Hornby BR Mk1 Coaches (Main range and Railroad)

[No Decorum]

Ah!  Another like me who has noticed and been bemused by the fact that Hornby's relacement coach wheel sets (R8218 for those wondering) come in tens and not some multiple of four...  If buying the R8218, shop around, prices seem to vary wildly from a shade under a tenner to one example on Ebay that was about thirty five quid!!!

It’s bl00dy metric, isn’t it? Perhaps it has something to do with numbers of fingers. There’s a vacancy at Hornby for someone from a certain county. Allegedly.

 

Seriously, someone somewhere just doesn’t think.

[BWsTrains]

It’s bl00dy metric, isn’t it? Perhaps it has something to do with numbers of fingers. There’s a vacancy at Hornby for someone from a certain county. Allegedly.

 

Seriously, someone somewhere just doesn’t think.

Its OK, everyone please send me your spare sets and you'll accelerate up my Christmas list. They'll go nicely with the 2 I have already.

[steam69]

It’s bl00dy metric, isn’t it? Perhaps it has something to do with numbers of fingers. There’s a vacancy at Hornby for someone from a certain county. Allegedly.

 

Seriously, someone somewhere just doesn’t think.

Just a clever marketing ploy to sell more Wheel sets otherwise you have two left over!!

 

Richard

[Dunsignalling]

It’s bl00dy metric, isn’t it? Perhaps it has something to do with numbers of fingers. There’s a vacancy at Hornby for someone from a certain county. Allegedly.

 

Seriously, someone somewhere just doesn’t think.

It is illogical but, come on, who buys just one packet anyway - that's only enough for two coaches with two axles spare............

 

John

Edited October 29, 2017 by Dunsignalling

[bigherb]

It’s bl00dy metric, isn’t it? Perhaps it has something to do with numbers of fingers. There’s a vacancy at Hornby for someone from a certain county. Allegedly.

 

Seriously, someone somewhere just doesn’t think.

Neither do they at Bachmann theirs come in tens also.

Edited October 30, 2017 by bigherb

[Dunsignalling]

Keep it down lads, or somebody might get a bright idea about selling them eight to the packet at the same price.

 

John

[JSpencer]

Ah!  Another like me who has noticed and been bemused by the fact that Hornby's relacement coach wheel sets (R8218 for those wondering) come in tens and not some multiple of four...  If buying the R8218, shop around, prices seem to vary wildly from a shade under a tenner to one example on Ebay that was about thirty five quid!!!

 

Apparently two packets of 10 will give you a multiple of 4.

[adb968008]

Apparently two packets of 10 will give you a multiple of 4.

And a four pack will give you five coaches for the price of four :-)

[Steamport Southport]

The problem is if you put eight in a pack then some idiot will complain he's been short changed as the wagon packs have ten in them....

 

 

 

 

Jason

[Chamby]

But Bachmann’s wagon packs contain three wagons.... so you need five wagon packs and three wheel packs to avoid having any left over. So maybe the wagon wheels should come in packs of six instead. Oh but wait..

 

Which means there would still be a discrepancy with the coach wheel packs. Unless they change the wagon multipacks to contain four rather than three wagons, in which case wheel packs of eight would work for both coaches and wagons.

 

Except people would then complain about wagon packs being more expensive if they contained four wagons rather than three.

 

So maybe we just make do with what we’ve got, and keep the odd pair in the spares bin.

[adb968008]

Try as I might, it doesn’t seem to matter how many wheels I buy, I never have enough, let alone leftovers.

[The Johnster]

It is illogical but, come on, who buys just one packet anyway - that's only enough for two coaches with two axles spare............

 

John

 

We don't all run 14 coach expresses; 6 packs of 10 would rewheel the entire passenger and NPCSS stock of my BLT, and my layout is heavy on NPCCS.  As it happens I have perfectly good running with both Hornby and Bachmann wheels, though I have had issues with Dapols, so have not bothered to standardise on either type, but have gone through a few packs replacing various steamrollers on older stock.

[paulbb]

Did Hornby do the mark 1 Green Second Open when they came out a couple of years ago?  Cant find any images or refs to one.

[brushman47544]

Did Hornby do the mark 1 Green Second Open when they came out a couple of years ago?  Cant find any images or refs to one.

 

I don't think so - only BSK, CK, SK and BG.

[Dunsignalling]

We don't all run 14 coach expresses; 6 packs of 10 would rewheel the entire passenger and NPCSS stock of my BLT, and my layout is heavy on NPCCS.  As it happens I have perfectly good running with both Hornby and Bachmann wheels, though I have had issues with Dapols, so have not bothered to standardise on either type, but have gone through a few packs replacing various steamrollers on older stock.

But two packs of ten do five coaches/ bogie vans. 

 

If you (as I do) have lots of NPCCS, there are presumably 4-wheelers to do anyway...........

 

Agree on the Dapol (metal) wheels, I couldn't get anything fitted with them to stay on the track (Code 100 or 75) and have binned the lot.

 

John   

Edited January 24, 2018 by Dunsignalling

[9402 Fredrick]

The Western Region BSO is in stock now, mine has been paid for and is processing to ship across the Atlantic to my house in Florida, I cam't wait for it to arrive.

[phil-b259]

I don't think so - only BSK, CK, SK and BG.

 

And I reckon thats all Hornby were planning to do - until somebody working there noticed that the BSO and a certain type of FO were not being produced by Bachmann yet featured quite highly in wishlist polls.

 

As a result Hornby took advantage and expanded their MK1 range to feature these vesicles - unfortunately as with their P2, Duke of Gloucester this has only expanded the problem of the 'half and half' range.In other words a railroad body with moulded on detail rather than separate detailing like the toilet filler pipes or any form of close coupling mechanisms but a full spec paint job.

[Brinkly]

Hi gents,

 

I must confess, I am a little late to the party here. Until last weekend, I hadn't come across the Hornby MK1, whether it be in Railroad or Non-Railroad format. Looking at a friends Hornby MK1 SK, I felt that the detail on the body sides wasn't bad at all and comparing it to a Bachmann version of the same model, I feel the windows, door handles and door bumps/hinges are finer on the Hornby model that the Bachmann. 

 

Turning to the ends, the Bachmann end has the pipework represented more accurately- it isn't a separate fitting, rather than moulded pipe work as the Hornby versions have. The buffers are a slightly different 'oval' shape, but nothing horrendous. The roof detailing on both is off in places, which is a shame - this is certainly true on the older Bachmann MK1 models.

 

Looking at the livery application, I would agree that Bachmann has the edge over the Standard Hornby and Railroad coach, to my eye, the colours look more accurate, but nothing a quick rub over with T-Cut and some Fox Tranfers wouldn't solve. 

 

The Hornby bogies seem finer, with less pronounced detail and I think I prefer Hornby's bogies to Bachmann: I'm sure now I've said that, someone will come along and tell me Horny's have some hideous inaccuracy I've missed! Hornby's underframe also seems finer, well certainly the battery boxes look smaller than Bachmann's. Again, I don't know if they are dead-scale, but they look acceptable to me. The plastic wheels are a step backwards in my view, but replacement metal wheels can be sourced easily enough from a variety of manufacturers! 

 

On the whole, I think for £15 (which is what I paid for my new Hornby Railroad MK1 coaches) they are exceptionally good value. I don't think though, I would pay £34 for a Hornby Standard CK, as Hatton currently offering them at. Especially when the Bachmann equivelant is being sold for £30. Any of the Hornby MK1s priced at £20 or less are a winner in my book, but I wouldn't pay anymore then that. By comparison, I wouldn't be paying RRP for Bachmann MK1s either. Am I tight? No, for £45, I'd rather build a Comet kit. 

 

My intention is to detail and upgrade a Hornby and Bachmann BG for use on Rod Cameron & John Farmer's Balcombe empire. I think that will be the real test. 

 

I hope this mini-essay is of use to someone.

 

kind regards,

 

Nick.

 

 

[Mallard60022]

Moi aussi tard à la fête. However I think Railroad Mk is a re very useful for producing  brass side conversions (e.g. the Restaurant and Dining/Buffet Diagrams not available RTR.

Phl

[brushman47544]

Sorry to resurrect an old topic, but a new one seems like overkill. I don’t recall this being noted before.

 

I’ve just been looking at the underframes of my Hornby Mk1s from the most recent batch of BR Green. Those correctly without the BR crest. I don’t know how I’ve missed it before but Hornby has corrected the position of what I think is the battery boxes on the BSK. In the earlier releases I have, Hornby used a standard underframe for all its Mk1s, so on one side of the BSK the battery box was behind the steps, but on my R4977 it has been moved to the left to the correct position. Well done Hornby.

Edited February 19, 2022 by brushman47544

[The Evil Bus Driver]

I've got 3 of these in the classic SR 3-set configuration, albeit in maroon and I couldn't be more pleased with them, especially compared to the old ex Tri-ang and Lima tooling, which left serious gaps between the coaches and had decidedly under-nourished gangways. I'm deciding at the moment whether to get some Steam era Bachmann or another Hornby set for the Operation Build-it layout on steroids I've got planned. 

 

Got 10 Bachmann B/G ones too so once I retrieve them from down south I'll set about going through them. They tend to stay in 5 coach rakes with the pipe couplings internally and kadees at the outer ends so I won't mess about with those much. I'll take a look at the bogies for any problems and sort them  maybe grease the axles.