Hornby APT (2020 tooling)

[newbryford]

1 minute ago, Bigeddie said:

 

 

it is a bit weird that Hornby fail to mention the different coupling sizes, given it is not obvious until you look for it, how many frustrated owners who aren’t on this forum will there be? And how many unnecessary returns will that generate, all they needed to do was mention it on the service sheet

 

Details, details, details......

[rembrow]

9 hours ago, Bigeddie said:

Be interesting to see if the hunt couplings are each the equivalent dimensions to the Hornby counterpart.

 

it is a bit weird that Hornby fail to mention the different coupling sizes, given it is not obvious until you look for it, how many frustrated owners who aren’t on this forum will there be? And how many unnecessary returns will that generate, all they needed to do was mention it on the service sheet

I suppose most wouldn't notice, as there are couplings already fitted to the coaches, and the spares are in plastic bags. I didn't notice until the hunt couplings turned up and were 3 sizes. The hunt couplings are shorter for both the development coach and ndm, I've compared the two versions while coupled but not attached to the coach. The inter coach gap between the development coach and other coaches is ok, at least the same as on an articulated bogie gap. They are working ok on my rails, but I do have third radius. Someone pointed out that hunt say their couplings are for third radius, although it's not mentioned on the pack. I did find that for both the development and tbf couplings, there was limited side to side movement, due to the magnet hitting the bogie or body respectively. I improved the sideways movement by filing down the depth of plastic at the rear of the magnet box, and curving the shape at each side.

Edited February 7, 2022 by rembrow
Correction

[WestRail642fan]

right, my NDM has returned with a replaced capcitor and she's now halfway into her running in

[MrB]

22 hours ago, letterspider said:

Does anyone want to sell a dummy NDM coach?

I could do when I get around to the body swap from my 7 car set.

 

Regards

 

Roy

[black and decker boy]

Had the pleasure to give the new APT a run out at the recent Kendal Show courtesy of Ivanhoe MRS and their Loughborough Midland layout. A very nice model indeed but the couplings are awful.

 

 

 

[Ducking Giraffe]

Lights in one coach not working?

 

Hi Just got my 7 coach set, all ok except for loose pantograph and light not working one coach. Sorry I cant find the post , what was no light in coach caused by? I've tried taking out wheels and tweaking the pickups but it hasn't made any difference. thanks!

[rob D2]

Looks really good. I’d love to know what percentage of layout owners who brought these have no catenary ( wasn’t peco making something suitable for mainlines ?)

[amwells]

33 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

Looks really good. I’d love to know what percentage of layout owners who brought these have no catenary ( wasn’t peco making something suitable for mainlines ?)

The thought of the APT was one of the main reasons for fitting catenary to (one half) of my layout. Went with the Dapol offering. I’m sure the Peco one is better, but it looks good enough to me

[PaulRhB]

45 minutes ago, Ducking Giraffe said:

Lights in one coach not working?

 

Hi Just got my 7 coach set, all ok except for loose pantograph and light not working one coach. Sorry I cant find the post , what was no light in coach caused by? I've tried taking out wheels and tweaking the pickups but it hasn't made any difference. thanks!

Loose wire on the bogie pickup, 4 pages back

 

On 02/02/2022 at 03:26, WestRail642fan said:

Ok, i now know why this has happened, the red wire coming from the pickup has broken free from solder holding it down to the pickup

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by PaulRhB

[rembrow]

16 hours ago, scumcat said:

My curves are way bigger than 3rd radius, and the two NDMs oush each other off the track. Mine are flexible track on an 8ft wide board

Strange, I'm using set track 3rd radius and have a section that curves more than 180 degrees, and my hunt couplings on the ndms manage without binding, with the development coach attached to one. 

What I did find was that the hunt couplings for the ndms were a very tight fit on the coach spigots, such that they didn't move from side to side. I had to ream out the holes in the couplings. I also elongated the holes in the couplings at the end furthest from the magnet. This gives a little backwards/forwards movement.

[PaulRhB]

It appears there’s variable shrinkage or slight distortion on the prints used in the hunt couplings. Mine rotated freely but were tight to the bogie frame on the U coach. Might be to do with the curing I guess. 

[boxbrownie]

37 minutes ago, rembrow said:

Strange, I'm using set track 3rd radius and have a section that curves more than 180 degrees, and my hunt couplings on the ndms manage without binding, with the development coach attached to one. 

What I did find was that the hunt couplings for the ndms were a very tight fit on the coach spigots, such that they didn't move from side to side. I had to ream out the holes in the couplings. I also elongated the holes in the couplings at the end furthest from the magnet. This gives a little backwards/forwards movement.

So you effectively lengthened the couplings slightly, must give just enough room to operate without derailment.

[rembrow]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

So you effectively lengthened the couplings slightly, must give just enough room to operate without derailment.

In fairness, after initially reaming out the holes so they were free to move side to side, I tried the ndms around 3rd radius and they didn't bind. I then elongated the locating holes as a precaution.

Edited February 8, 2022 by rembrow
Correction

[Ducking Giraffe]

This has probably been discussed but I've only just seen it.

 

Rocket railway seem to suggest buying the older APT.

 

I'm pretty sure this is not because they're miffed at stoking up demand at their stand and then not being able to sell any sets.

 

 

 

In a way I can see what they mean, but to me the old APTs just don't look the right shape, to me they look boxy at the front and I'm really not an expert by any means.

 

And the wheels are weird.

 

And I just couldn't get mine to run smoothly without screeching on start-up from cold despite regearing and lubing.

 

And the pantographs are another £50. 

 

Most importantly you'll always be stuck with the same 5 coaches unless you start cutting and shunting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rob D2]

I watched the video , but the impression i got was exactly that .

 

the reason  they aren't stocking it is because they can't get any 

[WestRail642fan]

1 hour ago, Ducking Giraffe said:

This has probably been discussed but I've only just seen it.

 

Rocket railway seem to suggest buying the older APT.

 

I'm pretty sure this is not because they're miffed at stoking up demand at their stand and then not being able to sell any sets.

 

 

 

In a way I can see what they mean, but to me the old APTs just don't look the right shape, to me they look boxy at the front and I'm really not an expert by any means.

 

And the wheels are weird.

 

And I just couldn't get mine to run smoothly without screeching on start-up from cold despite regearing and lubing.

 

And the pantographs are another £50. 

 

Most importantly you'll always be stuck with the same 5 coaches unless you start cutting and shunting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i do love the blue-ish livery Hornby gave to the 1980's model

[Markwj]

1 hour ago, Ducking Giraffe said:

This has probably been discussed but I've only just seen it.

 

Rocket railway seem to suggest buying the older APT.

 

I'm pretty sure this is not because they're miffed at stoking up demand at their stand and then not being able to sell any sets.

 

 

 

In a way I can see what they mean, but to me the old APTs just don't look the right shape, to me they look boxy at the front and I'm really not an expert by any means.

 

And the wheels are weird.

 

And I just couldn't get mine to run smoothly without screeching on start-up from cold despite regearing and lubing.

 

And the pantographs are another £50. 

 

Most importantly you'll always be stuck with the same 5 coaches unless you start cutting and shunting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the comparison photos until you posted I had no clue just how far out (assuming the new model is accurate) the older model is. Quite an eye opener (well for me anyway).

[Ducking Giraffe]

1 minute ago, Markwj said:

Thanks for the comparison photos until you posted I had no clue just how far out (assuming the new model is accurate) the older model is. Quite an eye opener (well for me anyway).

 

Yes I thought the 80s version was good but not quite right  when you compare it to photos of the real thing.  Close-up model -wise you can see its too square, the "real" APT is quite a delightful rounded classic shape. Which is a pain as I've got some great footage of my 1980s APT overtaking an HST , looks like I'll have to redo all that...!  

[JSpencer]

Pictures of mine next to the HST, the APT-E and the 80s version which always felt short regardless....

 

Well, I prefer the new over the old despite some niggles mentioned before. 

 

[zoomer1979]

2 hours ago, Ducking Giraffe said:

This has probably been discussed but I've only just seen it.

 

Rocket railway seem to suggest buying the older APT.

 

I'm pretty sure this is not because they're miffed at stoking up demand at their stand and then not being able to sell any sets.

 

 

 

In a way I can see what they mean, but to me the old APTs just don't look the right shape, to me they look boxy at the front and I'm really not an expert by any means.

 

And the wheels are weird.

 

And I just couldn't get mine to run smoothly without screeching on start-up from cold despite regearing and lubing.

 

And the pantographs are another £50. 

 

Most importantly you'll always be stuck with the same 5 coaches unless you start cutting and shunting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It also clearly showed the farcical Hornby tier system. And the fact they were loaned a set for the TV show and then were left in the lurch for sales.

Neil.

[JSpencer]

And a video running in:

8 car formation (1978 yeah ok mine is in later colours)

10 car formation (2,2,6)

11 car formation (2,APT-U,2,6)

14 car formation (only one powered NDM).

I feel the 10/11 car formations are perfectly fine for my layout while still being a realistic formation. But you cannot buy four intermediate coaches just for one end.

 

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by JSpencer

[stonojnr]

2 hours ago, rob D2 said:

I watched the video , but the impression i got was exactly that .

 

the reason  they aren't stocking it is because they can't get any 

 

they said later in that video Hornby had offered them some stock in Jan, but theyd declined the offer, as theyd be hit with the price rise, and it pushes it into a price region their shop doesnt look to cater for, as they were set up to be a model shop thats shows its an affordable hobby for all the family, not an expensive collectors hobby.

 

and that seems a reasonable position from them IMO, and their point that the older model is half the price on Ebay, we might be getting a much better looking model but Im not sure weve got a model thats as good as the price tag infers based on all the issues people keep reporting in this thread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[amwells]

Not sure I understand the point of that video TBH. If it was designed to annoy Hornby it may well have hit the mark, (and I can understand why they are annoyed themselves by Hornby given the marketing they’ve given them, and continue to give!), but to what end? I’d imagine discussions about how to move up the tiers would be better done in private. 
 

I think the whole tier thing is pretty awful, but if anything this video validates the approach - if they don’t want to stock at the price point Hornby are offering it, there is no point in being any tier, especially if you believe your market to be largely second hand on a market stall. It’s a shame, because having an actual layout that people can see stock running on is a feature that I miss in many shops. 
 

And it doesn’t help anyone putting a video out with inaccuracies in it (eg the coaches are ‘carts’, and the real APT was ‘shunted off to a siding in Carlisle where it remains today’). 

[Wolf27]

‘And it doesn’t help anyone putting a video out with inaccuracies in it (eg the coaches are ‘carts’, and the real APT was ‘shunted off to a siding in Carlisle where it remains today’). ‘
 

His whole APT story was full of inaccuracies. 

[Pete the Elaner]

8 hours ago, stonojnr said:

 

they said later in that video Hornby had offered them some stock in Jan, but theyd declined the offer, as theyd be hit with the price rise, and it pushes it into a price region their shop doesnt look to cater for, as they were set up to be a model shop thats shows its an affordable hobby for all the family, not an expensive collectors hobby.

 

and that seems a reasonable position from them IMO, and their point that the older model is half the price on Ebay, we might be getting a much better looking model but Im not sure weve got a model thats as good as the price tag infers based on all the issues people keep reporting in this thread.

 

 

I got the impression that this was a reaction to not getting any stock first time around & their attitude was  "If you didn't want us to have any first time then you can keep it now".

 

I can understand that to be honest. I do think Hornby were quite nasty by using this company to demo their new model then not allowing them any stock.