Hornby - New tooling - Large Prairie

[The Johnster]

One of my soap boxes; why can cab roofs not be easily removable so that we can fit crews in in whatever poses we want easily, and maybe put tea cans on the shelf over the firebox doors?  Sub £100 models are rare deze daze and the fraction of cost increase that an easily removable, perhaps magnetically attached, cab roof would incur would surely not be enough to affect the market for any model

 

While we're at it, can we have removable roofs on coaches as well for the same reasons.  And can someone give me a million pounds by tea time.  The latter is more likely to actually happen...

Edited August 12, 2020 by The Johnster

[NCB]

On 10/08/2020 at 23:31, melmerby said:

1) There is a picture of 6110 in RCTS Pt 9 taken in 1931 and the lettering looks to be in the same place with the tops of the lettering just below the grab handle by the shutter, so I would say that it is correct for this loco with this insignia.

2) This feature seems to vary so maybe the pipework varied but the whistles should IMHO be upright.

 

3) Looks like it is the tank strap, not part of the boiler cladding and it seems more obvious in some pictures than others, but never as much clear air between it and the boiler.

4111 in BR days:

 

 

Thanks for the info. I've found a pic of 6110 in Prairie Papers Vol. 2 with Great Western in more or less the same place, so it is OK. Wonder if the whistles are amenable to bending upright... An alternative would be to find some brass ones.

 

Nigel

[melmerby]

I've had a closer look re whistles.

Mine are upright.

Ditto running plate. LH has a slight droop barely noticable, RH is pretty straight.

 

One thing that is bugging me is the loco stall at very low speeds, on one particular piece of track work. The rails are spotless and all have current, they are flat but the prairie stops on it.

I have tweaked the wipers, cleaned the wheels but it still stops as if it's lost contact.

The track is a code 75 electrofrog crossing and all the wheels seem to be sitting on live track.

No other locos stall on this crossing, even an 0-4-0 takes it.

[The Johnster]

Only thing I can suggest is a wheel not sitting on the railhead properly.  Place the loco upright on a mirror, and look closely for any, even the tiniest, gap between a flange edge and the flat mirror surface.  This can be caused by crud getting between the axle surface and the bearing or the bearing and the recesses un the bottom of the chassis block.  If this is not the cause, it may be that crud in one of the flangeways is lifting a wheel fractionally, but I’d have thought other locos would give problems at this spot as well.  
 

As for whistles and running plates, I couldn’t see anything wrong with the running plates of the models I looked at in Antics Cardiff today, but one had whistles leaning forward slightly.  You wouldn’t notice but for the brass operating levers.  

[john dew]

Hardly breaking news .......but there are prairies in Canada

 

 

 

 

No broken bits, I think the whistles are straight and she ran fine on the DC rolling road. I dont have a decent run of DC track so the big test will come when I plug in a spare Lenz decoder into what will become 4121

 

Lots to do, the other loco (4124 to be) is still to emerge from its chrysalis.......more to come

[melmerby]

7 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Only thing I can suggest is a wheel not sitting on the railhead properly.  Place the loco upright on a mirror, and look closely for any, even the tiniest, gap between a flange edge and the flat mirror surface.  This can be caused by crud getting between the axle surface and the bearing or the bearing and the recesses un the bottom of the chassis block.  If this is not the cause, it may be that crud in one of the flangeways is lifting a wheel fractionally, but I’d have thought other locos would give problems at this spot as well.  
 

As for whistles and running plates, I couldn’t see anything wrong with the running plates of the models I looked at in Antics Cardiff today, but one had whistles leaning forward slightly.  You wouldn’t notice but for the brass operating levers.  

Thanks for the tip, I had totally forgotten about using glass to check levels.

It looks like there is a smidgen of clearance under the middle drivers A piece of 80gsm paper will pass under the LH flange and drags under the RH, the other 4 wheel flanges are on the glass.

The chassis seems very rigid with no up down play in the axles, unlike most of my other locos.

Maybe it'll improve once there's some wear?

 

EDIT

My mod of springing the pony truck for better trackholding seems partly to blame as removing the spring has improved the slow running through crossings etc. Now much smoother.

I think a trip to the workshop to ballast the loco up to a more reasonable weight and try re-springing the pony truck

Edited August 14, 2020 by melmerby

[The Johnster]

One would hope so.  I'd take photos and send it back for a replacement, otherwise you'll have a loco you're never quite 100% sure about...   

 

 

[melmerby]

I have bitten the bullet and decided to add some mass.

I have managed to get about 90 grams of lead in various places and that has brought the total mass up to around 320g, much nearer to the old model.

This has improved running no end with much surer movement through complex bits of trackwork and no doubt increased it's haulage as well.

It is now a very smooth runner.

[gwrrob]

5 minutes ago, melmerby said:

 

I have managed to get about 90 grams of lead in various places and that has brought the total mass up to around 320g, much nearer to the old model.

 

 

Whereabouts did you put the lead exactly.

[melmerby]

10 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

 

Whereabouts did you put the lead exactly.

Most of it on the shelf either side of the motor* - that was about 2 thirds of the total, the rest on the speaker mount under the bunker. (I don't do sound

There's still room in the bunker for more.

If you don't do DCC then there is room in & on the DCC receptacle at the front.

 

*just make sure the flywheel isn't obstructed.

[john dew]

On 07/08/2020 at 04:18, St Enodoc said:

I fitted a longer screw that bottoms in the pivot hole. It has a standard M2 thread.

Hi John

 

Could you tell me the length of the replacement screw that you used please?

 

It would also be very helpful if you could suggest possible Hornby donors for said replacement screw. It probably will not surprise you to know that until your post I had never heard of an M2 screw 

 

Best wishes

 

John

[melmerby]

11 hours ago, john dew said:

Hi John

 

It probably will not surprise you to know that until your post I had never heard of an M2 screw 

 

Best wishes

 

John

Isn't Canada Metric?

For some reason I thought it was, in contrast to most measurements in their Southern neighbour.

[john dew]

21 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Isn't Canada Metric?

For some reason I thought it was, in contrast to most measurements in their Southern neighbour.

Hi Keith

 

You are correct....Liters and Kilometers.....but building materials are feet and inches because of the states.

 

In this case I am hoping the m2 screw will emerge from my spares box imported from Hornby UK/China! Failing that I may have to try your solution with a turn of thin wire

 

cheers

 

John

[St Enodoc]

On 18/08/2020 at 11:08, john dew said:

Hi John

 

Could you tell me the length of the replacement screw that you used please?

 

It would also be very helpful if you could suggest possible Hornby donors for said replacement screw. It probably will not surprise you to know that until your post I had never heard of an M2 screw 

 

Best wishes

 

John

John, as Keith has hinted it's a standard ISO metric thread screw - 2mm outside diameter x 0.4mm pitch, with a pan head and a thread length of about 6mm. It came from a pack of assorted M2 screws, washers and nuts that I bought from a local electronics shop several years ago. I put a plain washer under the head and screwed it in until it bottomed in the hole in the Prairie chassis, which left about 0.5mm between the screw and the pony truck pivot.

[NCB]

In spite of the fact it's not my scale, couldn't resist one of these, so have just unpacked and tested 6110. Impressed, runs very quietly and smoothly on DC, even though you have to be sensitive with the throttle. Very minor negs:

 

1) footplate very slightly bent, but prototype footplates often were.

2) chimney seems to be a copper rim slid over a black core, which looks a bit odd.

3) whistles aren't vertical.

4) I like darkish greens for GWR locomotives, but maybe this is just a tad too dark.

 

Otherwise, captures the look of these locomotives superbly. Checked the pony trucks and can't see that there'd be any problem with them; seem to have enough play. Well done, Hornby.

 

Nigel

Edited August 22, 2020 by NCB

[PMP99]

Just seen that GWR version '6110' and BR black '6145' are down to £105 at 'Bure Valley Models'.  Seems a good discount.

 

[melmerby]

On 21/08/2020 at 00:55, NCB said:

In spite of the fact it's not my scale, couldn't resist one of these, so have just unpacked and tested 6110. Impressed, runs very quietly and smoothly on DC, even though you have to be sensitive with the throttle. Very minor negs:

 

3) whistles aren't vertical.

 

Nigel

Try gently easing them back to vertical.

The ones on my 6110 were pretty well damn upright but quite a few have noted forward leaning ones.

[rembrow]

According to Kernow Models, in their latest newsletter, last Friday, they are expecting the lined BR green late crest versions in the next couple of weeks

[aaron3820]

How's the green on these locos compared to other GWR locos Hornby has produced? The green they've used on the Kings for example is terrible

[57xx]

On 21/08/2020 at 00:55, NCB said:

4) I like darkish greens for GWR locomotives, but maybe this is just a tad too dark.

 

That's a first, normally people are whinging Hornby's GWR green is too light.

Edited August 26, 2020 by 57xx

[NCB]

4 hours ago, 57xx said:

 

That's a first, normally people are whinging Hornby's GWR green is too light.

 

Yep, I've seen insipid greens from Hornby. This isn't bad, and maybe the lighting it's viewed in makes a difference.

[Henry 84F]

Evening all, 

 

Apologies if this has been covered. I'm getting around to DCC fitting my Prairie. This is what I find under the body: the blanking plate tucked underneath the wires that feed the motor. To remove the blanking plate would risk prising these wires from the PCB underneath. Am I being daft? Is there a simpler way?

 

Thanks,

Henry 

 

 

[Covkid]

Thanks Henry. That is rather poor factory practice, because I cannot believe the wiring was designed like that.

[Henry 84F]

37 minutes ago, Covkid said:

Thanks Henry. That is rather poor factory practice, because I cannot believe the wiring was designed like that.

 

The wires are knotted above the blanking plate and even when gently shuffled around, there is no clear way of getting the blanking plate out. I keep referring to the model's paperwork and it is definitely the blanking plate confined underneath this wiring. The more I look at it, the more I am convinced it is not right at all. 

 

Frustrating!

[melmerby]

Can you unscrew the PCB and untwist the wiring?