Heard a rumour

[silly moo]

The more the merrier but aren't Hornby in the financial poo?

What happened to the Brighton Belle? Has it been released yet? I think it was going to be 1:148 scale.

[Roy L S]

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

Interesting thought.

There have been (unfounded) rumours of links between Hornby and Dapol in the past.

[Roy L S]

The more the merrier but aren't Hornby in the financial poo?

What happened to the Brighton Belle? Has it been released yet? I think it was going to be 1:148 scale.

Yes, the "Belle" is to be 1:148, nut sure if there has been any news of release dates yet. It will only be sold via the direct sales route.

Hornby have had their issues and undergone a pretty radical shake-up. It is no secret that they have suffered pretty bad supply chain problems, but I understand they are now claiming to have resolved these and the newer 00 products like the K1 and Claude Hamilton they have in development certainly look very promising.

Roy

[zwilnik]

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

Interesting thought.

There have been (unfounded) rumours of links between Hornby and Dapol in the past.

The simplest way for Hornby to get in and try the UK N market out would be to re-brand and sell some Dapol made engines. Hornby's channels and target market are quite different from Dapol's and Dapol's recent start into 'train sets' could be showing Hornby where they cross over into Hornby's target market that includes the more casual end of railway modelling.

[trkilliman]

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

This would not surprise me at all...they like buying established brand names and retaining them.

[scruff]

Hmmm...

Hornby are also very good with train sets.. and with homes becoming smaller...

you can see where my thinking is going..

Cheers
Mark

[Newportnobby]

The simplest way for Hornby to get in and try the UK N market out would be to re-brand and sell some Dapol made engines.

From what you read here about people's thoughts on Dapol's quality control, I'm not sure Hornby would want to hang their coat on the same hook, as it were.
At least they might turn up to meetings though

[Agrippa]

This is all whistling in the dark. Before you think up wish lists
wait for any announcement. Rumours are just that.

Fanciful hopes of obscure locos are optimistic , if Hornby go
into N it will be big time stuff that will sell well, not some
rare loco from the grouping era.

[andy.t.south]

Not sure how relevant this is to this discussion but did anybody else read the small piece in R.M a couple of moths ago about Hornby bringing a certain amount of production back to the UK due to quality problems and supply problems one undoubtedly linked to the other,being an ex QA bod I know only too well how easy it is to ruin the supply chain by not passing item that only just misses the mark but the job has to be done right if it's going to be done at all,also a lot of the skilled Chinese workers in the more rural areas are being lured away to the industrial centres for more money the scourge of the Western culture hits the far East yet again,however I digress here,supposing this move back to the UK is a smoke screen for the setting up of an N gauge production line here,it would not be the first time a firm put out a red herring to allay competitors fears or indeed to stop them interfering with the raw materials supply chain, something an electronics firm I worked for run into big time and things in the plant over here looked very iffy for a while.So in the big wide world of global business it would not be unusual to say one thing in order to advance another product line in almost total secrecy. Well that my penneth on it but would love to see Hornby in N as always had a soft spot for them as my first circle of rails was a Hornby clockwork 0 gauge and I love that set the loco had forward and reverse rods sticking out the back of the cab and if you were quick enough you could reverse it as it went past you at breakneck speed until the spring started to uncoil,happy memories of a bygone era.

[bees]

I've just read the thread with fascination, when i tell others what my hobby is there is always one word that comes out of their mouth, HORNBY, basically the name has a reputation!

IF Hornby are branching into OUR scale, it can only be good for US, the N gauge modeller! There is no point in Wishlisting, as others have already stated an A3 or A4 is a blatantly obvious choice. However if a buy out is on the cards, we can only hope they continue with N gauge development, and not do away with it!!

Steven

[Bealman]

my first circle of rails was a Hornby clockwork 0 gauge and I love that set the loco had forward and reverse rods sticking out the back of the cab and if you were quick enough you could reverse it as it went past you at breakneck speed until the spring started to uncoil,happy memories of a bygone era.

I had a Hornby tinplate clockwork set and I used to do that. Great fun!

[gc4946]

The wheel's almost coming full circle ....

In 1996 Hornby negotiated with Dapol for purchase of tooling of several OO locos and rolling stock in their range. They weren't all re-released straight away because they received tweaks to improve their running qualities, assembly/design flaws and finish.

It's very interesting, at least for recently-tooled items, Dapol's modelled what's in the Hornby's range, even down to the exact types of Maunsell carriages they first brought out in OO in 2008.

I very much doubt it's a formal tie-up, it's just what Dapol spotted as gaps in the market and was able to release them sooner.

Depending on the success of the Brighton Belle, Hornby could negotiate again with Dapol for purchase of their N gauge range, review and improve their mechanical and electrical qualities and re-release them branded as Hornby.
Dapol could refocus on their OO and O gauge stuff, Hornby saves money from having to tool up a range from scratch and capture a portion of the UK prototype N scale market.

[Bob Tidbury]

IF Hornby are coming back into N Gauge WHY? Did they drop the Lydle End range of lovely building without hardly any notice.
Bob

[Bealman]

NEXT question... so are we gettin' a Brighton Belle or not?

[Bob Tidbury]

If they do bring it out it's too late for me my pension won't stretch that far even with my tax refund which Val banked the same day , From now on it's probably just bits and bobs and repairs as required,shame as the new models are now so detailed but at least my old Poole stock can be repaired by me.
Bob