Rails Announce OO 18000 Gas Turbine Locomotive

[Colin_McLeod]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

editor was always moaning he had to “flip” a piccy as we took it the wrong way around, we never got any complaints from the thousands of “faces” published…..just happy for the publicity usually.

 

That was probably because the person in the photographs did not know it was flipped as he/she is used to seeing a mirror image of themselves, in a mirror.

[No Decorum]

Speaking of mirror images*, one curious thing I noticed about the model was that the windscreen wipers are on the middle and offside cab windows but not the nearside window, meaning that it was right-hand drive, which was unusual for a British locomotive. I checked Marsden & Fenn and the drawing indicates wipers on the left and right-hand windows but not the central one. The photographs, though, all show them on the centre and off side only, so the model is perfectly correct.

 

*Sort of.

[Mark]

22 minutes ago, No Decorum said:

Speaking of mirror images*, one curious thing I noticed about the model was that the windscreen wipers are on the middle and offside cab windows but not the nearside window, meaning that it was right-hand drive, which was unusual for a British locomotive. I checked Marsden & Fenn and the drawing indicates wipers on the left and right-hand windows but not the central one. The photographs, though, all show them on the centre and off side only, so the model is perfectly correct.

 

*Sort of.

Possibly being originally ordered by the Great Western with right hand drive locos.

 

Mark

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

That was probably because the person in the photographs did not know it was flipped as he/she is used to seeing a mirror image of themselves, in a mirror.

No one ever noticed or complained TBH, these were pictures in newspapers where quite frankly tomorrow they are thrown away or wrapping chips…….it was that long ago 

Edited October 13, 2021 by boxbrownie

[Roy Langridge]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

... or wrapping chips…….it was that long ago 

Aah, the good old days 

 

I miss that.

Roy

[dibber25]

5 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

It doesn’t work for everything obviously, maybe not so common practice in reference books and the like but in newspaper publishing the picture editor was always moaning he had to “flip” a piccy as we took it the wrong way around, we never got any complaints from the thousands of “faces” published…..just happy for the publicity usually.

I did see it done once on an election leaflet. The candidate's portrait was flipped for the back cover. Only trouble was he had a rather obvious mole on one side of his nose - which side rather depended on which side of the leaflet you were looking at! (CJL)

[Edna Clouds]

On 12/10/2021 at 17:10, bubbles2 said:

I stripped the bogies out today, adjusted the bronze pickups that where making very limp contact with the back of the wheels if touching at all and added extra pickups to the centre axel wheels, now running very well and have worked out where the detail parts go. It’s a shame the orange pin strip above the buffers to the cab doors on the green livery has been missed off, I wonder if N scale modern cant rail strip transfer could be used to represent it?

And filing a bit of the inside of the bogie frames at the corners gives the bogies that bit more space to move, thereby doing away with the 'scraping' on bends. This can be done without removing the bogie from the chassis, though great care is required regarding the file shavings. Lots of 'blow and puff' while doing the job will help.

[peteskitchen]

7 hours ago, No Decorum said:

Speaking of mirror images*, one curious thing I noticed about the model was that the windscreen wipers are on the middle and offside cab windows but not the nearside window, meaning that it was right-hand drive, which was unusual for a British locomotive. I checked Marsden & Fenn and the drawing indicates wipers on the left and right-hand windows but not the central one. The photographs, though, all show them on the centre and off side only, so the model is perfectly correct.

 

*Sort of.

It was built right hand drive, as was 18100. That one was converted to left hand drive when it was converted to AC power. 

[MG 7305]

On 12/10/2021 at 17:10, bubbles2 said:

I stripped the bogies out today, adjusted the bronze pickups that where making very limp contact with the back of the wheels if touching at all

Thank you for giving me the courage to dismantle a GBP 200 model and fix the pick ups to the motor.  It was something of a marathon but I got there in the end and the running is infinitely improved.  I can now fit the details without worrying I may have to damage them to get the running up to standard.

Edited October 13, 2021 by MG 7305
Getting it right, inevitably!

[boxbrownie]

4 hours ago, dibber25 said:

I did see it done once on an election leaflet. The candidate's portrait was flipped for the back cover. Only trouble was he had a rather obvious mole on one side of his nose - which side rather depended on which side of the leaflet you were looking at! (CJL)

We had an election leaflet come through a few years ago and under the picture of the candidate it said “insert name hear” ……you just can’t get the staff 

[Michael Hodgson]

5 hours ago, Edna Clouds said:

And filing a bit of the inside of the bogie frames at the corners gives the bogies that bit more space to move, thereby doing away with the 'scraping' on bends. This can be done without removing the bogie from the chassis, though great care is required regarding the file shavings. Lots of 'blow and puff' while doing the job will help.

I tend to use lots of "damn and blast" when doing tedious jobs like that 

[GWR-fan]

It is in our nature to tinker with new toys,  but why does it seem that the more expensive the locomotive the more fettling needed.  At almost GBP200.00,  the "18000" will be the most expensive "OO" scale locomotive that I have purchased and it does dishearten me the number of issues raised with the new model.  While I have the ability to disassemble and rectify most issues found,  the thought that comes to mind is why should I have to.

 

I am not simply referring to minor cosmetic issues like say a missing lamp iron as on a recent Hornby issue or a dislodged whistle,  but surely power pickup is something which the factory should correct before dispatch.  How could a heavy,  long locomotive with eight wheel pickup stall over a crossing.  I had enough issues with six recently received Hornby B2 Pecketts to satisfy my need to do anymore tinkering on new purchases and now I fear another purchase is enroute and quite possibly will require some rectification.  I have no issue correcting faults on known faulty pre-owned purchases,  but when one is buying new then the expectations are much higher.

 

I have no problem with the R4 minimum limit on the "18000" but surely the manufacturer should have highlighted that.  The cynic in me suggests that such information would have certainly curtailed possible sales.  I had thought of pre-ordering a class "18100",  however,  with a price of GBP225.00 and possible running issues,   I will pass on it even though acquiring another quirky gas turbine powered WR locomotive did interest me. 

[Ian Hargrave]

7 hours ago, GWR-fan said:

It is in our nature to tinker with new toys,  but why does it seem that the more expensive the locomotive the more fettling needed.  At almost GBP200.00,  the "18000" will be the most expensive "OO" scale locomotive that I have purchased and it does dishearten me the number of issues raised with the new model.  While I have the ability to disassemble and rectify most issues found,  the thought that comes to mind is why should I have to.

 

I am not simply referring to minor cosmetic issues like say a missing lamp iron as on a recent Hornby issue or a dislodged whistle,  but surely power pickup is something which the factory should correct before dispatch.  How could a heavy,  long locomotive with eight wheel pickup stall over a crossing.  I had enough issues with six recently received Hornby B2 Pecketts to satisfy my need to do anymore tinkering on new purchases and now I fear another purchase is enroute and quite possibly will require some rectification.  I have no issue correcting faults on known faulty pre-owned purchases,  but when one is buying new then the expectations are much higher.

 

I have no problem with the R4 minimum limit on the "18000" but surely the manufacturer should have highlighted that.  The cynic in me suggests that such information would have certainly curtailed possible sales.  I had thought of pre-ordering a class "18100",  however,  with a price of GBP225.00 and possible running issues,   I will pass on it even though acquiring another quirky gas turbine powered WR locomotive did interest me. 

A thoughtful and incisive post.  A good idea to copy it to Rails who will be interested to read it

[Roy Langridge]

11 hours ago, GWR-fan said:

It is in our nature to tinker with new toys,  but why does it seem that the more expensive the locomotive the more fettling needed. 

 

I would disagree that the more expensive need more work, it is just that we are far more aware of that work given the likely cost involved if we get it wrong. My most expensive locos are SLW Class 24s (DCC Sound versions), and I have not had to touch one of those, yet have had to do work on quite a few lower priced models.

 

I fully agree with the remaining sentiment of your post. It does beggar belief that models of this calibre are needing remedial work to run from fresh out of the box. I refuse to pre-order any Heljan produced product having had my fingers burned too many times. As a result, I was very interested in getting an 18000 when they were out and about and the jury had formed an opinion. Now, I am not saying I won't get one, but I am very nervous about doing so given what has been seen so far.

Roy

Edited October 14, 2021 by Roy Langridge

[cctransuk]

5 minutes ago, Roy Langridge said:

 

I would disagree that he more expensive need more work, it is just that we are far more aware of that work given the likely cost involved if we get it wrong. My most expensive locos are SLW Class 24s (DCC Sound versions), and I have not had to touch one of those, yet have had to do work on quite a few lower priced models.

 

I fully agree with the remaining sentiment of your post. It does beggar belief that models of this calibre are needing remedial work to run from fresh out of the box. I refuse to pre-order any Heljan produced product having had my fingers burned too many times. As a result, I was very interested in getting an 18000 when they were out and about and the jury had formed an onion. Now, I am not saying I won't get one, but I am very nervous about doing so given what has been seen so far.

Roy

 

Mine performed faultlessly straight out of the box, and was complete with all its attached details.

 

CJI.

[Roy Langridge]

26 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

Mine performed faultlessly straight out of the box, and was complete with all its attached details.

 

CJI.

 

And therein lies part of the problem - too many locos are variable in quality, and some of the problems found only manifest themselves down the line, potentially when warranties have expired.

 

As an example, I have had five Hattons 66s in my hands - four of mine and one belonging to one of my sons. Four have needed remedial work, with a mix of three different problems (lights, steps, axle boxes). One was perfect from the get go. If a proper quality regime is in place, we should be getting a much better than 20% success rate.

Roy

[TrevorP1]

30 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

Mine performed faultlessly straight out of the box, and was complete with all its attached details.

 

CJI.

 

Same here. Very happy with mine.

[GWR-fan]

1 hour ago, cctransuk said:

 

Mine performed faultlessly straight out of the box, and was complete with all its attached details.

 

CJI.

 

I do hope that mine is also fault free.  I have only ever returned one locomotive to the UK and that was a three month turnaround with the replacement only marginally better than the failed model (and I had to pay the return postage).

[reddragon]

I've just had notification that my Sound 18000 is on the way

[boxbrownie]

5 minutes ago, reddragon said:

I've just had notification that my Sound 18000 is on the way

I haven’t…..money went a couple of weeks ago though 

 

I am keeping an optimistic view that the model will be perfect out of the box and run around my third radius curves without issue……although I do wish they had mentioned this in the initial announcement of the model details.

[stewartingram]

But, like it or not, ALL these models are built DOWN to a price level, and for years we have NOT been paying the true price for quality. How are they tested in the factory? Up & down a yard length of track? Round a simple circuit? To introduce loops, reverse curves, points etc would increase the costs- and increase the selling price.

Go back to my early days of H/D. What did an A4 or Duchess cost, in comparison to a weekly wage? Now add all the extra detail we get today and then compare.....

 

Stewart

[Colin_McLeod]

2 hours ago, Roy Langridge said:

As a result, I was very interested in getting an 18000 when they were out and about and the jury had formed an onion. Now, I am not saying I won't get one, but I am very nervous about doing so given what has been seen so far.

 

Bring tears to the eyes. 

[Roy Langridge]

11 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

Bring tears to the eyes. 

Doh - fixed 

[7013]

Mine has been running faultlessly, I do have big curves on my layout though, nothing is loose or fallen off. Installing the sound chip myself was easy, especially with the Roads and Rails speaker modification, everything just plugged in no soldering and plenty of room for the speakers which sit just above the bogies. Lights all work as advertised. Any disappointment I have is with the gas turbine sound (F3) which is quite quiet almost unobtrusive. My childhood memories were of a much louder gas turbine whine. I would turn that volume up if I knew how? I have a lokprogrammer but am a bit nervous on that at the moment, so any hints would be appreciated. My overall impression of this loco is excellent, and I can live with the quiet gas turbine sound. A beautiful model evoking my memories of seeing the prototype when working and me as a youngster thinking it looked like something from space, speaking of which, has anyone else noticed that the front of the black/silver version looks like Darth Vader?

[Edna Clouds]

1 hour ago, 7013 said:

Mine has been running faultlessly, I do have big curves on my layout though, nothing is loose or fallen off. Installing the sound chip myself was easy, especially with the Roads and Rails speaker modification, everything just plugged in no soldering and plenty of room for the speakers which sit just above the bogies. Lights all work as advertised. Any disappointment I have is with the gas turbine sound (F3) which is quite quiet almost unobtrusive. My childhood memories were of a much louder gas turbine whine. I would turn that volume up if I knew how? I have a lokprogrammer but am a bit nervous on that at the moment, so any hints would be appreciated. My overall impression of this loco is excellent, and I can live with the quiet gas turbine sound. A beautiful model evoking my memories of seeing the prototype when working and me as a youngster thinking it looked like something from space, speaking of which, has anyone else noticed that the front of the black/silver version looks like Darth Vader?

I've no problem with the quieter than expected turbine ... I turn up my hearing aid!