New Hornby Rocket

[Robin Brasher]

Just now, Robin Brasher said:

 

Completely confused by technology on this thread. Please ignore last post which I cannot delete.

 

What I intended to say was that referring to MGR Hooper's post the 'Rocket' is easier to remove than earlier Hornby models like the Q1 which I damaged just taking out of the box. The 'Rocket' box has finger holes at the back to push the models out. I have removed the cellophane wrappers so it is easier to put the models back in the box.

 

I am also now finding it easier to plug in the figures and the couplings as I think the slots have widened slightly with use.

[truffy]

43 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

Please ignore last post which I cannot delete.

 

You can hide errant posts from the options menu:

 

43 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

The 'Rocket' box has finger holes at the back to push the models out. I have removed the cellophane wrappers so it is easier to put the models back in the box.

 

Thinking of cellophane, I suppose you could make a cellophane 'cradle' to wrap the model and ease removal that way.

Edited March 10, 2020 by truffy

[boxbrownie]

11 hours ago, Worsdell forever said:

 

Sounds good and fine engineering, any chance we can see the way you have fitted sound please?

[Robin Brasher]

I have been looking at the availability of the forthcoming R3810 'Rocket' set. Although it has sold out on pre-order at Hattons and a lot of smaller model shops it seems to be still available at Rails, Kernow and Olivers Trains.

 

I wonder if there will be any differences in the couplings between the centenary set and the standard issue as the review in the Hornby Magazine and the instructions on R3809 say that the minimum radius track is 2nd radius or about 17" whereas the minimum radius quoted in the catalogue is radius 1 or about 15".

 

Although I bought the centenary set I think that the packaging on the standard set is equally attractive. I would also have preferred some new names for the coaches as the names on the centenary set duplicate the Tri-ang names whereas the standard set has the names 'Globe, Renown and Wellington' for the coaches. 

 

For me it is bad enough having two 'Rockets' on the same layout but having two sets of coaches with the same names is even worse.

[Coppercap]

20 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I have been looking at the availability of the forthcoming R3810 'Rocket' set. Although it has sold out on pre-order at Hattons and a lot of smaller model shops it seems to be still available at Rails, Kernow and Olivers Trains.

 

I wonder if there will be any differences in the couplings between the centenary set and the standard issue as the review in the Hornby Magazine and the instructions on R3809 say that the minimum radius track is 2nd radius or about 17" whereas the minimum radius quoted in the catalogue is radius 1 or about 15".

 

Although I bought the centenary set I think that the packaging on the standard set is equally attractive. I would also have preferred some new names for the coaches as the names on the centenary set duplicate the Tri-ang names whereas the standard set has the names 'Globe, Renown and Wellington' for the coaches. 

 

For me it is bad enough having two 'Rockets' on the same layout but having two sets of coaches with the same names is even worse.

 

The only difference will be the printing on the box and the names on the coaches. Why would the couplings be different? If you really want to know what the minimum track radius track it will run on, just try it and see! Hornby Magazine would just be quoting the radius from the instruction leaflet, and the catalogue often contains little errors.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Coppercap

[Robin Brasher]

I might try it on 1st radius curves.  The Terrier and a lot of Hornby industrial engines can run on first radius curves. If you have to take a model railway layout to a village hall for a club meeting it is a lot easier to take it in one piece in a hatchback with first and second radius curves than transporting  a layout with fourth radius curves.

 

I had heard from a retailer that the standard version would have Hornby couplings but the illustrations of the R3810 pack look like the only difference between the R3809 centenary version are the printing on the box and the names on the coaches.

 

I did not think it was worth paying the extra £10 for the centenary version. I like playing with my trains and now that I have run the 'Rocket' set, thrown away the cellophane wrapping and opened the box a few times the value of my centenary set will have plummeted as it is no longer mint and boxed. At least I know that it works and have enjoyed showing it to my friends . 

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Robin Brasher said:

Although it has sold out on pre-order at Hattons and a lot of smaller model shops it seems to be still available at Rails, Kernow and Olivers Trains.

 

Rails say (in the Product Description below the preorder button) Pre order allocation sold **Please note we are unable to taken anymore pre orders on this item **

Kernow "invite" preorders but are still advising a March 2020 delivery.

I'm not surprised that Olivias still have "More than 10 remaining" as though Rocket is at a normal sort of price, the usual markups at this retailer tend to make them less of a go-to than others!  They are also still advising a March 2020 delivery date.

 

23 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I had heard from a retailer that the standard version would have Hornby couplings but the illustrations of the R3810 pack look like the only difference between the R3809 centenary version are the printing on the box and the names on the coaches.

 

I don't really see that myself either!

 

 

 

 

[JSpencer]

1 hour ago, Robin Brasher said:

I had heard from a retailer that the standard version would have Hornby couplings but the illustrations of the R3810 pack look like the only difference between the R3809 centenary version are the printing on the box and the names on the coaches.

 

 

I doubt that they would tool up two different sets of coupling methods between the limited and standard release.

Technically speaking though - the couplings even on the limited set are dedicated to just these Rocket sets and is purely a Hornby idea - so one could argue that they are Hornby's and no one else's couplings.

 

[adb968008]

1 hour ago, Robin Brasher said:

I might try it on 1st radius curves.  The Terrier and a lot of Hornby industrial engines can run on first radius curves. If you have to take a model railway layout to a village hall for a club meeting it is a lot easier to take it in one piece in a hatchback with first and second radius curves than transporting  a layout with fourth radius curves.

 

I had heard from a retailer that the standard version would have Hornby couplings but the illustrations of the R3810 pack look like the only difference between the R3809 centenary version are the printing on the box and the names on the coaches.

 

I did not think it was worth paying the extra £10 for the centenary version. I like playing with my trains and now that I have run the 'Rocket' set, thrown away the cellophane wrapping and opened the box a few times the value of my centenary set will have plummeted as it is no longer mint and boxed. At least I know that it works and have enjoyed showing it to my friends . 

did i miss something ?

mine was in a cardboard box.

[brian777999]

What is that strange ''sheep'' noise supposed to represent ? 

[Robin Brasher]

I Possibly a whistle.  I cannot remember what the 'Rocket's ' whistle sounded like when I saw it at Hyde Park or if the 'Rocket' had a whistle.

 

I think my centenary 'Rocket' pack had a cellophane cover but what I meant was the cellophane which protected the coaches from the box. Anyway I have thrown all the cellophane away.

[Coppercap]

6 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

I Possibly a whistle.  I cannot remember what the 'Rocket's ' whistle sounded like when I saw it at Hyde Park or if the 'Rocket' had a whistle.

 

I think my centenary 'Rocket' pack had a cellophane cover but what I meant was the cellophane which protected the coaches from the box. Anyway I have thrown all the cellophane away.

 

It wasn't cellophane in the box, it was a much softer material more flexible than cellophane.

 

Incidentally, Rocket didn't have a whistle at the opening of the L&M, nor for a while after - they came into use in 1833.

[Pre Grouping fan]

I'm pretty sure I've seen videos of the replica where the driver blows a handheld  warning horn. Tbh the one in the video above does sound like a sheep but I've hear another model with sound that does sound very good. 

[Butler Henderson]

4 hours ago, Pre Grouping fan said:

I'm pretty sure I've seen videos of the replica where the driver blows a handheld  warning horn.

Agree - at least one video on YouTube (sorry no idea which one having looked at a lot recently)

[Edwardian]

Well, when Huskisson was on the tracks, apparently there was loud shouting through a speaking-trumpet to warn of Rocket's approach.

 

Alas, neither this, nor Wellington's "For God's sake get to your place!", was enough to get the MP out of the way in time. 

[PaulRhB]

Nice little badge arrived.

It would have been a nice touch to include these with the 100yr specials

 

[Edwardian]

17 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Well, when Huskisson was on the tracks, apparently there was loud shouting through a speaking-trumpet to warn of Rocket's approach.

 

Alas, neither this, nor Wellington's "For God's sake get to your place!", was enough to get the MP out of the way in time. 

 

I read that the L&M developed a whistle code in 1840, which may suggest that steam whistles on locomotives had not been in use on the line much before then.

 

Certainly, I would say, not a thing seen at either the 1829 trials or the 1830 opening.  I wonder who gave the warning to Huskisson? Was it someone in charge of train movements at Parkside?  That seems logical, as surely there must have been someone to discharge that duty, and I can see how you might anticipate the need to equip such a personage with a loud-hailer. 

 

Alternatively, though I feel this less likely, was it Joseph Locke himself from the footplate of Rocket?  The idea of locomotive crews going up and down the line in the 1830s without bells (suggested by the Manchester Guardian but not implemented) or whistles, but equipped with speaking-trumpets seems eccentric.

 

On the other hand, there is always the imitation of animal noises, or, perhaps, the installation of a nervous sheep on a buffer beam, to fall back on.

[PaulRhB]

They were still learning what the risks were so what seems logical to us probably hadn’t occurred to them, remember these were speeds no one had travelled at before. I think the previous man with a flag warnings had just been to warn horse owners of the noise that might startle their charges. The railway rule book is written by such lessons and sadly still being added to today for the same reason. The opening and trials saw far more people on the track than normal operation would and I’ll bet fencing the lineside wasn’t yet standard practice?

[The Stationmaster]

28 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

I read that the L&M developed a whistle code in 1840, which may suggest that steam whistles on locomotives had not been in use on the line much before then.

 

Certainly, I would say, not a thing seen at either the 1829 trials or the 1830 opening.  I wonder who gave the warning to Huskisson? Was it someone in charge of train movements at Parkside?  That seems logical, as surely there must have been someone to discharge that duty, and I can see how you might anticipate the need to equip such a personage with a loud-hailer. 

 

Alternatively, though I feel this less likely, was it Joseph Locke himself from the footplate of Rocket?  The idea of locomotive crews going up and down the line in the 1830s without bells (suggested by the Manchester Guardian but not implemented) or whistles, but equipped with speaking-trumpets seems eccentric.

 

On the other hand, there is always the imitation of animal noises, or, perhaps, the installation of a nervous sheep on a buffer beam, to fall back on.

There are suggestions in various sources that a hand held horn was used (presumably like the horn used on some stage coaches but presumably smaller).  The whistle is attributed to being first devised on the Leicester and Swannington Railway in the 1830s but a Wiki article (sorry) disputes this - while offering no alternative.

 

Ahrons discusses the details of  a number of Leicester and Swannington engines but makes no mention of the development of the whistle on any of them.  In fact he doesn't mention whistles at all!

Edited March 11, 2020 by The Stationmaster

[The Stationmaster]

11 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

They were still learning what the risks were so what seems logical to us probably hadn’t occurred to them, remember these were speeds no one had travelled at before. I think the previous man with a flag warnings had just been to warn horse owners of the noise that might startle their charges. The railway rule book is written by such lessons and sadly still being added to today for the same reason. The opening and trials saw far more people on the track than normal operation would and I’ll bet fencing the lineside wasn’t yet standard practice?

The legal requirement to fence railway lines was enacted in Section 10  of the Railway Regulation Act of 1842 and to apply to both new and existing railways.  No doubt prior to then any requirement to provide fencing other than at level crossings (which had been enacted in the Railway Level Crossings Act of 1839)  would have been under conditions placed by adjacent landowners at the time the relevant Bill to construct the railway was being considered by Parliament.

[Edwardian]

On 11/03/2020 at 12:46, The Stationmaster said:

There are suggestions in various sources that a hand held horn was used (presumably like the horn used on some stage coaches but presumably smaller).  

 

I read that the guards or brakesmen who sat atop the coach ends were equipped with horns, like their stage coach equivalents.

 

As one seems always to have been facing forward on the front end of the lead coach, when not being blinded by smoke or smuts, or set afire by the red hot ashes that seemed to pour forth from the chimneys of these locomotives, he would have had a grandstand view of the track ahead. 

 

[boxbrownie]

Blow that image up a bit and it does look like the “coachman” might be wearing goggles......or a semblance of them.

[JIJ]

45 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Blow that image up a bit and it does look like the “coachman” might be wearing goggles......or a semblance of them.

 

With gears glued on perchance? 

[boxbrownie]

3 hours ago, JIJ said:

 

With gears glued on perchance? 

I’m sorry, explain please....don’t get that one

[Edwardian]

So, I do have something to add to my list of unnecessarily unpleasant experiences that I never wish to repeat; O level Physics, Norovirus, James Cameron's Titanic. and, now, fitting the couplings to the Hornby Rocket set.

 

But, I admit, it was grand finally to run the set as a train.