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 

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. 

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...