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Hornby A2/2 and A2/3 (2020 Range)


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10 hours ago, robmcg said:

Looks superb! Exquisite lining, how many A2s can one person own? 

 

How can one not buy and engine with a name like 'Chamossaire'?

It's like the n+1 rule for bikes... The correct number to own is n+1, where is n is the number you currently have ;)

 

Personally, can I really justify another one? No.

Do I really need another one? No.

But having now seen the pictures of 'Chamossaire', do I want another one?? Most definitely!! Always a sucker for a nice, lined LNER livery...

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15 hours ago, Market65 said:

Good evening everyone. Earlier on today, I bought 500, Edward Thompson, from Monk Bar Models, York, and it seems to be much improved upon Thane Of Fife. The footplate is much straighter, and the cab seats and reverser are all vertical instead of leaning at crazy angles. The cab pipework is still in red and will have to be repainted. The tenders rear bufferbeam is seated in place correctly as far as I can see, and the waterscoop is facing the right way round. All in all much better, and I’m much happier with this model then Thane Of Fife. I will not be repainting it - apart from those pipes in the cab.

 

So here’s some photo’s which I hope will be of help.

4104A77C-DD49-41DE-AC9C-132B9AF805A8.jpeg.da2f611a95414c8366bb30b698b7f430.jpeg
 

504976A6-DA3B-4EDF-B94F-6FBC38D43F2A.jpeg.f4cef0ad5a8a0a19b5fe6efefe49159c.jpeg
 

72557B23-9102-49A3-9C89-844C01B1EDFA.jpeg.c046f93ff978dcae3433d426004806a5.jpeg

 

CA6C900A-7F08-4026-94A1-CA6460AAE4B5.jpeg.5fa41a51747d9850305d8635b9ffe6a2.jpeg

 

7E684FD5-7F3D-4AB6-B4FC-10077E90633F.jpeg.180caf9e25dcbbe29e5dae6c35f7ccc0.jpeg
 

Please note that the conduit that goes up to the top light on top of the smokebox is, in the photo’s loose with the light leaning slightly backwards. Well I’ve corrected that by carefully manoeuvring the light forward until it is vertical, and the conduit is now in proper contact with it. And the shade of green looks pretty close to how it should be. Like I said it will not be getting repainted.

 

Best regards,

 

 Rob.

A set of etched plates would finish that off lovely! There is a wonderful colour picture of No 500 (pretty sure it is 500 - the book is downstairs and I'm upstairs at the mo!) in this livery in the Strathwoods Eastern Steam Days Remembered 2. 

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7 hours ago, mattkimster said:

It's like the n+1 rule for bikes... The correct number to own is n+1, where is n is the number you currently have ;)

No, "n" is the number of bikes you need, and you should always aim to have n+1. 

 

An alternative metric is s-1, where s = the number of bikes you would have to own before your partner would want to separate from you. 

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I notice that Kernow have lovely copyright photos of 500 'Edward Thompson' and 514 'Chamossaire' on their site, but sold out and more expected in 28 days.  

 

The colours in their photos are often a tad warmer and richer than others.

 

No connection, but nice to see.

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I received Sun Castle back this afternoon. No notes from Hornby to say what they had done but they fixed the valve gear and looks like a new PCB and wiring.

 

Also had a tiny "careful fragile" sticker on the box this time and it was well packed inside using bubble wrap and cardboard off cuts.

 

Had her running briefly, lovely and smooth and quiet. One thing I did see was a spark off the rear right hand side driving wheel. No idea what would cause that, maybe the pick up strip behind the wheel? Didn't see it happen again running backwards. 

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500 Edward Thompson in its natural home (in amongst my rafters). Fox nameplates added (to please MikeParkin65 :D), although they haven’t caught the light. Unlike Thane of Fife, Fox hasn’t included builder’s plates although that is a bit of a relief as they are very tricky to fit straight. The drawbar has been turned around (thanks for the suggestion, locoman462) and put on the short setting. One of the front footsteps in the bag of bits was bent but it was straightened without need of hot water. All that remains to do is fit a Hornby hook with a screw link coupling in place of the plain hook at the front. Granted, some people don’t like the lack of a front NEM socket but I think it improves the front of the loco a lot. Hornby spoils it rather by not proving a proper screw link coupling. Real coal to be added. The only assembly problem I have noticed so far is that the speedometer bracket on the other side has been firmly glued in crooked. It’s a very nice model to have and reassuring after all the trouble with Thane of Fife.

 

Me being me, I do wish Hornby had provided flanged trailing wheels and the clearance to install them.

 

500 Edward Thompson.jpg

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3 hours ago, No Decorum said:

500 Edward Thompson in its natural home (in amongst my rafters). Fox nameplates added (to please MikeParkin65 :D), although they haven’t caught the light. Unlike Thane of Fife, Fox hasn’t included builder’s plates although that is a bit of a relief as they are very tricky to fit straight. The drawbar has been turned around (thanks for the suggestion, locoman462) and put on the short setting. One of the front footsteps in the bag of bits was bent but it was straightened without need of hot water. All that remains to do is fit a Hornby hook with a screw link coupling in place of the plain hook at the front. Granted, some people don’t like the lack of a front NEM socket but I think it improves the front of the loco a lot. Hornby spoils it rather by not proving a proper screw link coupling. Real coal to be added. The only assembly problem I have noticed so far is that the speedometer bracket on the other side has been firmly glued in crooked. It’s a very nice model to have and reassuring after all the trouble with Thane of Fife.

 

Me being me, I do wish Hornby had provided flanged trailing wheels and the clearance to install them.

 

500 Edward Thompson.jpg

Definitely brings the front end to life :)

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6 hours ago, No Decorum said:

500 Edward Thompson in its natural home (in amongst my rafters). Fox nameplates added (to please MikeParkin65 :D), although they haven’t caught the light. Unlike Thane of Fife, Fox hasn’t included builder’s plates although that is a bit of a relief as they are very tricky to fit straight. The drawbar has been turned around (thanks for the suggestion, locoman462) and put on the short setting. One of the front footsteps in the bag of bits was bent but it was straightened without need of hot water. All that remains to do is fit a Hornby hook with a screw link coupling in place of the plain hook at the front. Granted, some people don’t like the lack of a front NEM socket but I think it improves the front of the loco a lot. Hornby spoils it rather by not proving a proper screw link coupling. Real coal to be added. The only assembly problem I have noticed so far is that the speedometer bracket on the other side has been firmly glued in crooked. It’s a very nice model to have and reassuring after all the trouble with Thane of Fife.

 

Me being me, I do wish Hornby had provided flanged trailing wheels and the clearance to install them.

 

500 Edward Thompson.jpg

 

May I ask what kind of lighting that is, the green looks a tad washed out compared to Kernow's ads.  

 

Nice model though, I am struggling not to buy one!

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56 minutes ago, robmcg said:

 

May I ask what kind of lighting that is, the green looks a tad washed out compared to Kernow's ads.  

 

Nice model though, I am struggling not to buy one!

Nothing in the least sophisticated: fluorescent lights with an old Canon camera set to indoor lighting.  My camcorder produces much cooler results and my phone produces more saturated colours. For comparison, Hornby’s Cock o’ the North is just behind 500’s smokebox.

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A2/3's are looking good, particularly in the LNER green.

 

Following on my story of the broken linkage, Hornby did get back to me - took over a week, then once contact was made, they maintained it .... should have it running properly again within a week.

I needed to improve my modelling skills - pin crimping isn't as easy as it appears - unless you have the right tools, .... !!

 

Al.

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11 hours ago, robmcg said:

 

May I ask what kind of lighting that is, the green looks a tad washed out compared to Kernow's ads.  

 

Nice model though, I am struggling not to buy one!

Got an opportunity to see these ‘in the flesh’ yesterday at the wonderful emporium that is Monk Bar Model shop. I too was struck by the fact that the green is significantly less vivid than the Kernow photos.  Perfectly acceptable but a shade duller and dare I say it , flatter. For interest they also have the LSWR T9 that I ruled out as looking too acidic in most photos but that too is a much more subdued colour (and nearer most photos I have seen of the real thing). The cabinet at Monk Bar is also lit by fluorescent tubes I think.  All irrelevant as I came out with a Bachmann 24/1 :) 

 

 

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I reported a while back that I'll be getting a new body from Hornby for my "Thane of Fife".  Meantime I was running it on my layout yesterday, probably has 10 or so hours on it so far.

 

My circuits are 30' by about 10' so trains get a decent run. It had made a few circuits when right in front of me it stopped dead (from high speed) and fell sideways off the track.

 

The track is perfect (at least there) and never caused a derailment in that area. When I inspected it I saw the left side eccentric? was bent where it had hit the corner of the plywod platform.

 

Further inspection showed that the connecting rod on the right side had split into two and was dangling, obviously having then spun round and jacked the loco up.

 

No sign of the pin though I doubt I could have rejoined it anyway. So, another sorry saga. I'll be contacting Hornby today.

 

Syd

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5 minutes ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Got an opportunity to see these ‘in the flesh’ yesterday at the wonderful emporium that is Monk Bar Model shop. I too was struck by the fact that the green is significantly less vivid than the Kernow photos.  Perfectly acceptable but a shade duller and dare I say it , flatter. For interest they also have the LSWR T9 that I ruled out as looking too acidic in most photos but that too is a much more subdued colour (and nearer most photos I have seen of the real thing). The cabinet at Monk Bar is also lit by fluorescent tubes I think.  All irrelevant as I came out with a Bachmann 24/1 :)

 

 

Yes, the colour has a very subdued sheen but Hornby has done a very nice job on the livery (apart from the trailing and tender wheels, which are plain black). The lining is much more carefully done than on Thane of Fife although both models come from the same factory; GFT01. It’s my contention that a dark colour needs more sheen than a lighter colour.

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4 hours ago, No Decorum said:

It’s my contention that a dark colour needs more sheen than a lighter colour.

Thats a really interesting and valid observation - I agree.
 

I was more impressed with the model than I thought I would be - it has a great finesse about it though even with my liberal interpretation of ‘rule 1’ on a northern England 1960- 1966 ish layout there is no way I can run LNER liveries apart from 4472 and 4498. Wondering if I could sneak LSWR 120 in on a special tho ....... 

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I contacted Hornby yesterday just after my post above. I said I would be happy to fit the new components if that suited them.

 

The new parts, with, extra screws, arrived before lunch today and Thane is now up and running this past hour or so.

 

Hornby are doing a great job of sorting this saga, full marks in my case. Good to know parts were available as well.

 

Syd

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On 21/04/2021 at 21:21, MikeParkin65 said:

Got an opportunity to see these ‘in the flesh’ yesterday at the wonderful emporium that is Monk Bar Model shop. I too was struck by the fact that the green is significantly less vivid than the Kernow photos.  Perfectly acceptable but a shade duller and dare I say it , flatter. For interest they also have the LSWR T9 that I ruled out as looking too acidic in most photos but that too is a much more subdued colour (and nearer most photos I have seen of the real thing). The cabinet at Monk Bar is also lit by fluorescent tubes I think.  All irrelevant as I came out with a Bachmann 24/1 :)

 

 

 

LNER 500 has been duly purchased.  Having invoked severe discipline and buying this model rather than 514 I was persuaded by the 500 choice for no better reason than that I prefer the wider boiler lining spacing on 500....

 

So having said in the past that nobody could resist a name like 'Chamossaire' I have gone and bought 'Edward Thomson' instead.  Maybe I should take up politics?

 

If the shade of green is similar to other Hornby LNER engines it will be fine, as is the superb lining on the engine in photos I have seen,

 

I must read up on the different boilers fitted to these engines. Is 599 with a 117 and 514 with a 118? 

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Hi Rob, they all started with 117 boilers. They have round domes on the second boiler band. Only the first 2 had the wider boiler band spacing of Edward Thompson, the rest had 7 segments like Chamossaire, but they were still a diagram 117 boiler.  It was only later that they started fitting 118 boilers at major overhauls. One of your BR green Hornby models has that. The steam collector is streamlined shape and one boiler band further back than for the 117 boiler.

Tom

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22 hours ago, Silver Sidelines said:

I agree credit where credit is due, I too had a postal delivery from Hornby.

 

51132815749_1dd6b47545_5k.jpg

 

Sand Pipes for Steady Aim and Sun Castle

Well done getting these. Assuming an email to Hornby is all that is needed

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Amazing given their lack of any useful spares normally, they really need to follow Heljan and make every bit nominally available particularly given how many are too easily broken due to the use of plastic where metal ought to be used or even if plastic was okay theirs is all too often highly brittle in character.

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23 hours ago, robmcg said:

If the shade of green is similar to other Hornby LNER engines it will be fine, as is the superb lining on the engine in photos I have seen

 

Sadly my version of 514 turned up with one of the eccentric rods freely dangling and not attached back to the loco... but from the look I had of it in its packaging under natural light the green did look lucious and right on in my eyes!

 

Although a tad disappointing to have to wait a few more days, I'm now eagerly looking forward to running it's replacement.

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All fitted, a little tight, but running well again.

 

I notice the connecting / piston rods are thicker than recent previous locomotives - good move Hornby.

 

Big THANK YOU to Hornby for their support as well.

 

Al.

 

PS.  Just to explain, by 'tight' I mean the tolerances are just right. Movement is smooth and consistent, but the slider for the pistons is nicely made. Normally in other locos there's a risk of being too sloppy with pinch areas - not the case here.

Edited by atom3624
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For those wondering about the LNER livery, here is 500 as received today, nothing broken, nothing fallen off, runs smoothly.   5 out of 5 good A2s now.  But they don't go far on test track. :)

 

Photo is unedited but for crop and re-size. Lighting from adjacent window and reading lamp.

 

Img_0051ab_r2080.jpg.32028c5399671257604e52db1397069d.jpg

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