New For 2011

I'd give it about 7 out of 10, mainly because of the lack of research that led to the addition of the offending cylinder covers. Also, when I tested it, there was a loud clicking sound when running in reverse. I found that the LH connecting rod was fouling the crank screw of the leading driving wheel, which is probably the reason why Hornby slightly 'bend' the connecting rods for clearance purposes. I bent it slightly, and have had no problems in the ensuing 30 minutes' running I did before I went on holiday.

Another issue is the lack of holes for the fire irons in the tender; a surprising omission when one considers that almost all other Hornby Bulleid tenders have the holes exposed. Also, the quality of the locomotive as a whole seems to be different to my other unrebuilts, probably a consequence of changing the manufacturer contracted to produce the model. However, the model is propped up by the fact that it is a late BR livery unrebuilt fitted with a crest, which is quite well-printed, and that the bracket supporting the slidebar is black. Hope this is of interest.

 

A Dukedog would be hugely popular, and Bachmann proved they can do doubleframed models with Truro. 9014 and 9017 please

 

Does anyone collect these models with the hope that they will increase in value?

 

Thats a bit of a myth.

In the 1980's people did that.. especially when hornby cycled through their range every 10 years.. and Mainline went bust.
Many models went way high in price..
In hornbys' case only to come out of the woodwork in December by those who had inside knowledge of that next years new releases duplicating what was once hard to get.

This repeated in the 1990's when Lima models went up in price, that is until Riko hit the deck and sold everything cheap.
Bachmann also tried the stunt with it's Limited editions of key preserved engines (6100, 4771, 850 etc).. which went sky high (they werent exactly cheap back then at £100 each)..
only to see some minute change to some remote edge of the engine.. justifying a re-release as a normal edition.. thus crashing the original models worth.

Now in the 2000's the new trend is to re-mould some of those early models thus trashing them again (and in some cases just re-running the same number again)...

so in short..

If you buy thinking it will rise in price... max 7 years before it crashes back to earth with a bump.

Though it's not like this overseas...


European models hold their value very well. (though they dont tend to rise.. they dont tend to fall either).

In german models the price it was made at tends to stay with the model throughout it's life.. and the mould is used forever.. if a competitor makes a new improved mould.. thats usually at "todays" price.. which sticks with it long term... which is why the pecking order of the BR01 is Piko (cheapest) followed by Fleischmann, Liliput then Roco with the newest / highest price with their uber cool new 01.5 (a clear 100 Euro more than it's unrebuilt 1980s model also on sale, and 150 Euro clear of Piko's 1970s east german offering also still onsale).
It was only last year Fleischmann finally gave up on catalog number 4247.. the British Outline Warship, sold as new, from old 1970's moulds.. which in their day was the leading model of the British industry (and most expensive in the 1970s £50 when everything else was £10-£15 in the UK)... but the price remained unchanged pretty much until they finally dropped it last year still circa £50.

 

Whilst the value may not remain at the level at which you bought it in the first place (take the Hornby 9F for instance, which is now a 'Railroad' item), I still believe that it represents a significant asset that could bring in some money if I decided to sell it.

 

I was thinking over a longer period of time. Just been looking on e bay and there are some locos from the 60s going for £400.00 PLUS. Which set me think would today's locos gain this type of value over the next 50 years?

 

Oh, so British, isn't it? Everything is based on speculation and making the quick buck, while on the Continent prices are stable and people just buy locos for enjoyment. There are parallels with the housing market it seems.

 

Another thing to bear in mind is that those 60s / 70s models are probably metal (the Wrenn ones anyway).
Not sure today's mainly plastic efforts will keep their price as well, limited edition or not.

But yeah, in the end the main thing is to buy the ones you like. I choose 7911 as my moniker as 'Lady Margaret Hall' was the pride of my layout and the last model I bought before everything got boxed up. I have them displayed on a shelf now and it's still a beaut.

 

Kernow's Beattie Well Tank is now in the final stages of testing, with an operational pre-production model of 30585 having 'run for 200 hours without incident'. Full production will take place in March, with finished examples being delivered in April. Apparently, 85% of the production run has been pre-sold at £91.99 each, so if you want something unique for your layout, now's the time to get it...

 

Just a quick heads up:
From looking on the RM Web Forum (I know I'll probably get shot now!) I believe that Bachman are announcing all their new products for 2011 possibly next weekend. I'm not sure though....
RMweb thread

 

Brighton E4 or DUKEDOG please Bachmann!

 

...somehow I doubt it though...

 

i heard from my local model shop guy that for 12 months national railway museums city of truro will be produced then after that model patern will be modified and used to produce dukedogs

 

Bachmann have just released details of their 2011 models:
http://www.bachmann.co.uk/new_products.php?prod_selected=branchline
Highlights:
3200 'Earl' in BR black and 9017 in green
SE&CR 'C class'!
and some notable others; LT pannier tank, crimson crab, collett goods with ROD tender.
Also MK1 sleepers and a few others, see link.
I think I'll get the 'Earl' in green myself!

 

Superb news with a BR black C class coming out along with 9017 in black aswell (but please no silly Earl Of Berkeley nameplates)

 

Just a further thought, I hope they get the chimney's on the C classes correct. In SECR days the C's had tall chimneys, ala 592 on the Bluebell, but Southern and BR C's had much smaller cut down squat chimneys. So I hope Bachmann realise this.

 

YEEEESSS!! He He He

No E4 but a C is just as good to see!

 

They note on their website that two chimney options will be covered, so it should be ok.

In other news.. A DUKEDOG? YEEEEEESSS!!!