not know who you are Rob?! I see a strongly worded letter heading their way...

[NHY 581]

14 minutes ago, 2ManySpams said:

 

Good grief, do they not know who you are Rob?! I see a strongly worded letter heading their way...

 

 

No doubt signed off "Outraged of Brent ".

[Limpley Stoker]

Try a stiff letter - on cardboard !

[Nick Gough]

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"

 

" Boss, we've got somebody here with amnesia. "

[gwrrob]

6 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

No doubt signed off "Outraged of Brent ".

 

Talking of the Captain @Captain Kernow he hasn't frequented this thread for a while, is everything ok with him .

[gwrrob]

7 hours ago, 2ManySpams said:

 

Good grief, do they not know who you are Rob?!

 

Just how I like it.😉

[NHY 581]

3 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

 

Talking of the Captain @Captain Kernow he hasn't frequented this thread for a while, is everything ok with him .

 

Yes, Rob , he's about but engaged on other matters.....Just mention art darling and he shall appear.....like a genie from a lamp...

 

Rob

[Tim Dubya]

34 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

 

Yes, Rob , he's about but engaged on other matters.....Just mention art darling and he shall appear.....like a genie from a lamp...

 

Rob

 

Yes, he's* still helping my RMweb 'reputation' with the odd  👍 etc.

 

And that, in itself, is 'art darling'.

 

*is he Damien Hurst?... no, he's a real artist.

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Tim Dubya

[Captain Kernow]

34 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

Just mention art darling and he shall appear.....like a genie from a lamp...

Someone (who may or may not remain nameless or named, as the case may or may not be) has just texted me a photo of some Art. It is an abstract portrait of some unfortunate person, who has a large, round black liquorice allsort stuck right around their mouth!

 

[MrWolf]

That sounds ominous...

[Siberian Snooper]

3 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

Someone (who may or may not remain nameless or named, as the case may or may not be) has just texted me a photo of some Art. It is an abstract portrait of some unfortunate person, who has a large, round black liquorice allsort stuck right around their mouth!

 

 

39 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

That sounds ominous...

 

At least, so far, it's pretty much in understandable English. I just hope that we don't drift off in an arty farty direction.

 

 

[Captain Kernow]

10 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said:

I just hope that we don't drift off in an arty farty direction

You may well hope that.

 

I could not possibly comment.

 

[longchap]

On 12/10/2022 at 22:58, Neal Ball said:

HaHa Bill, I cut out the middle man and ordered them myself.

 

Call it a Birthday cum Christmas present to myself

 

To be honest Neal, I'd decided to give them a miss, as my layout was not set in a locality to justify their use. Then I saw Robin's photographs and everything changed.

 

I was and are still planning to get the mainline versions though, after which I really should'nt need any more coaching stock for many years.

[gwrrob]

11 hours ago, longchap said:

 Then I saw Robin's photographs and everything changed.

 

Does that make me an influencer then.😉