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New Hornby Rocket


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As promised, I had a go at butchering the foam for a Rocket set. The coaches are now a bit looser in the packaging although they are still very secure and won’t be damaged in transit. A simple modellers knife with a sharp blade is all I used to cut the foam.

 

852C9FD1-D9FE-42CC-8932-2E37AC3D7A80.jpeg.b95a16fc3c250150b5b611a91e8fb6d3.jpegCF639C45-F7F9-4C4B-B9C8-B08BB5EF0841.jpeg.f059b7d97e0515e69ef9148303a2eaed.jpegF3169B5F-F5DC-4BF0-8938-E190DC3A645D.jpeg.7caa0f561be869b5726d3c5ef12e1505.jpeg

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Had a crack at reattaching my wire.

What I thought was a plug on the tender bottom was actually a retaining clip where the flexible PCB pushes into the socket. I figured this out by breaking it....

Then a second wire came off...

Anyway. All the wires are back on and I have pickup on all wheels. I secured things with Evo stick in lieu of the broken clip. Hopefully it will still work when dry. More hopefully I can get it back in the box with all the wires still on.

IMG_20200827_172453.jpg.82defca0b7ca9b16219c3e8a3a566992.jpg

 

IMG_20200827_175350_1.jpg.73b2ec931634941740b5058e6f3876de.jpg

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Looking at the body it's seems odd that it simply does not lift straight off , see aaron3820s posting on page 57 of this thread.

 

The one difference I did, as will have been obvious from the photos I have posted, was to leave the driving wheels in place.

 

Fitting it back on is equally not a straight forward drop on. First check the upper motor wire contact is not in danger of being snagged and the wire ripped off

 

Then its a case of pushing it on, pressing on the front and rear of the boiler until it appears to nearly fitted right then pushing down hard on the front section until the driving wheels no longer turn freely, pushing on the rear and then on the front again and so on until it is firmly down; must be exceptionally tight on the motor. 

 

The two wire stansions at the front need to be repositioned in the right places.

IMG_20200827_170932860~2.jpg

Fit the tiny securing bolt in place, apply DC to the motor leads and check the motor still works and the driving wheels turn. The copper paint has been out on the main boiler side pipework and the domes. I used the Vallejo acrylic, which if any did mark the yellow simply was knocked off when dry. I used thin strips of baking / greaseproof paper to act as a paint barrier to the pipework. Looks is like the top of the rear dome got missed.

Edited by Butler Henderson
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The tender underneath breaks down as this

IMG_20200828_170732970~2.jpg

The black plastic piece is a push fit and looking in the bits box I did find a tiny 4 way plug but so far not it's matching socket, which does question Hornbys use of pcbs when such a plug/socket with solder contacts could have been used to terminate the wires. I can understand why a soldered joint is used as there is no real space on the loco to store any excess lengths of wiring and a lead fitted plug would be require some very precise cutting of its wires to get their lengths right. The main weakness of the design is that there is no cable clamp across the wires from the motor which would protect the soldered connections.

IMG_20200828_171803951~2.jpg

Edited by Butler Henderson
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New Book Alert.

For those actually wanting to model the L&MR this might be useful.

L&MR An Operating History by Anthony Dawson (he wrote a recent article about the L&MR in Back Track magazine).

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On 31/08/2020 at 13:57, Nile said:

New Book Alert.

For those actually wanting to model the L&MR this might be useful.

L&MR An Operating History by Anthony Dawson (he wrote a recent article about the L&MR in Back Track magazine).

 

I am considering making a small diorama/display layout for Rocket (and hopefully Lion soon too :wink_mini:) in the form of Edge Hill Station and the famous Moorish Arch: 

 

Unknown.jpeg.60f65b4522b81c5dfecb203b7d8d6046.jpegUnknown-1.jpeg.0011d32062eff0b8b2d368d9980de7d3.jpeg (images from Wiki) 

 

Fascinatingly, during my research for the structure I discovered that there are suggestions from certain groups to have a modern Moorish Arch built by 2030 for the bi-centenary of the L&M. I doubt this will ever go through though but nice idea, all that's left of the arch now are the steps on either side of it that you can see in the second illustration albeit hidden from public view. Just imagine the people who have walked down them... 

 

If I do decide to make this layout it won't be for a while but I will be sure to post about it on RM Web. That's not just to share mind you it's also because I'll need all the help I can get! 1830s art isn't really the most specific and or helpful for model making, the design, proportion and overall look of everything seems to change completely in each picture! 

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Final steps after refitting the body and hence the first for taking it off are refitting the connecting rod driving wheel nuts preferably using a 2mm nut spinner, and refitting the grey lever that runs down the left side of the firebox.

 

That plastic moulding  fits on the end of the wire rod that pushes across the chassis and stops the baseplate being removed (as referenced in a posting above).

 

The lever is however far too thick so I have not bothered to refit it.  Need to look for something to replace it with. The other end of it is attached to a wire rod that sits above the firebox supported by a plastic knob and if that part has fallen off, as mine had, it is pretty award to refit due to the plastic handle that projects immediately above.  

 

Finally refit anything else that has fallen off – in my case the pipework up the chimney. As an alternative in that respect the current issue of Model Rail has a photo of the Replica in steam without any pipework up the chimney.

 

Another part that came off, and broke, albeit whilst I was handling the chassis after getting the body off, was the pipework that wraps around the lower front of the firebox. Replaced with an appropriately shaped length of Alan Gibsons 4M815 detailing copper wire which made it the one length of incorrectly brass coloured pipework on the model that does not need painting.

 

Amusingly the Model Rail review emphasises “the fine copper pipework”, pity then the brass finish. I did add a spot of brass to two parts of the valve gear based on the photo of the Replica I was using and on the same basis painted the chimney stay rods white.

 

 

IMG_20200904_182931804~3.jpg

 

The one thing that improves the appearance no end IMO is painting the connecting rod and the bolt heads black. Not keen on the white bracket at the bottom of the chimney pipework as it looks as if it should be black their but the only clear photo I can find of that part of the Replica has it white.

Edited by Butler Henderson
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3 minutes ago, Butler Henderson said:

Final steps after refitting the body and hence the first for taking it off are refitting the connecting rod driving wheel nuts preferably using a 2mm nut spinner, and if required refitting the grey lever that runs down the left side of the firebox.

 

That plastic moulding  fits on the end of the wire rod that pushes across the chassis and stops the baseplate being removed (as referenced in a posting above).

 

The lever however not seem to have ever featured on the Replica so I have not bothered to refit it. The other end of it is attached to a wire rod that sits above the firebox supported by a plastic knob and if that part has fallen off, as mine had, it is pretty award to refit due to the plastic handle that projects immediately above.  Having left the rod off I suppose strictly the wire rod across the chassis is not needed and the support brackets should have been cut off.

 

 

I think the grey part you refer to is part of the reversing mechanism. On pictures of the replica the rods are black and very fine. Not sure why Hornby painted them silver but they should definitely be there, if not thinner

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19 minutes ago, Pre Grouping fan said:

I think the grey part you refer to is part of the reversing mechanism. On pictures of the replica the rods are black and very fine. Not sure why Hornby painted them silver but they should definitely be there, if not thinner

Thanks - blew up a photo on line and yes they are a lot finer - a pair of flat rods that come together in the middle of the length. Think I need to hunt for the box of metal strips. Edited my posting above.

Edited by Butler Henderson
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19 minutes ago, ovbulleid said:

Can anyone confirm- was Rocket a one-off design or were others made in the class? I was wondering about the feasibility of renaming one to a sister engine if they existed. 

 

There were several other Rocket class locomotives made, yes. However, Rocket itself was a prototype and the production class had several important differences to Rocket. Rocket itself was later modified to be more like the production class. And the design wasn't static; later Rocket class locomotives incorporated improvements as time went on so that the final member of the class, Northumbrian, while still recognisably a Rocket class loco, had some further innovations that were not present in any of its predecessors:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northumbrian_(locomotive)

 

If you want to be historically accurate, therefore, you can't really just rename the Rocket model. To be representative of the production class you'd also need to modify it, in particular giving it horizontal rather than angled cylinders - as Rocket itself later acquired, and as preserved :

 

https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8084947/stephensons-rocket-steam-locomotive

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I am from India. I purchased the Hornby R3810 in Feb and received it in July end. I was away from my residence because of Covid 19. I was able to unbox the Rocket & test the same in Sept 6 th. When I opened the box, everything was looking good. But when I gently removed the loco and tender with my 2 fingers pushing it from behind 2 slots, I found that one wire from Loco to tender was broken. Some how I resoldered it, but even after that Loco did not run.  I checked the connectivity with the multi meter  and then suspected that there must be connectivity issue.   I sent mail to customer care Hornby and informed them about the issue.  I am waiting for reply from them. Let us see, what happens. 
It costs huge amount of money to import trains to India because currency difference is huge, also shipping is huge, and we need to pay 42 % of customs charges. 

 

Now question in form of me is even Hornby is ready to repair it , who will bare the both way shipping  and how can I convince India customs that this is not new purchase so that it will not attract customs charges. 

 

I am really disappointed and worried now !!

 

Just shared my thoughts and experience. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Kaustubh
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20 minutes ago, Kaustubh said:

I am from India. I purchased the Hornby R3810 in Feb and received it in July end. I was away from my residence because of Covid 19. I was able to unbox the Rocket & test the same in Sept 6 th. When I opened the box, everything was looking good. But when I gently removed the loco and tender with my 2 fingers pushing it from behind 2 slots, I found that one wire from Loco to tender was broken. Some how I resoldered it, but even after that Loco did not run.  I checked the connectivity with the multi meter  and then suspected that there must be connectivity issue.   I sent mail to customer care Hornby and informed them about the issue.  I am waiting for reply from them. Let us see, what happens. 
It costs huge amount of money to import trains to India because currency difference is huge, also shipping is huge, and we need to pay 42 % of customs charges. 

 

Now question in form of me is even Hornby is ready to repair it , who will bare the both way shipping  and how can I convince India customs that this is not new purchase so that it will not attract customs charges. 

 

I am really disappointed and worried now !!

 

Just shared my thoughts and experience. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Who did you buy the model from, Kaustubh? If it was from a majr retailer, they will usually wear the costs of postage to and from their premises, and they take care of the warranty requirements from Hornby.

If you bought directly from Hornby, you may have to negotiate this though. They *should* wear those costs, but experience tells me they may try to avoid that.

At present they are also restricted at present in what they cn handle as far as remote locations are concerned. I have a claim with them for a defective TTS decoder, but they can't do anything until covid restrictions are eased.

 

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As previously proposed replaced the "gear levers" moulding with two cut lengths of etched brass "waste" from a detailing pack. Glued together in a very elongated X, primed and painted black so really they are pretty invisible bar the handles (silver to replicate those on the replica). Glued to the end if cross wire on the underside of the chassis that Hornbys moulding fits into 

IMG_20200914_094018105~3.jpg

Also added the missing part of the chimney pipework that turns back down the front of the boiler

 

IMG_20200914_093742834~2.jpg

Edited by Butler Henderson
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  • 3 weeks later...
9 hours ago, Chrisr40 said:

Has there been any update on the open third class wagon/coaches at all ? Apologies if I have missed it.

Chris

 

9 hours ago, wainwright1 said:

Last mention I saw was January 2021.

 

Ray

 

They're listed as "coming soon"

https://www.Hornby.com/uk-en/shop/coming-soon.html

 

Quote

The wait is nearly over! Browse the new products below that will be arriving over the next few weeks - all of these products are now en route by sea or air to Hornby HQ.

 

If thats to be believed!

 

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