Hornby - New tooling - Large Prairie

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

Never assess running on a rolling road, what you see is inevitably the sum of two systems, and dependent on the rolling road design the way it is set up may also have a large influence. On the rails, that's what counts.

 

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

Nearly every loco I have rocks from side to side on rollers but few exhibit the same characteristic on the track.

I agree - the rolling road is only used for running in and decoder fitting. In this case, however, the wobble/hunting was far more extreme than I've seen on any of my other locos. I suspect that the wheel profile might be subtly different on this model and there is definitely a lot of side play on all the driving axles.

 

As I said, on the track it's "good enough" and when I restrict the side play should be better still.

[The Johnster]

6 hours ago, Clearwater said:

Now it might be that photographers favoured smokebox first shots but who knows?

No might be about it; photographers, especially amatuers, were considerably less willing in film days to depart from the ¾ front view formula, as film was not cheap, and developing and printing was decidedly costly especially if you couldn't do it yourself.  Printing is still pretty costly of course but in those days almost everything had to be printed as there were no screens to view things on.

[Neal Ball]

18 hours ago, melmerby said:

Not sure what you mean by that.

They spent 50% of their time going backwards, so need a front coupling.

 

16 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

Not necessarily, especially on main line work. If there was an opportunity to turn, the crew would in order to avoid dust from the bunker being blown in there faces and constant use of the slacking hose.

 

At Henley on Thames there is a turntable, so I intend to turn all my locos. Or at least I will do, as soon as I get the motor and control gear sorted out.

 

The 61xx would then be used on direct trains to PDN

[Harlequin]

I "fixed" my derailing pony problem...

 

To cut a long story short - I adjusted the baseboard joint. Fair enough, no other locos had problems with it but when I looked closely I could see that the rail levels were about 0.75mm different either side of the joint. It is adjustable so I tweaked it and lo and behold no more jumping.

 

[Ian Hargrave]

11 hours ago, Harlequin said:

I "fixed" my derailing pony problem...

 

To cut a long story short - I adjusted the baseboard joint. Fair enough, no other locos had problems with it but when I looked closely I could see that the rail levels were about 0.75mm different either side of the joint. It is adjustable so I tweaked it and lo and behold no more jumping.

 

 
And that’s a common problem for me with other Hornby models,recently the new tooling Duchesses.My baseboard is however not adjustable.Solved for me by tweaking the front pony manually slightly downwards.

[melmerby]

Another "problem" I have found.

When running bunker first, the arrangement of trailing truck swivel and loads of side to side play in the wheelset, results in the truck wobbling from side to side most unrealistically.

 

First thing to do is put some washers on the axle so the wheelset is kept more central.

Then maybe a centering spring?

 

[KeithMacdonald]

12 hours ago, Harlequin said:

I "fixed" my derailing pony problem...

 

To cut a long story short - I adjusted the baseboard joint. Fair enough, no other locos had problems with it but when I looked closely I could see that the rail levels were about 0.75mm different either side of the joint. It is adjustable so I tweaked it and lo and behold no more jumping.

 

 

Glad you fixed it.

 

0.75mm doesn't sound much does it? I was just wondering what that would have been in "real life" 1:1 scale. About 54mm? Or two inches in old money? Would have been quite a big thump.

[The Stationmaster]

On 13/07/2020 at 07:07, Neal Ball said:

 

 

At Henley on Thames there is a turntable, so I intend to turn all my locos. Or at least I will do, as soon as I get the motor and control gear sorted out.

 

The 61xx would then be used on direct trains to PDN

Have you read the book?  That explains what the turntable was used for.  Admittedly my personal knowledge of the line is in a different time frame from your layout but the turntable was only any use for enginen working through trains from and returning to Paddington and for various other trains run at the Regatta such as the Radley College special.   The only 'tanner one'rs' I saw working trains on the branch were not turned because they were only working to/from Twyford.

 

By the 1950s the turntable was still there but out of use and was of little value because the engines working the through trains came light from Reading or ran back there light after working their train so ran tender first over part of their journey.  By then any engines working specials which ran westwards, or arriving from the west, at Twyford ran tender first on the branch, hence you could occasionally see a 'Castle' working tender first ona passenger train of 8 or 9 coaches.

[TheSignalEngineer]

1 hour ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Glad you fixed it.

 

0.75mm doesn't sound much does it? I was just wondering what that would have been in "real life" 1:1 scale. About 54mm? Or two inches in old money? Would have been quite a big thump.

 

Fishplates on jointed track were shimmed to cater for uneven wear on the rail ends. The type of shim required was determined by putting a three foot straight edge across the joint and inserting a graduated wedge under the low side to determine the shim required on top of the fishplates. According to the old Permanent Way Institution book the available shims were up to 1/8" thick which at 4mm scale would I think be about 0.04mm.

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

Another "problem" I have found.

When running bunker first, the arrangement of trailing truck swivel and loads of side to side play in the wheelset, results in the truck wobbling from side to side most unrealistically.

 

First thing to do is put some washers on the axle so the wheelset is kept more central.

Then maybe a centering spring?

 

I have now put some fibre washers on both the rear truck and the rear driving wheels which has reduced the side to side play somewhat.

It's better but I would like it better still.

Strangely the old Hornby model is better without any fiddling with washers, but the rear truck is more controlled, there just seems to be an undue amount of slop in the new version.

It doesn't affect the running and most people probably wouldn't notice it.

 

[Neal Ball]

2 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Have you read the book?  That explains what the turntable was used for......

Yes Mike thank you and thanks as ever for the traffic information.

 

(I actually have two copies, but they are never to hand when I need them!)

 

 

[petrox]

For your info., just had another coupling rod screw start to unscrew - rear driving axle as before but fireman's side this time - hopefully only specific to my model and not a general problem - will keep checking regularly though.

[The Johnster]

19 hours ago, petrox said:

For your info., just had another coupling rod screw start to unscrew - rear driving axle as before but fireman's side this time - hopefully only specific to my model and not a general problem - will keep checking regularly though.

Had this a while back on the connecting rod crankpin screw driver's side of a 42xx.  Tiny drop of superglue in the tapped hole in the wheel solved it, but has yewkered the motion if I ever need to take it down!

[jazzer]

Apart from the rolling from side to side and the de-railing, what does it run like ? Is it a good slow runner ( on DC) and no tight spots ?

[Harlequin]

5 hours ago, jazzer said:

Apart from the rolling from side to side and the de-railing, what does it run like ? Is it a good slow runner ( on DC) and no tight spots ?

 

Not quite what you asked but, for what it's worth: Mine is a superb slow runner on DCC. Very smooth with no jerkiness.

 

I can set it going on notch 1 (of 128 with a speed map) and from a few feet back it's like watching the minute hand on a clock - you know intellectually that it's moving but you have to check it's position against fixed objects to be sure!

 

Close up video:

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by Harlequin
Added video

[RobMG]

21 hours ago, petrox said:

For your info., just had another coupling rod screw start to unscrew - rear driving axle as before but fireman's side this time - hopefully only specific to my model and not a general problem - will keep checking regularly though.

 

As a matter of interest, the last engine my dad drove on the day of his retirement was a 61'er  and on that last journey a coupling rod came adrift, so he didn't even get the engine back to the sheds !   Reading btw 81D

You could try a touch of Lock tight thread sealant on the screw.  They use it on tiny screws at the optitians I go to.  It won't make the screw impossible to undo, but it will make it less likely to come undone...

 

Rob

[petrox]

2 hours ago, RobMG said:

 

As a matter of interest, the last engine my dad drove on the day of his retirement was a 61'er  and on that last journey a coupling rod came adrift, so he didn't even get the engine back to the sheds !   Reading btw 81D

You could try a touch of Lock tight thread sealant on the screw.  They use it on tiny screws at the optitians I go to.  It won't make the screw impossible to undo, but it will make it less likely to come undone...

 

Rob

Thanks for the tip - I'll give it a try.

 

Pete

[DKGL]

Anybody fit a Crew to this model yet ?

Picked up my GWR version yesterday. The only way I can see is through the sides.

[gwrrob]

17 minutes ago, DKGL said:

Anybody fit a Crew to this model yet ?

Picked up my GWR version yesterday. The only way I can see is through the sides.

 

That’s good news, any chance of a few photos please.

[PMP]

9 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

 

That’s good news, any chance of a few photos please.

The aperture makes it difficult to get a crew in without breaking and entering. This is a Modelu https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product/1059/  which took quite a while to get to stand correctly.

 

Edited July 16, 2020 by PMP

[DKGL]

Many thanks. I'll look at this now. As I have the body off, the other idea was to remove part of the floor.

I'll check this out later.

[DKGL]

46 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

 

That’s good news, any chance of a few photos please.

I'll take & post later.

[The Johnster]

Crews are another of my soap boxes; I would like to see cab roofs of RTR tank locos (and some diesel and electric as well) that can be easily removed so that crew insertion can be accomplished without a degree in gynaecology or the services of lock picker.  Magnetic attachment, clip on, or light glueing would be fine.

[RobMG]

4 hours ago, PMP said:

The aperture makes it difficult to get a crew in without breaking and entering. This is a Modelu https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product/1059/  which took quite a while to get to stand correctly.

 

Bloomin eck, for a fleeting moment I thought it was real.  I am looking forward to getting mine . Just phoned to make sure they had ordered it at the model shop.  "Yes sir, couldn't say when it will be here, but we have got it on order" 

 

Rob 

[DKGL]

Some photos below.

Also, comparison from left Airfix, Hornby new tooling & old Hornby.

Regarding the crew, I'd be concerned about trying to place through the cab openings, like PMP did above, with the Modelu figure, which I have to say looks very realistic. With my luck, I'd probably get glue everywhere, so I'm going to remove part of the floor, from the inside (see photo below), and insert the crew that way.