Hi Jenny, Amey here, manager of Clark Railworks, we really appreciate your review and highly value the opinions of our customers. As you mentioned we try to price very fairly and always offer a high level of service, both initially and if things occasionally go wrong. As of now we will be sure to include a note as to whether models are DCC Ready or not :) Have a lovely evening, Amey Clark Railworks
I was poised to buy a loco from Clark Railworks late last night, but as I was tired from a hard days work decided to leave it until today, and promptly fell asleep. Then I find out that you've released this video, so onto CR's website I went, but the loco I wanted has gone: a literal case of "if you snooze, you lose"! Loved the video, BTW. The points you made regarding the plethora of average or poor quality models on sale at top dollar prices with less than honest descriptions is well made. Us buyers needed a reliable supplier we can trust and you have helped in no small way to introduce CR to a wider audience. Let's hope CR doesn't take all this new interest as an opportunity to increase its prices!
When I sell things on eBay, I always add a short video of it running to reassure buyers that I am honest with nothing to hide. Well done on the DCC install Jenny, Respect to you for these handy videos. Peter.
Chapters: 00:00 Video Start 00:19 Introduction 02:52 Sponsor 04:51 The Price of Models Today 06:16 Locomotive Overviews 09:35 The Hughes Crab Locomotive 14:34 The Class B1 Locomotive 18:39 Class B1 DC test run 19:03 Crab DC test run 19:33 Crab DCC fitting guide 26:15 Crab DCC test run 27:04 Class B1 DCC fitting guide 29:48 Class B1 DCC test run 30:14 Locomotives running summary 32:20 Conclusion 36:16 Thanks and sponsorship
There are only two secondhand purchases I have ever been burnt from as a US customer. Given that my only way of examining locos prior to purchasing is by way of photos provided by the retailer/seller, I'd say those are very good odds. Both came from well-known online retailers, but I don't hold it against them. Must be said also- Clark Railworks are a favorite of mine!
Jenny in the Crab if you look on the spec sheet it advises you to remove the weight and replace with the plastic tray in the accessories bag. The B1 can be converted to a standard Bachmann draw bar. Hornby also do a B1.
I have only ever bought second hand locomotives for my local model railway shop. And dealt directly face to face, as they will test them in front of you.
Hi I have purchased five steam locos as non runners from Hattons all under £50 in boxes and have found that their descriptions spot on , and so far I have only had to service them and only replaced one set of brushes, good value.
As an American, I had to smile when you mentioned eBay. I sometimes look on there and there is some nice stuff, but for some reason eBay thinks I would pay $40 shipping on a $50 loco. Obviously you don’t have that problem, but that is what came to mind.
Hi Jenny, love the channel. Returning to the hobby again. Purchased a few new dcc sound blue era diesels. For a TMD layout. So also decided to buy some second hand weathered locos. To be used as static stock on the layout. 3 Heljan class 27's and a Bachmann class 24 and 25. The last two on dc run amazing, moving so slowly, you can barely see them moving ! Shame not to get them used. (Convert to dcc/sound) Second hand, good way to increase the fleet on a budget. Cheers Mike
In as much as you can trust anything on the internet and anyone selling you it new or used. End of the day, shop in person every time you possibly can, your wallet may feel it slightly more but your greater enjoyment and lesser disappointment will be the reward. Also nice to chat to people in shops and connect with the people of the hobby not a faceless website.
I can confirm that the wallet hurts when I buy models in person. It's cheaper to import models from England, but the experience doesn't compare to speaking with a real person in a shop.
Bought plenty from Clarks Railworks. My SECR Green C Class, my BR Black Five and a handful of other things. Superb service, oh and I got a free cup coaster with each order XD
If the video you mentioned in the beginning of this video, is the one about a Hornby Class 31 in BR blue weatherd and a none runner. That was totally unacceptable for the Liverpool based retailer even offer it for sale.
absolutely not unnaceptable for them to offer it for sale as long as honest about it being a non runner , i buy mostly non runners or damaged for my channel and have had very few stings and many if not 99% are very easy basic fixes
Agreed. At least they acknowledged the mistake and made a full refund. Gotta admit though, I was surprised, as the retailer in question is usually trustworthy, if rather expensive.
@@shakeyhandsshedmodelrailwa2494 it was over £111.00. They also claimed that it was DCC fitted. When Charlie opened it up, there was no PCB inside. No decor nothing. They ought to be checking items properly and give a TRUE description of the item.
I buy most of my 2nd hand stuff from Hattons, I like their listing system. If I'm looking for a particular item all I have to do is go to the type select the manufacturer and on pops their items. I don't like Rails or Clarke's search. I can get say just Bachmann diesels, I get stuff I'm not interested in, so it's tedious and I don't bother. Why can't they have a similar system to Hattons or even Olivia's Trains?? I can use the "search" but I like to browse. Rails & Clarke are good retailers but until they simplify their search systems I don't want to bother.
Some nice finds there! With that crab - I'd be sorely tempted to just rip out the 8-pin board and hard wire it! Had to do that a number of times with models this age with their pretend 'dcc ready'. U soon get your soldering skills up to snuff after the first couple! Re ebay - Im absolutly shocked by the prices that people want these days. The reduculus manu rrp's have really had a bad impact on used prices
I discovered CRW a while back (thanks to one of Jenny's videos), and I've never had a bad experience with them. The prices are decent, they do a good job with packaging the models, and they always arrive in good condition (which is surprising given that I'm in far away New Zealand). To be clear, I'm not sponsored by CRW. So far I've got at least five engines from them (three Hornby and two Bachmann): BR Standard '3MT' No. 82005 LMS 'Jubilee' No. 5563 'Australia' LMS 'Princess Coronation' No. 46256 'Sir William A. Stanier FRS' LNER 'A4' No. 4468 'Mallard' LNER 'L1' No. 9003 (The Jub and L1 were only £62.50 each, if I recall correctly). In January, I even took the BR Standard 3MT tank with me to a heritage railway and posed the 3MT on the running board of a 'DBR' class diesel locomotive. The size difference is comical.
That's actually great to know. I'm in Australia and looking for a good used supplier as the big one I always relied on seems to be charging near-new prices and the descriptions are a bit hit and miss. I'll give them a go. Cheers!
Totally agree with everything you have said. I am returning to model railwaying after 40+ years away and thought ebay would be a good place to start. Oh no it isn't. I purchased a 'non runner' but thought I might be able to restore it. It was as described a 'non runner' but upon closer inspection things like the 'motion bracket' were broken so the valve gear just fell out when I dropped the chassis out. Oh well it was a charity shop so money goes to a good cause. Lesson learned and ClarkRailworks here I come. Thank you for making me aware of them.
Lovely locomotives, Jen, but they’re models of LNER locomotives rather than Southern. I’m a Southern collector with the following locomotives: M7, T9 in Southern green and a C Class with sound chip.
Good grief, £125 for the pair? By modern standards that's giving them away. I don't bother with eBay either, far too many dreamers who want ridiculous prices for stuff. I'm prepared to wait until the right model comes along at the right price- for example, it took 4 years to find a Bachmann LMS inspection saloon in my preferred livery..
It was one of the reasons I did this video, as one retailer in particular was giving them all a bad name with their high prices and inaccurate descriptions. I wanted to show they weren’t all untrustworthy.
@@JenniferEKirk yeah, for sure. It's just too bad that it happens with ones that have the most inventory, as I can speak for myself here and say that it's getting to a point where I can hardly afford new models anymore, with the exception of some companies such as Oxford and Dapol who are still keeping the prices down, while also offering high quality and well detailed models that run reasonably well too.
Hi Jenny,
Amey here, manager of Clark Railworks, we really appreciate your review and highly value the opinions of our customers.
As you mentioned we try to price very fairly and always offer a high level of service, both initially and if things occasionally go wrong.
As of now we will be sure to include a note as to whether models are DCC Ready or not :)
Have a lovely evening,
Amey
Clark Railworks
I was poised to buy a loco from Clark Railworks late last night, but as I was tired from a hard days work decided to leave it until today, and promptly fell asleep. Then I find out that you've released this video, so onto CR's website I went, but the loco I wanted has gone: a literal case of "if you snooze, you lose"!
Loved the video, BTW. The points you made regarding the plethora of average or poor quality models on sale at top dollar prices with less than honest descriptions is well made. Us buyers needed a reliable supplier we can trust and you have helped in no small way to introduce CR to a wider audience.
Let's hope CR doesn't take all this new interest as an opportunity to increase its prices!
I’ve just purchased a 3f O-6-0 today from CR Clarkes rail works. Thanks for the tip. Great website.
When I sell things on eBay, I always add a short video of it running to reassure buyers that I am honest with nothing to hide. Well done on the DCC install Jenny, Respect to you for these handy videos.
Peter.
Chapters:
00:00 Video Start
00:19 Introduction
02:52 Sponsor
04:51 The Price of Models Today
06:16 Locomotive Overviews
09:35 The Hughes Crab Locomotive
14:34 The Class B1 Locomotive
18:39 Class B1 DC test run
19:03 Crab DC test run
19:33 Crab DCC fitting guide
26:15 Crab DCC test run
27:04 Class B1 DCC fitting guide
29:48 Class B1 DCC test run
30:14 Locomotives running summary
32:20 Conclusion
36:16 Thanks and sponsorship
There are only two secondhand purchases I have ever been burnt from as a US customer. Given that my only way of examining locos prior to purchasing is by way of photos provided by the retailer/seller, I'd say those are very good odds. Both came from well-known online retailers, but I don't hold it against them. Must be said also- Clark Railworks are a favorite of mine!
Jenny in the Crab if you look on the spec sheet it advises you to remove the weight and replace with the plastic tray in the accessories bag. The B1 can be converted to a standard Bachmann draw bar. Hornby also do a B1.
I have only ever bought second hand locomotives for my local model railway shop. And dealt directly face to face, as they will test them in front of you.
On the Crab replace the weight with the plastic tray in the accessory bag for DCC fitting.
Bonus if you have a tiny DCC decoder and can keep the weight as the 30g makes a difference to the pulling power.
Hi I have purchased five steam locos as non runners from Hattons all under £50 in boxes and have found that their descriptions spot on , and so far I have only had to service them and only replaced one set of brushes, good value.
As an American, I had to smile when you mentioned eBay. I sometimes look on there and there is some nice stuff, but for some reason eBay thinks I would pay $40 shipping on a $50 loco. Obviously you don’t have that problem, but that is what came to mind.
The Crab was the LMS ‘turn to’ locomotive which was brought out in the year 2000 with DCC ready for eight pin decoder.
Hi Jenny, love the channel. Returning to the hobby again. Purchased a few new dcc sound blue era diesels. For a TMD layout.
So also decided to buy some second hand weathered locos. To be used as static stock on the layout. 3 Heljan class 27's and a Bachmann class 24 and 25.
The last two on dc run amazing, moving so slowly, you can barely see them moving ! Shame not to get them used. (Convert to dcc/sound)
Second hand, good way to increase the fleet on a budget.
Cheers Mike
In as much as you can trust anything on the internet and anyone selling you it new or used.
End of the day, shop in person every time you possibly can, your wallet may feel it slightly more but your greater enjoyment and lesser disappointment will be the reward. Also nice to chat to people in shops and connect with the people of the hobby not a faceless website.
I can confirm that the wallet hurts when I buy models in person. It's cheaper to import models from England, but the experience doesn't compare to speaking with a real person in a shop.
A great video Jenny. Thanks for sharing, I’m going to have to have a look at Clark’s now. Roy.
Hi Jennifer. Can you tell me where you got your Wear yard signs from? Regards Zeb
The Crab is still available through Bachmann. I haven’t encountered the B1.
Bought plenty from Clarks Railworks. My SECR Green C Class, my BR Black Five and a handful of other things. Superb service, oh and I got a free cup coaster with each order XD
If the video you mentioned in the beginning of this video, is the one about a Hornby Class 31 in BR blue weatherd and a none runner. That was totally unacceptable for the Liverpool based retailer even offer it for sale.
absolutely not unnaceptable for them to offer it for sale as long as honest about it being a non runner , i buy mostly non runners or damaged for my channel and have had very few stings and many if not 99% are very easy basic fixes
Agreed. At least they acknowledged the mistake and made a full refund. Gotta admit though, I was surprised, as the retailer in question is usually trustworthy, if rather expensive.
@@shakeyhandsshedmodelrailwa2494 it was over £111.00. They also claimed that it was DCC fitted. When Charlie opened it up, there was no PCB inside. No decor nothing. They ought to be checking items properly and give a TRUE description of the item.
I buy most of my 2nd hand stuff from Hattons, I like their listing system. If I'm looking for a particular item all I have to do is go to the type select the manufacturer and on pops their items. I don't like Rails or Clarke's search. I can get say just Bachmann diesels, I get stuff I'm not interested in, so it's tedious and I don't bother. Why can't they have a similar system to Hattons or even Olivia's Trains?? I can use the "search" but I like to browse. Rails & Clarke are good retailers but until they simplify their search systems I don't want to bother.
Some nice finds there! With that crab - I'd be sorely tempted to just rip out the 8-pin board and hard wire it! Had to do that a number of times with models this age with their pretend 'dcc ready'. U soon get your soldering skills up to snuff after the first couple!
Re ebay - Im absolutly shocked by the prices that people want these days. The reduculus manu rrp's have really had a bad impact on used prices
I discovered CRW a while back (thanks to one of Jenny's videos), and I've never had a bad experience with them. The prices are decent, they do a good job with packaging the models, and they always arrive in good condition (which is surprising given that I'm in far away New Zealand). To be clear, I'm not sponsored by CRW.
So far I've got at least five engines from them (three Hornby and two Bachmann):
BR Standard '3MT' No. 82005
LMS 'Jubilee' No. 5563 'Australia'
LMS 'Princess Coronation' No. 46256 'Sir William A. Stanier FRS'
LNER 'A4' No. 4468 'Mallard'
LNER 'L1' No. 9003
(The Jub and L1 were only £62.50 each, if I recall correctly).
In January, I even took the BR Standard 3MT tank with me to a heritage railway and posed the 3MT on the running board of a 'DBR' class diesel locomotive. The size difference is comical.
That's actually great to know. I'm in Australia and looking for a good used supplier as the big one I always relied on seems to be charging near-new prices
and the descriptions are a bit hit and miss.
I'll give them a go. Cheers!
Just got delivery of a used Type 24. Runs like a dream
Totally agree with everything you have said. I am returning to model railwaying after 40+ years away and thought ebay would be a good place to start. Oh no it isn't. I purchased a 'non runner' but thought I might be able to restore it. It was as described a 'non runner' but upon closer inspection things like the 'motion bracket' were broken so the valve gear just fell out when I dropped the chassis out. Oh well it was a charity shop so money goes to a good cause. Lesson learned and ClarkRailworks here I come. Thank you for making me aware of them.
Lovely locomotives, Jen, but they’re models of LNER locomotives rather than Southern. I’m a Southern collector with the following locomotives:
M7, T9 in Southern green and a C Class with sound chip.
No you can’t trust them :-). I purchased one labelled non-runner. It was cheaper and I took a punt.👌 It ran perfectly as soon as I tested it.
Good grief, £125 for the pair? By modern standards that's giving them away. I don't bother with eBay either, far too many dreamers who want ridiculous prices for stuff. I'm prepared to wait until the right model comes along at the right price- for example, it took 4 years to find a Bachmann LMS inspection saloon in my preferred livery..
Blimey, I bet Clark model rail works are sold out after this. Well done Jenny.
Rails will always accept 15% off their ebay prices if you do the make an offer.
While I haven’t used Clark Railworks, and I tend not to buy used online, I have heard a number of horror stories from other people about buying used.
It was one of the reasons I did this video, as one retailer in particular was giving them all a bad name with their high prices and inaccurate descriptions. I wanted to show they weren’t all untrustworthy.
@@JenniferEKirk yeah, for sure. It's just too bad that it happens with ones that have the most inventory, as I can speak for myself here and say that it's getting to a point where I can hardly afford new models anymore, with the exception of some companies such as Oxford and Dapol who are still keeping the prices down, while also offering high quality and well detailed models that run reasonably well too.
eBay is the last ever place I might go to buy a model locomotive!! But there again, I’ve been conned on this site.
"For the price, I couldn't say no" - you could, but you're you, so you didnt.
Good evening Jen!! Are you back for Monday night?
hi jennifer, you have a lot of locomotives uuffff....🤔🙂👍
Lovely steam trains and information johnrey ortiz model tailway philpines