New Hornby Code Numbers, a new era?

[robmcg]

Dear All,

 

With a 2012-announced model of LMS 6205 'Princess Victoria', Hornby reached an end of its current number series 'R3***' with R3999 and R3999X,  so we now have new models with an extra digit, a '0'  after the three... presumably because a '4' at the head of four digits won't work. Or a computer says 'no'.

 

LMS 6203 'Princess Margaret Rose' is thus R30001, and such as LNER No.45 'Lemburg' is R30087.

 

I suppose the move to R and 5 digits had happen sooner or later.  Perhaps the new series will not interfere with any existing number series?

 

 

Andy Y closed the thread regarding the site's slight teething issues.

 

Let us hope it can get better.  I am presuming the new numbers for engines with R3**** will be part of a wider expansion.  Interesting though.

 

Apologies if this has been noted elsewhere.

 

Cheers

 

 

[truffy]

3 hours ago, robmcg said:

presumably because a '4' at the head of four digits won't work. Or a computer says 'no'.

 

Already in use. I have a stack of R4*** carriages. 

[Legend]

Isn’t it just that R3xxx or R3xxxxx are reserved for locomotives?  Must admit not looked at this for long time . I still have R600, R601 series etched in my brain from childhood . R613 ....right hand point . Surprisingly never comes up in my Zoom quiz 

[Hroth]

44 minutes ago, truffy said:

Already in use. I have a stack of R4*** carriages. 

 

The Hornby Generic 4/6 wheel coaches are numbered using a R400xx (soon to be R40xxx I suspect) scheme.  Its a bit like the regional renumbering that BR used for locos, apart from the GWR...

 

[Butler Henderson]

Yes, R3xxx / R3xxxx is locos / train packs, R4xxx / R4xxxx coaches and R6xxx / R6xxxx wagons. Presumably the number is allocated when the model is given the go ahead for  development as this year's additions are all over the place with a number of R38xx references appearing for the first time while last year a few R39xx ones appeared.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Butler Henderson

[RAF96]

As ever with these bracketed number sequences you will run out eventually - think telephone numbers - hence the simple expedient of expanding the allotted range by adding a zero - British Railways numbering style.

[robmcg]

Yes it all makes sense, just looked a bit odd to me at first. The comparison to telephone number expansion is apt.

 

FWIW the website still has some endearing characteristics,  I do hope it gets better.  (treading carefully here as I don't want to start a moaning fest). Most websites, RMweb included, have characteristics which require a degree of familiarization, and I doubt I could comment sensibly on Hornby's target audience, nor on the devices they use.

 

For me, steam locomotive-centric as I am, and having spent tens of thousands of pounds with Hornby in the last 15 years, I rather thought that the website would favour my interests, and in many ways it is excellent, I I also thought that after a few weeks it might become faster but it still hangs or stops quite often. e.g. after reading a details essay on a steam locomotive, where I was informed that both Gresley and Bulleid liked their engines to be thrashed (news to me), the back arrow on my screen just left it frozen. I had to cancel the page and re-open it.  That's just a sample.  I can live with it.

 

edit. p.s.  also it does not remember my page preferences, having somehow assumed that I want to pay in $US not £UK... I live outside the UK. And it defaults to 12 items per page,  not the 24 I set every time. 

 

A work in progress no doubt.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by robmcg
added comment

[truffy]

34 minutes ago, robmcg said:

A work in progress no doubt.

 

 You never know, they might even fix the internal redirects when you type Hornby.com into your browser:

 

[robmcg]

One could almost think that the web page is designed for 8-year old children...

 

I saw that page too on yesterday's look at the site, except that clicking on 'go to homepage' did nothing, so I closed the browser and re-opened it., and it opened with usual alacrity, then regressed into its usual slowness.

 

Equally changing default currency from $US to UKP (the only choices) is very difficult, sometimes it will, usually it won't,  but such things as currency change on many websites for we antipodean users, not sure why. Something to do with keyboard preferences where you can specify American English and UK English, mine being the latter, but Ebay and even Hattons sometimes decide that I must be American..

 

But I am dangerously close to doing what I wanted to avoid. A moan fest.... and we all know that Hornby are working hard on it.

 

 

[Robin Brasher]

Coming back on track:  in the beginning was the word.  The word was R1 and it was good.  Since then the range has developed beyond our wildest expectations.  The R1 series is for train sets, R3 for locomotives, R4 for coaches, R6 for wagons, R7 for scenery and Harry Potter, R8 and R9 for buildings. As the range developed the R numbers developed from one digit to four.  While it was three digits there were duplicates so if you were looking for a coach with a three digit R number you could get two results where the earlier coach had been discontinued so the four digits would resolve this problem.  I think that this year's model locomotives and coaches have 9 as the second digit so they may have to go back to 0 one day.

[truffy]

23 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

The R1 series is for train sets, R3 for locomotives, R4 for coaches, R6 for wagons, R7 for scenery and Harry Potter, R8 and R9 for buildings.

There’s also R2 and R5, in case anyone’s wondering, but I’m not familiar enough with them to generalise. 

[Robin Brasher]

The R2 series was originally coaches and the R5 series was for station platforms. 

 

[atom3624]

R6 wagons?

 

Track as well.

 

It is good to have a logical-sounding system and as stated it will have a limit - shows how productive they've been with new models I suppose.

 

Al.

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Robin Brasher said:

Coming back on track:  in the beginning was the word.  The word was R1 and it was good.  Since then the range has developed beyond our wildest expectations.  The R1 series is for train sets, R3 for locomotives, R4 for coaches, R6 for wagons, R7 for scenery and Harry Potter, R8 and R9 for buildings. As the range developed the R numbers developed from one digit to four.  While it was three digits there were duplicates so if you were looking for a coach with a three digit R number you could get two results where the earlier coach had been discontinued so the four digits would resolve this problem.  I think that this year's model locomotives and coaches have 9 as the second digit so they may have to go back to 0 one day.

 

In the Beginning was R0

 

 

http://www.tri-ang.co.uk/RO Set.html

 

And that begat ALL things...

 

Even the Battle Space Turbo Car (R752)

 

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Hroth
Emphasis

[Butler Henderson]

The Jinty was R51 and it did not take long for any then unused number to be reused for any item regardless of the original intent, 37s for example having (amongst others) R243, R402 and R751. 

[Butler Henderson]

2 hours ago, atom3624 said:

R6 wagons?

 

Track as well.

 

That's because the track system was originally System 6 and hence logically used R6xx numbers;  a marketing decision as following on from the R4xx Super 4 track it logically should have been System 5.

[Coppercap]

1 hour ago, Butler Henderson said:

The Jinty was R51 and it did not take long for any then unused number to be reused for any item regardless of the original intent, 37s for example having (amongst others) R243, R402 and R751. 

R51 was a clockwork N2 0-6-2. The Jinty was R52. Then the Pannier was R051

Edited February 11, 2021 by Coppercap

[Dunsignalling]

2 hours ago, Butler Henderson said:

The Jinty was R51 and it did not take long for any then unused number to be reused for any item regardless of the original intent, 37s for example having (amongst others) R243, R402 and R751. 

It got a lot worse than that. IIRC a Battle of Britain (41 Squadron), a Hymek and one of the myriad versions of Flying Scotsman were all R.074 at various times. 

 

The move to five digits is at least 20 years overdue, IMHO.

 

John

Edited February 11, 2021 by Dunsignalling

[robmcg]

Hooray! I opened the Hornby new website today and it had remembered that I buy in UKP.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.

 

I have even got entirely comfortable with the new R-number system, thanks for the replies all.

 

I'm still wondering where Hornby got the box information stating that both Bulleid and Gresley liked their engines to be thrashed.

I would have thought that 'designed so the engines could withstand a thrashing' would be nearer the mark...   but I'm just quibbling, being officially an old man now at 70yrs.... 

Edited February 11, 2021 by robmcg
typo

[KeithMacdonald]

On 10/02/2021 at 07:44, Legend said:

Isn’t it just that R3xxx or R3xxxxx are reserved for locomotives?  Must admit not looked at this for long time . I still have R600, R601 series etched in my brain from childhood . R613 ....right hand point . Surprisingly never comes up in my Zoom quiz 

 

It would be good for a Mastermind specialist subject though?

 

 

 

[Ruffnut Thorston]

 

On 11/02/2021 at 09:01, Robin Brasher said:

Coming back on track:  in the beginning was the word.  The word was R1 and it was good.  Since then the range has developed beyond our wildest expectations.  The R1 series is for train sets, R3 for locomotives, R4 for coaches, R6 for wagons, R7 for scenery and Harry Potter, R8 and R9 for buildings. As the range developed the R numbers developed from one digit to four.  While it was three digits there were duplicates so if you were looking for a coach with a three digit R number you could get two results where the earlier coach had been discontinued so the four digits would resolve this problem.  I think that this year's model locomotives and coaches have 9 as the second digit so they may have to go back to 0 one day.

 

Actually the original R. Number system was not as quoted above...

 

The original Train Sets were numbered, without the R.

 

No. 0, No.1, etc. Similar to Hornby (Meccano) O Gauge models.

 

 

 

Later R.0, R.1, etc.

 

 

 

R.1X was the same set as R.1, the Black Princess, R.50 (Tender R.30) with two R.21 B.R. 7 inch coaches in Carmine and Cream, but whereas the plain numbered sets contained a Battery Box, R.41, developed from the original Rovex M&S set Battery Box (R.40), the X suffix sets contained a speed controller, R.42, later called a circuit controller. Plus the track of course...

 

The No.0, and

R.0 sets were the Tri-ang Railways equivalent of the Rovex for Marks and Spencer sets, the Black Princess, R.50 (Tender R.30) , with two R.20 LMS 6 inch coaches, and the Battery Box. Plus the track of course...

 

Original Rovex M&S set box top...(My photo of Pat Hammond’s display at a Tri-ang Society show...)

 

 

 

Later sets used letters.

 

An example  being:

 

RA, with the X suffix set being RAX. The Black Princess and 9 inch Mainline Maroon and Cream coaches.

 

 

 

 

From 1958, with the introduction of Series 3 track, the lettered train sets gained the R3 prefix

 

Example R.3A. The Series 3 track version of the RA set.

 

 

The late 1959 - C1962 Primary Series of Clockwork and Electric starter sets had the prefix RP. Examples being RP.A, Clockwork steam loco passenger set; RP.B, Clockwork Diesel loco goods set; etc.

 

 

 

 

Still later, Sets had the RS. prefix....RS.24 being the Nellie set.

 

 

 

Eventually, sets returned to plain R. Numbers.

 

I have produced an article on this subject, a version of which is due for publication in the Train Collector, the magazine of the Train Collectors Society, TCS...

 

https://traincollectors.co.uk/

 

An extract from the original draft, produced some time ago now, with the original Tri-ang Railways numbering system is reproduced below...

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by Ruffnut Thorston
Tidying ....added second extract...more tidying and additions...

[kernowtim]

1 hour ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

It would be good for a Mastermind specialist subject though?

 

 

 

Talking through their R's

[andyman7]

There are a few pre 1997 items that have an unbroken presence in the range and therefore retain their 3 figure R number - e.g. R296 Track Cleaning Coach (introduced 1982) or the R460/464 platform sections which date right back to the 1960s Triang range. Smokey Joe lost it's R782 number for a 4 figure one when it was moved to the Railroad range.

[Dunsignalling]

1 hour ago, Ruffnut Thorston said:

 

 

Actually the original R. Number system was not as quoted above...

 

The original Train Sets were numbered, without the R.

 

No. 0, No.1, etc. Similar to Hornby (Meccano) O Gauge models.

 

Later R.0, R.1, etc.

 

R.1X was the same set as R.1, the Black Princess with two R.21 B.R. 7 inch coaches in Carmine and Cream, but whereas the plain numbered sets contained a Battery Box developed from the original Rovex M&S set Battery Box, the X suffix sets contained a speed controller, later called a circuit controller. Plus the track of course...

 

The No.0, and R0 sets were the Tri-ang Railways equivalent of the Rovex M&S sets, the Black Princess, with two R.20 LMS 6 inch coaches, and the Battery Box. Plus the track of course...

 

Later sets used letters.

 

RA, with the X suffix set being RAX.

 

Then Sets had the RS prefix....

 

I have produced an article on this subject, an extract with the original system is reproduced below...

 

 

 

Also, locos with factory-fitted DCC sound are suffixed XS. It'll be interesting to see what happens when/if smoke units make a comeback.....

 

John

[Hilux5972]

37 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

Also, locos with factory-fitted DCC sound are suffixed XS. 

And Hornbys own sound decoders are suffixed TTS. Such an intricate web