Tiddles47 Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 I got mine yesterday from Arcadia and Tim tested it in shop and i gave it a good run out today and i'm very impressed, no faults but the chains are very fiddley. I'm amazed at hoe small it is. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris89 Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 Crazy how small it is. Got to get it beside the Andrew Barclay i have. Mine needs running in a bit more, perfect in reverse, runs in forward but not perfectly yet. The coaches as well are super smooth rolling to. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSG Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 6 hours ago, Chris116 said: Doesn't look like it is second hand as they had four to sell and now have two left! Also they say they are NEW. There's always someone who cancels their pre-order. And some shops that cancel (or reduce) their orders with the manufacturer. In this context, bear in mind that many smaller shops without an online presence will have been closed since March and may well have cancelled orders they have with their suppliers as they don't want new stuff coming in (and having to be paid for) while existing stock sits unsold on the shelves. And any of that stock will have been made available for other shops to buy. So Rails, Hattons et al have probably been able to get their hands on some additional Rockets, if not all that many. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted July 3, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 3, 2020 Got mine today. Arrived with the chimney stays and whatever that pipe running up the chimney is rattling loose in the box. Got them all reattached but in the process I may have dislodged one of the wires, or maybe it was already off. Anyway. Only has pickup from the tender now.... Runs smoothly on the rolling road. Need to wait 'till I feel like doing teeny tiny soldering. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wainwright1 Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Hi All. Tested mine and it runs well, although with my old Tri-ang Hornby controller it does run like a rocket ! I did attempt running up several gradients as well and the loco seemed to be able to haul itself up successfully without slipping. Everything is very fine and fragile and needs handling with kid gloves. In fact one of the bottom coach foot steps fell off. On inspection, very little glue, so a minimum scrape to remove the original adhesive and a spot of superglue and it was back on again. I found that the coupling bar between the loco and tender was quite floppy and did not think that the tender would stay coupled up, although it seemed o.k. when I tested it. The wires however are quite stiff and were lifting the front set of wheels on the tender off the track. A slight adjustment and that was o.k., but I think that a further tweak to ease the tension will be in order, being very careful not to strain them and break the soldered connections. Observations: I only had a quick look, but I suspect that the models are moulded in yellow plastic rather than painted ? The loco seems to err towards egg and the coaches to lemon, not quite the same shade, but I do not think that anyone will want to repaint them. The luggage rails on the roof and those coming down from the roof onto the long steps on the ends of the coaches are etched and very fine. The other steps and brackets are I think moulded onto the ends. These have been picked out with black paint. However the edges of the steps and some of the fittings have either not been painted or painted badly. Looking at pictures of the replica coach used in 1980, the steps and brackets below the big steps should be black all over. The edges of running gear items, springs etc., have also only been painted on their front face and not the top and bottom edges, but these are not so noticeable. For the purists, these items could be picked over using a very fine brush carrying a minimum of paint so as not to get it where it is not wanted on the yellow areas. Now the only issue there is the finish on the black which is neither matt nor satin, maybe about half way between the two. Perhaps the Tamiya flat black black might do it as it has a slight sheen to it ? All in all this is a superb model and I would not expect our manufacturers to produce anything more detailed which could be used as a regular running model. Perhaps one of our enterprising figure makers could produce a replacement crew (slightly different pose to avoid copyright issues) in whitemetal with the same spigots on the feet and a plug weight to go down the chimney which would add some extra weight and aid the traction for the model ? Well done Hornby. Looking forward to the open coach and maybe other additions. Ray P.S. I believe that the long couplings go between the coaches and the short ones between the loco and coaches. I am glad that they have not fitted NEM boxes. They would have ruined the models. Has anyone made up their own couplings yet using fine chain and hooks ? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wainwright1 Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Hi All. Just to add that the presentation box is quite a complex construction in itself and mine seems to be trying to pull itself apart. Not sure what they stuck it together with, but it is not holding very well. The outside brown protective box is a tight fit and also made of a very soft cardboard. I had opened it very carefully with a flat edge so not to damage it but still had trouble getting the presentation box back inside. In fact the main flap at one end just squashed up. So be careful. All the best Ray 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcredfer Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 20 hours ago, 30801 said: Got mine today. Arrived with the chimney stays and whatever that pipe running up the chimney is rattling loose in the box. Got them all reattached but in the process I may have dislodged one of the wires, or maybe it was already off. Anyway. Only has pickup from the tender now.... Runs smoothly on the rolling road. Need to wait 'till I feel like doing teeny tiny soldering. I looked at the one which came my way, with a view to some running-in, before DCC. I applied a tiny amount of oil, from one of those needle oilers and put it on the rolling road. No go and a check revealed a loose wire. I took the front tender wheels off, but the scene was rather different to the one you kindly presented. There seems to be a coating of some glue like substance, which I have left alone for the moment. Could I ask if that was the case, for your disconnection? Looking at the wires, it looks like they are cable, rather than flex, can anyone with better eyes than mine confirm / say they aren't? Julian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wainwright1 Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 The wires on mine were very still, so perhaps single core ? Not ideal as they will break very easily, I would not think that they would use anything so inflexible. Ray 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TedW Posted July 4, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 4, 2020 I've just received mine fitted with a Loksound micro 5 decoder with stay-alive and a sugar cube speaker, all in the tender, from Olivia's trains. This means that the water barrel sits about 5mm higher in the tender and the coke load is tilted rather than flat, but to me that's an acceptable compromise as it sounds fine to me and runs smoothly. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Interesting point that, coke. Does the NRM replica actually run on coke, or use coal? Stewart 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted July 4, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 4, 2020 2 hours ago, jcredfer said: I looked at the one which came my way, with a view to some running-in, before DCC. I applied a tiny amount of oil, from one of those needle oilers and put it on the rolling road. No go and a check revealed a loose wire. I took the front tender wheels off, but the scene was rather different to the one you kindly presented. There seems to be a coating of some glue like substance, which I have left alone for the moment. Could I ask if that was the case, for your disconnection? Yes there is a coating on all the soldered joint.s. Maybe there's less of it on mine. I'm hoping the the plastic 'board' with the solder pads slides forwards and out by removing the little plug. I'd rather not be soldering near the tender... Once it's done I might try a blob of Evo Stick to keep the wires in place without being too rigid. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 What I had thought of, albeit mine is boxed up for return for repair, is fitting a suitably sized washer on the of the peg of the tender part of the tender coupling, once coupled, to keep the loco and tender coupled together and so not stress the wires. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcredfer Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 1 hour ago, 30801 said: Yes there is a coating on all the soldered joint.s. Maybe there's less of it on mine. I'm hoping the the plastic 'board' with the solder pads slides forwards and out by removing the little plug. I'd rather not be soldering near the tender... Once it's done I might try a blob of Evo Stick to keep the wires in place without being too rigid. Thank you for the information, that is very useful and the Evo Stick is a good idea, too. Am i right to assume that the little plug you refer to is the small black / white 4 wire item, to the right of the solder pad? That whole area is covered in the substance I referred to earlier and I can't even see the writing beneath. I might be worth getting in touch with Hornby, as it seems that the wiring is, perhaps less than suitable for purpose. julian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold adb968008 Posted July 4, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 4, 2020 Looking closely at Rockets tender.... Should I assume it rolled as smooth as silk, or that coal was such abundance no one cared how much spilled into the 4ft ? Its loaded right up to the edge of the tender, with not so much as a wooden board to hold it back ? just for fun and sizing, here is Rocket posing inside a class 45 bogie... 9 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted July 5, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 5, 2020 7 hours ago, jcredfer said: Am i right to assume that the little plug you refer to is the small black / white 4 wire item, to the right of the solder pad? That whole area is covered in the substance I referred to earlier and I can't even see the writing beneath. I might be worth getting in touch with Hornby, as it seems that the wiring is, perhaps less than suitable for purpose. Yes. It looks like the whole thing should slide out and make soldering easier. If yours is glued over that's... awkward. I'm not keen on the wires. Besides coming off mine prevent the tender sitting nicely on the track since it's so light. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcredfer Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 2 hours ago, 30801 said: Yes. It looks like the whole thing should slide out and make soldering easier. If yours is glued over that's... awkward. I'm not keen on the wires. Besides coming off mine prevent the tender sitting nicely on the track since it's so light. Thank you for the information, perhaps the glue / whatever, is intended to provide some sort of support at the joint. I suspect that trying to remove it may go beyond warranty terms. It seems that a conversation with the vendor and maybe an email to Hornby might be advisable before reaching for the soldering iron. Thanks again for your help and the clear picture. Julian 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cctransuk Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 10 hours ago, adb968008 said: Looking closely at Rockets tender.... Should I assume it rolled as smooth as silk, or that coal was such abundance no one cared how much spilled into the 4ft ? Coke, I believe. John Isherwood. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Noticed Kernow have a comment of "More stock due during July!" implying their are more R3810s on the way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom3624 Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Loved the photo inside the Class 45 bogie. It sums up the tiny dimensions of the Rocket model perfectly. Al. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Model Railway Guy Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 My Rocket arrived yesterday afternoon so I put together a quick video showing off some close up angles of the detail and plenty of shots of it running too incase anyone fancies having a look. Have to say I’m really impressed, although it looks like I got lucky as all the detail was intact on mine and it was a great smooth runner straight from the box. Very happy indeed 13 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eb1 Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 (edited) Got my Rocket today. Its a beautiful model and once run in I reckon it will perform well. One small problem though - the chimney is too tall to go into my Metcalfe tunnel entrance on the main line loop given the reduced clearance caused by the height of the track and the underlay. This presents no problems with any of the more "modern" rolling stock which is why I placed the tunnel directly onto the baseboard without raising it to the level of the underlay. In case anyone also has track laid on underlay, it may be a good idea to lift any Metcalfe tunnel entrances to accommodate Rocket if, like me, you didn't place the tunnel entrance on a raised base in the first place. I'm not going to bother just for this one loco which I am happy just to look at and run occasionally on and end to end basis between two stations avoiding my tunnel. Edited July 6, 2020 by eb1 clarifying my point 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUCKOO LINE Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Managed to run mine today for the first time. Had to remove station footbridge first,. However seems it must be on steroids, seems to think its a HST ! 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcredfer Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 32 minutes ago, CUCKOO LINE said: Managed to run mine today for the first time. Had to remove station footbridge first,. However seems it must be on steroids, seems to think its a HST ! It was..... in it's day. Julian 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 7 hours ago, CUCKOO LINE said: Managed to run mine today for the first time. Had to remove station footbridge first,. However seems it must be on steroids, seems to think its a HST ! 30 mph was unheard of in its day! A very early HST. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roddy Angus Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 A suggestion for those that have concerns about breaking the wires between the engine and the tender. If you strip a bit of the insulation of an appropriately sized piece of wire , it can be pushed onto the pin to hold the coupling between the engine and tender in place. This avoids the strain put on the wiring when the two unexpectedly separate while you are handling them. The insulation can just be slipped off if you need to separate or want to return to original condition. I hope this helps some people and I apologise if someone has already made this suggestion. Best wishes Roddy 2 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now