Ugly rumour or ....

[Graham Walters]

Was talking to friend of mine today who works for a Toymaster store, he was saying that enquiries about N gauge are now better than 00, he reckons that 6/10 enquiries are for n gauge sets, being Toymaster they only stock Hornby so he is losing a fair new sales.
He also told me that Hornby have bought a controlling interest in Fleischmann, I've not read anything about this in the press, anyone know if it has legs.

If it does, it coould mean that Hornby are recognising the growth in N scale sales and want more of what Arnold isn't doing for them.

Personally I think if they move Fleischmann manufacture to China it will be a bad move.

[railsquid]

He also told me that Hornby have bought a controlling interest in Fleischmann, I've not read anything about this in the press, anyone know if it has legs.

A very brief scan of Google Germany's news aggregation service doesn't reveal any press stories concerning the two, or anything much about Fleischmann since the original "bankruptcy", including whether Fleischmann would be up for sale (remember, the "bankruptcy" was caused by pension liabilities, not the trading situation). However I will happy to hear more qualified info.

Anyway as I read somewhere that British new build houses are smaller than Japanese ones, a reduction in model railway scale would make sense. I'm still baffled by people who ask on forums how they can store an 8x4 or 6x4 OO monstrosity against the wall or under the bed, for which effort they'll be "rewarded" with a toy-like layout (if they want the train to go round and round).

[Karhedron]

I still haven't heard anything about how happy Hornby are with the reception of the Brighton Belle. As I understand it, the Umber and Cream one has sold out although the Blue/Grey versions can still be picked up.

They started a thread on their forum some months back asking for ideas of what other N gauge models people would like to see. It quickly ran to several pages but petered out after Hornby left no further feedback on the suggestions.

For what it is worth, I don't think Hornby need anything from Fleischmann if they want to get into British N gauge in a bigger way. The Arnold label gives them their opening, I can't think of any reason why it would not "do it" for them. They just need to decide if it is a market they wish to enter. So far we have not seen anything to give any clues what they are thinking.

[woodbury22uk]

As a plc Hornby would be legally obliged to advise the stockmarket if it even planned to take an interest in Fleischmann. So that part is pure invention by someone.

Fleischmann is owned by the successors to Roco, and with the current financial restructuring after the "technical" bankruptcy, the Fleischmann brand is unlikely to be for sale. Until the bankruptcy is resolved the brand name will have little tangible value, and could not be sold.

[Chris Morris]

It would be nice if N was as popular as OO and I'm sure all of us on this forum think that it deserves to be.
When you look at the adverts in magazines and the range of products available  I would say OO is far more popular.  Also Bachmann seem to bring out OO items first and then N later which suggests where the volume is. It's up to us to on this forum to build great layouts which will encourage more to join us on the dark side.

[acko22]

Well I think its too soon to say N gauge is taking over, but if you look at the level of detail these days and then factor the costs N gauge is on par.
But until main stream shops stock N gauge and introduces new people I think OO will remain the biggest guage in turns of collections

[Newportnobby]

It's up to us to on this forum to build great layouts which will encourage more to join us on the dark side.

I think that should actually read...........'from the dark side', Chris