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Hornby APT (2020 tooling)


PaulRhB
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13 hours ago, MoonM said:

Who did you convince to swap with? Presume someone's just displaying and happy with no power? 


When I first read that the 7 car pack had a dummy NDM I purchased the separate motorised NDM.  This is what I swapped the dummy with.

 

The dummy will join an RTC test train…

 

No issues with driveshafts etc. identified so far with the NDMs.  They will go on the rolling road later today.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

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Reading the above posts has given me an idea. I’ve always wanted an APT and have got a 5 car set.  My layout doesn’t have overhead wires, but if I can find an unpowered power car, I could swap it with the powered one and tow it round the layout behind a diesel.

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10 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

U sometimes have mad ideas when you spot bargains . . . 
 

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contact apt-e, he might be able to sell you some 3d printed interiors from his TS/TF. Shame Hornby seem to have based their interior on S2 from the test train (the one hauled by the hst prototype power car)

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9 minutes ago, RedgateModels said:


contact apt-e, he might be able to sell you some 3d printed interiors from his TS/TF. Shame Hornby seem to have based their interior on S2 from the test train (the one hauled by the hst prototype power car)

Im not sure I’ll take it that far and as I’m disconnecting the lights it hopefully won’t be that apparent running ;) One of those problems I’ll address if it starts to bother me. 

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1 hour ago, ColinK said:

Reading the above posts has given me an idea. I’ve always wanted an APT and have got a 5 car set.  My layout doesn’t have overhead wires, but if I can find an unpowered power car, I could swap it with the powered one and tow it round the layout behind a diesel.

You could just disconnect the drive shafts from the motor in the NDM.

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Called gaugemaster this morning, they have no spare sets. Not exactly surprising considering how difficult it apparently is for retailers to get stuff from Hornby. The set has also officially been discontinued so they can't even order one from Hornby for me. 

 

The best they could do is reserve me an individual NDM from the next batch due in summer! :blink:

 

Hopefully Hornby can sort the issue in the mean time. 

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36 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

You could just disconnect the drive shafts from the motor in the NDM.

 

If there's a worm on the top of the gear tower, then that needs to be removed as well.

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The Hunt magnetic couplings arrived today so I put one on each end of a coach to see how close they couple. 
 

They were a bit too short to pivot so I filed off a little of the bogie end ;) 

2F62D5A0-B2C0-4F69-B61B-C1B3B0D27A4D.jpeg.9f3eb10aca81b69a62e4457247f21c52.jpeg

 

pretty close but I reckon I can go even closer with a bar and pin. 
E0A7076A-9884-4613-8E34-B5B9401FFE17.jpeg.d64f75d4a6f1db9b82d47cebbfcaa056.jpeg

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Another faulty one here - a 5-car set.

 

Loose bits in the NDM packaging - a maroon pivot bearing, and a bit of sticky plastic. NDM looked ok though - no drooping bogies and driving wheels are meshed with the gears. So I ran it - half a circuit later, stopped with smoke pouring out.

 

Also issues with NDM couplers being broken or badly formed - neither would snap together properly. Had to swap them over with spares to get the set together. In two minds whether to get a replacement NDM, or ship the whole lot back to the shop, including last years coaches. The quality is not what I expected at this price point.

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7 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

The Hunt magnetic couplings arrived today so I put one on each end of a coach to see how close they couple. 
 

They were a bit too short to pivot so I filed off a little of the bogie end ;) 

2F62D5A0-B2C0-4F69-B61B-C1B3B0D27A4D.jpeg.9f3eb10aca81b69a62e4457247f21c52.jpeg

 

pretty close but I reckon I can go even closer with a bar and pin. 
E0A7076A-9884-4613-8E34-B5B9401FFE17.jpeg.d64f75d4a6f1db9b82d47cebbfcaa056.jpeg

will you be 3d printing yourself a coupling bar? because i'd totally buy one

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There was a Christmas film I remember when I was a kid (Santa Claus The Movie I think?!) with an elf played by Dudley Moore (again I think?!) where he automated the toy production but after delivery by Santa most fell apart as they were poorly built! 

 

I remember there was a scene where all the broken toys were returned and came down the chimney in a heap! 
 

I wonder if Simon K has a chimney? I’m certainly imagining an endless supply of knackered, poorly built APTs falling down into his fireplace!!

 

They’re for keeps - yeah right!  
 

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22 hours ago, charliepetty said:

Just fitted one with three 8 Pin decoders, the powered car has a standard V5, why do Hornby not learn anything from past errors, it can be done but it has been designed (Re DCC Sound) by designers who have not got a clue sadly, with this APTp model sadly following in the tradition of the Class 71 and the Class 87.

It is such a shame in 2022 we have this sort of design errors, over and over again.

 

The website will be updated over the weekend with info on what we have done here.

The website is now updated to reflect the model we have with sound and non sound options, you have to be loaded for the delux package, but some will be tempted.

We also have some refunds for Pre-Ordered Decoder sets !!!!!

 

https://www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=68&product_id=319

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Current test with the U coach is a brass wire ‘staple’ simply dropped into the empty screw holes for the couplings and it works ok. I tested it at 490mm radius

on some Kato track but the corridor connectors are hitting. I won’t be able to test it much until later this week but I bent them so the inside distance between the staple legs is 15mm. 
 

3A8C920D-3F33-4D31-85F2-648469ADFEA8.jpeg.9ef2382b4dcfd2f5942eaa594b31ab2d.jpeg
 

certainly looks better than this though ;)

D99FDAF8-252D-4350-8EF5-043C99A0A6D1.jpeg.6470b8bb4ad26f6cbcbca020fce0bdee.jpeg

 

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I tested the Hunt Couplings when assembling the 14 coach formation.  
 

As has been posted earlier, I think they are too short, which results in the corridor connectors clashing on curves.

 

Another thing I noticed when assembling the formation is that the magnetic couplings parted when I moved the train forwards indicating that the magnets are insufficiently powerful to pull the rear half of the train.

 

Fortunately it should be straightforward enough to fabricate a fixed bar coupler of the appropriate length.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

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Another disappointed customer!

Got my 5 car set, ran the NDM in on it's own at moderate speed for half and hour in each direction on DC, all fine.

Gave it a burst of speed and then it slowed and smoke billowed plus an unpleasant electrical odour.

Gutted - will be going back whence it came, direct to Hornby.

I am now however also concerned about the  separate NDM I already have (got the full 14 cars).  Already run in before Xmas but want to test too at full speed.

It would appear this is happening a fair bit, a statement might be nice from Hornby.

Hopefully a repair too.

Best of luck at anyone else similarly affected!

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Exploding motors, gigantic gaps between cars, dcc fit, basic interiors, giant capacitors and derailments aside, nobody seems particularly bothered by the bodyside joint line that in my opinion, albeit just from seeing pictures and YouTube reviews, completely spoils the model.

I'm wondering why it's not being mentioned?

I'd dearly love to have an APT, but the join, not to mention the rip off cost IMO put me off completely.

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