Hornby - New tooling - Large Prairie

[The Johnster]

I find drilling a small hole in the back of the item, sandbox in this case, and a corresponding hole in what you are sticking the item to, chassis block or underside of footplate in this case., so that you can fix a short piece of wire as a spigot with superglue into one or the other.  This will confer a bit of support that should prevent a recurrence of it being knocked off.

[melmerby]

12 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

I find drilling a small hole in the back of the item, sandbox in this case, and a corresponding hole in what you are sticking the item to, chassis block or underside of footplate in this case., so that you can fix a short piece of wire as a spigot with superglue into one or the other.  This will confer a bit of support that should prevent a recurrence of it being knocked off.

It sticks out of the side of the chassis block.

 

There's nothing directly above it. The water balance pipe is close but that's part of the body.

[The Johnster]

No 94xx by xmas apparently, so ordered a large prairie, £110 from Bure Valley Models, actually 61xx in unicycling lion black, to be renumbered as 4144, allox Tondu September 1958 and just within my time frame.  Happy bunny on the mean inner city streets tonight...

[The Johnster]

Email from Bure Valley Models this morning saying that 4144 is dispatched, which is a good a service as anyone can ask for, kudos Bure Valley.  It's now down to the tender mercies of Royal Mail.  At xmas.  During Covid. I'm already having trouble with the tracker, with RM claiming that my tracking number is nothing to do with them as it's Royal Mail Parcel Farce, and Parcel Farce saying that my tracking number doesn't exist, which it clearly does by any rules of existentialism. it exists and therefore it is, and I can quote it...

 

I'll try the app again tomoz, in the meanwhile I'm listening for a knock on the door.  Had one this morning, with stuff from Wizard and some lovely little 'highly detailed' hex section column platform lamps from Layouts 4 U, resposnse from both within 3 working days so happy with that.  At this rate the prairie might be here for the weekend!  Happy daze!

Edited December 2, 2020 by The Johnster

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, The Johnster said:

Email from Bure Valley Models this morning saying that 4144 is dispatched, which is a good a service as anyone can ask for, kudos Bure Valley.  It's now down to the tender mercies of Royal Mail.  At xmas.  During Covid. I'm already having trouble with the tracker, with RM claiming that my tracking number is nothing to do with them as it's Royal Mail Parcel Farce, and Parcel Farce saying that my tracking number doesn't exist, which it clearly does by any rules of existentialism. it exists and therefore it is, and I can quote it...

 

I'll try the app again tomoz, in the meanwhile I'm listening for a knock on the door.  Had one this morning, with stuff from Wizard and some lovely little 'highly detailed' hex section column platform lamps from Layouts 4 U, resposnse from both within 3 working days so happy with that.  At this rate the prairie might be here for the weekend!  Happy daze!

My (Dapol) 63XX is somewhere in Royal Fail's system (but I'm guessing they possibly don't know where.)

Dispatched by Derails and in RMs hands last Friday, it was scanned 3 times over the weekend without moving from Bristol, Monday nothing, Tuesday Morning it was at Birmingham Mail Centre, and a bit later in the District Office for delivery (yesterday), which didn't happen. Postie's been today and still no 63XX.

 

I have had so many more problems with RM than other couriers, that I would prefer senders to use someone else.

Edited December 2, 2020 by melmerby

[The Johnster]

Preaching to the choir, Kieth.  My own postie is pretty good, and knows if he's there early he needs to give me time to get out of bed and put trousers on (I've tried leaving them off but that hollow, mocking. laughter upsets me), but Parcel Farce fills me with dread and had Bure Valley said this rather than specifying 'Royal Mail' I might have sprund for a courier service.  Let's not panic yet, though...

[melmerby]

28 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

  My own postie is pretty good,

No problems with the posties who deliver the post, although we are on a late walk, 4:00PM is not unusual (just after that today).

It's a flawed system that no one seems able to shake up.

[No Decorum]

Hm. Once upon a time we had  the cheapest postal system in Europe and, apart from the occasional hiccup, a very efficient one. Certainly, from what my brother tells me, far superior to the Canadian one. Royal Mail is still capable of delivery from one end on the UK to the other in less than 24 hours, if the appropriate service is chosen and paid for. The cheap side of things will suffer delays at Christmas and now, of course, due to Covid. The tracking service works well. By and large, I have no grumbles about Royal Mail. Parcel Force is all right, although its 48-hour service usually takes 72 hours.

 

DPD is usually reasonable but my last delivery was stated to take 24 hours. That was surprising as I would have expected 48. Nevertheless, I stayed in but no parcel. I was also informed that I would receive a message when my parcel would be the next to be delivered. The parcel did arrive in good condition the following day but unannounced. Do I detect the hand of Whiplash, whatever it is?

 

As a footnote, I observe that privatisation, which was supposed to promote competition, which is, apparently a “good thing”, has resulted in the cost of stamps rising faster than inflation. A first-class stamp is shortly to rise to 85p. When the time comes, will Royal Mail celebrate Rowland Hill by issuing a “pound black” stamp? Somehow I doubt it.

 

 

[The Johnster]

Royal Mail Letters are pretty good by and large (I would say that, I used to be a sorter) but I have little faith in Parcel Farce, who lost a Dapol order into cyberspace; the tracker claimed it'd been delivered.  Not to me it hadn't.  They have unclotted their botty book a little this morning however, turning up with a parcel from Bure Valley Models in Norfolk containing a Large Prairie orederd late on Tueseday night, a level of service from both PF and Bure Valley that could not be better; I'm impressed.

 

Just deboxed the loco, and all seems well; everything is attached or in the detail bag and there are no blemishes.  The squeeze is cooking a (very) late breakfast for me now just, so more on this later.  There seems little vertical play for the pony and radial wheelsets, and I will be watching very closely to see if the pivot bolts need easing a little.   There is a very slight drop in the line of the running plate ahead of the tanks, imperceptible unless you are looking from a very head on perspective, which I'll live with; it is probably within the prototype range for locos that have been in moderately heavy shunts!  Tank top detail is excellent, the thing I think might be a lubricator just aft of the filler caps is particularly convincing.  Not sure about the polished brass feed pipes, but the way they dissappear down a hole in the tank top is superb.  The finish is excellent as well, but a little shiny for my tastes; it will be toned down with light weathering.  Number plates for 4145 will be ordered from MMJE later today; it is finished as 6145 at present.

 

Post breakfast (Yayacnitzna, I think that's how you speel it, it's Polish, and to die for), and a shopping expedition, I'll run her in for a bit and then road test.  Watch this space...

                                     

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, No Decorum said:

The tracking service works well.

 

 

Really

If you've had my experience over the last few years you wouldn't say that.

6 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

Royal Mail Letters are pretty good by and large (I would say that, I used to be a sorter) but I have little faith in Parcel Farce,

                               

Rarely have had anything sent PF it's normally RM and they frequently hash it up along the way.

 

Still no Mogul from Derails. Tracking hasn't changed since Tuesday (when they said they would deliver it), tomorrow will be seven days.

[Pendennis]

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

Really

If you've had my experience over the last few years you wouldn't say that.

Rarely have had anything sent PF it's normally RM and they frequently hash it up along the way.

 

Still no Mogul from Derails. Tracking hasn't changed since Tuesday (when they said they would deliver it), tomorrow will be seven days.

Last month my medication, RM 48 Hour tracked, took 7 days to get from West London to Surrey; inexplicably it spent three day in a mail office in Larne, yes the Larne in Northern Ireland!

[adb968008]

19 minutes ago, Pendennis said:

Last month my medication, RM 48 Hour tracked, took 7 days to get from West London to Surrey; inexplicably it spent three day in a mail office in Larne, yes the Larne in Northern Ireland!

A parcel from Poland to Surrey went via the British Virgin Islands for me, no wonder it took 6 weeks.

[The Johnster]

3 hours ago, adb968008 said:

took 7 days to get from West London to Surrey

I had a car like that once as well...

 

RM tracking didn't work for my prairie, but the matter is academic since the loco is now safely in my sweaty paws.  RML tracking claimed the tracking number was RMP, and RMP claimed it didn't exist.  They didn't deliver properly either, just left the parcel in the porch, a particularly risky thing in houses converted to flats and even more so in my failry high crime area.  But all is now well...

 

I've now test run 6145, and taken a photo to show the various improvements over the previous Hornby large prairie, though this loco, 4145, is a hybrid of Airfix chassis and mech with the retooled Hornby body that predated the current model.  There is really no comparison but the Horfix model is not far off scale.  Particularly noticeable are the much better  rendered tank/boiler top and the area ahead of the  smokebox, which has all sorts of rivets and lift-out panels that the Horfix doesn't.  There are whole handrails and quite large parts that are not there on the Horfix.  Not sure about the rather yellowish safety valve cover, but it doesn't look as bad in the fleshplastic and will be toned down by weathering anyway.

 

I may have messed up a little; this loco has bunker steps on the fireman's side which 4144 does not, at least not in preservation.  I'll live with them until I can definitively find out what the state of 4144 was in 1958, and they shouldn't be a major operation to remove if I have to.  The whistles were bent forward and have been straightened by judicious application of brutatlity, which as they are painted brass drew attention to itself.

 

To reiterate what most others have said, this loco runs superbly straight out of the box, in fact the best out of the box performance I've ever seen and it has already improved perceptibly with bench running in.  I've put her into service, and am delighted with the smoothness and slow running.  Well done Hornby!

 

Now, to order 4144 number plates...

Edited December 3, 2020 by The Johnster

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, The Johnster said:

 

I may have messed up a little; this loco has bunker steps on the fireman's side which 4144 does not, at least not in preservation.

 

 

 

4144 last years of BR:

https://zenfolio.page.link/rWmEC

 

4144 in preservation:

Didcot:

 

 

[Butler Henderson]

10 hours ago, The Johnster said:

 

Now, to order 4144 number plates...

 

I would recommend the 3D ones from Railtec , you also get a proper smokebox plate and the shed code

[The Johnster]

I'll look into Railtec, Butler.  Thank you for the footstep info, Kieth; the footsteps on mine will stay where they are!  I remember the loco fairly well from her Severn Tunnel days in the 60s, but my memory is not good enough for that sort of detail!  I've removed the coal from the model, and she will run with a few lumps in the bottom of the bunker, wish this was as easy on all models.  I'm very slightly disappointed in the cab roof vent; why can't it operate like the one on my Bachmann 82xxx, but I like the half open position.  Not made my mind up yet about the cab doors, which should be shut while the loco is running.  Most of the appearance at Cwmdimbath, apart from running in and departing, will be suitable for the appearance of open doors, but half open 'ajar' is probably the least likely position.

 

I'll be ordering a crew for her and when that arrives I'll investigate how to get into the cab, so will attend to doors at that time.  Kieth's Swindon Works photo shows that I need to reposition the blue spot as well, or do i?  She will be running in unlined black with the unicycling lion and black backed number plates, but I am assuming this tbh, as the most likely livery she was carrying when she was allox Tondu in 1958.  We know she was built in 1946 and painted in G W R initials unlined green, 1945-7 style, and that she is pictured at Swindon freshly painted in unlined black 24/5/64, which I remember her in, but my memory fails me for the livey she carried prior to the that, probably because she was too dirty to distinguish it,, but my mind is telling me lined green ferret and dartboard.  I am therefore assuming a repaint in the mid 50s, and unlined black is the least unlikely.  If it transpires that she was carrying lined black in 1958, I can add the lining when this becomes known!

 

My thanks again for the information, Kieth.

[Fat Controller]

23 hours ago, Pendennis said:

Last month my medication, RM 48 Hour tracked, took 7 days to get from West London to Surrey; inexplicably it spent three day in a mail office in Larne, yes the Larne in Northern Ireland!

In the dim, distant, past, when I worked as a Christmas temp at Bristol Sorting Office, we used to send anything lacking addresses and such-like to a Sorting Office in Ulster. They had specialists who could usually decipher the intended destination.

[Butler Henderson]

2 hours ago, The Johnster said:

I'll look into Railtec, Butler. 

Either with BR early crest or with BR late emblem - you also get the route restriction discs as well

Edited December 4, 2020 by Butler Henderson

[The Johnster]

Railec transfers for 4144 early crest turned up in the post this morning and have been put on to the loco, which is drying thoroughly overnight before a spray of varnish followed by a light coat of weathering wash.  I am most impressed with these transfers, which are easy to use and manipulate into final position on the model, and look superb.  I like the relief on the shedcode plates as well.  There are rectangular 'notices' which I believe go inside the cab somewhere, which leads to the next question, how do you get into the cab.  There is a join between the spectacle plate and the cab roof that might respond to gentle persuasion, but I can't see that it continues along the side of the roof so am nervous about attacking it.  Apart from the 'notices', I need to get a crew in there and have a look at the half open doors as well.

[89A]

I think somewhere up this thread the roof does come off quite easily with gentle persuasion.

 

Top of Page 50

Edited December 14, 2020 by 89A

[Butler Henderson]

11 minutes ago, 89A said:

I think somewhere up this thread the roof does come off quite easily with gentle persuasion.

There is also a comment on the thread of a roof being well stuck and consequently damaged when a removal was attempted.

[89A]

6 minutes ago, Butler Henderson said:

There is also a comment on the thread of a roof being well stuck and consequently damaged when a removal was attempted.

Possibly careful investigation with a craft knife would confirm

[The Johnster]

There will be some very careful investigation with a craft knife later today, after I’ve sealed the new xfers. 

[tomparryharry]

On 14/12/2020 at 20:22, The Johnster said:

Railec transfers for 4144 early crest turned up in the post this morning and have been put on to the loco, which is drying thoroughly overnight before a spray of varnish followed by a light coat of weathering wash.  I am most impressed with these transfers, which are easy to use and manipulate into final position on the model, and look superb.  I like the relief on the shedcode plates as well.  There are rectangular 'notices' which I believe go inside the cab somewhere, which leads to the next question, how do you get into the cab.  There is a join between the spectacle plate and the cab roof that might respond to gentle persuasion, but I can't see that it continues along the side of the roof so am nervous about attacking it.  Apart from the 'notices', I need to get a crew in there and have a look at the half open doors as well.

 

The notices are for warning footplate crews not to put your head out too far. There might be other notices, but I'm not sure.  

[The Johnster]

There has been some very careful investigation with a craft knife, and there was a terrifying snapping sound, at which point the glue holding the roof on came apart on the front and rear seames and the right hand cab side, leaving it waving in mid air at a 45 or so degree angle off thd left hand cab side.  It was easy enough to work this seam gently until the roof came off, and the cab revealed in all it's not inconsiderable glory.  But I would hesitate to advise anyone to copy this method; the top part of the cab side is very thin and flimsy, and it would not be difficult to envisage a situation where the glue was stronger than this top piece. 

 

This is probably the best RTR cab I've seen so far, and it is very good indeed, but there is still some fun to be had while the roof's off, which it will be until I order crew from Modelu.  The Railtec xfer sheet includes cast notices which IIRC go on the rear cab bulkhead, so I've put one there, and I've painted the ATC bell brass and vacuum brake handle housing red.  A touch of grey will represent the polished steel grips of the vacuum handle and regulator, and when I can locate the ATC indicator ithe casing needs to be picked out in green; the sunflower is probably beyond my ability!  I may also provide a wooden floor, and a tea can or two on the shelf above the firedoors.  I've painted the inside of the roof white; the real ones were cream, and I find that white here is more or less invisible from normal viewing angles, but helps diffuse the little light there is to enable one to see the interior better; I do it to coaches as well.

 

 

I 'improved' the reverser frame by carving notches in it with an exacto knife; this is 'impressionist' rather than scale modelling but effective enough for the low light levels inside the cab.  Now, to go back into the layout room and give her a light coat of weathering.  I have toned the brass and copperwork down with marker pen on this loco, something I haven't done in this way before, and am pleased with the effect, a loco well looked after and in good fettle, but hard working and not perfectly clean, 

 

As you can see from the photo, the bunker is empty; well done Hornby for making the plastic coal easily removable and correctly representing the shape of the bunker and the scuttle doors.  There wii eventually be a small amount of dusty coal in the bottom of the bunker.  A pleasant discovery was that the roof ventilator does slide open or shut, and had simply been a bit stiff (pity the cab side ventilators don't slide; I'd love to see these being 'poseable' on an RTR GW tank loco, to evoke inclement weather).  I think this is the first RTR loco I've had with bars over the rear cab windows that also has them glazed, saving me a job I usually do to such locos. 

 

A'weathering we shall go, a'weathering we shall go...