michael rhodes

Just running the superb Cavalex BBAs and BLAs behind various Hornby Class 60s - every single 60 derails the first bogie on the leading wagon whenever there is a reverse curve! No other locos seem to do this (tried 37s and 20s and 40s so far (all Bachman). There seems to be a serious issue with the Hornby Class 60 coupling:- Have others noticed this? I tried removing the hook from the loco side (as shown below) to give the wagon more room. No joy. I looked at the spring mechanism that returns the loop to neutral and noticed it is prone to sticking so tried some WD40 and judicious wiggling. No joy The loop on the loco moves with the curves and then gets stuck as shown below - even after WD 40 so the next time it encounters a curve it pulls the leading bogie of the BLA off the track. This seems to be more of a problem with the heavier and better constructed Cavalex models and it doesn't happen with Bachman TEAs could this be because the trailing load of the better made wagons is heavier? Has anybody got any bright ideas because it is driving me bonkers to have two derailments per loop using the Class 60!!

I've just been out to Barrow Hill Junction, my railway to have an operating session and one of my Hornby Class 31s (bought from Olivias as D5806 with sound etc. has done a very similar thing. I thought maybe somebody had dropped it, but the front of the body has fractured in just this way. Obviously the model was probably manufactured some years ago and it seems the "good" Hornby Class 31 is no longer available, only the RailRoad Range one seems to be produced now. It's a real shame as it ran well, sounded great and looked superb, but now it has a big crack in it.