Hornby 2021 - 9F new tooling

[Soul Survivor]

Decided to have a look inside the loco and the tender, as I’m planning to install sound and working lamps in the near future. As can be seen from the photos of the tender the installation of a sound decoder and sugar cube speaker would be very straightforward. A nice touch in the tender is the pre-installed speaker resonance chamber, which is of a decent size. Apply a 15x11 sticky gasket speaker and you are good to go! I also like the fact the resonance chamber is a separate moulding, held in place with double sided tape, so it’s easily removed leaving space for a potential L25xW15xH13 twin speaker upgrade.

 

Moving onto the loco. I found there is plenty of empty space towards the front of the smoke box (approx. L28xW15xH14mm). I may consider fitting a second speaker in here if I keep the original sugar cube set up in the tender. Plus there’s room to position another decoder which can control the lamps and the firebox light (saves have to install more wires between loco and tender). Regarding the pre-installed firebox lighting, I noticed this is powered direct from the track pickup wiring and not separately wired from the PCB in the tender. To control this lighting effect when on DCC, plus synchronisation with the coal shovelling sound, will require detachment from the pickup wires and rewiring to a decoder auxiliary output.

 

Installation of the working lamps should hopefully be easy as I’ve found the area above the buffer beam and the fire box door to be of plastic construction.

 

Hope this helps anybody considering installing sound (or possibly working lamps!)

 

 

[Soul Survivor]

A couple of additional photos showing close up of fire box light wiring plus tender with 21 pin sound decoder and sugar cube speaker in position.

[Hilux5972]

Don’t suppose you managed to get any photos of what’s between the frames?

[RedgateModels]

38 minutes ago, Soul Survivor said:

A couple of additional photos showing close up of fire box light wiring plus tender with 21 pin sound decoder and sugar cube speaker in position.

Are your speaker wires attached to the decoder or are there pads on the tender circuit board?

Edited September 19, 2022 by RedgateModels

[Soul Survivor]

1 hour ago, Hilux5972 said:

Don’t suppose you managed to get any photos of what’s between the frames?

Sorry, didn’t take a photo of that area. Did look at the upper part of the frames though and they appear open, certainly not a solid block of plastic or metal from what I could see.

[Soul Survivor]

1 hour ago, RedgateModels said:

Are your speaker wires attached to the decoder or are there pads on the tender circuit board?

Couldn’t see any obvious speaker pads on the circuit board, just two sets of pads with pickup wires attached from loco and tender respectively, plus another set of pads for the wiring going to the motor. The speaker in the picture is wired direct to the decoder. I just placed a sound decoder with its factory attached speaker there to give people an idea of how easy a sound install could be - even though I’ll opt for a more complex setup by installing a speaker in the loco as well. 

[Ian Hargrave]

19 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

Of course Hornby have NOT put the join down the middle of the boiler nor the associated bolt heads with the two sides of the cladding.

 

After years of people complaining about mould seams (despite the fact that cladding is normally joined on the top), Hornby's response is to not have any detail there. I believe the made the same mistake on the original Rebuilt Merchant Navy models but modified the tooling to incorporate it it around 2005.

The cladding join DOES exist on the Bachmann model, but possibly only a result of the tooling join in that location.

 

Clearly there are some areas where the Bachmann model wins out... just need to make a judgement on whether the Hornby model beats in enough other areas...

Good point. One of the features where it should,given the amount of die cast metal,is in performance.That said,despite Sam’s YouTube assault,there’s nothing wrong with the Bachmann 9F on that score.Well not in my experience anyway. It would have been helpful ( he says,tongue firmly in cheek ) if there were some degree of parity on price point .There isn’t.Which,contrary to usual perceived wisdom, is seemingly reversed in Bachmann’s favour.So I need a degree of positive evidence before I fork out an extra £30…..current figures on new to be released Bachmann 9F available on Rails website…on one of these. ATM I’m not getting it. 

 

 

[Delta_Who]

 

[Ian Hargrave]

14 hours ago, Delta_Who said:

 

Many thanks .. No qualms about this,even given concerns re: smokebox plating. I had expected good performance but this is exceptional.

Edited September 20, 2022 by Ian Hargrave
Adding text

[Hilux5972]

Wow that’s very impressive! 

[That Model Railway Guy]

Just quickly sharing my own video for those that might be interested: 

 

 

 

There's lots of close ups of the model from 2mins 30secs. If you just want to see it running skip to 9mins 20sec to see it on the rolling road or 11mins to see it on my layout.

 

There's also a mute button for those that don't want to listen to my chatter (I don't blame you!) and of course viewing is not compulsory 😉

 

[Eddie the dog]

I’ve not actually received mine yet so can’t really comment, but do the driving wheels have daylight

between the spokes ?

[GreatWesternFan220]

My 9F has survived it's journey across the Atlantic directly from Hornby, partially due to the free shipping and adding to the fact that I did not feel like waiting the usual week and a half shipping timescale (The impatience of youth Lol); Ordered on Thursday the 15th, shipped the following day and arriving to me yesterday evening via DHL. (All in one piece as well!) More pictures to follow soon once I've picked my jaw up off of the floor but its safe to say I am thoroughly impressed.

[sjp23480]

Thanks  @Delta_Who, @That Model Railway Guy and @GreatWesternFan220 

 

I have decided to part with my hard earned to get 92167. 

 

Did I need one? No, I have 4 Bachmann (including the NRM 92220 special) and the Hornby Railroad Crosti.  I could not resist after watching these videos and the pictures above.  With stock levels at those retailers that still have them dropping fast, I took the plunge!

 

Thanks guys!  Hornby should put you on commission.

Steve

 

 

[newbryford]

On 17/09/2022 at 16:34, Ian Hargrave said:

   Tried just to have a look at the new Hornby at my nearest dealer. No luck.Sold out. Getting more in next week.The guy ( and no names mentioned) can’t fathom why this when Bachmann produces ….and continues to do so…a very good model.

 

 

 

 

Because it's Hornby and nobody knows that someone else makes a 9F.....

 

[Downer]

Having a Bachmann model, and judging only by the pictures in this thread, I’ve not yet seen any reason to fork out c£250 on a Hornby version. 

[Br60066]

1 hour ago, Downer said:

Having a Bachmann model, and judging only by the pictures in this thread, I’ve not yet seen any reason to fork out c£250 on a Hornby version. 

From a detail perspective I absolutely agree. Not really enough improvements to jump at the upgrade. Its a nice bump up not not worth spending masses.

 

However, where this model really shines is the running quality. Ive had terrible issues with Bachman 9F's jumping the tracks and disappointing with their haulage power if you have a slight gradient (subsidence is a nightmare) but the Hornby model handles it like a dream!

[zr2498]

Just watched Sams trains review

 

 

Scores high for quality, and Hornby seems to addressed many of the issues found on recent models.

However, there was doubt over the motor selected and the pulling power, especially on curves and inclines.

It would be interesting to get other opinions on this aspect. It would be a pity if a much improved loco was let down on inadequate torque.

Appears to have good haulage on Neveille Grove above, but perhaps large radius curves and what inclines?

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by zr2498
Extra comment added

[MikeParkin65]

48 minutes ago, zr2498 said:

Just watched Sams trains review

 

 

Scores high for quality, and Hornby seems to addressed many of the issues found on recent models.

However, there was doubt over the motor selected and the pulling power, especially on curves and inclines.

It would be interesting to get other opinions on this aspect. It would be a pity if a much improved loco was let down on inadequate torque.

Appears to have good haulage on Neveille Grove above, but perhaps large radius curves and what inclines?

 

Alleged poor motor performance  seems to be one of the constants in Sams recent tests. I wonder if it’s a characteristic of his electrics rather than the models?

[Ian Hargrave]

21 minutes ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Alleged poor motor performance  seems to be one of the constants in Sams recent tests. I wonder if it’s a characteristic of his electrics rather than the models?

I think we need to exercise our own judgment on this. Examples running on this forum would seem to confound his observations.We’re again into the Sam locomotive trials,21stC style. Why ?  Because  it’s all too easy to allow someone to make up our minds for us as opposed to buying one and running it for ourselves and because we’re over dependent on media influences. Every layout is different and subject to differing track and control variables,carpet notwithstanding. I despair. I’m buying one in any case.If it doesn’t live up to my expectations,then so be it.Life’s like that.

[zr2498]

4 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

I think we need to exercise our own judgment on this. Examples running on this forum would seem to confound his observations.We’re again into the Sam locomotive trials,21stC style. Why ?  Because  it’s all too easy to allow someone to make up our minds for us as opposed to buying one and running it for ourselves and because we’re over dependent on media influences. Every layout is different and subject to differing track and control variables,carpet notwithstanding. I despair. I’m buying one in any case.If it doesn’t live up to my expectations,then so be it.Life’s like that.

No need to despair 🙂 I have one arriving tomorrow and will make up my own mind about performance. Getting up front views from a range of sources is always interesting and often provides some useful hints and ideas.

[Ian Hargrave]

1 hour ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Alleged poor motor performance  seems to be one of the constants in Sams recent tests. I wonder if it’s a characteristic of his electrics rather than the models?

And not just those but the condition of his track and its coping capacity with the carpet subsoil. Not the optimum situation to test something which he considers overpriced.

[richard.h]

Personally I think I will just stick with my Bachmann versions, they have all behaved well and can each haul around 26 wagons with ease which equals a train of about 8ft in total length which is the maximum my layout is set for,. So although the Hornby version seems to be more powerful how many of us are going to run super-long trains in reality.

 

Richard

 

 

[davidw]

11 hours ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Alleged poor motor performance  seems to be one of the constants in Sams recent tests. I wonder if it’s a characteristic of his electrics rather than the models?

And if he's not happy with it then great a replacement....

[zr2498]

10 hours ago, richard.h said:

 

 

 

 

Great weathering!