Hornby's 2020 OO Gauge Announcement

njee20 · January 06, 2020, 09:50:18 AM

Hornby have just announced their 2020 range, and my god the scale (no pun intended) of it is incredible! RM Web has an easier to digest version than Hornby's own website (which keeps falling over).

Can't imagine we'll see any of it in N (which is a shame given the APT is in there, among others), but a serious statement of intent from them! Can't think of any announcement from a manufacturer in any scale that's quite so comprehensive!

dannyboy · January 06, 2020, 10:07:48 AM

Thanks for the RM link. The website for Hornby will not even stand up for me!

honestjudge · January 06, 2020, 10:22:06 AM

Amazing. oo is very well served.

exmouthcraig · January 06, 2020, 10:24:39 AM

Great load of New Tooling AND New Liveries and say hopefully Hornby make a packet and continue to exist!!!!

So OO has about 92% of the model railway market, (my own exaggerated opinion) tons of manufacturers, hundreds of new products announced every year, nearly all of which get built YET they still moan theres nothing for them and that prices have risen £10!!!!!

They need to model in N gauge and live in our world!!!!

njee20 · January 06, 2020, 10:29:14 AM

I think in general OO is still more expensive, but the size of market meaning it can sustain multiple price points is interesting. The gamut of new 66s at a retail price of £75 is jaw dropping. Stick TTS decoders in them and you get a sound-fitted loco for under £100. I'm definitely jealous of that!

The 91 is a curious choice given there are no new mk4s nor DVT, and Cavalex have a fairly well developed concept, I hope it doesn't jeopardise their model, particularly as killing the OO gauge one no doubt would mean the end of the N gauge one by default.

People are moaning the APT is daft because a 14 coach one is so massive (which it is, to be fair), but I hope that sells well. That's the only thing I could imagine them scaling down I think.

The Hush Hush is a fantastic looking loco. Wish that had survived unrefurbished, rather than looking rather like an A4!

Vonzack · January 06, 2020, 10:36:21 AM

Just looks like allot because it's twice the size

I guess allot of the stuff could be seen as a reaction to Hattons (Class 66), Cavalex (Class 91s) and the APT for those that were interested in the DJM Crowdfunder.

Interested to see what the uptake will be on the new App enabled Analogue Controller system and the Steampunk releases.

exmouthcraig · January 06, 2020, 10:40:03 AM

@njee20 the APT shows as a 5 coach for £349 and a 7 coach for £549 maybe I missed the 14 coach

Big money BUT I think given most home layouts couldn't stand much more then that it at least gets them sold, they can then add coach packs so some can run a 14 car unit but that would be MASSIVE!!!

njee20 · January 06, 2020, 10:43:24 AM

Yes, absolutely. Whether a 7-coach is a 'half set' or has two DTSs I don't know - harks back to all the DJM discussions about set composition.

The steampunk stuff (which is in a separate RM Web thread) looks utterly bizarre, can't imagine that being a hit at all, but perhaps that's a bit closed-minded!

exmouthcraig · January 06, 2020, 10:47:55 AM

Without stirring the pot and a barrage of support or hate for DJM how far advanced was the APT project??

Have hornby been able to snap up a quite developed package from the creditors for £50?

zwilnik · January 06, 2020, 10:48:45 AM

Wow. Pretty much a case of Hornby saying "Go big or go home" to their rivals. A lot of good packs that collectors and railway fans will buy simply because they like that train (and even a full Coronation set as individual coaches and loco). The toe dipping into Steampunk is an interesting twist too.

While I'm sticking with N, the analog app control units look interesting. It's something I've been messing with using Arduinos etc. but it would be interesting to see what price point they go for and how convenient it is.

njee20 · January 06, 2020, 11:13:11 AM

Quote from: exmouthcraig on January 06, 2020, 10:47:55 AM
Without stirring the pot and a barrage of support or hate for DJM how far advanced was the APT project??

Have hornby been able to snap up a quite developed package from the creditors for £50?

I think that's up for debate, there was a slightly dodgy 3D print, but not much else. It's obviously possibly they've purchased/inhereted bits of it (DTS laser scan perhaps), but there's a lot of information out there, so I'm not sure how valuable someone else's research really is.

Shropshire Lad · January 06, 2020, 11:29:37 AM

Brian, who does most of the work on he APT-P at Crewe, says that he has known about this for the best part of a year which seems to indicate that this is all Hornby's work.
Given that DJM were still in existence then that implies a risk from Hornby or some inside information!
Cheers Colin

silly moo · January 06, 2020, 12:08:37 PM

I can't help wishing Bachmann's Farish announcement will be as exciting, much as I love N there's a temptation to go to the dark side when I see what is available in 00. The Steampunk range is interesting, I wonder how that will sell and I wonder if anyone has done a steampunk layout in N.

I also wonder whether the new phone and tablet controlled Bluetooth DC control system will work with N.

njee20 · January 06, 2020, 12:24:06 PM

Accurascale also announced a 92 whilst DJM were still in existence, so clearly a lot of industry folk didn't see a credible threat in DJ's announcements. Still, let's not go down that rabbit hole again!

If I had the space (and didn't have huge swathes of N gauge stock) I'd be tempted to go OO. But the space would need to be massive, and I think I'd then still go down the "and think of the N gauge layout I could fit in there" route!

Skyline2uk · January 06, 2020, 12:44:21 PM

I am glad to see this is being discussed on the NGF (in the appropriate section of course) as it's a significant moment for the hobby from a classic brand.

There is a massive amount to unpack here, just looking at the new stuff alone (lots of new liveries and 2019 stuff to still to arrive). Incidentally I was starting to get more familiar with the goings on in the murky 00 world through watching the very good Sam on his "Samstrains" Youtube channel. Some of his stuff is for younger audiences (absolutely fine, get them interested I say), but he does good reviews and has a very good monthly "Model Railway News" segment which will undoubtably look at Hornby 2020 announcements.

Things that caught my eye in 2020 lists? Well the APT-P of course, mainly because of its widely discussed recent history in N gauge and the implications of a major player (albeit one who has a history with the model) deciding to commit to a new RTR version. Obviously if it sells well, it can't hurt the chances of one appearing in N at some point. Could I justify one? No. Would I have one if money wasn't any issue? Absolutely. Do I want these models to succeed for the better of the hobby? Goes without saying.

Other things; The "collectors edition" train sets, especially the "Rovex" one. This is interesting marketing, as the original one (sold by Marks and Sparks I seem to recall??) was actually quite naff and didn't work well. It's therefore exceptionally rare to find complete these days. Somebody at Hornby knows there history, or at least watches James May lol.

Also, the rather pricey 0 gauge models of very basic looking "Tin-plate" locos. Marketing wisdom of that one? What do I know. Oh, but I think the HST power cars are all in great liveries, and especially think the GWR pair will fly out of shops. I only wish Dapol would do some more buffer fitted power cars in Swallow for us N gauge peeps.

Not seen the Steampunk stuff, not really bothered but good luck to them.

I note the new Princess locos (have these ever been done in N?) are just under £225.00 at Rails. Can't wait to see what Sam has to say about that when he reviews one.

Never seen the "Yellow Submarine" Eurostar set before, one for somebody to attempt with a Kato set?

Finally, I like the innovation of the APP enabled D.C. control. Seems like a bit of a halfway house between D.C. and full DCC set up, and not sure what I would gain from using it, but fair play for trying something new.

Skyline2uk