Yesterday's OMWB entry seems to have struck a sympathetic chord with many modellers, if last night's online discussions were anything to go by. Hardly suprising, really, as I know most of the sentiments I recycle here are the same views held by many frustrated hobbyists - I can't lay claim to any original thinking. A particular sticking point seems to be (and always has been) the limited number of D&E era freight trains you can reproduce, and hence the limited number of locations you can model. So let's have a look at a few typical trains and see how the land lies.
Don't forget, though, that I'm looking at the RTR mass-market here and not the exhibition/shunting-plank niche that the monthly magazines feed off. I'm thinking in particular of the largely untapped sector of the hobby - new or returning recruits, whether they're dedicated linesiders or previously frustrated modellers lost through lack of suitable product. These people are primed and ready to go, they don't need the hard-sell. In fact you'd have to be spectacularly inept not to take their money off them.
This is not meant as a snub to the kit-builders amongst us (is it possible to snub yourself, anyway?) but commercial realities will always intrude. The bottom line is that somebody buying a long rake of HTAs or intermodal twins is contributing a whole lot more to the retailer's coffers than I am, sitting here scraping the mould lines from the undergubbins of a 5 year old Parkside wagon and scavenging amongst my 20 year old Woodhead transfer sheets to see what's still useable. Plus, of course, it's just not possible for the typical individual with a broad range of real-life commitments to convincingly model the industrial-strength D&E scene, during remaining leisure time, without a substantial helping hand from the big-boys with their injection moulding machines. True, there'll be the odd windbag who'll opine that real modellers should scratchbuild it all anyway, but when was the last time you saw one of these patronising clowns dispensing this advice from behind a four track mainline layout wedged full with rakes of handmade HAAs, Freightliners and HSTs?
I'll kick things off with what, for my money, is the defining freight icon of the D&E era, the 'merry-go-round' coal train rumbling it's way towards power stations across the land from pit or port. This gives me the rare chance to start off by saying something positive, as Bachmann have in recent years released the ultra-modern HTA hopper seen above - a sound model and priced so that fleet service should be no problem for most consumers. Although this is precious little use to the 20th century modeller, it's a sensible one to have 'in the bank' for the future as it dominates this traffic more and more these days.
Despite getting a regular (and well-deserved) pasting in many places for their shoddy diesel models, Bachmann really are putting in some sterling work at the moment on the wagon front, having turned out more useable D&E freight stock in a short time than both Hornby and Lima together have managed in their entire trading histories.
Also on the cards from Bachmann is the impressive HHA hopper seen above behind Freightliner's 66524. This is another excellent choice for the future, and one which I'll no doubt be buying considerable quantities of, but only if there's a suitable loco to pull them with. Unfortunately this is where it all starts to come unglued, these fine wagon models have to have a Class 66 to pull them - no other loco will do. The late, unlamented, Lima model is of no value to the discerning enthusiast, being a classic example of the wrong shape/no detail/poor mechanism school of thought, so those rakes of hoppers are of little use for anything other than filling sidings at the moment.
Whilst Bachmann have got a Class 66 model in the pipeline, (as opposed to available now,) they don't have a very good track record with locos so this is not very encouraging to many of us. Should the model turn out to be a complete disaster like their Class 37, or even merely uninspiring like the Class 20, it will no doubt sell in whatever normal quantities the existing, low end of the market demands, but it won't break into new territory. Given that the Class 66 is the defining diesel of the modern scene it's an absolutely critical release. You can't recreate the current environment without it, so if it's not up to scratch then discerning buyers will walk away in droves, off to spend their money on the European scene, scuba diving or whatever.
In this respect the Class 66 is probably one of the most significant indicators for the future of the hobby. A flagship release at this point would do both Bachmann and the hobby as a whole a power of good, opening up a host of modelling and sales opportunities. But, because of the prototype's pivotal nature, another lacklustre release will be potentially catastrophic. A Dodgy Deltic takes the pre-80s East Coast Main Line off the modelling map, but a Shoddy Shed wipes out pretty much the whole country. This loco, more than any before it, needs to be the right shape, correctly detailed (the real thing is a mass of fine detail,) equipped with a decent six-axle mechanism, DCC-Ready and with full LED lighting. In short, it needs to be saleable. A good model of a Class 66 will not only sell more of itself, but will sell more rakes of wagons to go with it, not to mention drawing many new customers in over the years to come. On past performance I'm not convinced Bachmann fully understands this.
The older HAA family of wagons still accounts for a fair chunk of MGR traffic on today's railways, something that, like the Class 66, presents the contemporary modeller with a significant problem. Given the complexity of the prototype and the large numbers needed, this is a wagon where a decent RTR model from the trade is an absolute must, yet Hornby's two attempts at producing this wagon are fairly worthless to the discriminating modeller, being inaccurate even at the basic shape level.
Sorry Hornby, but the HAA (along with the equally woeful Coalfish) desperately needs retooling. Models of this calibre have no place in an adult product range. They're as wrong as Bachmann's Class 37 and at least they seem to be tackling that issue at last, if not exactly with good grace. Perhaps Bachmann should have a go at a HAA as Hornby seem disinterested in freight stock for consumption outside of their traditional trainset market?
The undemanding, happy with what they're given, not really bothered if things look right, sector of the market is already well catered for, but the more discerning buyer is still standing by the lineside waiting for decent products to come along to enable the recreation of a much-loved prototype in miniature. You'd think that tapping into this source of income before your competitors do would be a priority, but manufacturers seem unsure of life beyond the collector/trainset market in this country - despite the volume of better quality overseas products brought in to satisfy demand.
Prominent though it may be out there in the real world, the whole coal sector is denied to the modeller who demands any degree of fidelity - surely not an attractive advert for the hobby. The reason I've concentrated on the 2000 era, however, at the expense of my preferred pre-GM years, is that with a little bit of uncharacteristic thought from the manufacturers the situation could be turned around reasonably easily. All we need is a decent Class 66 and a competent HAA and we're up and running. By concentrating on matched stock, as opposed to the normal scatter-gun approach, a whole world of layouts based around coal movements becomes viable.
After decades of neglect there are too many holes in product ranges to put UK modelling back on a par with the rest of the world overnight, but you've got to start somewhere. If the manufacturers would start by looking at specific freight sectors with matched stock then we could have a series of quick wins and offer potential entrants to the hobby some options to throw cash at that currently just aren't there. Who knows, there could even be scope for a little bit of creative marketing in there, selling the more adult idea of realistic, operationally-themed trains and layouts. Selling quantity across the range to users, rather than individual items to collectors. I might be getting a bit too adventurous there, but it's all about establishing a beach-head and running up a flag.
And after the Portugal game there's no shortage of spare flags knocking around...
Currently On My Stereo: Marillion - Marbles