Hroth

Ye gods, you're right! I didn't peek too closely under the valences.... But I see that the price has now hiked up to 73 quid with eleven and a half hours to go. I blame it on people who buy Lima 37s in police livery.....

At least with a Princess, there's a chance that if its in front of you, you've probably got the right one, they weren't a numerically strong class. But in the latter days, it was common to see ordinary locos in all-over crud livery with a swipe of cleaning across the number just to confirm that the crew had the right one (ie not one of the clunkers!) @toboldlygo: Your weathering is - striking... Afterthought: I was looking through "From Crewe to Euston" by Rod Steele (Sutton Publishing 2007) today, and on page 41, there's a picture of 46207 at Tamworth, looking very black as depicted by toboldlygo, though there's no date for the picture. However, its the tender insignia thats not visible, the cab side number has been cleaned off!

There's a nice engine under all that grot. Drop the over-enthusiastic handrails, especially on the cab and tender and a sympathetic respray, after removing the "intercity livery". I think a well cleaned silver or garter blue with heavy weathering around all the rivets, just like a late-30s A4 ought to look! Is 55 quid too steep for a three-rail A4? I'd have said so, but given the crazy prices people seem to be paying for old Triang tat, perhaps I ought to have my childhood Dublo train set on the insurance.....

Eeek! Looks like she's gone bog-snorkelling. Is there an engine under all that mud? C'mon, a smeared clean around the cabside number surely!!!!

Just being positive, I prefer to believe (at this moment) that when the P2s DO arrive we'll get them in batches like the Sentinel variants... fingers crossed, etc, etc.

Well, if we're going to rewrite history, pretend that Thompson never existed, or that Peppercorn got the top job first time, then we might have had P2s slogging up and down the ECML throughout the war instead of being wasted as a vanity exercise in undoing all things Gresley. So not just BR Green, but N.E. wartime black and British Railways Express Blue too......

Yes, noticed that a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps they've taken the model that Tony Wright reviewed and designed it even more cleverly. That might explain the delay and we'll find that the Railroad version struggles to pull Annie and Clarabel.... They wouldn't want video that the original concept could cope with scale prototype length trains! Ha. I'm just getting itchy waiting for that email from Hattons saying that its been put off until September.

Nice pic of a Lizzie, you've probably got the classes best angle there. I've always thought they were "ugly" engines, the proportions never seemed quite right. Of course, given Staniers pedigree, a glance at a picture of GWR 111, The Great Bear, shows where he was coming from where Pacifics were concerned. There's a distinct air of overblown King/Bear about them. It wasn't just Triang/Hornby that got them wrong, I've a Lone Star 000 Princess pushalong that possibly looks even worse! OTOH, the pre-war O gauge Hornby model of the Princess Elizabeth was a beauty that did the best justice to the original.

Well, yessssssssssss....... :-) When I pre-ordered back in the middle of last year (ok it was August), I decided to redevelop my layout to give the P2 a more fitting home, ease some curves and so on. With the 01/14 date, I expected its first run would be over bare boards, the 04/14 date made me think ballasted and major structures. as we gear up to pass 07/14, I expect I'll have a layout thats mostly scenically completed, and I'll be back to getting up the courage to do some loco weathering..... Then "looks outside", there's the garden. ...

August, is it now? I preordered back in August 2013, when the P2 was definitely going to show up before (or was it just after?) Christmas. Its now creeping inexorably onwards, I expect we'll be at Christmas 2014 before it arrives. Hey-ho.... Given the late arrival time, perhaps it SHOULD be in British Rail livery!

The best antidote would be a well used, but cared for Manor gingerly crossing Barmouth Viaduct...... ;-)

Just got an email from Hattons regarding my preorder for the Railroad version of CotN - "Our latest information from the supplier suggests this item will arrive with us July 2014". Ho-Hum, business as usual! (Currently their website still advises "on or after 28th April") Edit: 15/4/14 Latest quoted date "on or after 16th July". *sigh*

GR King said, "I've just read a suggestion"... Given the current supply situation, its to be expected that in the case of a shortfall its going to be "first come, first served". Hattons stopped taking pre-orders for R3207 more than a month ago and its possible that they've been informed that by time it gets around to the beginning of July, that their new allocation will not be enough to service all their pre-orders. At least there's three months between now and the estimated delivery date - if there IS to be a culling of pre-orders for R3207, then early notification would be better than late or none! We don't know what percentage of their original allocation they set aside for pre-orders so there's no point in criticising them when Hornby cuts the ground from under their feet! As an aside, the Railroad version, R3171, is still listed by Hattons for pre-order and delivery after the end of THIS month. I suppose Hornby can still throw a spanner in the works in the next three weeks, but we'll just have to wait and see!

Unless you actually WORK for Hornby, hard information would be pretty hard to come by! The best we can do is speculate... Like all other retailers, Hattons are in the hands of Hornby as to when they get stock. In my experience, Hattons are pretty good at getting information out to pre-orderers regarding changes in projected availibility, price changes and so on, and nothing has been announced up to today. Its now just on a month before the "in stock" date for the Railroad version and unless Hornby drops a bombshell (your "Indian Ocean" event, for example) stock should be trickling out to selected retailers by the start of May. As for "missing at sea", from my vague understanding of importation leadtimes, the models should at least be in home waters by now, and might even have have cleared customs. Hornby will then have to check that they've got what they wanted and sampled them to ensure they are up to scratch. Allocation to retailers, depending on stock in hand and pre-order requests would follow. No news at this point is good news! (fingers crossed...) Why not express an interest on the Hornby shop website? Its likely they will get preferential treatment and have P2s before anyone else gets a sniff - if you ask to be notified when they are in stock, you will get an email when they get them.

Its standard Hattons website behaviour. If you order the last item, it hides the detail page from the listings, though if you've got the page bookmarked you can still access it. I suppose it helps manage customer expectations.....

Quick heads-up Just got an email from Hattons - if you want a Railroad P2 at their current pre-order price (£67), then act before the 17th, when it increases to £73. If you've already pre-ordered, then as you were...

Which is what I was getting at - they actually have a couple that aren't pre-ordered.... As of NOW "Hornby Class 4wDM 0-4-0 diesel Sentinel shunter in ESSO Bitumen Plymouth red (Next batch due 11th March) OO Gauge (1:76 Scale) £45 Limited stocks, but available for immediate order" 2 in stock. :-)

I was just looking at Hattons "Hornby Diesels" page, wondering when any of the Sentinels would get to the point where the description read Limited stocks, but available for immediate order when my eyes drifted up to see R3065 marked as pre-Order! Now, I can imagine that there is some sort of requirement for a small shunter with the performance characteristics of a Bugatti Veyron, but seeing as its possible to get MIB examples on eB for less than 20 quid, I wonder who would pre-order from Hattons? Back on topic - I see from the Royal Mail Tracker that my NCB has been lurking at Warrington since yesterday morning. It'd better get a move on! *twitch*

Just a heads up - Hattons have had a batch of Sentinels into stock today*, however their order was only partly fulfilled and, depending on when a pre-order was placed, customers may or may not get their order. The next batch is quoted as being due in a weeks time. Looking forward to the imminent arrival of my little blue NCB! *according to emails I've had this evening.

Its going to be (nearly?) a decade before we get to hear an authentic P2 exhaust beat, so the exhaust sound will be more or less inaccurate. Given that there is at least one working Capriotti loco* (Class 5, 73129), perhaps a comparison of that to a conventional class 5 would give an indication of how a conventional A4 exhaust sound might be modified to a better approximation? * ignoring Tornado.....

Depending on what "authentic" soundfiles are available, the sounds from any 3 cylinder Gresley with a Kylchap exhaust will be near enough (discounting the effects of the valvegear). They'll probably use the "A4" set for "Gadwell" on "Cock", though that may be ultimately derived from "Flying Scotsman"..... I dunno, we'll just have to speculate wildly until someone gets their hands on a specimen! "Frying bacon" does sound a bit "ducking giraffe", something more authentic might be the driver cursing the fireman for not keeping the boiler pressure up to the mark or for making black smoke/blowing off the safety valves within station limits. Oh well, another missed opportunity!

At least you can still remember you DID pre-order one. :-) Imagine answering the knock at the door and wondering why a tiny package was being proffered to you!

Spoke to Hattons (ok, emailed them) yesterday, they "expect" stock by the end of the week, dispatch to follow....

When the Tarmacs were first noticed, they were at £47 (and a bit). When they sold out, they could be back-ordered at £45 (annoyed me slightly!), and when they came back into stock, they were at £55.99. If you had pre-ordered at £45, you'd have got one for that. I see that there's not been any movement in Amazon stock levels since the Sentinels re-stocked, perhaps people are hanging back until the 24th to see what happens? :-)

If Hattons DO push it back, Amazon has 5 MORE Tarmac Sentinels in stock (there's an NCB too), admittedly now at 10 quid more than Hattons, although Amazon will deliver free. Its swings and roundabouts with added instant gratification..... But if Amazon is getting stock, then its probable that Hattons will have some too and be able to service their pre-orders in the next couple of days! Always look on the bright side of life! departs whistling......