Hornby Mid 2024 Announcement | Return of a Railroad Range classic! | More negativity? Seriously?!!!!

My thoughts on this mini range announcement from Hornby. As well as it’s time to stop the hate and be positive!
All pictures are owned by Hornby.

[@jackstrains4468]

Great video! I personally think this hst looks so much better than the others that hornby has made, especially concerning the accurate lights. Having said that, I really really don't like this livery, I think crosscountry, gwr, first great western or just intercity blue and yellow would look so much better!

[@YorkshireRailways]

Hi Jack thanks for the kind words! And yes I agree the Lima tooling is definitely better than the old Hornby tooling. And yes it wouldn’t have been my choice I would have gone cross country or East Midlands leaning more to the EMR as it’s colourful and recon it would be good at attracting a newer audience. GWR for me is a pass just because it’s in the train set but who knows maybe in a few years they could release it just as a pack. Would be nice to get some additional coaches. First GWR though is a very nice livery I have one of the older ones with the white body and it is one of my more favourite liveries. But it’s an encouraging sign that we could be in for a whole heap of new railroad HSTs. Thanks for the comment and glad you enjoyed the video 😊👍

[@davidhall7811]

This is the most realistic view Ive seen put out yet, and you are bang on about the railroad range, its what I buy mostly as its me any my young son that play with the trains. I wouldnt be enjoying it as much if I was constantly worried about things being broken.

[@YorkshireRailways]

Thank you so much, I like to think I have an unbiased opinion and can see both views but seeing the negativity towards the railroad range baffles me. It’s not aimed at serious modellers it designed for young children/beginner modellers. Glad to hear you and your son are enjoying playing trains together! Thanks for the comment and hope you enjoyed the video 😊👍

[@KiltedDog]

Excellent video. I like your style and manner, you come across very well. I particularly like your segment on negativity. I understand people need to vent but many take it too far. Not only in this hobby but EVERYwhere. Cheers.

[@YorkshireRailways]

Hi Graham, thank you so much for the kind comment! Glad you enjoyed the video and I know in a perfect world everyone would be a little more positive or at least show constructive criticism but unfortunately we don’t live in that world. Again thanks for the comment and hope you enjoy the rest of my content 😊👍

[@GaryNumeroUno]

Greetings again mukka, Interesting video and thanks for that. I am not keen on the Grand Central liveries... too "American" styled for me. Just like the orange 'Wisconsin Central' liveried class 66s etc. Even the "body snatcher" class 69s with stupid cat whisker liveries annoy me... but then I worship class 56s so I'm already upset at what the accountants did to them. Like you, I prefer the HSTs in 1980s or 1990s liveries: BR blue... Virgin, Midlsnd Mainline or even GNER livery. I have a complete HST set from Lima in Midland Mainline livery which I adore. Just need to re-engine the power cars from Paxman (pancake) to Mirlees (CD motor) to bring them up to date. Ironically, most of the HSTs I own are Lima models which I felt were more accurate than the Hornby offerings... and I refuse to pay Hornby's gouging prices. Last Hornby train I bought was the APT set... another train I worshipped. Try sending that "collision damaged" loco back to Hornby 'Works' for repairs. Some people claim they are quite compassionate about repairing damaged stock and restore damaged items at times. I recall the Drax wagons. Hattons occasionally had them for sale in the secnd hand market but even then they wanted up around £80 which I refuesd to pay. Nowadays I just buy Accurascale or Cavalex. Great to hear your partner accepts your hobby... that goes a long way! She is a keeper... hang onto her! 😊 My wife is pretty accepting. Regards from Oz. Gaz 😊

[@YorkshireRailways]

Hey up Gaz, thanks for the comment. Yeah it’s no secret I’m a HST fan but for me it is an unusual livery to bring back the railroad range. Especially with how bad Hornby’s financial troubles seem. To me I think they need to play safe for a while and build back some profit rather than raise prices. I would have done the HST in a more classic livery the BR blue or intercity executive then once the following is back branch out to the more unusual ones such as the grand central. I even think now they’ve done the coaches they should have also released them in GWR to go with the train set they released a few years ago and still have in the current range. And yes I think the trouble as well is because the current new market prices are sky rocketing it means the second hand market is now getting no longer cheap either. Especially when buying from retailers as sometimes they’re pre owned are not that different to discounted items that are new. And yes I am really thankful that my partner is very understanding. But I have been told I’m not allowed to drill through to do a garden railway 😂 but there’s time to work on her with that, but if I was it would mean going O gauge as I’d want to get the full affect. Although I recon my Azuma would be great running at a full length train round the garden 😊 Thanks for the comment again Gaz, All the best, Harry 😊👍

[@247Trains]

You can still see steam trains on rail tours on the National network😊

[@YorkshireRailways]

Granted that is true but on a day to day basis most younger people don’t see steam locomotives 😊

[@247Trains]

@@YorkshireRailways true👍😊

[@karlwalker6118]

NIce video, was a good listing while i was hard at work :)... disagree with making the class 43 into another trainset....... not sure a train going around in a circle is going to attract kids these day.... a better set would be the more interactive sets Lima used to have with the working cranes and car ramps .... imagine a Hornby sound 66 with some form of loading crane(again Hornby have this) would make a more interesting introduction to the hobby..

[@YorkshireRailways]

Hi Karl, glad you enjoyed the video. I think your point is very valid something with some playability but not childish like the playtrains range. Bringing back some of the functioning scenic items as well would be nice, great comment! And hope you enjoyed the video 😊👍

[@StormmyStormmy]

Hi, I’m not really a Hornby fan as such but I’ve always liked the grey livery hush hush, it should have a glowing firebox glow by now as for the steam/vapour generator it would be much better if other sound decoders could be used because not every modeller is into the HM7000 system, not a fan of the Railroad range but there seems to be a bit of a backlash because of the buffer beams not being there, Hornby aren’t bothered in my opinion because they tend to do what they want regardless of them relying on modellers to buy their products. EBay can be a good and very bad place to look for model railway products, best to look around for bargains when you can and don’t get ripped off.

[@YorkshireRailways]

Hi Stormmy, Which manufacturer takes the spot for you in terms of your go to? Be interested to know. I somewhat agree about the sound decoder in the hush hush it would be nice if you could swap it out for those who don’t like the Bluetooth feature. What’s your reason for not liking the railroad range? I can get the models are basic but is it you don’t want the models yourself or just think they shouldn’t have the range? I personally think it’s great as it’s a way for younger audiences to join the hobby without breaking the bank or breaking their models. The whole buffer beam argument for the Grand Central hst is irrelevant to me, I’ve made that point that it is part of the railroad range and therefore will have less accurate features just the basic feel for the locomotive and a nice paint job that’s really all the target audience for it care about. They do cater for accuracy with the Railways range. I don’t think that Hornby aren’t bothered. They have come out with some great innovative features such as the Bluetooth HM7000 DCC controllers and the steam generator. Sure they have some questionable ranges in their collection cough… cough… Beetles cough … but they still have plenty of great models in their arsenal. No manufacture is perfect they all have their strengths and weaknesses. EBay for me has being mostly great, locos I have purchased from there have been great apart from one HST I bought that didn’t run very well but I have kept it and plan to upgrade the motor at some point. But yes you do have to be careful. Thanks for the comment and hope you enjoyed the video 😊👍

[@StormmyStormmy]

@@YorkshireRailways Hi again, I’ve been a model railway enthusiast for over 45 years, I remember a time when Hornby was a big part of my life and I did my very best to collect as much of it as possible, I have mint condition Zero 1 systems all boxed and barely used along with some locos that haven’t been run that were made in England, I have a bit of Lima stuff here and there as well. I had a bad experience with some expensive items a few years ago, they were very negative and very unhelpful! As a result of the way they treated me i don’t tend buy their new locomotives anymore because it’s putting money in the pockets of a manufacturer that doesn’t seem to care, I do understand that many modellers have similar bad experiences and all boycott Hornby products, Hornby coaches are generally good and even better when you pick them up in retailers mega sales where you seriously have to get a rake at bargain price. I’m a big fan of Bachmann and have a large collection of their diesel locomotives, coaches and wagons, Accurascale are a very good manufacturer that do look after you when you have an issue, their products from day one were ultra detailed and continue to be that way to this day, Bachmann products are incredibly detailed and bulletproof in my opinion, Dapol produce some heart warming wagons but their locomotives are as good as Bachmann’s or Accurascale’s, Cavalex are very good as well especially their class 56 which is on another level, Revolution Trains have the best coach of 2023 in their Caroline project which was awesome in my opinion. Hornby have disguised Railroad products as main range products to fool modellers which is fraud in my book, it has been called out on numerous occasions but they still do it, as far as I’m concerned that budget range is overpriced 30 plus year old tooling that should have been scrapped years ago, you can only flog a dead horse for so long! Their the only manufacturer that still sells products with those hideous large tension lock Couplings! Even Dapol use nem pockets on their budget wagons to this day, I don’t hate Hornby I just think they continue to produce some seriously bad products because they cut corners and don’t want to move with the times like the other manufacturers whom value their customers. My views are based on experiences with Hornby products and their customer service department that’s not fit for purpose in my opinion, if there are modellers whom believe Hornby can do no wrong then I say good for them, I’ve had many conversations with experienced modellers who state that Hornby are broken and they refuse to buy their products full stop. The Bluetooth system isn’t new, it’s been running in America for years, Hornby are the first mainstream British model railway manufacturer to bring it out over here, i don’t believe the other British manufacturers are bothered with it because it’s not that revolutionary to them, the only Bluetooth things they are interested in are the hand held dcc controllers because it makes life easier on a huge layout.

[@YorkshireRailways]

Sorry to hear you had a negative experience with Hornby’s customer service. I can see why that would put someone off buying from them. Yeah Hornby coaches seem to get discounted quite quickly to 40-50% off within a few years I’ve noticed. I picked up a rake of four Mk4 coaches brand new for £19 a coach I didn’t think was too bad. Glad to hear you have a few manufacturers you enjoy. I haven’t got many from other manufacturers as as a kid it was always Hornby the go to, but I have now got a Bachmann class 47 that I’m really happy with, I have a Cavalex class 60 on pre order and hoping to get an Accurascale Class 50 if I can save up enough. I do find that not right when Hornby put some fancy paint scheme on a railroad loco and put it in the main range I have been burnt a few times with that however that doesn’t make me dislike the range. As I say in the video I do think it’s important that children can get their hands on these locos and not worry about damaging them. Yes the prices are sometimes a bit all over the place but for the most part I don’t think they’re too bad. But I do agree that a simple redesign needs to happen to get rid of the large tension lock couplings and allow for a new socket. I don’t think Hornby as a whole are broken as they have many great models in their railways range that can compete with other manufactures. I think it’s when the likes of Accurascale come in and show you can have amazing locos for a really decent price. No I know the Bluetooth isn’t new but certainly think it’s great to have it as most newbies will have a lot of products that run on an app rather than a controller. Having a smart phone that costs £1000s these days and been able to turn that into a DCC controller definitely makes it worth while when starting out with DCC. However yes if this technology could be put into a DCC controller it would make having a large layout or garden layout a lot easier. Thanks for the comments again 😊👍

[@StormmyStormmy]

Dapol locomotives aren’t as good as Bachmann’s or Accurascale’s locomotives*

[@jonathanmillar1975]

Dapol Class 68 IMO is arguably one of the best diesel models out at the moment, and you can get them at a good price. Half fallen out with Hornby mainly due to their prices, and unfortunately, the new boys are beating them at their own game, so to speak. Historically, my go-to manufacturer was Bachmann. But their pricing is even more ridiculous. Ordered the Drax wagons as missed these the first time. Here is the second bug bare with Hornby is they don't make enough in a production run and then it takes too long for them to come back into the range. You cannot get the Drax wagons anywhere used for decent prices.

[@shannonman2]

You went to a RAILWAY STATION mate not a train station.

[@YorkshireRailways]

I’m sorry you felt the need to comment this. I use all variations railway/train station as well as just the name of the station. It really doesn’t matter in the greater picture of things does it.