Ixion's Official Response to Austrains' announcement of a C30 tank and C30T in HO scale

Ixion's Official Response to Austrains' announcement of a C30 tank and C30T in HO scale

Austrains' principal John Eassie has announced on the Austrains website that he intends to produce HO scale models of the NSWGR 30 Class 4-6-4 tank loco, and the C30T 4-6-0 tender locomotive. This has led to speculation that Ixion will now drop production of the ex-Shrike Models C30T. This is our official response.

Ixion Models will not "walk away" from producing the 30T. We are men of our word. 

Nor will we be walking away from our promised arrangement for Shrike Models 30T pre-paid customers.

We are disappointed that Austrains have announced that they are duplicating the 30T, which is likely to affect sales of both locos, but it is a free market. We wish John Eassie the best of success in all his endeavours, which have done so much to grow the modelling of Australian railways in HO scale.

The Ixion 30T is ready for production - the tooling is complete and waiting, as the decoration samples have shown. As a small company, we simply await enough sales of the 32 Class to top up our reserves sufficiently to be able to fund the 30T production run.

I hope this counters some of the speculation and rumour that seems so rife in the local modelling community and online forums.

Best wishes to all,
Lindsay O'Reilly,
Director, Ixion Model Railways.

Tonight we closed the pre-sale offer on the 32 Class. This has been available for a year, so if you delayed - I'm sorry, you have now missed out on the special pre-sale price of $545.00.

Our website is in the process of being revamped and rebuilt. No online, postal or telephone sales will be available until this process is complete. When they resume, the price will be $595.00, plus $20 P&P if postage is required. 

To secure a particular loco, the best way now is to place a firm order with a retailer who is an Ixion stockist. If your nearest model shop does not carry Ixion Models, contact Barnes Hobbies in New Lambton, NSW - details at http://www.barneshobbies.com.au/ .

Thunderbirds Are Go!
We have today pushed the "Go" button on the 32 Class. The manufacturing process will commence immediately, and will take two months. Allowing for shipping and customs delays we expect to have the locos at the end of April/early May.

Consequently, the pre-order price of $545.00 inclusive of postage is good for ONE MORE WEEK ONLY, and will expire at midnight on Saturday 5th March.
Lindsay O'Reilly,

Ixion Model Railways Australia Pty Ltd.

An Open Letter to Shrike Models Customers

Dear Shrike Models 30T customers,

If you have contacted us, or are thinking about contacting us to confirm your order:

Please forgive me, I do not have time to deal with your enquiry at the moment. There are over 150 Shrike Models customer names names on a very convoluted list, and I am flat out dealing with my new full-time work, my volunteer and family commitments, and the upcoming Ixion C32. The correspondence that the 30T is generating is a bridge too far.

If you have bank records of your payment to Shrike Models, we WILL honour your pre-order, as explained online. However, we will be manufacturing only 1500 models in the first run of the 30T, not the 3000 Shrike had planned, so some variations are going to have to be dropped from the list of offered liveries and numbers. Once we have had time to assess this issue, we will again post news online. 

We really need a month to get the 30T in order before I can consider your request. Please extend your existing patience a little longer as we sort through the decisions that need to be made.

Kind regards,
Lindsay O’Reilly
Ixion Model Railways Australia Pty Ltd.

Statement from Ixion Model Railways Ltd, Feb 15

STATEMENT FROM IXION MODELS RAILWAYS LTD

15 February, 2016.

Ixion Model Railways Ltd recently announced the acquisition of the rights, design and tools to the Shrike Models HO scale NSWGR C30T 4-6-0 model locomotive from the new owner of those rights.

Ixion Model Railways Ltd was incorporated in England in 2007 financed by a mix of equity and loans from the six founding shareholders and four directors.  The executive directors are Christopher Klein, a UK citizen, and Lindsay O’Reilly and Phil Badger, both Australian citizens. The ownership and management has not changed since incorporation. 

Ixion Model Railways Ltd has successfully brought to market five models and has sold over 5,200 locomotives and railmotors of British and Australian prototypes, in three scales.

The company is profitable, solvent and liquid and pays UK Corporation Tax and Value Added Tax (VAT). The annual reports and accounts can be downloaded from the UK Companies House website for GBP1. Ixion Model Railways Ltd banks with Lloyds Bank plc, and there is no mixing of company and personal funds. The accounts are subject to a full audit every year.

The HO scale NSWGR 32 Class 4-6-0 locomotive is fully funded. The money is held in cash in the bank, ready to pay for production and shipping to Australia. The production run will commence after Chinese New Year, 2016.

In 2015, the directors of Ixion Model Railways Ltd incorporated a new company in Australia, Ixion Model Railways Australia Pty Ltd. The shareholders are Chris Klein, Lindsay O’Reilly and Phil Badger. We decided to do this because almost all sales of the 32 Class will be in Australia, and we believed it was more ethical to manage the finances locally, including the collection and payment of Australian taxes. Ixion Model Railways Australia Pty Ltd operates a business account with the National Australia Bank.

Although under no obligation to do so, it is the intention of Ixion Models as a matter of goodwill to honour the pre-paid advance sales of the ex-Shrike 30T locomotive. We expect to start manufacture of the 30T when revenue from the sales of the 32 Class is sufficient to cover the costs of production.  We will have to raise the price by up to AU$85 because of increased costs, and unfavourable exchange rate changes. This will be payable by pre-purchasers, but we will not collect the extra payment until the models are ready for shipping. We hope to confirm the retail price shortly.

We are in possession of the Shrike Models pre-paid orders list. We are considering an option whereby any customer who ordered four or more 30Ts from Shrike can opt to drop one loco off their order, and pay no additional monies before receiving their models. This is to be confirmed.

The shareholders of Ixion will be sacrificing approximately $63,000 of revenue in order to fulfil the obligations of the Shrike Models pre-sales. We trust that those who have paid for 30T locomotives will be patient as we sort out these matters, and ensure that all parties will be happy in the end.

Christopher Klein Financial Director

Phillip Badger Technical Director

Lindsay O’Reilly Marketing Director

Ixion Model Railways Ltd.

New Information Coming re 30T Locomotive

Tomorrow night I will be posting another Ixion press release regarding the 30T. It has been authored primarily by our Financial Director, Chris Klein from Hampshire, England. It has the imprimatur of all three principal partners in Ixion Model Railways Ltd.

With most, but not all, issues relating to the manufacture of the 30T now worked through with the factory, it will contain information directed specifically to those modellers who have pre-paid monies to Shrike Models. 

Where possible, it will be posted as a document on Ixion letterhead so that its authenticity can be confirmed.

Lindsay O'Reilly

Director, Ixion Model Railways Australia Pty Ltd and Ixion Model Railways Ltd (UK).

Press Release: NSWGR C30T locomotive

Ixion to release Shrike Models’ HO scale 30T

Ixion Model Railways Australia Pty Ltd is pleased to announce that, having come to an agreement with the new owner of the tooling, the Shrike Models HO scale NSWGR 30T Class 4-6-0 steam locomotive will now be manufactured and released as an Ixion model.

The release of the 30T will follow the Ixion Models HO scale NSWGR 32 Class, and the production run of the 30T will commence once we have sufficient income from sales of the C32 to fund the production run.

Due to rising production costs in China, and the fall in the US dollar against the Australian dollar, it will not be possible to honour Shrike Models' advertised prices for the 30T post-release; the price will rise. We are in negotiations with the factory on current production costs. More information about the new prices will be released once those negotiations have been concluded.

Ixion Models looks forward to adding the 30T to our range of locomotive models, as a clear demonstration of our commitment to modellers of Australian railways.

Chris Klein, Phil Badger and Lindsay O’Reilly.

Directors,

Ixion Model Railways Ltd (UK) and Ixion Model Railways Australia Pty Ltd.

Some kitchen bench photos

Some kitchen bench photos.

Phil came up tonight and we made a list of the corrections to the 3265 sample. These photos show the three locos together. The colour of 3265 looks great in the flesh, but is entirely wrong under the kitchen bench downlights. Never mind, just look at that lovely etched nameplate, and the lining of the headlight and compressor. 3333 is also shown with 3298's six-wheel tender, just to show the 'look' of that variation.

We also paid the bill tonight for the purchase all the components for the production run, so one step closer again to delivery.

The corrections we found are only minor things, and will not delay manufacture. Fascinatingly, we discovered that the cab numbers on 3265 are in different places on each side, in order to line up between the lines of rivets. So the final model will reflect this.

The buffers and rods are not blackened because this will only be done 'in bulk' on the final components. We are very happy now with the appearance of the front buffer beam with its removable piece for fitting a Kadee, and also with the unobtrusiveness of the join in the funnel. The cutout on the inside front of the cylinders, made to negotiate an 18" radius curve, is virtually invisible in any normal viewing situation, which is pleasing. Enjoy!

3265!

OK, here it is! The decoration sample of 3265 - photos taken at the factory. The loco is now winging its way to Phil Badger for checking, but initial reactions are positive. Except for the unpainted buffers - those are a mystery, again. Enjoy!

First Decoration Samples Received

We have received the first two decoration samples of the 32 class. These contained a number of issues, quite a few of which were caused by the shipping (as the final protective packaging is not yet available) and some which require assembly tweaks in the production run. For example, the rods are not blackened as this needs to be outsourced, and is only set up to be done to all 3200 pieces, not to just 4! We are also awaiting the delivery of the sample of 3265 later this month, delayed due to the postal service losing the paint sample sent in November.
Our Technical Director Phil Badger has gone over the samples, and sent back an extensive list of amendments and corrections, so please don't let us know of things you can see. The photos are, however, a good representation of the liveries, and the appearance of the two footplate variations of the locos at this stage in the manufacturing process.
Phil reports that the running is smooth and quiet, with slightly-better-than-prototypical load hauling capabilities. He would like to emphasise, however, that the locos have been designed for a minimum of 24" (600mm) radius curves. The factory has experienced some derailments of the front bogie on 18" radius curves due to the bogie contacting the brake shoes of the front driving wheel. Where purchasers are requiring the loco to traverse an 18" (450mm) radius curve, this can probably be achieved by either the removal of the brake shoes, or the substitution of scale 3' diameter wheels in the bogie.