Hornby corroded class 31 chassis

[rob D2]

Well ,

I think you’d be a bit miffed if your hundreds of pounds of models disintegrated when they came out of storage !

[Fireline]

You missed the different casting for the sound version of the XS suffix refurbished chassis and the red bufferbeam refurbished chassis for the DCR model. Hornby have commissioned and SOLD OUT at least two batches of non-sound refurbished chassis blocks - I bought 4. AFAIK they havent produced a non-refurbished buffer beam cowl fitted chassis block yet for the 5512 and 31270 models - at least I havent seen any.

 

I didn't miss them out. Neither the XS nor the DCR has thus far been affected by the issue, so no need to include them. 

[phil-b259]

Well ,

I think you’d be a bit miffed if your hundreds of pounds of models disintegrated when they came out of storage !

 

Yup I would, particularly if I had taken good care of them.

 

But at the same time I am well aware of the fact that in legal / trading standards / consumer protection matters, said models are viewed as 'Toys' and as such are not expected to still be intact after a decade.

 

Nor has it escaped me that (i) its far more profitable to use production slots for complete models due to their higher retail price (ii) Hornby now use different suppliers which may require new tooling to be made and (iii) Hornby are not in the best of financial health.

 

All of which means realistically there is nothing much I could do (aside from salvaging what I could for reuse on to an old Lima chassis say)

 

As someone once wrote "yes, life isn't fair - now go deal with it and stop whining"

 

Hornby are NOT going to be producing any more chassis parts regardless of how much people complain - it simply is not in their economic or legal interest to do so.

[forest2807]

If anyone is after a donor Hornby Class 31 with chassis rot (for the innards, repowering Lima, etc) there is one on eBay now for £45 ono, with spare PCBs thrown in. I have no connection with or knowledge of the seller.

[NickL2008]

If anyone is after a donor Hornby Class 31 with chassis rot (for the innards, repowering Lima, etc) there is one on eBay now for £45 ono, with spare PCBs thrown in. I have no connection with or knowledge of the seller.

 

I think someone just brought it

 

NL

[forest2807]

Post the results of your project on here!

[NickL2008]

Post the results of your project on here!

 

I will, my workbench thread is long overdue an update

 

NL

[Grizz]

Right, plan B. Refit the broken chassis ends into the body directly and then at least I can use the loco.....until it finally falls apart.

 

Step 1 Repair the coupling spring lug that fell off using a staple and super glue.

 

 

 

Then stick styrene to the inside of the cab walls to locate the floor height.

 

 

Stick the bulk heads to the ends of the main casting.

 

 

Stick the cab floors in with super glue.

 

 

Reassemble body onto chassis. .....fingers crossed it will work!

Not perfect by any means but having paid out for something I have only test run then stored away, I am somewhat ****$***** right off that I have four in this condition that don't work.

[Grizz]

Success with three out of four so far. The last one is 31110 which seems to be the worst of the lot.

 

 

 

 

The other three '31270' versions are running fine, with no ill effects. I spread a thin layer of super glue on to all of the metal surfaces of the chassis. Although this won't stop the metal rot it might seal it for a while. The chassis has room to expand a bit as I files away some of it during the repair process.

[37114]

Good work Grizz, I did something similar when I first put a Hornby mechanism in a Lima body. The chassis will eventually break but mine has been fine for 5 years and when it does eventually give up the Ghost I will stick the mechanism in a Lima frame as per my latest build.

[Grizz]

Cheers 37114. I would have approached Hornby if I'd know I had a problem with chassis rot. But I didn't know I had a problem.

 

My locos were stored away. All I'd ever done was test run them when I bought them and then carefully packed them back into their original packaging. It never occurred to me that I would have a problem.

 

However all this said I have had an opportunity to grot up my locos. I even managed to cut and reinstall the buffer beam cowling on the now re numbered 31289. Something positive out out something negative.

 

 

[NickL2008]

Hi - so a few clicks later and this poor example of a 31 has now arrived. I think I have saved someone from a lot of grief trying to fix this model. So a run down of the problems that need fixing:

 

• Lots, and I mean Lots of glue particularly around the cab areas that needed/needs removing, so much that the lighting units are unusable as they needed to be ripped out(see photo)
• replacement headlights poorly glued on, one had already fallen off
• Poor weathering on bogies
• No bufferbeams, assume either Mazak rot or broken off
• bodyshell has a poor attempt at weather
• some cab glazing looks to be superglued in and has fogged over

So that's some of the issues, my picture below shows some work done, namely the poorly added headlights, I will add this into my workbench topic soon

 

 

NL

[Grizz]

Hi NL. Looks like someone has previously had a go at repairing this sad specimen. It occurred to me that maybe some bright individual could design a 3D Printed replacement cab floor interior etc, based on the existing one, if one can be got out in one piece. It could be offered as an alternative replacement part.

 

My repairs were purely driven by my complete and utter angry irritation of having four test run locos, carefully stored that were next to useless. It took quite a long time and isn't a permanent fix.

 

I have even had one of the buffers fracture due to mazak crumble.

 

Basically, without trying to state 'TBO', it seems that the thin casting behind the cab and the main part of the body is most prone to snapping or breaking. All of the components of these thin sections under the cab can be crumbled between your fingers if the mazak crumble is really bad. Carefully covering it in a thin film of super glue does seem to help as it seeps into the cracks.

 

All this works providing the main part of the chassis is fairly structurally in tact.

What was the coupling system like?

[NickL2008]

Hi NL. Looks like someone has previously had a go at repairing this sad specimen. It occurred to me that maybe some bright individual could design a 3D Printed replacement cab floor interior etc, based on the existing one, if one can be got out in one piece. It could be offered as an alternative replacement part.

 

My repairs were purely driven by my complete and utter angry irritation of having four test run locos, carefully stored that were next to useless. It took quite a long time and isn't a permanent fix.

 

I have even had one of the buffers fracture due to mazak crumble.

 

Basically, without trying to state 'TBO', it seems that the thin casting behind the cab and the main part of the body is most prone to snapping or breaking. All of the components of these thin sections under the cab can be crumbled between your fingers if the mazak crumble is really bad. Carefully covering it in a thin film of super glue does seem to help as it seeps into the cracks.

 

All this works providing the main part of the chassis is fairly structurally in tact.

What was the coupling system like?

 

Hi Grizz - yes I think the mindset "apply glue and hope it looks good" initiative was used, it was quite a sorry state when I took it apart, but now the body has been stripped ready for necessary repairs, and a repaint. My fix is a complete rebuild of the chassis using a Lima class 31 as a basis, extreme perhaps, but it will at least be more solid and not prone to any more breakages and reactions. It is annoying when these design flaws happen, and particularly if a huge investment has been made for a large fleet of these locos.

 

That said, I did have the crazy idea to possibly have a go at casting my own chassis after finishing work on it, hopefully without Plagiarisation

 

NL

[adb968008]

Hi Grizz - yes I think the mindset "apply glue and hope it looks good" initiative was used, it was quite a sorry state when I took it apart, but now the body has been stripped ready for necessary repairs, and a repaint. My fix is a complete rebuild of the chassis using a Lima class 31 as a basis, extreme perhaps, but it will at least be more solid and not prone to any more breakages and reactions. It is annoying when these design flaws happen, and particularly if a huge investment has been made for a large fleet of these locos.

 

That said, I did have the crazy idea to possibly have a go at casting my own chassis after finishing work on it, hopefully without Plagiarisation

 

NL

Someone recently did this for the Hornby Grange, in Brass, the results were very good.

I recall they said it was around £40 for the casting and £4-6 each for the chassis blocks made from it.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...What was the coupling system like?

 Fine, provided you don't want to actually couple anything on and then operate around curves.

 

It's the standard problem with a close coupling mech and the tension lock coupling. These mechanisms depend on a coupling which links them by a near rigid bar to return the coupler to centre position on straight track. The tension lock cannot do this, tangles, and usually provokes a derailment. (Try it with the Roco pattern coupler Hornby supply with those of their coaches that have such mechanisms and you will see how well it can work.)

 

Better plan is to make a solid body mounting for coupler of choice. Doesn't interfere with bufferbeam detail nearly as much, as an added benefit.

[unknown]

I've been giving my 31 a once over and all appears to well with the chassis however I have noticed these plates at the base of the cab bowed and fractured. One of the screws was an absolute pain to remove securing the plate. Are these an early sign of the dreaded rot setting in or is it that these plates are just cheaply manufactured tat?

[rob D2]

Yeah, that’s part of the rot !

 

My 31110 did that as did a 50. It’s the weakest point and often shows the rot first

[Hastings Thumper]

I've been giving my 31 a once over and all appears to well with the chassis however I have noticed these plates at the base of the cab bowed and fractured. One of the screws was an absolute pain to remove securing the plate. Are these an early sign of the dreaded rot setting in or is it that these plates are just cheaply manufactured tat?

Just found the same thing at one end of my 31 110 - luckily chassis stored with the body removed following 30+ pages of horror stores. 

 

Also, the grilles on all 3 of my 31s (31 110, 31 165 and 31 130) have a sort of white staining on top of the paint.  It disappears if washed with soap or even limescale Cillit bang, but when dry it comes back again.  Has anyone else seen this ?.  Would be grateful for any tips to get rid of it to save me painting the grilles.

[Gtucker72]

I had the same white powedery look on the grills of my 31165. I painted the grills only in a very light covering of rail blue paint. Problem solved. I ended up using a light covering of acrylic paint (horrid stuff) as this blended in best. Had to paint all the grills to blend in equally (even the two grills that weren’t white).

Edited July 8, 2018 by Gtucker72

[davidw]

So... I've a barely used R2421. Ive rescued the body. But it's clear the chassis has a problem Cabs pushed forward no cracks. No help from Hornby. The options are:
1. Try to get a replacement chassis from a latter 31.
2. Try the mods suggested above. Short term solution - it will eventually crumble.
3. Bin it. And never buy another Hornby.

Result frustration...

Edited September 26, 2018 by davidw

[Georgeconna]

Pretty annoyed that the big H cannot even supply Spare Chassis for these locos.  After Spending out hard earned cash on what for me are mostly lifetime purchases on god knows how many locos are effect is incredible that is no support available.

[phil-b259]

Pretty annoyed that the big H cannot even supply Spare Chassis for these locos.  After Spending out hard earned cash on what for me are mostly lifetime purchases on god knows how many locos are effect is incredible that is no support available.

 

Again I repeat, as far as Hornby / Trading Standards are concerned, model railway products are toys to be played with and disposed of after a few years. The fact you believe they are 'lifetime purchases' - despite them only coming with a 1 year manufacturers guarantee and that the usual working life of other consumer goods is less than a decade, does nothing to alter the realities of the situation.

 

Some railway modellers need to get real - a £150 Hornby model is not that valuable when other toys like games consoles sell for double that amount. By contrast if you had spent £1500 on purchasing your model (Have a look at some of the prices 'Golden Age Models' charge) then things might be a bit different if manufacturing defects emerged decades later on....

 

Its also a fact that manufacturing of all mass produced consumer products (and don't kid yourself - within the model railway context Hornby, Bachmann & Dapol are definitely mass producers) doesn't like doing 'spares' anymore if they can help it. Any competent accountant will tell you that you make more money selling new products rather than spares and thus it maximises shareholder value if you gear your production facilities on churning out finished units.

[phil-b259]

So... I've a barely used R2421. Ive rescued the body. But it's clear the chassis has a problem Cabs pushed forward no cracks. No help from Hornby. The options are:

1. Try to get a replacement chassis from a latter 31.

2. Try the mods suggested above. Short term solution - it will eventually crumble.

3. Bin it. And never buy another Hornby.

 

Result frustration...

 

Option 3 only works if you never want certain models.

 

Direct duplication has been proven to be unprofitable for both parties so generally doesn't happen.

 

Duplication where one party brings out a much superior model does happen (Hattons taking on Bachmann with a much improved class 66 being an example), but thats not going to happen for everything in the Hornby range.

 

At some stage its possible an alternative manufacturer may decide they can offer a much improved class 31 - but that may take a decade for it to happen and in the meantime Hornby are the only folk with class 31 tooling...

[Pint of Adnams]

Again I repeat, as far as Hornby / Trading Standards are concerned, model railway products are toys to be played with and disposed of after a few years. The fact you believe they are 'lifetime purchases' - despite them only coming with a 1 year manufacturers guarantee and that the usual working life of other consumer goods is less than a decade, does nothing to alter the realities of the situation.

I beg to differ, for Hornby is categorised as a model and collectibles group (see the AGM thread) and no-one wants their collectible items to disintegrate in a relatively short space of time. Given the size of most production runs (getting smaller) and the regular promotion of limited numbered editions, they cannot be categorised simply as consumable items.

 

Time for a pressure group to change the categorisation and statutory life expectancy after Brexit?

 

In any event, the world would be somewhat eco-friendlier if society treated product less as a disposable consumable but more sustainable through spares and repairs.