Hornby Announce SR 4-6-0 Lord Nelson

[robmcg]

Thanks Ian for the correction about the Royal Wessex motive power in 1951. I must have jumped to an incorrect conclusion from Oswald's journey on the cab of the Lord Nelson.

 

Moving on, I think we can safely say Hornby have reached new heights with the Nelsons, I can't see anything wrong in any publicity photos and so far no reports of faults, damage etc.  Mind you, they have done other equally good models of late, the air-smoothed MN and J36 come to mind.

 

Disclaimer; although I have received a few small commissions from Hornby for artwork over the years, I buy all my own models. My opinions about their models are unencumbered by commercial interest, I hope. 

 

Still waiting for all three current release Nelsons, and yesterday did a mild edit of Rails' studio shot of 30850 ...    I just changed tone and brightness here and there, and added front steps and cylinder drains which are supplied in the accessory pack.

 

What a model! I was quite sceptical at first, given my liking for the old Bachmann version.

 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by robmcg

[Mallard60022]

With reference to a previous post, I am pleased to say that when my Rodney (not a plonker) arrived today I was able to use my skill in Tai Chi to remove the locomotive box from the outer sleeve. It did not involve any work with the Belly. All was serene. All is beauty.

I thank you.

Philth.

[Ian Hargrave]

2 minutes ago, Mallard60022 said:

With reference to a previous post, I am pleased to say that when my Rodney (not a plonker) arrived today I was able to use my skill in Tai Chi to remove the locomotive box from the outer sleeve. It did not involve any work with the Belly. All was serene. All is beauty.

I thank you.

Philth.

 

Now then Ducky,will Rodders run like a Reliant Robin or like a thoroughbred mare ? Or put another way,will it be Suffolk Punch or Crepello......good slogging haulage or speed.....or perhaps both.My early incarnation released last December does not perform as I would have wished and is a bit short of puff.Acceptable but only just and I did run it in properly. One soul says his Rodney will take 10 BachmannMk 1’s.Maybe I’m missing something here...

[Mallard60022]

12 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

 

Now then Ducky,will Rodders run like a Reliant Robin or like a thoroughbred mare ? Or put another way,will it be Suffolk Punch or Crepello......good slogging haulage or speed.....or perhaps both.My early incarnation released last December does not perform as I would have wished and is a bit short of puff.Acceptable but only just and I did run it in properly. One soul says his Rodney will take 10 BachmannMk 1’s.Maybe I’m missing something here...

Well dear heart, I have yet to make the feature FB Vid of me ripping open the one many use plastic wrapping and then fondling said one use plastic + metal item as well as seeing if it waddles like a lame duck or races like a fast duck, me duck. My Rodders will probably only appear in the far future and would be on Bananas or either an RCTS or Footy special (MK1s and very little difference in items transported in both cases I believe) so no real sonic bang movement required. It may also have an identity change if I am really, really CD about it, and I await someone that wants a tender swap with the Lord himself.

More news at an unidentified date sadly.

Ar$£

 

P.S. Looks very tidy in its container, but I never knowingly saw a Nelson in service so I shall be relying on the famous range of positive comments on its' look, from RMWebbers across the globe. 

Edited March 23, 2019 by Mallard60022

[Hroth]

Lord Nelson arrived this morning and with no further ado was removed from its packaging.  No special measures were required to slide the inner from its sleeve or the transparent carrier from its sleeve!

 

Placed on the track, without any fiddling with addresses or cv's, 30850 moved smoothly from rest at step 10/128 and proceeded in a most satisfactory manner. A disconcerting squeak was quickly traced to a noisy bogie on the cheapo Hachette Mk1 attached as a trailing load. TTS sound was as expected for a steam loco, though Hornby seem to have set the default sound level a tad on the high side, I'll sort this out when I get around to changing the loco address from 3 to something more suitable!

 

Nice loco!

 

[nnich]

I did not opt for the TTS version fearing I might be a little disappointed.  I see that YouChoos do a sound decoder.  Does anyone know of any alternatives or is that the only choice.  I hasten to add I have other sound projects from them and have not been disappointed

Norm

[brushman47544]

6 hours ago, nnich said:

I did not opt for the TTS version fearing I might be a little disappointed.  I see that YouChoos do a sound decoder.  Does anyone know of any alternatives or is that the only choice.  I hasten to add I have other sound projects from them and have not been disappointed

Norm

 

There’s another thread on the latest Hornby Class 66 in BR Blue where TTS has been fitted but with a better speaker and so sounds much better. I appreciate sound for steam locos has different issues but it might be something to consider.

Edited March 24, 2019 by brushman47544

[Hilux5972]

The steam TTS decoders are out of sync for the wheel revolutions. 

[No Decorum]

12 minutes ago, Hilux5972 said:

The steam TTS decoders are out of sync for the wheel revolutions. 

Not only that. The sounds seem to notch up (speed up in steps) like a diesel loco. I find TTS decoders for diesels quite acceptable but not for steam. If I particularly want a steam model which only comes with a TTS decoder, I’ll try to get one with the decoder removed by the retailer and the loco sold at the price of similar models without the decoder. Failing that, I’ll discard the decoder.

[Ian Hargrave]

2 hours ago, No Decorum said:

Not only that. The sounds seem to notch up (speed up in steps) like a diesel loco. I find TTS decoders for diesels quite acceptable but not for steam. If I particularly want a steam model which only comes with a TTS decoder, I’ll try to get one with the decoder removed by the retailer and the loco sold at the price of similar models without the decoder. Failing that, I’ll discard the decoder.

 

That used to be an option with several retailers.Doesn’t seem to be on offer now though.Doubt that there’s a market for TTS decoders sold separately.You can always ask...

[Mallard60022]

3 hours ago, No Decorum said:

Not only that. The sounds seem to notch up (speed up in steps) like a diesel loco. I find TTS decoders for diesels quite acceptable but not for steam. If I particularly want a steam model which only comes with a TTS decoder, I’ll try to get one with the decoder removed by the retailer and the loco sold at the price of similar models without the decoder. Failing that, I’ll discard the decoder.

If they don't/you don't remove the TTS thingy, can one not just turn off the sound and use it as cheap decoder already fitted to save faff, or is the decoder a bit feeble anyway like many cheap ones? 

Phil

[No Decorum]

9 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

If they don't/you don't remove the TTS thingy, can one not just turn off the sound and use it as cheap decoder already fitted to save faff, or is the decoder a bit feeble anyway like many cheap ones? 

Phil

I don’t see why that wouldn’t work but if I can get a discount by having the decoder removed, it helps towards getting a decent sound decoder. On the other hand, discarding the unsatisfactory decoder prompts me to do something about getting a satisfactory one.

[JSpencer]

17 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

If they don't/you don't remove the TTS thingy, can one not just turn off the sound and use it as cheap decoder already fitted to save faff, or is the decoder a bit feeble anyway like many cheap ones? 

Phil

 

Like all sound decoders, you can run TTS in silent mode under DCC.

Under DC (analogue), the TTS fitted loco acts like any other plain DC loco and makes no noise at all.

 

That said, I have no idea how these TTS fitted engines would react to a feedback controler (I've never used feedback controlers).

[Wickham Green]

On 24/03/2019 at 10:31, Hilux5972 said:

The steam TTS decoders are out of sync for the wheel revolutions. 

At least with eight beats-to-the-bar - as most Nelsons SHOULD Have - you'd have difficulty determining whether it's in sync or not ! ( above walking pace )

[JSpencer]

11 minutes ago, Wickham Green said:

At least with eight beats-to-the-bar - as most Nelsons SHOULD Have - you'd have difficulty determining whether it's in sync or not ! ( above walking pace )

 

The problem with TTS is that it generally beats far too slowly. Sometimes like the loco going chuff once every 2 wheel revolutions!

On Diesel TTS, you can set parameters to choose when the thing notches up. On steam, you are stuck with the settings as supplied. Now notching will never be in sync with the wheels but if only I could play with the settings in steam like I can with diesel then at least we could have it looking roughly right instead of it soundling like a modern day equivalent to the old B12 mechanical soundbox!

[nnich]

I wasn't intending to really get into a TTS steam discussion. What I was hoping to hear was any opinions on the YouChoos LN sound project, as well as whether anyone knows of any other alternatives .  Any advice gratefully received.  My loco awaits chipping!

Norm

 

[JSpencer]

My Lord Rodney arrived today. Fine model indeed and the box while being a little hard was easier than some of Hattons P class.

 

Below is comparison with the Bachmann one, Lord Nelson him self.  Now being a battleship fan, HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney formed a pair as the only members of that class. HMS Rodney taking out the Bismarck with HMS King George V. So this one reason for choosing the this particular loco.

A second reason was because, the Hornby Lord Rodney retains many of the Maunsell front end features (shorter smokebox, external blast pipes, the original bogie) while the Bachmann Lord Nelson represents a complete  Bulleid condition.

 

Overall, the Hornby model has more fine fitted detail, though much of this are in any places not easy to see at a glance, it runs better as one would expect, has more pick ups and comes with DCC mod cons including speaker space and other mod cons like NEM sockets, a proper drawbar etc. 

That said, one can place Bachmann model on the layout with it and it does not look at all out of place. The only immediate eyesaws being the coal and lack of hole down the chimney. After that, the next feature are really the detail differences between the two front ends.

 

Pulling wise, the new loco is a tad lighter than the old but actually haulage was surprisingly the same. On my relatively flat layout (some slight inclines due to undulations and it not being 100% level) she performed as follows:

Max load with ease (not pushing the parts to wear out quickly -> 9 coaches (4 Bachmann Mk1, 1 Hornby Mk 1, 4 Bulleids)

Max load with no slipped 10 coaches (an extra Bachmann mk1)

Max load with slipping only at the start 11 coaches (another Bachy Mk1)

Max load with some slipping as she travels 12 coaches (yet another bachy mk1)

 

The only issue to note was the tender coupling hook being a tad lower the coach coupling hook.

Some pictures:

 

 

 

 

[Mallard60022]

On ‎25‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 13:54, nnich said:

I wasn't intending to really get into a TTS steam discussion. What I was hoping to hear was any opinions on the YouChoos LN sound project, as well as whether anyone knows of any other alternatives .  Any advice gratefully received.  My loco awaits chipping!

Norm

 

…..and I'd be happy to know if the TTS decoder (on silent) is Ok for simple running DCC, e.g doesn't stutter 'over' Gaugemaster juicers as some of my cheaper examples seem to, sadly.

P

[Spannerman]

For anyone who is tempted by a Lord Nelson, Rails now have Sir Francis Drake in SR green at £129.50. No connection etc.

I'm surprised  that they haven't sold out like a lot of Hornby's new offerings of late it's one of the few occasions where I've not bought on release and managed to pick up cheaper later.

Nik

[JSpencer]

1 hour ago, Spannerman said:

For anyone who is tempted by a Lord Nelson, Rails now have Sir Francis Drake in SR green at £129.50. No connection etc.

I'm surprised  that they haven't sold out like a lot of Hornby's new offerings of late it's one of the few occasions where I've not bought on release and managed to pick up cheaper later.

Nik

 

I agree given that the Southern terriers have sold out in some places. Either people are happy with Bachmann one (though they never did theirs in this condition) or SR modelers are mostly on the late, postwar era (how else would they run Bulleids?) and this is just too early even for them.

 

If the BR ones don't shift, we can assume that the type was not as popular as thought. But seeing how many secondhand Bachmann ones you can now pick up cheaply, I would be surprised if they don't sell.

[adb968008]

2 hours ago, Spannerman said:

I'm surprised  that they haven't sold out like a lot of Hornby's new offerings of late it's one of the few occasions where I've not bought on release and managed to pick up cheaper later.

Nik

It could just be the 6 week ban on discounting has passed and so they chose to reduce the price to what is the more usual discount offered by Rails in the past.

 

ive held back pre-ordering due to this new Hornby practice, and prefer to roll the dice waiting to see if the price lowers after 6 weeks instead.., I could now save near £25 for my patience on this model, but in the interim my time excitement for this has waned, and no longer want this version. 

 

I do still have my two BR Green ones heading my way, ordered before the discount restrictions were put in place, otherwise they wouldnt be heading my way either, call me tight, but i’m just being savvy with my cash... £75 over 3 models is quite a bit to save. So instead, its turned into 2 locos purchased not 3, saving me £200...thats the PFAs ordered with the savings and I still have 2 LNs, lets face it I’d probably not run 3 at the same time anyway.

 

 

 

[RFS]

3 hours ago, Spannerman said:

For anyone who is tempted by a Lord Nelson, Rails now have Sir Francis Drake in SR green at £129.50. No connection etc.

 

£129 was the pre-order price also and that's what I was charged by Rails for my Lord Rodney. I believe Hornby increased the price after I pre-ordered but Rails honoured the price.  It's currently £153 and I would assume after the 6-week embargo has passed any remaining stock might then be offered at £129.

[Jack P]

2 hours ago, JSpencer said:

or SR modelers are mostly on the late, postwar era (how else would they run Bulleids?) and this is just too early even for them.

 

I'm positive that there's a number of people that are holding out for a malachite green one (it can't just be me!)

[atom3624]

On 26/03/2019 at 20:04, JSpencer said:

My Lord Rodney arrived today. Fine model indeed and the box while being a little hard was easier than some of Hattons P class.

 

Below is comparison with the Bachmann one, Lord Nelson him self.  Now being a battleship fan, HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney formed a pair as the only members of that class. HMS Rodney taking out the Bismarck with HMS King George V. So this one reason for choosing the this particular loco.

A second reason was because, the Hornby Lord Rodney retains many of the Maunsell front end features (shorter smokebox, external blast pipes, the original bogie) while the Bachmann Lord Nelson represents a complete  Bulleid condition.

 

Overall, the Hornby model has more fine fitted detail, though much of this are in any places not easy to see at a glance, it runs better as one would expect, has more pick ups and comes with DCC mod cons including speaker space and other mod cons like NEM sockets, a proper drawbar etc. 

That said, one can place Bachmann model on the layout with it and it does not look at all out of place. The only immediate eyesaws being the coal and lack of hole down the chimney. After that, the next feature are really the detail differences between the two front ends.

 

Pulling wise, the new loco is a tad lighter than the old but actually haulage was surprisingly the same. On my relatively flat layout (some slight inclines due to undulations and it not being 100% level) she performed as follows:

Max load with ease (not pushing the parts to wear out quickly -> 9 coaches (4 Bachmann Mk1, 1 Hornby Mk 1, 4 Bulleids)

Max load with no slipped 10 coaches (an extra Bachmann mk1)

Max load with slipping only at the start 11 coaches (another Bachy Mk1)

Max load with some slipping as she travels 12 coaches (yet another bachy mk1)

 

The only issue to note was the tender coupling hook being a tad lower the coach coupling hook.

Some pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

This comparison is excellent.

 

Not only does it confirm where the Hornby version has moved the game on, but I believe also indicates just where the Bachmann was a little lacking - shot from above with the mould 'crease' for example and the solid chimney - and also just how good / close the Bachmann one still is in many respects.

 

Admirable effort by both companies I believe.

 

Al.

[Ian J.]

I'm waiting for a late logo variant without the low quality TTS decoder. That or a sufficient discount as to not effectively be paying for the decoder.