Hroth

Its possible to get all the Sentinel variants at present, that is, if you're willing to pay "list" (ie Hornby webshop) price and look about a bit. Who'd have thought that Amazon would have had a stock of the previously unreleased Tarmac version? And Hornby is currently offering all versions for immediate delivery. Given, if you've pre-ordered from conventional suppliers after the first batch sold out, especially for a good price, then you'll still be waiting. But given that Hattons predicted "after the 24th February" and that Hornby seem to have stock, then the probability is that we'll get what we want! *fingers crossed* My Tarmac liveried Sentinel arrived from Amazon yesterday. To say that I'm impressed with the model would be putting it politely! I've just had a browse through that auction site - some weathered red and blue Sentinels around the 80 quid mark, a couple at Hornby List, and two "Holden 101" tanl locos that Hornby named "Sentinel" (R854) at vastly inflated prices!

There's just one NCB Sentinel left at Amazon at present. (Poor thing must be feeling lonely!). Of course I succumbed; I also bought one of the Tarmac ones after I posted earlier but being a cheapskate, I opted for free delivery - it'll be here sooner or later :-). On the availibility question, I saw yesterday that all the Sentinel variants were being advertised for sale on the Hornby Shop site, although the Tarmac one is back on "stock notification" already! I haven't really kept an eye on their stock levels, but if this stock is the result of a new batch (post Xmas), then the silence from the usual retailers is deafening, unless Hornby is embargoing stock until they've sold some on their own account. We may have been lucky with Amazon, they sometimes jump the gun, usually with popular books, but I'm not complaining!

The Sentinel would make a good Train Pack/Starter Set locomotive, especially if Hornby packaged it with a rake of appropriate wagons for the loco. And for once, it wouldn't be as cringeworthy as their usual 0-4-0 starter sets! (The "Pennine Express" set, for example???) As of writing, Amazon have 2 NCB Sentinels at 55 quid and 2 Tarmac Sentinels at 48 quid. The Esso one is sold out. I'm soooo tempted. And as PhilJ said, a plain unmarked one would be a useful addition to the range.