Liverpool and Manchester 'Lion'

[Butler Henderson]

Rapidos Lion has an Hornby equivalent chain coupling pin so Accurscales chain couplings should work

[Butler Henderson]

Just to expand on that you do need modify the Accurscale couplings  with a loop added to them in place of the NEM fitment - there is a posting somewhere on it

Edited November 27, 2023 by Butler Henderson

[Schooner]

On 13/11/2023 at 18:48, RapidoCorbs said:

Reverse running should be the same as forward. Please do drop us a line via the warranty form if there is a defect.

 

Hi Corbs, just a quick note to acknowledge this - thanks.

 

Been away, but should be able to get Lion  on the rolling road soon and see how she's getting on. If the problem persists I'll be in touch via warranty form; if it's resolved itself I'll confirm here in case it's of general interest.

[JSpencer]

Lion comes supplied with a tension lock fitted plus Hornby style tow bar like hook to work with Hornby's era 1 rolling stock.

The tension lock (which gets in the way) needs to be removed if you wish to run era 1 with her and you may wish to run her with other rolling stock that is not from Hornby.

 

One option is to run her with accurascale Chaldrons. These exist in preservation even if the two probably never ran together. So I replaced the tension lock with a cut back Bachmann NEM socket and added an Accurascale Chaldron coupling. The chain was shortened otherwise it not only drags on the sleepers but equally leaves a massive gap to any rolling stock.

These chain couplings actually solve a problem on other locos where there is tons of buffer beam piping and details preventing you from fitting a normal coupling (Heljan DP2, Lion, Kestral etc spring to mind). By adding a magnetic coupling to a Hornby Mk1, suddenly the models are open to pulling small trains without needing to remove buffer detail.

 

As far as I can tell, Lion never pulled any post 1900s rolling stock that was not an 1830s based replica. Equally as far as I can, few locos pulled chaldrons outside the odd internal user industrial context.

Here the Lion loco and Chaldrons are preserved examples and - even if unlikely - allow me to do a preserved might have been of Lion pulling some accurate era 1 wagons.

 

 

Edited December 12, 2023 by JSpencer

[Butler Henderson]

On 31/07/2023 at 21:39, Butler Henderson said:

Fitted it with a DCC decoder - not impressed by the clip fit tender, it was well beyond what I thought was safe pulling it before it unclipped amd trying to to refit took half a dozen attempts to get all four clips depressed ino the chassis.

Never been happy with the refitted tender body - it never seemed to refit level.  One side or the other being slightly raised above the running plate. Took a file to the inside and pared down the insides until eventually it fitted properly and whats more only a gentle tug is now needed to remove it.

[Drotto]

Now for another poser> Has anyone thought about fitting a Kadee coupling to the tender. The mounting is in accordance with NEM 363, not the usual 362 that evryone uses. It is a pig of a job which I haven't cracked yet. Following this, I am waiting for one of the Parr Bagnall tank locos, but if the same NEM363 mounting is used, I shall have to pass I am afraid

[Butler Henderson]

 

2 hours ago, Drotto said:

Now for another poser> Has anyone thought about fitting a Kadee coupling to the tender. The mounting is in accordance with NEM 363, not the usual 362 that evryone uses. It is a pig of a job which I haven't cracked yet. Following this, I am waiting for one of the Parr Bagnall tank locos, but if the same NEM363 mounting is used, I shall have to pass I am afraid

Take a 18, 19 or 20 as appropriate and trim the plastic shank to fit the 363 mount using the supplied tension lock as a guide.

[Peter749]

On 17/12/2023 at 17:10, Butler Henderson said:

Never been happy with the refitted tender body - it never seemed to refit level.  One side or the other being slightly raised above the running plate. Took a file to the inside and pared down the insides until eventually it fitted properly and whats more only a gentle tug is now needed to remove it.

I have the same problem - having fitted a Gaugemaster Next 18 decoder I cannot get the body to sit flush on one side.

If its in on the left its not on the right  - and v.v.

 

Anyone know of a better solution to attacking the inside of the tender?

[Peter749]

On 28/01/2024 at 20:43, Peter749 said:

I have the same problem - having fitted a Gaugemaster Next 18 decoder I cannot get the body to sit flush on one side.

If its in on the left its not on the right  - and v.v.

 

Anyone know of a better solution to attacking the inside of the tender?

I sent an email to Rapido and Dan Hull a Warranty Engineer replied

"I’ve found the best performing decoders with our products out of the box are Lenz silver, Rails, DCC Concepts and ESU Lokpilot. All of these are available with Next18 interfaces."

 

As Lion has limited functions I opted for a Next 18 from Rails.

It has a lower height than the GM version so the tender should fit properly

 

Peter

 

[Butler Henderson]

Mine has a Zimo in it which is pretty small. It's not a height issue, it's the internal width and the reason why just getting the body off is such a struggle initially. Must somehow be factory fitted with such force it fits tight and right but thereafter good luck in getting it to fit properly without taking a file to it.

[RapidoCorbs]

There's a knack to getting the body off, I struggled to begin with but once I had the method it was a lot easier. It's hard to explain in text form but you need to apply sideways pressure to the body as well as upwards.

[dave75]

Corbs and all

When you have 5 mins , can you suggest the sweetspot where the pressure should be applied? I've got the wheels removed, can the clippy bit be prised from below? 

 

Success!  a poke on the tabs from below seemed to help , it's the back corners init!

Edited February 13 by dave75

[RapidoCorbs]

1 hour ago, dave75 said:

Corbs and all

When you have 5 mins , can you suggest the sweetspot where the pressure should be applied? I've got the wheels removed, can the clippy bit be prised from below? 

 

I filmed this little segment and put it on my own channel in case it's helpful.

If it feels like it's not moving, try adjusting your grip or doing it from the other side. The force required is not much at all.

 

 

[Nova Scotian]

My father surprised me with one of these as a present. Got to look it over properly when I received it, but first running was tonight.

 

Few thoughts:

1. Rapido have replicated a black hole - there's no way something this size can be that dense with such mass. Where did they stuff all the lead/tungsten?

2. Pick-up is excellent - crawled through insulfrog points

3. Gearing and motor excellent

 

Like many people, now wondering what I should run it with. I like to swap rolling stock around often, so chain couplings for Hornby stock will be annoying (in this case, I like the tension lock couplers!). I wouldn't be surprised if there's more in time from the various manufacturers.

Well done Rapido - excellent model.

[shedman]

7 hours ago, Nova Scotian said:

My father surprised me with one of these as a present. Got to look it over properly when I received it, but first running was tonight.

 

Few thoughts:

1. Rapido have replicated a black hole - there's no way something this size can be that dense with such mass. Where did they stuff all the lead/tungsten?

2. Pick-up is excellent - crawled through insulfrog points

3. Gearing and motor excellent

 

Like many people, now wondering what I should run it with. I like to swap rolling stock around often, so chain couplings for Hornby stock will be annoying (in this case, I like the tension lock couplers!). I wouldn't be surprised if there's more in time from the various manufacturers.

Well done Rapido - excellent model.

See my pic above from August 26 2023 of the Highfield Thunderflash. I've since replaced the 4 wheel coach with a Rapido Wisbech and Upwell coach. Trevor

[Chris Chewter]

I can vouch that the Rapido W&U coaches make a very nice pairing with Lion!