[Hornby 2022 Black 5 new tooling]

2 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

Currently their 24 is an exceptional bargain .

My mistake sorry.I should have posted Heljan 25. 

[Hornby 2022 Black 5 new tooling]

2 hours ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Seems well received on the Heljan thread. My Black 5 fund has gone on another sound fitted Class 24 - currently £190 from Kernow. Seemed quite an appropriate alternative!

Currently their 25 is an exceptional bargain .

[Hornby 2022 Black 5 new tooling]

3 hours ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Reviewed in this months RM  - Digital version now available. Broadly positive with some reservations. Comments on lights and tender coupling, also some detail anomolies I'm surprised none of us have picked up on so far.

 

Conclusion is that its the best rtr 00 Black Five on the market.....

Yes.George Dent’s review. My reaction,as subscriber of 20+ years is one of incredulity and disappointment. I have seen this model in operation a week ago at the NEC and wonder if he was reviewing the same model as the one I saw. Surely if he can remark upon ejector pin markings and “it would have been nice to have a teak frame added around the cab side windows “ then that gap between loco and tender should surely have been worth a mention.

 

But no….”all scale dimensions and proportions virtually perfect “ Well maybe so if the two “halves” of the model are viewed as separate entities .Problem is ,the Black 5 doesn’t run like that as the article’s accompanying photos demonstrate .  There is no evidence that the issue of lamp repositioning was attempted…other than a cautionary

reference to possible damage such as the one I received from Hornby at the NEC

 

    Final verdict….” Excellent “. Really?

[Hornby 2022 Black 5 new tooling]

22 hours ago, Black 5 Bear said:

The new release A4's in HD and main range have the same new "loco to tender" connection.

It may well be that the connectors fitted to the new Black 5's are substandard/defective?

This situation has happened before with Hornby, namely the motor defects in certain locos such as the second batch S15's!

Agree there has to be a batch of rogue connectors. But that is half the problem. The other half is that unsightly gap.Woeful in the light of the claim of it being the ultimate. The eye has been taken off the ball here in the quest for

gimmickry. 

[Hornby 2023 - New tooling - Streamlined B17/5]

57 minutes ago, Johan DC said:

Unfortunately, you might have to cut these, because in the short position they block/hamper/cut the 4-pin connection. Not a big issue, unless like me you’d like to run some set track around the Christmas tree later on. 

Not necessarily. The new 9F and Turbomotive will operate happily in the closer position .

 

I have just shortened the coupling position on the new 78XXX and that too is happily strolling along with 5 Bachmann Parcels vans in tow. Looks better too..

[Oxford Rail announces - OO gauge GWR Dean Goods]

On 10/04/2024 at 23:10, Harlequin said:

 

The Heljan 47xx was a comparable disaster. There are a lot of them sitting on shelves in pieces and there used to be a batch of them on Hattons in various sorry states of disrepair.

 

Mine happily is still…apart from the fall plate…intact and is,like most Heljan models,a strong performer .

[LMS Stanier 5MT No.5428 'Eric Treacy' - New Exclusive from Railway Icons]

Still available in both versions on the Locomotion website: for release November 2024…..even though it seems to have disappeared from the Rails site. Lamp ( one on buffer beam central ) black .Though this is only a pre production image it has to be said. Hopefully any outstanding issues will be absent by November.

[Hornby 2023 - New tooling - Streamlined B17/5]

33 minutes ago, Dominion said:

That looks like it could be the nice simple metal draw bar held by a shouldered screw at each end, like their previous detailed B17 models. I like those as it is relatively easy to make a shorter replacement. 

Or,like some later release models even be fitted with a shorter,closer position on the bar.

[LMS Stanier 5MT No.5428 'Eric Treacy' - New Exclusive from Railway Icons]

Out of curiosity,I have tried the Google link and am met with Page 404 on each occasion.We may speculate a reason but of course we don’t know why this has occurred. Try a phone call.

[A Nod To Brent - a friendly thread, filled with frivolity, cream teas and pasties. Longing for the happy days in the South Hams 1947.]

Cod be praised 🙏. Hope it’s as good as the LSWR van.

[A Nod To Brent - a friendly thread, filled with frivolity, cream teas and pasties. Longing for the happy days in the South Hams 1947.]

I wonder if Hornby will be tempted to produce a special edition…..but without headlamps. Though I should imagine the tooling is either worn or disappeared by now. In which case,step forward Dapol,Accurascale or Rapido.

[Hornby 2023 - New tooling - Streamlined B17/5]

30 minutes ago, Jammy2305 said:

 

Any photos?

 

- James

Sorry no.

[HELJAN UNVEILS ‘OO’ GAUGE 25/3 AND ‘ETHEL’ FOR 2019]

Having picked one up at the NEC Heljan stand at an incredibly advantageous price with Ben’s appreciated assistance I am very impressed with this. The performance on DC analogue is astoundingly good .One of those purchases you weren’t planning on making but despite all preconceived ideas on my part,it’s happily trundling around with a newspaper & parcels train c1980. 

[Hornby 2023 - New tooling - Streamlined B17/5]

OK…fine but I have to say Iike my Turbo and the attached lights don’t bother that much because they show express passenger and aren’t mounted on the smokebox door like the carbuncle on the Black 5. But yes,I take your point.

 

[Hornby 2023 - New tooling - Streamlined B17/5]

1 minute ago, No Decorum said:

Don’t tell me! Could we be in for another relatively flawless loco like the Standard 2? Consternation at Hornby! “How did that slip through? Don’t let it happen again!” Sarcasm mode off. Seriously, If Hornby can start producing decent locos it would be very welcome. They’ll probably be relatively expensive but I don’t mind that so much if I get a decent product. Who knows? It might start to turn the company around.

Wholeheartedly agree with that. I’d prefer to regard the Black 5 issues as a blip in anotherwise purple patch since lockdown. 

[Hornby 2023 - New tooling - Streamlined B17/5]

Just now, No Decorum said:

No trailing wheels to make a mess of and, it is to be hoped, no lights.

 
In truth,I couldn’t tell but yes I hope not…..having just had a running demo of the Black 5 lit up like the front end of a Pendolino on which I travelled back to New Street later.

[Dapol OO 14XX and 517 Class 0-4-2Ts]

1 hour ago, Legend said:

Wow Dapol certainly seem to be the GWRs friend ! Great announcement . Looks like a great specification and a decent price for what you get b. Although primarily a Scottish modeller I am tempted as I have a good few GWR models now . Makes sense with their auto coach too .

 

I really hope they are rewarded for introducing these and that no one reintroduces the DJ version .

Pigs will fly on your final sentence. And yet…….on these particular little piggies I’ve had no problem whatsoever,despite their weird mechanism.But Dapol are good with small locos….witness the LSWR B4 which is a little gem,so I’ll buy.

[Hornby 2023 - New tooling - Streamlined B17/5]

The apple green version was on display at the NEC this weekend. Very tempting indeed. 

[Hornby 2022 Black 5 new tooling]

7 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Just an observation…

 

its been 13 days, 16 pages since last time we saw a picture from a purchaser of this model (not a youtube review). Even then its only 2 confirmed sightings, and both are on page 28.

 

This feels a little underwhelming for a brand new tooled model of a very popular prototype.

 

Somethings missed the spot.

 

Maybe because the previous incarnation has sated the market ? Most of us,I imagine,have examples of it and find they need no more. And an added disincentive will no doubt be the increase in cost. In any case,some will no doubt be waiting for the imminent BR version. None were available from retailers at the NEC this weekend and yet we have seen several YouTube videos ,one of them being from an enthusiast in Canada . 

[A Nod To Brent - a friendly thread, filled with frivolity, cream teas and pasties. Longing for the happy days in the South Hams 1947.]

Having had some insider information about a GWR tank last September,my source got it wrong by a degree. It was a Metro Tank. Hey Ho.

[Hornby 2022 Black 5 new tooling]

39 minutes ago, zr2498 said:

And not at all fair or informative for potential purchasers who don't read the likes of RMWeb, or watch U-tube reviews.

Well…as I’ve already posted….having viewed it for a few minutes working on one of Hornby’s demo roundies……I have the benefit of my own observation. On the positive side,it appears to work.Will I buy ? No. Any further but honest posted assessment on this forum might lead to a mod’s suspension. 

[A Nod To Brent - a friendly thread, filled with frivolity, cream teas and pasties. Longing for the happy days in the South Hams 1947.]

 Some news of interest from Dapol just announced. A 14XX ….and a 517.

[Hornby 2022 Black 5 new tooling]

1 hour ago, Legend said:

could it be manufacturing tolerances eg on loco the connector sitting very fractionally lower than it should or vice versa .  We don’t know , of course , but that’s a few defects we’ve seen now . Hope those that have a BR one on order benefit from the experience being picked up on the initial LMS one . Maybe there will be more testing or will Hornby send them out regardless for customers and retailers to do their QC . I know which one I think will happen 

And the mood music from the Hornby stand on my Saturday NEC visit suggests to me that they have done the Pontus Pilate act with this if the matter of the glued in lamps is any guide.It is in any case likely that the BR version is already on the boat.So any action prior to retail would necessitate halting distribution and applying remedial measures as necessary. That stretches credibility..

Although IIRC,such a measure was in fact taken by Bachmann when a batch of Class 40 models arrived from China with a grease applied to the gears which effectively stopped traction. Barwell took on extra help to clean them up.However,if there is as there appears to be an issue with the design/manufacture of the conductive plug in socket,then unless H has a human resource of electronic wizardry then the choice is either to return the whole lot to the factory or distribute the lot to retail after maybe a cursory QC sample exercise. The former is expensively inconvenient and the latter will be the financially easier. The storm if it occurs will be weathered no doubt.

[Hornby 2022 Black 5 new tooling]

10 hours ago, Black 5 Bear said:

Still currently available to order on the Hornby website. If It's not up to scratch or not what you want, return it.

A win win situation!

 

As it’s the only one currently on the market and I saw a sample on Saturday which does capture the essence of the prototype,my order will stand.I’ll take the risk and possible hit with the lamps and clip connector.

[Hornby 2022 Black 5 new tooling]

1 hour ago, Johan DC said:

It seems to me that this new type of plug is better working, and closer coupling, on the previous locos like P2’s and A1’s. I have four of these, and not a single issue. And the gap between tender and engine looks smaller too. So it’s really a step back. 

I think you mean A4 ? But yes,I agree with that.