New Hornby 14xx

[The Johnster]

Just been looking at some of the new Warley vids on YouTube, and the 14xx seems pointedly absent from H's trade stand...

[PanzerJohn]

Just been looking at some of the new Warley vids on YouTube, and the 14xx seems pointedly absent from H's trade stand...

A mate picked me up the Show Special one there yesterday. Can't wait to get my hands on it, looks really nice.

[John M Upton]

According to reports, most of the Warley 14xx's were sold before the doors even opened on Saturday to pre-orders and never made it into the hall in the first place which rather defeated the object of the exercise in my opinion.

[peteskitchen]

A mate picked me up the Show Special one there yesterday. Can't wait to get my hands on it, looks really nice.

 What livery are the show special ones in?

[The Johnster]

Then my comment was unfair and unwarranted; my apologies to Hornby.  The next question is whether these 'Show Specials' have been altered to address the running issues. 

 

I would have thought that they would be in the same livery as 1450, which was at the show.

[IamDaniel]

I managed to pick one up on Sunday from Gaugemaster, so they were on sale on both days. Mine wasn't the last one in stock, either.

[Tiddles47]

Hi there. 

 

I'm a newbie here. Decided to become a member having read this post (and others), I managed to get a Warley 50th ltd ed 1450 at the weekend. After overhearing a guy saying that he couldn't find 1 as Rails had sold out, I quickly dashed back to Marks Models of Dublin and bagged their only 1. I put up post on Facebook and someone commented about the 14xx and I didn't really know what was being said about it as it was a vague comment. After reading this thread I can see why. 

 

However after giving it a run in with 20 mins each way, mine seems to run fine (if a tad noisy). It was a but jerky to start with but once it got going but soon settled down.  I am undecided as to whether i take off the traction tyres or not. If I did would it devalue its ltd ed status??  It hasn't had a loaded test run but then it wouldn't be pulling much anyway, say maybe an autocoach,  couple of vans or a short passenger train. 

Edited November 27, 2017 by Tiddles47

[IamDaniel]

Has anyone run their Warley 14xx yet? Any videos?

[No Decorum]

Hi there. 

 

I'm a newbie here. Decided to become a member having read this post (and others), I managed to get a Warley 50th ltd ed 1450 at the weekend. After overhearing a guy saying that he couldn't find 1 as Rails had sold out, I quickly dashed back to Marks Models of Dublin and bagged their only 1. I put up post on Facebook and someone commented about the 14xx and I didn't really know what was being said about it as it was a vague comment. After reading this thread I can see why. 

 

However after giving it a run in with 20 mins each way, mine seems to run fine (if a tad noisy). It was a but jerky to start with but once it got going but soon settled down.  I am undecided as to whether i take off the traction tyres or not. If I did would it devalue its ltd ed status??  It hasn't had a loaded test run but then it wouldn't be pulling much anyway, say maybe an autocoach,  couple of vans or a short passenger train. 

Welcome to the forum.

 

I wouldn’t remove the traction tyres. There is a groove in the wheel rim to accommodate them which would probably make a mess of the running and electrical pickup. Some day I may get around to getting new wheels for my ancient one.

 

It’s good to hear that yours is running well after the horror stories told about the non-limited-edition one.

[Tiddles47]

Has anyone run their Warley 14xx yet? Any videos?

I've run mine but not done any videos.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Tiddles47

[Tiddles47]

Welcome to the forum.

 

I wouldn’t remove the traction tyres. There is a groove in the wheel rim to accommodate them which would probably make a mess of the running and electrical pickup. Some day I may get around to getting new wheels for my ancient one.

 

It’s good to hear that yours is running well after the horror stories told about the non-limited-edition one.

Thanks. Yes I'll leave them on I think. I read the thread on the standard release and was a bit shocked.  Glad it not affected this batch (touch wood). 

[The Johnster]

This is good news, as it sounds very much as if the Warley models are modified to solve the issue, and hopefully further releases will match them.

 

At the risk of starting an argument and confusing Tiddles (which is not a sentence I thought I'd be using today...), I have cut traction tyres off every loco I've ever had with them and improved the running immediately.  My view is that traction tyres ruin pickup and hence smooth slow running, a thing important to me.

[JohnR]

Hi there. 

 

I'm a newbie here. Decided to become a member having read this post (and others), I managed to get a Warley 50th ltd ed 1450 at the weekend. After overhearing a guy saying that he couldn't find 1 as Rails had sold out, I quickly dashed back to Marks Models of Dublin and bagged their only 1. I put up post on Facebook and someone commented about the 14xx and I didn't really know what was being said about it as it was a vague comment. After reading this thread I can see why. 

 

However after giving it a run in with 20 mins each way, mine seems to run fine (if a tad noisy). It was a but jerky to start with but once it got going but soon settled down.  I am undecided as to whether i take off the traction tyres or not. If I did would it devalue its ltd ed status??  It hasn't had a loaded test run but then it wouldn't be pulling much anyway, say maybe an autocoach,  couple of vans or a short passenger train. 

 

I think you've already devalued its limited edition status by taking it out of the box and actually running it!

 

Seriously, this model really needs the traction tyres to work. Glad that your model is working fine.

[Tiddles47]

I think you've already devalued its limited edition status by taking it out of the box and actually running it!

 

Seriously, this model really needs the traction tyres to work. Glad that your model is working fine.

What's the point of having a loco if you're not going to run it? Admittedly iI do have other locos that I have not run but I fully intend to get round to give them a run. I had to test run run it anyway to see if it worked given the topic of the thread!!!!

[Tiddles47]

*Update*

 

Slips like hell and can't pull the skin off a rice pudding!! That was with 2 MK1's     

[Ian Hargrave]

*Update*

 

Slips like hell and can't pull the skin off a rice pudding!! That was with 2 MK1's     

 

What a bore....and presumably this is with the traction tyres still in place? Are the Mk1's Bachmann or Hornby ? The Bachmann version is quite a heavy lump to shift and two of them would probably be a challenge for it in any case.If you have an autocoach try it with that..

[Silver Sidelines]

Do we think someone (Hornby perhaps) has lost the plot?

 

There must be dozens of different Hornby (not forgetting Dapol and even Airfix) 14xx models available second hand for very attractive prices?

 

This one from 2011 is definitely not 'for sale'.

 

Ray

 

Hornby 14xx and autocoach back in 2011

[tomparryharry]

Perhaps it needs a Black Beetle under the autocoach, and the 14xx chassis put away. At least with extra pickups on the bogies you should overcome dead spots.

 

Ian

[Legend]

Reported elsewhere. The back trailing bogie wheels are not sprung . The drivers with the traction tyres are not making contact with the rails . It is only the front non traction tyred wheels that drive the train, which is why traction is abysmal. It struggles to move itself never mind a train.

 

These have different chassis from previous Hornby ones . It looks like they redesigned it for some reason.

Edited December 1, 2017 by Legend

[NickC]

The new Hattons 14xx are so tail heavy the front drivers barely touch the track and the Hornby one, it's the rear drivers that barely touch. Not a good advert for either really.

[Tiddles47]

What a bore....and presumably this is with the traction tyres still in place? Are the Mk1's Bachmann or Hornby ? The Bachmann version is quite a heavy lump to shift and two of them would probably be a challenge for it in any case.If you have an autocoach try it with that..

Tyres still in place. MK1's are 1 of each but i took the Hornby 1 off and it only just managed to move it. Don't know if i dare try the autocoach lol

[Coryton]

Despite all the woes reported here, I'm getting banner ads from Rails of Sheffield offering me a new 14xx.

 

I hope they've tested all of theirs under load and they're OK.

[Hroth]

*Update*

 

Slips like hell and can't pull the skin off a rice pudding!! That was with 2 MK1's     

Should do better - my cranky old Airfix 14xx (with original traction tyres) pulls an Airfix autocoach, which has rusty axels and rolls as if it has binding brakes, plus a couple of recent Hornby Mk1s without any problems!  I was thinking that Hornby might have cherry-picked the limited-edition locos from the heap to ensure that they were the best available.  Looks like they didn't...

 

 

Here's the culprit, with its autocoach and Mk1s.

 

For completeness, in the background is the cab and tender of a Hornby TTS King (George I) which worked well out of the box, one of the later old tooling B12/3s, a high-speed Caly Pug, a six-legged Oxford Rail Toad and a Caledonian Belle trainset.

Edited December 2, 2017 by Hroth

[The Johnster]

An 0-4-2T, which does not even have the option of hanging some of the weight of the loco on the tender, is a particularly difficult beast to balance correctly as a factory mass-produced item, and the addition of a traction tyres which have the potential to be either a) completely useless if they are not thick enough, as they will sit in their groove and not contact the rail, or b) completely useless if they are too thick, as the loco will rock on them and pickup will be ruined.

 

This means that the loco either won't pull much, as only one set of driving wheels is doing any work, or won't run reliably, because it cannot pick up current, or both if it rocks back on the rear wheels, meaning that neither of the driving wheels is doing any work as the front pair are in mid-air.

 

The old Airfix model had it's fair share of problems in these respects, compounded by the infamous sprung plunger pickups, but could, if fettled up a bit, be a very smooth runner.  The easy solution would be to dispense with the traction tyre and replace that set of driving wheels with 'ungrooved' ones (I have done this successfully on my Airfix 61xx), but manufacturers are reluctant to do this because the loco's haulage capacity will be lower, and it will run into trouble with even small trains on train set curves or gradients.  This is one of those cases where dedication to the train set market is still hampering production methods.  Imagine the criticism if Hornby were to release this model as 'not suitable for curves below no.3 radius!

 

The only possible reason for H to have redesigned the chassis to it's current form from one which worked fairly well is to cut costs, and the saving must be considerable to justify the development expense of the new chassis.  My instinct would be cut off the traction tyres to make sure the loco sits on the track properly and eventually to replace that set of drivers, but there are no curves on my layout sharper than Peco Streamline small radius turnouts and no gradients.  I am happy if a 14xx can manage 2 auto trailers...

[Ian Hargrave]

The new Hattons 14xx are so tail heavy the front drivers barely touch the track and the Hornby one, it's the rear drivers that barely touch. Not a good advert for either really.

In all honesty,can you really compare the two ? The Hattons /DJ 14XX comes in for much criticism but is a refined and capable performer....I have three which run with no problems encountered. Hornby's latest offering is crude by comparison. You gets what you pays for.Why this had to happen is a mystery......a special event for an occasion which has done nothing to enhance Hornby's reputation at a time when it is producing the best work in its history. A dreadful shame.