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Hornby Star Class


gwrrob
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The Steam edition model of Lode Star which was released several years ago now suffered from chronic assembly problems.Hope this reincarnation doesn’t suffer the same difficulties.The original finished its working life at Landore..87E since 1934 ,on18 July 1950 after a working life of 44 years and 5 months having covered 2,005,898 miles in service .

 

As I post this,I am looking at my GW/WR memory bible “The Red Dragon and OtherOld Friends” .Plate 38 shows her,photographed by Huw Daniel on18 November 1949,complete with smokebox numberplate ,passing Hafod Junction on the 2:50 Swansea-Paddington parcels in unusually clean condition too because she was already marked for preservation .I wish I could share this with you but far better you find a copy yourselves .

 

Swansea High Street and passing Landore were always highlights of family outings toThe Mumbles.Then a walk to The Mumbles Railway and a ride on the top deck around Swansea Bay . There were always Stars and Saints on view,including 4003 

 

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14 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

The Steam edition model of Lode Star which was released several years ago now suffered from chronic assembly problems.Hope this reincarnation doesn’t suffer the same difficulties.

 

As I post this,I am looking at my GW/WR memory bible “The Red Dragon and OtherOld Friends” .Plate 38 shows her,photographed by Huw Daniel on18 November 1949,complete with smokebox numberplate ,passing Hafod Junction on the 2:50 Swansea-Paddington parcels in unusually clean condition too because she was already marked for preservation .I wish I could share this with you but far better you find a copy yourselves .

 

....

 

 

I will search out a copy of 'The Red Dragon and Other Old Friends', I always enjoy a good hunt for esoteric titles.

 

I bought two models of 4003 on the same day on Ebay, haven't opened the second, both are the original 2013-4 limited (NRM ?) edition, both looked good in pics and were described by sellers as excellent runners AND the sellers had shops and excellent feedback.. Around UKP100-120 each.  The one in the photos looks very straight and runs perfectly smoothly and silently on my short test track.

 

I'm very pleased, and now have a lot of Hornby Stars! :) Who needs castles? 

 

Edit, pleased to say Ian I found 'The Red Dragon and Other Old Friends!' rather easily and have bought a copy, having it delivered to NZ may be less easy!  Large heavy landscape 348pp book, very 'Swindon'!    Expected delivery June-July shades of the 1960s before air freight.  

Edited by robmcg
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Actually Ian your memories of Swansea and old Wales brings back to thinking of the Welsh Valleys , Crumlin Viaduct and pairs of 42XXs on Ebbw Vale trains!

 

I had better go and take some BR Standard pills, or Bulleid, or, heaven forfend, Gresley Ointment.... no that last is taking things a bit too far. :)

 

Looks like a nice book, even if it will be slow getting here...   via the S&D perhaps....

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  • 6 months later...

Hatton’s has sent me an e-mail stating that R3864 4003 Lode Star will be available in a few weeks. On the face of it, Hornby seems to have gone over the “design clever” version and improved it. It is to have a five-pole skew-wound motor and a hinged fall plate. “Highly detailed model with separately fitted parts,” I’m told. I wonder will the cabside “shelf” be replaced with a separately fitted rail and if the model will have tender pick ups. Above all, I wonder if the axles will run in brass bearings and if Hornby will apply a decent paint finish. All will be revealed shortly, I suppose.

 

Lode Star is a curious choice. It rather discredits the limited edition offered through Steam Museum and those who possess the limited edition are unlikely to want another model of the same Star. Choosing another name and number would have been a sound move, I would have thought.

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You are right.  I have the original “STEAM” model, but it was flawed in many ways.  I would buy another copy and then work on the original with a renaming if possible.  Otherwise, it will sit in its box for the rest of its life.  I was always a bit miffed by the original version.  It was underpowered on even slight gradients on my trackwork, as well as being a bit flimsy, had the wrong bogie wheels etc.

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16 minutes ago, No Decorum said:

Hatton’s has sent me an e-mail stating that R3864 4003 Lode Star will be available in a few weeks. On the face of it, Hornby seems to have gone over the “design clever” version and improved it. It is to have a five-pole skew-wound motor and a hinged fall plate. “Highly detailed model with separately fitted parts,” I’m told. I wonder will the cabside “shelf” be replaced with a separately fitted rail and if the model will have tender pick ups. Above all, I wonder if the axles will run in brass bearings and if Hornby will apply a decent paint finish. All will be revealed shortly, I suppose.

 

Lode Star is a curious choice. It rather discredits the limited edition offered through Steam Museum and those who possess the limited edition are unlikely to want another model of the same Star. Choosing another name and number would have been a sound move, I would have thought.


Or even as she ran at the end of her career.Why go over old ground ? Agree with you. An unimaginative choice.

Wonder if there is a market for this at this moment. Most of “ us” have a Star already.But I certainly would have been tempted by 4003 in her final days at Landore .See my post above 

 

Edited by Ian Hargrave
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15 minutes ago, lofty1966 said:

Looking closely at Hattons pic, it seems the shelf is still there, 12 spoke bogie wheels and the vertical moulded cab handrails.

Same half ar$ed shoite, different day, it would appear

I thought Hornby had already changed to 10 spoke wheels after the initial faux pas, so I would suggest it's the usual promotional photoshop job.

We need to see one in the flesh to pass judgement.

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1 hour ago, melmerby said:

I thought Hornby had already changed to 10 spoke wheels after the initial faux pas, so I would suggest it's the usual promotional photoshop job.

We need to see one in the flesh to pass judgement.

I think you’re right. We are told that the fall plate will be hinged but the picture shows a ski-jump version.

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On 30/10/2020 at 10:13, melmerby said:

I thought Hornby had already changed to 10 spoke wheels after the initial faux pas, so I would suggest it's the usual promotional photoshop job.

We need to see one in the flesh to pass judgement.

 

They did indeed, my own Star has 10 spokes as bought.

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  • 1 month later...

My newly released Lode Star (R3864) arrived today in Australia after 5 weeks in transit from England. First impressions are it looks fantastic. It still has the ski ramp fallplate but they can by pushed down to a more acceptable angle. Some bad photos are attached. AD7C9404-0C44-4CFD-B233-14299AD8AB90.jpeg.7deec03ed3a02fd31b20d47bb56f408d.jpeg3197FA63-3551-497B-8C2F-35D9A96CF3D7.jpeg.ed532de6fa54445b898edc3415cc61ae.jpeg

 

2D07A149-9F13-4C0D-A13F-DDD2021593B0.jpeg

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On 23/12/2020 at 17:27, aaron3820 said:

My newly released Lode Star (R3864) arrived today in Australia after 5 weeks in transit from England. First impressions are it looks fantastic. It still has the ski ramp fallplate but they can by pushed down to a more acceptable angle. Some bad photos are attached. AD7C9404-0C44-4CFD-B233-14299AD8AB90.jpeg.7deec03ed3a02fd31b20d47bb56f408d.jpeg3197FA63-3551-497B-8C2F-35D9A96CF3D7.jpeg.ed532de6fa54445b898edc3415cc61ae.jpeg

 

2D07A149-9F13-4C0D-A13F-DDD2021593B0.jpeg

 

I took the liberty of removing the background and giving it auto exposure and colour, and it doesn't half look bad...  I do hope you don't mind aaron3820.

 

4003_Star_portrait3_2ab_r1820.jpg.73ddf6bae094bb359d01bc6985945570.jpg

 

Gives an idea of what to expect if you buy one, I bought a previous version of 4003 and it was not quite so well made and had rather insipid green, but that does rather depend on lighting and camera settings...

 

4003_star_portrait1_1a_Img_4681abc_r1820.jpg.8596469b277388be8332d376a2883ce7.jpg

 

Note it also had 12-spoke front wheels, which have changed, and some slightly wonky fittings.

 

If the new version is anything to go by it's a better model with correct 10-spoke front wheels, a nicer shade of green, and darker handrails,    maybe I will have to buy a new version to compare them!  :)

 

Thanks aaron3820 for posting the pics from Australia, and how could Hornby ever stop ski-jump fall-plates, it's a trademark these days.. ! 

 

 

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No issues with the edited photos @robmcg, i'll grab some better photos tomorrow taken outside which should prove more useful for you. Seeing your model really makes me wish Hornby had gone with the Great crest Western livery for the tender, it better suits the Star imo.

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Hi guys. Could I safely buy the new release and change the tender decal for a great crest western one, or would any other external details need changing to drag it back to the 20s? Thanks.

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My brand new Lode Star has a lump in it's motion (cue Mr Williams). Every few revolutions of the drivers it goes "clunk clunk", the sound of the wheels bashing the track.

 

I've stripped it down and eliminated everything but the last two gears in the gear train* - the one on the driver axle and the one above it. I've examined the teeth on both and I can't see any that look different from any others. There are no bits of moulding scarf on the gears, which is what I was half expecting to find. When I move the chassis by hand with the motor disengaged from the gear train I can feel it jumping up at regular places as if riding over a lump on the track. The track is fine and just to make sure I've slid the chassis to another area of track where the same "lump" can still be felt in the same positions.

 

So my only conclusion is that both those gears are very slightly off-centre on their axles and when the off-centres line up the driver axle is pushed away (it can move because the plastic keeper plate can flex).

 

What do you think? Is that a reasonable diagnosis? Is this a known problem? Can you suggest a fix to get it to run smoothly?

 

(* I think I've eliminated everything but the gears.)

 

Edited by Harlequin
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On 28/12/2020 at 13:51, Markn said:

Hi guys. Could I safely buy the new release and change the tender decal for a great crest western one, or would any other external details need changing to drag it back to the 20s? Thanks.

 

You should be fine. The thing to watch is the buffers.

 

They originally had very spindly ones which were later replaced with more robust versions. 

 

Have a look here. Lots of information on GWR tenders. Including a few coupled to Stars.

 

http://www.gwr.org.uk/no-tenders.html

 

 

Jason

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