Hornby - New tooling - LMS Princess class

[aaron3820]

I’ll have to find my plunger pickup Princess to do a comparison between old and new at some point. For now though a later 1960s Aus made Princess will suffice. 
 

[JSpencer]

4 hours ago, aaron3820 said:

I’ll have to find my plunger pickup Princess to do a comparison between old and new at some point. For now though a later 1960s Aus made Princess will suffice. 
 

 

I wonder how she compares with the 80s version.

 

[aaron3820]

Is that the tender drive model? Haven’t got one of those to compare it with 

[Ian Hargrave]

There are no comparisons.This model stands out from the crowd.Hornby have taken the Lizzie from the mediocre to the sublime in producing this. It has a massive authentic presence couple with the execution of fine minute detail ....from the rivets ( sorry,folks ) to the handrails along the boiler and the smokebox door securely fitted in place.Below the running plate is well up to Hornby’s best too.But the crowning glory is the beautifully rendered paint job...certainly lifelike with an eyecatching shine just a tone down from gloss,topped off by delicate lining,lettering and numbering..

 

Performance ?  Muscular and fuss free with anything most will care to hang behind it on a layout.

 

Finish ? Nothing fell off out of the packaging nor in subsequent track testing solo and with load.

 

Factory code : TEC05.......we’ve seen this before I think.

 

The best antidote to the disappointment so far that some have suffered with Rocket and should serve to restore faith in the brand.Maybe “Size matters” ?

[Pete the Elaner]

Mine seems to have a running fault: the bogie jumps off the rails with very little prompting, but always at the same locations, even in 1 instance on straight track.

My earlier Princesses & my Duchesses (including the latest one) seem to run fine in this respect. My first suspicion is b2bs but I was surprised to find that these needed no adjustment.

I suspect that slightly different springing or maybe a small weight on the bogie will sort this. I am open to suggestions as to what I should try first.

[Ian Hargrave]

19 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

Mine seems to have a running fault: the bogie jumps off the rails with very little prompting, but always at the same locations, even in 1 instance on straight track.

My earlier Princesses & my Duchesses (including the latest one) seem to run fine in this respect. My first suspicion is b2bs but I was surprised to find that these needed no adjustment.

I suspect that slightly different springing or maybe a small weight on the bogie will sort this. I am open to suggestions as to what I should try first.

I believe it’s different from the Duchess.Those I know had that problem that was cured by executing a slight down tweak on  the bogie.Try it to see if it makes a difference.

[Pete the Elaner]

9 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

I believe it’s different from the Duchess.Those I know had that problem that was cured by executing a slight down tweak on  the bogie.Try it to see if it makes a difference.

I've just had a little play. The arrangement is certainly the same as my City of Edinburgh with a centre mount & spring to hold the bogie down (although the dimensions may well be a little different). The earlier Princess had a bar from the chassis block & your description sounds something I remember doing with locos which have this arrangement.

On the new Princess the. spring holding the bogie down feels very slightly softer than the Duchess. Unfortunately the bogie is held by a screw from above, so I need to remove the body to get to it.

[MikeParkin65]

2 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

I've just had a little play. The arrangement is certainly the same as my City of Edinburgh with a centre mount & spring to hold the bogie down (although the dimensions may well be a little different). The earlier Princess had a bar from the chassis block & your description sounds something I remember doing with locos which have this arrangement.

On the new Princess the. spring holding the bogie down feels very slightly softer than the Duchess. Unfortunately the bogie is held by a screw from above, so I need to remove the body to get to it.

With the Duchess having fitted Alan Gibson front wheels I had the same issue - the wheels are nearer scale (smaller) with thinner tyres. Rather than bend the arm from which the bogie is suspended I experimented by unscrewing the bogie and then adding small shims to bring the wheels into firmer contact with the track. Too thick and you lift the drivers of course. Ideal thickness for me was the clear plastic wallet from a Peco electrofrog point!

[Pete the Elaner]

1 minute ago, MikeParkin65 said:

With the Duchess having fitted Alan Gibson front wheels I had the same issue - the wheels are nearer scale (smaller) with thinner tyres. Rather than bend the arm from which the bogie is suspended I experimented by unscrewing the bogie and then adding small shims to bring the wheels into firmer contact with the track. Too thick and you lift the drivers of course. Ideal thickness for me was the clear plastic wallet from a Peco electrofrog point!

The bogies from the new Princess & Duchess are not suspended from an arm like slightly older versions. They hang directly from the body (it actually looks like the cylinder assembly) from a screw in between the axles.

I bought some roadwheel balance weights not so long ago. I was thinking of adding one to the bogie if there is sufficient space.

[MikeParkin65]

2 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

The bogies from the new Princess & Duchess are not suspended from an arm like slightly older versions. They hang directly from the body (it actually looks like the cylinder assembly) from a screw in between the axles.

I bought some roadwheel balance weights not so long ago. I was thinking of adding one to the bogie if there is sufficient space.

Yes sorry - I am talking about the new version - by 'arm' I means the bracket that extends from the chassis block mounted just in front of the leading axle as you describe. To be clear this isnt mounted from the body - it is from the metal chassis.

[apollanaut]

I forgot to mention that I tried running my Princess with the tender coupling bar set for close coupling. This closed the gap between loco and tender for improved realism. She had no problems navigating the curves with a full train behind.

 

I only tested this on the outer main line circuit on my layout, which has 33 1/4 inch radius curves.

[jacko]

13 hours ago, apollanaut said:

I forgot to mention that I tried running my Princess with the tender coupling bar set for close coupling. This closed the gap between loco and tender for improved realism. She had no problems navigating the curves with a full train behind.

 

I only tested this on the outer main line circuit on my layout, which has 33 1/4 inch radius curves.

have you done this with the flanged wheels on the rear truck?

[apollanaut]

1 hour ago, jacko said:

have you done this with the flanged wheels on the rear truck?

My test runs with other large Hornby Pacifics were unsuccessful with flanged wheels on the trailing truck, so I didn’t try this with the Princess.

 

I might give it a go at some point, but I’m not that hopeful, as the Princess Class has such a long wheelbase.

Edited March 3, 2020 by apollanaut

[atom3624]

Would be interesting to see a side-by-side of the OO and HO sized Princesses.

 

Al.

[Ian Hargrave]

17 minutes ago, atom3624 said:

Would be interesting to see a side-by-side of the OO and HO sized Princesses.

 

Al.

HO ?  Was there such ?

[Black 5 Bear]

38 minutes ago, atom3624 said:

Would be interesting to see a side-by-side of the OO and HO sized Princesses.

 

Al.

The only British steam locomotive modelled in HO scale that I can immediately think of was the Rivarossi, parallel boiler, Royal Scot (6100 4.6.0).

From recollection, this loco was produced in crimson LMS livery back in the late 70s.

A fantastically detailed model for the time and an excellent runner.

 

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by Black 5 Bear
Mistake

[atom3624]

On a serious note, didn't Trix have some HO gear?

 

I was 'having a little go' at the Black 5 sized old Princess - I had one myself when I was 12, then was gutted when I found out how much out of scale it was!!

Couldn't knock the performance, it went great, even with 6' drivers instead of 6'6" ...

 

Al.

[Cor-onGRT4]

And here is the making of Princess Royal 6207

 

pure craftsmanship

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuSlq_loG4Y

Edited March 3, 2020 by Cor-onGRT4

[aaron3820]

8 hours ago, Black 5 Bear said:

The only British steam locomotive modelled in HO scale that I can immediately think of was the Rivarossi, parallel boiler, Royal Scot (6100 4.6.0).

From recollection, this loco was produced in crimson LMS livery back in the late 70s.

A fantastically detailed model for the time and an excellent runner.

 

 

PSM released Korean made brass models of Flying Scotsman and other A3s in HO scale back in the 1990s. They were going to do the A4s and a further range of models (including Castles, Kings etc) but these never eventuated. When they come up for sale they regularly pull between $2 - 2.5k. 

 

[Black 5 Bear]

16 hours ago, atom3624 said:

On a serious note, didn't Trix have some HO gear?

 

I was 'having a little go' at the Black 5 sized old Princess - I had one myself when I was 12, then was gutted when I found out how much out of scale it was!!

Couldn't knock the performance, it went great, even with 6' drivers instead of 6'6" ...

 

Al.

Trix produced British outline models to a scale of 3.8mm/ft, this being in-between HO and OO.

All stock was produced to this scale such as the Peppercorn Pacific, Western and E3000 classes.

Quite good models for the day.

Edited March 4, 2020 by Black 5 Bear

[45568]

3 minutes ago, jf2682 said:

Hmmm.  The Trix coaches were certainly to 3.8 mm: foot, but If I recall the E3000 loco and Western were 4mm scale.  There are several E3000 upgrades on this forum and there is no indication of the engine being underscale.

JF

The 'Western' definitely was to 3.8mm/ft, I had one in 1965? purchased on holiday in Torquay, (59 Ellacombe Road), and it was smaller than my other Tri-ang 4mm stock.

 A shame, as the model was, for it's day, very good and ran well.

Cheers from Oz,

Peter C.

[atom3624]

Didn't the Western come out under the Liliput name around 1976, 1977?

 

I remember purchasing one then being gutted it was the wrong size ... !!

 

Performance was good, with traction tyres as well.

 

Al.

[Butler Henderson]

1 hour ago, atom3624 said:

Didn't the Western come out under the Liliput name around 1976, 1977?

From 1974 assembled in Wales by Liliput UK from parts made in Austria.

[atom3624]

I purchased one as soon as they came out ... so was younger than I thought - could explain my reaction and ignorance!

I think it cost £14?  Only a guess, it was 45 years ago!

 

Al.

[Opelsi]

I have the 1970's Lizzy with smoke and sound (my 2nd ever loco as a 3 or 4 year old), proudly in the display case beneath the layout.

 

Also the early 2000's variant which is lovely.

 

Just received the latest rendition, what a thing of beauty. Duly run in on the rolling road and now fitted (dare I say) with TTS decoder. So in the best part of 50 year things have come round from 'smoke and sound' to 'flickering firebox and sound'!