"Tale of the Unnamed Engine...will be on sale shortly!"

I absolutely loathe last minute hiccups! So it was with today's intention to have the book on sale for the first time.

The first hiccup is the PO Address - which is not ready to give out yet (entirely my own fault!) and the second hiccup is the Paypal address, also giving some problems. I intend to have to have these problems fixed by the end of the week. Please accept my sincerest apologies for the wait yet again, however it's for the best to get the bugs sorted so we don't have any problems ordering.

In the meantime, anyone who wants to buy a book can reserve their copy by emailing us at the address on the "contact us" page and requesting a reservation.

Postage and packaging costs to be confirmed by close of business tomorrow.

The final thing - and the BIG NEWS - you may remember that buying the eBook would entitle you to money off the paperback book? I am extending the deadline to the 30th of September 2013, to allow everyone to have the offer (because the deadline for the tokens expired a few months ago)

More on this as it develops this week, however I thought I'd give an indication of the finished product, which looks utterly fantastic. Photographs do not do it justice. Dean's artwork looks grand, inside and out, and the writing is all perfectly printed on high quality paper.

Not long now everyone!

Simon

"Tale of the Unnamed Engine - the paperback - on sale from tomorrow night!"

Get your chequebooks and Paypal accounts ready: the books will be ON SALE from www.britishrailwaystories.com from tomorrow night! (RRP £7.99 plus postage of £2.50)

Our stockists will be informed later tomorrow night as to the delivery of their allocations. Anyone who would like to stock the book, we have a limited number available for wholesale purchase.

The first paperback book in The British Railway Stories: Tale of the Unnamed Engine, is finally here!

"What constitutes moaning, and Hornby's Gresley P2"

It's incredible what constitutes "moaning" these days!

I really do tire of the cyclical debate that model railways seem to create. It's impossible on the internet to HAVE a debate sometimes, let alone approach one with a critical and a modelling eye.

Some people also seem to have switched their brains off and forgot that constructive criticism in the pre-production phase can sometimes generate even better results. Suddenly we have all manner of people coming out of the woodwork, "defending" the manufacturers by berating anyone who speaks out of the party line.

The "party line" by the way, is alive and well on a certain model railway forum and I don't think I need to tell you how wearying it is to constantly read people stating that those of us with a more critical eye are "berating the manufacturers".

Sorry to disappoint, but nobody has berated Hornby as far as I can see. I can certainly surmise that the moaning about someone else moaning about "plastic buffers" will have been aimed at me, but to be fair this is a criticism of Hornby's Tornado and Railroad Flying Scotsman models too, and in both cases it has been proven that the thin, moulded plastic buffers are no substitute for proper metal turned ones (whether sprung or not) in terms of their durability.

Here's what I was quoted as saying on MREmag this week:

Hornby's Gresley P2 has made its debut, and what a debut. Despite my natural reservations (moulded plastic buffers, square axleboxes and moulded handrails), Hornby's newest "big green and named" locomotive looks like unexpectedly bucking the trend this year and proving to be the stunner of stunners.

My only real criticism at this early stage are the plastic buffers. The 2012 Railroad 4472 model and the Hornby Tornado both share this trait, and they are very easily damaged or broken off altogether whether in the youngest or oldest of hands.

I do not understand how the recent 42xx/72xx Heavy Tanks can have unsprung metal buffers (probably the best compromise if the aim is to reduce the number of separate parts from the sprung alternative) but the Gresley P2 and the Duke retain plastic buffers?

I reserve judgement on the square axleboxes, though it is with some regret that we see Hornby move away from their excellent chassis design of years past. The Railroad Tornado retained the brass bearings inset into the chassis principle of the best of Hornby's most recent Pacific and LNER outline models, and remains one of their smoothest operators in the range.

On this occasion, despite the head leading with a firm desire to be constructive, and despite the reservations outlined above, the heart melted at the sight of the perfectly curved deflectors, the exquisite valve gear and the handsome high shoulders of the Gresley P2.

Truly, Hornby could have a winner here. I do so hope they do. Nobody in the model railway world wants Hornby to fail: to do so would be counterproductive to the future of the hobby. We must not, however, be blind to their discrepancies when they arise, and be as constructive in our critique as possible.

Simon A.C. Martin

(And thank you to MREmag for printing it un-edited: it is nice to know that there are still places for model railway enthusiasts to discuss topics without being censored or silenced altogether).

So, where exactly is that "berating" Hornby or "moaning?" We are in danger of letting the lunatics take over the asylum in terms of being able to talk about our hobby, whether it's latest releases and how the manufacturers can improve them (before manufacturing them) or improving the latest model by - well - modelling!

The biggest problem I have with model railways at the minute, and the one thing which has spurned me from being able to talk about them on the blog, is the politicking, point scoring and general sort of reverse snobbery which stops people from being able to produce fair, balanced opinions with all the facts to hand.

I'm currently working for a superb organisation whose core beliefs centre around "there are two sides to every story", and in the case of Hornby's Gresley P2, there are two sides to the debate: those who want to have one and discuss it maturely, and those who do not and want to silence everyone else.

Pick your side carefully!

In my case, I choose to remain constructive, cautious and looking towards the future with an open mind but also a practical one. Railroad range models, intended for younger hands or for older ones returning to the hobby should not have plastic buffers which can be easily broken.

That's my view, it's based on actual experience and testing this out both with children and my own modelling experience. If you don't like it, feel free to have your right to reply here and give your view. I will publish any and all comments on this blog (if it doesn't work first time it's because I have a spam filter in place and will publish your comment at the earliest available opportunity).

Until next time, have a great weekend, enjoy Wimbledon today and tomorrow and remember: model railways are meant to be fun but can also be a great source of informative, constructive debate that feeds the mind.

"News on the book, A4 Conversion Parts and a new job..."

We're getting there! Yes it's been long, protracted and not without some blood, sweat and tears along the way.

I am finally at the stage of feeling like we are going to have a superb product at the end of it all, having seen printed samples of the final pages, and the front cover, gloriously produced by the London College of Communication.

I have worried for nearly seven months solid as to whether or not the book was going to look the part. I can say categorically that we have a product which can sit on a shelf in a bookstore and be seen, and taken seriously.

It was never my intention to go into this half-heartedly, and by going through this first book and getting to the print stage, it has taught me a lot about self-publishing, and what can be done better for the next book.

Apologies for the lack of blog posts recently. I started a new job with the Financial Ombudsman Service, which I am absolutely loving. The office and its staff are wonderful, amazing people and I'm very happy to be back in work and earning a full time wage again.

That is not to say I am giving up on the blog, merely that I am scaling back my modelling activities.

That does mean that I have had to delay the A4 conversion parts, however this is a minor set back which I will rectify once certain events are out of the way (my impending holiday to Malta, the fiancee's sister's wedding, and a few other family events). I intend to have the kits and parts ready for sale by August, so please feel free to email me with your orders and queries.

Thanks to everyone for their continued patience too. Remember that The British Railway Stories Ltd is a one man operation, with a two man publishing team and both members with full time jobs and other commitments which limit the scope sometimes of what we can do.

We do try very hard, and will continue to do so, to bring these wonderful stories to you in both print and eBook form.

I hope to have finished Drew the Colliery Engine (Book 2), Gresley's Goliaths (Book 3) and our as yet unannounced Book 4 (featuring another preserved railway locomotive) over the course of the next three to four months. Writing has been difficult due to the job change mostly, but things are getting back on track slowly but surely.

Until next time!

"Shires and Hunts"

This superb model turned up in the post this week. I say "superb" mostly on the basis of the potential for some modelling this plucky locomotive offers. 

This model has latterly been described elsewhere as one of Hornby's more bizarre choices of Railroad offerings (which to me made some sense, given the use of the same chassis underneath the revitalised Midland Compound, Great Western County and Maunsell Schools class locomotives now on sale) and to be frank, I suppose you'd expect that I'd be very critical of this model, particularly given the awkward detail problems the model has. 

The problem stems mostly from the combination of the outside steam pipes, piston valves and the pick of the name/number from the "Hunt" sub section of the Gresley D49 class, along with the tender choice. 

Hornby have previously offered the D49 as an out and out "Shire" without the outside steam pipes and certain choice identities, but here the combination is a tricky one to sort without some modelling, which I intend to do much later in the year after some research and study.

Previously I have bought one of these models as the basis for my Thompson D Class exercise, and whilst that model is by no means a perfect representation of that unique locomotive, the project itself was good fun and gave me something rather unique to play around with.

The point of the matter is that the Railroad D49 is perfect material for further modelling, and the results (as can be seen across the internet and in particular on the LNER Encyclopaedia Form) can be really rather convincing.

My job now is to convince myself into modelling either a Hunt or a Shire, and to what extent I modify the locomotive bodyshell or replace it altogether. One thing which IS going to be replaced is the tender, for which I have a cunning plan involving resin casting and one of Bachmann's excellent Robinson D11s. Purely for my own use, you understand, and this will solve the tender issue of the Thompson B3/3 as well...!

Until next time.

"Hornby Heavy Tanks: In defence of consumerism"

Sometimes I think railway modellers are inclined to look at things through rose tinted spectacles a little too often. 

We live and work in a consumer orientated society. Every single manufacturer in every single market (except ours, apparently) is open to constructive criticism and debate on quality and pricing.

Take for instance, the recent Xbox One news. Consumers and critics alike questioning the specification, the design and the eye watering price, both in comparison to its rivals and in terms of its overall value for money.

This is a healthy debate: consumers are, after all, the target market and its their needs and desires that companies develop their wares for. If a manufacturer gets overly expensive for what is no longer a premium product (for examples look at Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones of years past) then their popularity will decline and they'll come in for justifiable criticism from all angles. 

Sometimes it makes a company pull their socks up and reinvent their own market (see apple) or generally improve their products or lower their prices accordingly.

We are, after all, in a capitalism driven market and capitalism itself is what drives manufacturers like Hornby and Bachmann. They are businesses, they exist to make money and to make profits year on year. Their drive is not to fulfil every single whim of the railway modeller (though it helps, of course, to listen to what your market is telling you) but to make railway models which sell out and generate their own demand year on year.

For all the world recently, though, you'd think that manufacturers like Hornby and Bachmann were put on this earth for a very different reason. To keep this hobby alive, no less, and for that may we all be truly grateful...

It's utter tosh, and a fundamental basic principle of business is being completely overlooked by those who are so very keen to push a particular agenda. The facts are stonewall in this particular issue I am afraid, and it goes a bit like this.

There is a line in the sand where a manufacturer in any market can go too far, whether it is reducing the quality and specification of their wares but at the same time keeping their prices artificially high, or higher. Or, to go the other way and price their wares out of reach of the vast majority of their customers.

We see this all the time elsewhere in the consumer led markets, and magazines, websites and TV shows are not so afraid elsewhere to cast a more critical eye.

Richard Fosters review of the Hornby 42xx Heavy Tank (which should be praised for being balanced and critical where it counts for the consumer) has been unfairly ridiculed, lambasted and described, rather preposterously, as "violent" by Simon Kohler, no less!

The review has been rather heinously described as "Hornby bashing", and anyone who has shown agreement with the point of view have been vilified, to the extent that yours truly was accused of over-egging the point on a certain forum for daring to disagree with the rather silly view that I have no right to voice an opinion which is concerned for future Hornby releases...!

All of these people have missed the point entirely and I'm afraid Simon Kohler's description of Richard Foster's review does him no favours. No, the 42xx Heavy Tank is not a bad model but it is a very average one being sold at a high premium price comparable to this:

Or this:

Or even this:

Last year I praised the Hornby Thompson O1 and the Gresley B17 in particular. 

They are superb models, the O1 for me being the true "model of the year" is an incredible depiction of its prototype, with very, very few minor "flaws" (one being the smokebox door which covers a small proportion of the class, but that is fixable and several very able modellers have done that with some aplomb).

In Hornbys own range it is clear that the 42xx Heavy Tank is a step back in terms of technology (both body shell and chassis) and is available at a price comparable to these much superior models Hornby have produced only a few months ago.

Can you imagine the future iPhone 6 being sold without wifi capability? The next Samsung Galaxy phone sold without a touch screen? Can you imagine your new car coming without power steering and yet being sold at a price comparable to another manufacturers, which does have power steering?

In the real world of other consumer led markets, quality and value for money is key, along with desirability. Hornby are fully capable of hitting all of those targets and have done consistently for some years (with the odd lemon that is the Hornby 4VEP) that but have fallen down here for me.

Does saying that out loud, firmly, and without intent (lest you believe the ridiculous assertions of one webmaster in particular) harm Hornby itself? Only if they do not react to the justified criticism of their latest models. Their models have to continue to improve, or keep the standards high, and if not, should be priced accordant with their quality.

Modellers are having to be more cautious in their spending. Times are hard and lots of expensive railway models are booming increasingly difficult to justify for many people. It is value for money which is most important elsewhere in the real world, and so should it be in our hobby when buying the latest ready to run models.

I'm afraid the reality of this debate is that a few individuals have seen fit to turn a positive of our railway media (constructive debate and criticism) into some form of monster, which neither exists in the form so pompously described by one who should know better as rivet counting, nor is it as unwarranted as they would have you believe.

Railway modellers are consumers too, and it is your right as a consumer to be critical. It is your money, your hobby and the manufacturers are businesses which exist to make money. Nothing more and nothing less.

They must, as other manufacturers in other industries do, sink or swim on the basis of their wares. If their wares are not good enough, they will fail. If you want them to succeed, tell them where they are going wrong in the most constructive manner possible.

Which is exactly what Richard Foster did last month, and I applaud him and Model Rail for their honest and critical review. 

Shame on those reviewers who have forgot the consumers and turned a blind eye to the 42xx's premium price and less than premium overall quality.

Value for money indeed!

"Heavy Tanks & Forum Discussion"

It's quite simple really: Hornby have not quite got universal praise for their latest round of steam outline products, the 42xx and 72xx Great Western Heavy Tanks.

Across the internet, whether it's on MREmag, the New Railway Modellers Forum, Modellers United or similar, there is definitely an undercurrent of disappointment from would be purchasers of these models and future products from Hornby.

Now, it's fair to say that the Heavy Tanks are flawed. Not so flawed that they are absolutely dreadful, but simply not up to the specifications that modellers and collectors have come to expect for their £120-£140 RRP.

Richard Foster's review in last month's Model Rail got it absolutely spot on. They're not good enough for their price, and they are certainly not up to the very high standards Hornby themselves have set. Not the consumer, I hasten to add, but Hornby.

I think the point that Model Rail were making (and I myself amongst others across the internet) is that you cannot continue to push prices up at RRP and put detail standards down without at some point going past an accepted level of "value for money" and thus alienating your core group of consumers.


No one notices sprung buffers, but to tool up a new set of unsprung ones when you have the correct types already tooled up for use on previous GWR models is bizarre.

The Thompson trio of L1, B1 and O1 from Hornby all share certain components, plus some portions of their research and development, so not only do we know it can be done, we know Hornby have done it previously.

A case in point is the Railroad Peppercorn A1 and all the other loco drive LNER Pacifics that Hornby offer. Their chassis in particular are exercises in reusing shared components amongst different models.

The 42xx/72xx feel like they were built down to a price and marked up at RRP to the limit of that the market would stand. Most modellers will tell you that's how it works across the board, and I wouldn't deny that, but the heavy tanks feel like an extreme example.

I feel almost confident that, had the models been at an RRP of £100 instead of in and around £140, reviewers might have been more inclined to overlook things like the door dart, sprung buffers and similar. In terms of price at sale, models have to meet the standards met elsewhere at similar RRPs (like Bachmann's magnificent Midland Compound. For the same RRP, and at similar discounts at the box shifters as the Heavy Tanks, you can have one of these. Not helpful if you really want a Heavy Tank, but it puts the specification versus price debate into perspective).

However couple that with the chassis design (for which I am not convinced the sudden loss of brass bushes set into slots on the chassis will prove a long term gain for Hornby in terms of reliability and running characteristics), the poor paint job and printing (look in particular at the buffer beam numerals and crests) and the whole model just doesn't match up to Hornbys high standards or their competitors.

Richard Foster nailed it in my view. If these had been the first of the new generation, and not the MNs and BoBs/WCs over a decade ago, and at a price suitable to their spec, we'd be extolling their values and praising them to the hilt.

The world has moved on, Hornby has taken a step backwards, Bachmann and Dapol continue to impress and push up their own standards.

Why Hornby have to be so Jekyll and Hyde in their approach to model railways is beyond me. I will tell (and no doubt bore) anyone who'll listen how brilliant their LNER models are.

We can't afford to be blaze in our purchases anymore, money is tight for everyone and its clear people are not going to pay out for everything if it doesn't quite meet their expectations anymore.


So that's my point of view on the 42xx and 72xx discussion. It's shared elsewhere by a good number of people. I can only say (as I always say) that you should treat forum discussion as a sample, but the sheer number of disappointed purchasers and bystanders is surprising.

Now, I am convinced the 42xx and 72xx can be turned into excellent models by changing a few things. Sprung buffers, smokebox dart, a better paint job and some weathering. However, it's the starting point which has changed. The price is higher, the specification is lower. Modellers are a discerning bunch, and they have to be.

There will be modellers looking at Hornby's future products and wondering if they are going to come out like these models. Will they pass on future models if they're not up to scratch? In my view it's best to tell Hornby now how you feel now, be constructive and be upfront and honest, than to stay quiet and wait for the inevitable to happen.

So what do we think of this post by Andy York on RMweb?

"The flames seem to have been fanned by some that I wouldn't think would have an interest in the specific product but have used it to register concerns about future potential releases and it seems in some cases that some people have been on an active search to find faults to add to the list. Let's just keep it level-headed, it's beginning to sound like some are calling for blood".

Well yes Andy, that's the point. If the models are not meeting the expectations of their purchasers, or potential future customers of Hornby, why can't people make their viewpoints heard in the most constructive manner?

If you actually bothered read back through your own Heavy Tank thread on RMweb, you won't find people "baying for blood" or actively trying to find the most preposterous faults to devalue the model. 

You'll find a group of modellers actively trying to define their feelings on Hornby's latest steam outline models, and the "design clever" strategy (which, lest we forget, Messers York and RMweb were actively extolling the values of in December last year) with as much reason, careful discussion and genuinely good natured debate as is the norm in the hobby.

What is frustrating is the amount of incomprehensible doublespeak that comes out of the mouths of people who should know better, or who have previously allowed good and positive, constructive discussion to influence the development of some excellent models.

So is this "Hornby bashing" as it's become fashionable to term, by people who can't debate and have no idea how to be constructive? No, of course it's not. We all want Hornby to do well. Anyone who actively wants Hornby to fail is not acting in the best interests of the hobby and future models.

We have to make our voices heard in the most constructive manner. People like myself have done so without resorting to name slanging, or accusations of "fanning flames" and generally being unpleasant and abusing our positions of power. We need to continue to do so without being beaten down by people who try to control news, views, and viewpoints.

Until next time - and apologies for the lack of blogs this month. Have started a new job and time has been at a premium. Normal service will be resumed soon!