Heard a rumour

[port perran]

As we seem to be heading down the wish list road again, can I vote for :

Churchward Mogul
Collett 0-6-0
4 Wheel diesel railbus.
SR O2 Tank
Not much chance of any of those I guess but those four would suit me just fine.

[trkilliman]

Didn't Hornby catch a cold with their Lydlle End range, or was it down to losing their buildings designer?  I have long wondered why Hornby are not well into the N gauge market with locos and rolling stock. It did cross my mind that Dapol Dave may have been lured to Hornby, which as we know was way off the mark as he's set up his own company. Perhaps the change in Hornby management has meant a change in strategy and there is some weight to this rumour. I would hope so as another player can only be a good thing IMHO.

[Adam1701D]

Perhaps Hornby have been impressed by the interest in the Brighton Belle and have decided on a proper entry into British N.

The OO market is pretty much saturated, with manufacturers picking over some really obscure locomotives, so reducing some of their more popular lines into N might be seen as a new revene-stream.

I would expect to see some Pacifics as the most likely candidates - the A3, A4, Streamlined Coronation and WC/BB.

Wonder if they have been casting an eye over RMWeb and the interest in a Pendolino...?

[Stevie DC]

I think that there is a lot of evidence pointing to the fact that N Gauge is a growing market and there is quite a bit of demand out there.

Regardless of world sales, the main market for UK based prototypes is the UK so I guess we're OK with them producing 148 scale models.

Even as an LNER man, I'd second Dorset Mike's wish to see a Nelson in N Gauge. Now how can we convince Heljan to shrink that LNER O2 they're producing? 

If the rumours are true then hopefully Hornby will have sorted out their supply problems by the time any more N Gauge stuff is announced.

[gc4946]

Bringing out a Gresley Pacific would signal a real intent into N scale by Hornby.

Arnold has an IC3 in its range so won't be surprised if a Pendolino and possibly a class 92 are added under their Arnold brand in future.

[d-a-n]

I'd be very happy to see Hornby enter the market as they have such a good network of dealers who could start selling. We may even see a return to N gauge in the Model Zone bits of WHSmith (if that's still going of course) if Hornby get in.
I would not like to see any more Gresley Pacifics, these already exist in a good standard and are such a well trodden path that new models need to start appearing to broaden the appeal of N gauge to more people. This will have the added benefit of not treading on Dapol's toes and not dampening Dapol's interest in N gauge production, making the choices from manufacturers available to us a viable three horse race.

[Ian Morton]

I think that the market for a new N gauge A3 or A4, however good, would be very limited - there are just so many already out there from Minitrix, Farish and Dapol. I can't see them flying off the shelves..

I doubt that they would be good candidates for a triumphant return to the N gauge market.

[Newportnobby]

making the choices from manufacturers available to us a viable three horse race.

In no particular order
Farish
Dapol
DJM (yet to see any product)
Hornby

Can't be bothered going down the wish list track as have been disappointed too many times

[sparky]

I too would welcome hornby getting into n gauge...in a number of my posts in the past I have thought that although models from dapol and farish are much better in terms of detail than years ago another player would surely help to keep them on their toes

[talisman56]

you can be sure that Hornby International via the Arnold brand would be looking at worldwide sales potential not just a UK market.

I hope they don't go too far down that line of thinking.  Just imagine - we get a perfect A3 and A4, top quality mechanisms, full range of Gresley coaches... in 1:160 scale 

That's what immediately crossed my mind (a very short journey) when Arnold (through Hornby) announced the 'Brighton Belle', but it is being produced in 1:148 scale. I can't see that changing if (my emphasis) Hornby are putting some of their OO estate through the magic shrink ray - that would be a real 'shot myself in the foot' moment...

[talisman56]

making the choices from manufacturers available to us a viable three horse race.

In no particular order
Farish
Dapol
DJM (yet to see any product)
Hornby

Can't be bothered going down the wish list track as have been disappointed too many times

Can we make that 'major manufacturers'? In view of the proportion of their appearance in my loco roster versus the total number I could add Union Mills to the above list, but others may quibble...

[Dorsetmike]

Picking from their current/coming soon 00 list I would go for the Arthur and the T9, maybe the Schools if they could do it quicker than Dapol seem to be doing.

Maybe a buy out or merger with Dapol  could have some benefits; with Hornby involved in Continental N via Arnold,  N gauge UK outline would seem to be a logical step.

[d-a-n]

making the choices from manufacturers available to us a viable three horse race.

In no particular order
Farish
Dapol
DJM (yet to see any product)
Hornby

Can't be bothered going down the wish list track as have been disappointed too many times

I wouldn't (yet) place DJM in amongst GF and Dapol - there are only plans for a handful of locomotives and very little in the way of rolling stock - and we've not actually seen anything from them yet. Bearing this in mind, once up and running, I'd class DJM as a small manufacturer like UM, not a major one like GF, Dapol or what Hornby could potentially be.

Totally agree on the wish list thing. Even things that have been slated for production have disappointed through enormous gestation periods, let alone the things I'd like to see!

[Roy L S]

I think that the market for a new N gauge A3 or A4, however good, would be very limited - there are just so many already out there from Minitrix, Farish and Dapol. I can't see them flying off the shelves..

I doubt that they would be good candidates for a triumphant return to the N gauge market.

I actually think they would be THE product if the focus is on the worldwide "collector's market" rather than solely the UK modelling one (which I suspect as it would undoubtedly be sold through Hornby International). They have a global reach that with all due respect to the others, their competitors just do not have.

However, let's not get too carried away by all this at present it is no more than a rumour.

Roy

[zwilnik]

I can see Hornby testing out the market for N Gauge before buying out Dapol.