I've just had my Rails newsletter which was all about the Heljan class 23's (Baby Deltics in case you prefer that).
Obviously being 00 they were not of interest except that they do look very good models and I wish Heljan would/could use a shrink ray on them.
Does the team think there is room in the N gauge market for another manufacturer?
Yes I do. I want three of Hornby's trains shrink - rayed. You can guess what they are, one starts with a P, another with a J and the other one is two words each beginning with B.
I was recently going through some old copies of Model Rail before recycling them and I'm sure that in the edition that reviewed Lyddle End (can't remember the year/month) it implied that this was the beginning of a wider N Gauge range from Hornby.
If this was based on fact then Hornby must have decided not to go ahead for business reasons but I'm sure that as the N Gauge market grows over time that Hornby will be missing out on a large sector of the R-T-R market.
I'm sure that if Heljan, Hornby etc decided to shrink some of the OO models then there would be a market for them plus it would also boost the profile & probably the popularity of N gauge.
So that's a long-winded way of saying Yes.
David
Thinking about this, Hornby have problems with their distributors in China and their Olympic range of buses and taxis did not sell. Their sister company is Arnold - so maybe they are a better bet for producing UK N trains.
I think perhaps Hornby is too strongly associated with 00 gauge and they would have been better selling UK N gauge under some other name such a Arnold. Certainly at a shop or exhibition stand I tend to walk past the massive stack of red boxes and look for the small collection of yellow/black, purple or blue/white ones in a far corner. As Heljan is not a household name they may not have this problem, though it makes life complicated on internet forums and for people buying goods online if the same brand sells the same item in different scales.
Are you really in Iceland Pengy? I did a feasibility study into a railway there once!
Quote from: edwin_m on November 30, 2012, 05:16:01 PM
Are you really in Iceland Pengy? I did a feasibility study into a railway there once!
I'm not in Iceland although it is one of my favourite places on earth and I'd be interested in your feasibility study.
I have an ICE train on my layout though . . . .
I think it would be very good if Heljan produced N size loco's and rolling stock, and Hornby, and anybody else who could make a decent job of it.
If we had more sources of British outline models we would not have had to wait all these years to get a workable coupling/uncoupling system. How long will it be before we get RTR sound, and what about updates for all the older standard models, and the missing liveries and.........and.........
You can fill in the blanks yourself.
I think it would be good of them to start N gauge, would give us a few more options in buying and from what Ive read of Heljan they produce good stuff and like to bring A LOT of liveries out so varied livery production would be a bonus to most.
Although it must take a LOT of time and effort for a company to start producing in a whole new size/scale?
Perhaps it is time that someone had a word with Kato ;)
cheers John.
Positives:
- More competition may drive up quatity further.
- Additional capacity for development of new product in a shorter time.
- Heljan have a reputation for tackling more esoteric subjects the big two would be reluctant to do.
Negatives:
- Heljan's OO range have a mixed reputation - the 47 was a scale foot over width, their Western apparently has major 'issues' and motor overheating problems with the centre cab bo-bo.
- To be viable, the market has to grow at at least the same rate as the supply increases. If N gauge modellers simply spread the same spending over more manufacturers, it affects the cash flow of Farish & Dapol which is likely to affect the rate of development they can afford.
- Inconsistent standards between manufacturers - e.g. wheel standards, painting/finish. for example, we already have two distinctly different interpretations of BR Blue - do you want a third??
Paul
Heljan have been producing N gauge buildings for years now and have never produce a loco to my knowledge (usual caveats apply!)
One can only assume that they have decided there is no money in it for them so have left it to the established loco producers to keep getting it wrong >:D
Heljan are producing / have planned lots of O gauge diesel era models. It's really tempting for me to switch to O gauge - except the price is too much.
If Hornby don't want to do N Gauge, you'd think that maybe they could do a commercial deal to supply their designs for the rolling stock that Bachmann-Farish don't produce to a rival of Bachmann, i.e. Dapol, or a new entry to the market, or keep it in house and let Arnold make it. It does seem strange that we get shrunk down Bachmann OO models but Hornby ones are not put through the same shrink ray.
As an aside I think I read that Bachmann are making a new 00 class 40, so that must mean we will get a new one in N Gauge soon as well.
Tim
Quote from: bluedepot on December 01, 2012, 12:02:48 PM
As an aside I think I read that Bachmann are making a new 00 class 40, so that must mean we will get a new one in N Gauge soon as well.
Tim
Bachmann are indeed making a new class 40. I hope an N one does appear 'cos we badly need one (as evidenced in our poll).
Quote from: Thorpe Parva on November 30, 2012, 04:47:29 PM
I was recently going through some old copies of Model Rail before recycling them and I'm sure that in the edition that reviewed Lyddle End (can't remember the year/month) it implied that this was the beginning of a wider N Gauge range from Hornby.
During a visit to a model shop in 2005 I remember being told that Hornby were going start producing n gauge models. In the end only Lyddle end appeared.
As fo Heljan I am not really interested as the only produce diesel locos.
Dodger
Quote from: scotsoft on November 30, 2012, 06:37:47 PM
Perhaps it is time that someone had a word with Kato ;)
cheers John.
This is the best idea so far... Kato make some of the best running stuff available, smooth, powerful and very reliable - the quality is awesome. :thumbsup:
N gauge is gaining ground on 00 all the time - lots of money to be made yet, i'm surprised no body else has jumped on the band wagon...
:NGaugersRule:
I for one would like a Metrovick Co-Bo!
I do hope Heljan, Hornby, et all start in N gauge. Anyone imagine a RTR Hattons Garratt in N? I for one would love to see a 42xx in N gauge as my model will be set in cornwall, not to mention decent a Castle and County class. I also wish Dapol/Kernow would shrink the well tank, but I think the size is a limiter on that one.
It's not just about loco's either, some decent up to date pullmans (including Devon Belle Obo car) and some nice Hawksworths would be nice...
I'm not sure about Heljan, as their output tends to be a bit specialist/niche even for the OO market! Hornby on the other hand? I'm frankly surprised that they haven't resurrected Minitrix yet, although it has been said in the past that Dapol & Hornby have a close working relationship. I don't know how true that is though and with Dapol re-entering the OO market, one wonders how close any such relationship would remain (if it ever existed).
At the moment, the N Gauge market is only about 25% the size of OO, so Heljan would be hard pushed to justify the costs for entering N Gauge.
All the popular models they do in OO, such as the 26,27,33,47, Hymek and Western have been done in N already and I doubt there would be a lot of demand for a Baby Deltic or Class 15 at the moment.
heljan would probably need to make at least 1000 of each to break even and would they really sell?
Heljan have happily gone into the O gauge RTR diesel market which is a fraction of OO as well so I am not sure it is just market size. I suspect (hope for Heljan's sake) that profitability comes into it as well.
Heljan have reasonably frequently been asked if they would consider N and have consistently said no. No doubt they will now go ahead and announce their N range :D
Cheers, Mike
Quote from: red_death on December 12, 2012, 04:00:43 PM
No doubt they will now go ahead and announce their N range
Oh, so you haven't heard then? I thought it was common knowledge. ;)
H
Heljan have just released several versions of the class 23. That is one model I am sure would sell in decent numbers :)