Model Railways Ahead via Hornby Railroad Plus 101 DMU VS eBay Listed 2006 Bachmann 108 Review | ml27 

Hello, Thank you for sharing a bit about your journey. I had no idea opening up this model would lead me into an outpouring of such concern and feeling. Where will our addiction with these gadgets lead us, not to a £32 3-car dmu even with all the advances or, is it a truer sign of how much money has actually lost value. Oh gosh, I’m off again 😂 Of course, your observation then obviously why the 110 was a real wake up call for me with the huge couplings and rather gaudy paint and head code stickers. Certainly a huge downgrade from my other TTS Railroad ones. Did that old model you exchange for a 108 have the traction tyres fitted as well? PS yes these were way ahead of their time, think they could be bought for about £68 around 2008’ish.

Hi Andy I have made your mug now been a nightmare lol How do I get it to you

Hello again Dion, Thank you 🙏 Please email modeloco@yahoo.com

Thanking you and I’ll certainly look out for it. 🙏

Thanks Ian. Sadly the 90’s were my gap years. Adore the hobby more than ever now and as a kid, dreamt of owning a Flying Scotsman that Dad would never agree to getting as it was just too much to justify and the same is still true today. There’s been a lot of debate about eBay but, it came up trumps for me last week and was saddened that I had to let the Hornby pass by 👍

Thanks for getting in touch. This wasn’t a rant, I’m not angry and it’s certainly not impassioned, that said really do appreciate your feelings. I care deeply for the hobby and its future. Yes, we all have differing ideas, all for that. If we don’t express them, get given a label for doing so, stay silent, etc, then people may think everyone agrees with say, a misleading narrative and thus, that expression is never aired that could have saved something missed. None of my more detailed models break down all the time, not one. All Hornby and Bachmann luckily. It’s still exhilarating to buy and the fears don’t serve anyone. Hattons seem to be moving to the U.S, now manufacturers caught up with their antics some years ago but, as ever, are being aloof about it. GETS is being taken over by Key Model World in April. Yes, bigger is not always better. It can lose its soul going too far either way. Buying a Railroad Plus led me on a strange journey and opened up a Pandora’s box which I narrated into this. The concern is we end up driving the hobby into a virtual headset in an effort to save it, along with all the practical skills being lost on the physical side along the way and that this is very multi faceted but, if faced, can be easily tackled from legislation down. Concerns, that Hornby feeling obliged to produce the cheapest possible stuff, having limited financial options, let’s the progress made in DCC, improved detail, etc slip again, as it did around the Olympics, by producing bubble gum things that nobody buys and so, having a new management team then, gets a clear mandate to focus on toys for the under eights again, sapping valuable resources from ground breaking ideas for ie another Playtrains investment for children who have not yet come under the social media pressures and high school protocols that in fact breaks the fun of education and programs them, in reality, ready to feed market forces. Which of course, is ever more inside a virtual reality. It’s an honest response having watched 4 children struggle with it, having all loved school up until 12 🤔

Hello, Thanks for sharing. Which scale did you look at ?

Perspicacious, what a beautiful word. Edited a lot out Phil. Including that we, just as our kids do, use escapism to create a world of harmony in my case. Nobody pulls the wool over anyone’s eyes in Shiredale 😂. It wasn’t easy to do a critique about that what you can see unfolding and what essentially you love, trying to wax and wane through. Marianne Williamson has some great quotes. Balance is usually key and division is one to overcome. That was mine btw 😂❤️🙏🥚🛤️

It wasn’t a rant really but, think my hoarse voice that night made it a bit harder to get out lol 😂

Hello and well found. Certainly will. I’ve just been so busy up in the loft so i can give my OO’s a good run. Yes I’m up here now. Was intending to let you know once done but, you’ve found me anyway. There’s been a job on the chimney breast to stop debris on the line after long periods so almost there 👍😂

Ps feedback left 🙏

Thank you. I watched this by accident after misreading the title. My belief was that you were going to compare the Hornby Class 101 with the Bachmann Class 101 😄

@@hollyruston2444 I see. The review that led to two and more 🙏

Thanks Alan. These gadgets are very addictive and very useful too. We all miss all those shops, like I guess we all miss steam trains on the mainline. The price of progress. I’m sure there’s more than just the physical space, that have drawn Key Model World to start their own show this year as GETS gets cancelled. I couldn’t be there myself but, have seen and felt the passion. My kids loved making models and my sons model landscape got put on permanent display at school before lockdown and boom a different boy emerged. Fearing what would be thought of anything as stupid as modelling but, hey didn’t want to be seen anywhere near my Dad either not, on Tik Tok then 😂 but, in town with a pal or too back then. How we break that and where it came from I’m not sure but, we break away and he does pop his head in and say, looking good Dad to which I reply, ‘Who me or the layout?’ You know the answer to that I’m sure 👍

Very well said and agree with everything you say. I do feel for those, entering totally fresh into this hobby because you really can end up with a lot of things you may well need to buy over again in future. It certainly took me by surprise with this model. The sides looked enhanced but, the front ends were not. These are great for a couple of years but, then if you really want to grow? As you say, there comes a point when certain things go beyond their sell by date.

🙏👍

Thanks for your thoughts. Interesting how we all have our own ideas which is great. The HM|DCC app is getting new locos added all the time but, yes you need a decoder, which for me is the answer as the sound then comes from that locomotive and for DCC, you need a decoder in it anyway. The HM|DC system for DC users has sounds coming from within the app, in other words from the gadget you use. I don’t like this idea myself, unless it were for ambient sounds and plus I’m all DCC but, yes you could hook that up to any sound system you own, even the 80’s/90’s style two speakers and an amp. Still have one of those about somewhere. Wharfedale Speakers and a Denon deck. Hope that helps in some way.

Yes, and so retaining the essence of the actual locomotive, embracing modern advances in manufacturing that bring costs down in this regard anyway and which then holds the interest and imagination of the modeller today and carries it forward without losing its soul as it were

Thanks Richard, me too! Yes, I was really shocked tbh. Having come through another big revealing modeling episode, halfway through a review into what looked like a great loco, that I haven’t gone into as it may come over as Mr. negative modeler man, that never got fully resolved, that I’m ending up accepting, I’ll have to deal with myself, not good but….. then this one was ahh, no can’t accept this, even at 130 bucks it’s still a big chunk for something on top of the other things. I’d rather go the full hog and save up or, have less models 😂

Thank You. Excellent points. I was certainly taken aback when I saw the downgrade from previous Railroad models like Flying Scotsman, that I have when first getting back on board. The ‘Plus’ with ‘enhanced livery’ seems to imply, Mutton dressed as Lamb in reality. Interesting new CEO of former Paperchase, Oliver Raeburn has studied Phycology and this certainly seems to have been applied on the marketing here. Looks great on paper as we chase the cost. Creators who supplied Paperchase were evidently left out of pocket and extremely angered when that folded. Hornby’s modelers are creators too in many respects and this isn’t a good sign for any of us, if it were to be applied in any way here. Hopefully this is a one off unintentional oversight….? Hornby to so many, is more than a company, just as Flying Scotsman is more than a train. For some at Hornby this is absolutely so I’m sure but, for others it may be just more of a job, stepping stone, another sticker on the CV. Less about the real cost long term. Maybe a passion for Actual modeling and securing its actual future for all, should be the top priority to any applicant, on all levels. Time will out. CEO’s can simply jump ship if they sink it would seem regardless of the paper trail left blowing in the wind 💨 Oli looks like a good guy on the short I saw. I’m not judging him, simply this… I love Hornby and this hobby that we are all shareholders in, far too much to simply paper over the cracks when they appear more than twice.

Thanks for the reply. Oh dear, CEO's from bust companies, qualifications in psycology....shame he didn't study Railway Studies... The Hornby 2024 range was nothing short of atrocious for 00, understandably funnelling a lot of resource into TT as it's in it's infancy. Apart from a few Era1 models, there is a rehash of aweful 0-4-0t with a terrible chassis & motor and a chioce of apauling bodies for £50, Rehashed 0-6-0t with silly Beatles or Rovex insignia, old Lima 47's with new shiny lurid liveries, a web special IoWight Terrier and a couple of L1 large tank locos! The only realistic re issue is the green 09 shunter, they then spoit it with a name and a price tag just shy of £200 for a model that came to light about 15 years ago. I only hope it's got a better motor than the one I have. Recently I got a Hornby loco fitted with a Decoder chip Hornby R8215, useless thing, you couldn't re-programme or read it's settings.... really unfit for purpose.. why do they persist with such stuff.??? Then they get upset with smaller companies who produce better models, more accurate, better liveried and what modellers want, devoid of many good ideas of their own, they copy what their rivals produce. To be charitable, one can only say....."forgive them Lord, they know not what they've done"

@@Ulleskelf1 😂 You can’t always get what you want but, if you try sometimes, you might just find, you get what you need… 🙏

This is one the world needs to see 😂👍🙏❤️

Hi Guy, There has been some misunderstanding here but, thanks for getting in touch. I bought it because I liked what I saw and read about it. I returned it because it included traction tyres, old moulded on couplings, an unrealistic front end and as none of this was apparent anywhere in the marketing, felt misled, and so it was returned. Had it been apparent, I would never have ordered or wasted time and money on its return. Yes, you get what you pay for usually, I totally agree but, this was a definite down grade from my other two Railroad models and the Plus was far more than I bargained for. Enhanced livery had me trusting this would be an improvement over and above my older Railroad Locomotives. This video, let’s be clear, was about helping you to get a better picture not to bash Hornby. It would have been insincere to only sing their praises. Just view my other videos, I love their products, just not this one, as stated in the review, 7:07 or some of the more worrying trends this brought up that I include within this later on and highlighted in the thumbnail.

PS I still do not know what the, What’s inside literature means by ‘Locomotive Junior’, do you?

Thank you 🙏 for your very balanced account. The enhanced livery was certainly only applied to the sides and my heart sank in seeing the traction tyres and old D moulded couplings. It ran well on test but, with it being returned, didn’t do any layout run. Having just had a very arduous experience with a lion this broke the camels back. Hornby bashing is not and never has been my intention when it comes to reviewing and this subliminal practice by 90% of past reviews seen lately, ironically whilst praising Accurascale, despite their woes too, in the next breath has seen me steer clear of them completely. I do feel that sort of misleading content is completely wrong and the most damaging aspect of our hobby. Time and again the Hornby product being slated, I own so know, this to be a complete misrepresentation overblow, in order to steer people toward alternatives? Again, another reason to remain independent and unaffiliated. If integrity is actually being compromised, because if it, for a few freebies or simply, the hope of some, by painting one in a more favourable light or, ignoring the good too, that’s not good either. To just blatantly be biased due to a bad experience or two in the past or, reading a script for a subscribing team led bot provider, that put them in favoured positions on line is wrong too. We all know it goes on but, for what really in the end. A face on a new TV show, fame, kudos or a few dollars more. At what cost down the track. Negativity gets clicks too but, my bad experiences have given rise to some far greater experiences if faith isn’t lost. No, it’s not always easy of course. The marketing on this ‘junior’ labelled item was very misleading but, it gave rise to a lovely older Bachmann that still awaits DCC. I wouldn’t want Hornby to be eaten away from without or even from within. There is some real chaff but, beautiful wheat too. May that innovation and beauty continue in a nutshell 👍🙏

PS The Railroad range isn’t bad at all. Look at my P2 steam generator review where I put the Cock O The North Railroad side by side with the Prince Of Wales. Outstanding model for the price, no tyres, great livery, small D couplings, TTS sound and great weight. It’s Railroad Plus that shines a bad light on these older models like Flying Scotsman, Tornado or the Fowler 4F. All superb for the price and on the layout almost indistinguishable from full spec’ 👍

@@modeloco Hi, I fully understand what you mean regarding Hornby products, I have a huge collection of Hornby products some very old and many new that I’m very happy with, my anger was aimed at their woeful 21 pin HST packs with the dreadful motorised roof fans that are not fit for purpose, they were loaded with incorrect grease that masked how noisy they are once this grease was removed and a better grade was applied, before this the fans would barely move and in some case burn out the tiny motors, when you eventually get through to Hornby they want you to send your items in for repair at your own cost an potential total loss or damage in the post, the fan units are very undeveloped and cheap, Hornby won’t send you a new unit because they don’t do spares! What a copout that is, Accurascale are not perfect but at least they send you parts if you need them due to manufacturing issues, Accurascale tease modellers in my opinion and this was bought to light with the RTC coaches all 400 sets of them were sold out in 4 hours apparently giving modellers whom don’t want to pay the criminally high prices for RTC coaches mainly Bachmann on eBay, if you see a product is extremely popular surely you would produce enough for most modellers and not for the fortunate 400 or so whom knew about them, there was an individual on RU-vid who was gloating about getting his set then putting it on eBay so he make some big money he stated on them! This is what happened’s when manufacturers can’t be bothered, if they did their research they’d know coaches in this livery are very popular especially as theirs had lighting in them, the first RTC coaches to have this feature and then only produce 400 or so sets is madness, that made me look at Accurascale in a different light because this action causes the prices to stay high in my opinion, I bet they could have sold 2000 sets but they couldn’t be bothered, I thought they were here to make money as it s the name of the game in this very expensive hobby.

@@StormmyStormmy I understand better now and it really comes down, I’d say, to our expectations and experiences and how these affect us later. Had my three bad ones with Hornby, tainted my view of them or, had I listened to influencers on top, then wouldn’t be enjoying TT and OO now. My Lion went back three times and in the end, fixed the item myself. Each time I covered for loss and had a £49 bill that Hornby did reimburse. It was more involved than that so, I feel Hornby really tried to resolve. It did shake my view a bit, yes. The positives do far outweigh the negatives though, especially now with latest since and past purchases beforehand. Easy for companies to come and go too when offering lifetime warranty’s or switch location or name so it’s worth a mention too. My HST is sound and luckily no roof fan 🪭

@@modeloco Hornby don’t care about customers in my opinion, they are bodge it and scarper merchants and will continue to do customers wrong until they have no customers left, their coaches are good because most other manufacturers don’t cover what they do, I don’t do Railroad at all as I find it a massive remodel railway con! It’s not as if it’s cheap to buy in the first place, most of it is 70/80/90’s tired ex Lima tooling, Bachmann don’t drag out prehistoric old items and dress them up like they’ve been newly tooled, granted Bachmann are not cheap but their products are strong and reliable and robust, I haven’t had any issues with their products to date, to be fair I do like quality items in my collection and the occasional bargain is great in the present economic climate.

That’s absolutely fine. My other Railroad models in my collection are great, no issues it helps people get affordable, more robust quality but, this wasn’t in the same league and Plus, which I feel misled me into thinking was all about enhancements, not traction tyres, old couplings and head code stickers and with the vague word, ‘Junior’ being added, it would seem, since my 2023 catalogue came out was also misleading. If this is for juniors, which I think this model clearly is aimed at, then that really should not be coupled to Railroad, especially the locos, that I own and that set the standard so clearly, much higher, in the past. This seemed to be from another era of manufacturing altogether, apart from the enhanced livery applied to the sides but, not front, again not visible in any of the marketing.

@@modeloco I think plus is there because it is DCC ready, and has a can motor, and has a better paint finish. Your overall presentation was heavily against railroad as a concept, and for very finely detailed models.

@little_britain My other Railroad locos are DCC Sound fitted and the reason I ordered the 101 but, Railroad Plus advertises enhanced livery which grabbed me, omits traction tyres from the marketing and is trying to run with both the hare and the hounds at the same time and that’s the issue, not the model itself. Had I had all the information and understood the website, What’s inside, which states a very ambiguous 1x Locomotive Junior? I would not have bought this item. With Railroad, I have no issues at all. Do you understand what Locomotive Junior means. Can only presume it means a train for under 14’s? May I add that I’m not in any way angered by your feelings here. We need to express our thoughts and I love the Hornby brand, just not this or the lack of marketing info’ 👍🙏

@@modeloco I agree with regards to this one model. However, I have a number of Railroad locos which are excellent. That one clearly tarnishes the brand, and is in need of an upgrade. If you want the other extreme, the Class 40 or the BR 9F are both excellent Railroad models and superb runners to boot.

@@little_britain Yes, I too have at least 3 Railroad models which were excellent value and once on the layout are great runners too. Had I got this before the others then those wouldn’t have been ordered had I done it online. I really am behind Hornby all the way but, a couple of things had concerned me lately regarding issues after purchase and then this. Having stood the cost of those, then it was the least damning I really can say. That said I’ve spent a lot with Hornby without issue. I just want the best for them and this hobby. Know you do too 👍

Yes, of course Thomas got the same treatment Wallace And Gromit got which plucked the soul right out of both and effectively rendered them no more than a logo 👍