RMweb Premium acg5324 Posted January 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 27 Had a play test of the 4VEP at work yesterday. Looks good, runs very smoothly and the motor coach weighs a ton. The tap on tap off lights work well too. The 4pin connectors line up and attach OK. The improvements to the model are definitely a positive thing. 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Hi, I think when Hornby went on from the 2 BIL to the 2 HAL they added extra weight to the motor coach and I think that improved the smoothness of the running (motor under more load ). Regards Nik Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Would be good if the chassis block could be bought so that the older ones can be upgraded. Is there still a drag on the trailer bogies? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D3489gibson Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Got my Southern one in the post yesterday! Box is massive!!! See reference pic... also saw the real one today at Waterloo! Dog for size ref 😂😂 423417 Gordon Pettitt with its Namesake infront, celebrating his 88th birthday. Could anyone that has the Southern version as well confirm if they have the route code stickers in the box? I haven't got any with mine... Cheers, Nathan... 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWT442 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 13 minutes ago, kintbury jon said: Would be good if the chassis block could be bought so that the older ones can be upgraded. Is there still a drag on the trailer bogies? No drag at all. The trailer bogies all have pin point axles and roll very freely. I've a pair of the SWT ones on the bench at the moment, found both motor coaches smooth runners on the rolling road and the body a doddle to remove to fit a decoder. One slight niggle is the motor coach bodies being a touch too easy to remove! Picking up from the top of the coach body seems to risk the clips on the bottom not engaging fully, causing the chassis to sag. Definitely a good upgrade from the first release, and I really hope we see a 4-CIG join it at some point. Andy. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Thanks for that. I hope that they will be available as spares then. The SWT and Southern ones are too modern for me. I'm happy with my NSE one despite the visual issues but would be good to try and get it running a bit better. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted January 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 27 I am on record elsewhere as considering that the new-generation of boxes from Hornby and others are ridiculously wasteful of finite resources. From card to foam to space. Having received upwards of 1000 deliveries by mail and courier in the past 20 years, most of which were in transit from China to the Uk and on to Australia, I have never had an issue with the more sensible size of packaging being a cause for transit-related damage. The Hornby "Mk2" Veps have had the motor sensibly relocated to the other end of the motor coach where they are less visible than they were in the open passenger saloon. Hornby released images of this change very late in the day meaning it is easy to find versions still showing motors in the saloon. The motors are still of the "can" type which should have gone out with the ark. I await with interest some owner's reviews of their performance but at least on pinpoint bearings the units should roll much more freely. The "face" is still not quite right though is an improvement. It should be nominally identical to the Bachmann/ Kernow MRC 4-TC units but isn't. The headcode panel seems to be the wrong size and the cab windows / pillars, whilst an improvement, are still not right. Stick-on headcodes should be the stuff of toy train-sets not mid-range railway models. Dave Jones was widely criticised for these on the class 22 and 52 models some years ago now. I had thought they were a thing of the past. The only exception I will make is for the correctly-represented stencil-plate headcodes on the Hornby Bil, Hal and Bel models, plus the recent EFE / Kernow "Booster" loco all of which had the stencils fitted externally to the prototype. Roller blinds should be modelled inside the glazing. It's not hard. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWT442 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Some not particularly brilliant shots of the SWT one on the bench. The new style of packaging was a bit of a surprise but at least it made it easier to remove the models. The old foam tray was quite a tight fit. Though it's odd that the motor coach comes in its own packaging. The colours look pretty good to me, be interesting to see how they compare to Bachmanns 3-CEP. Andy. 7 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 23 hours ago, Gwiwer said: Hornby has updated their stock images very recently. Some retailers have followed suit. It would seem that common sense has at last prevailed and that the (still a can) motor has been swapped to the less intrusive end of the coach. Now if they had a decent modern power unit instead ....... The relocation of the motor was announced when the revised tooling SWR and Southern models were revealed. The only failure by Hornby has been to not update the images (which are manipulations of the original release) but the change is not a last minute decision. 1 hour ago, SWT442 said: One slight niggle is the motor coach bodies being a touch too easy to remove! Picking up from the top of the coach body seems to risk the clips on the bottom not engaging fully, causing the chassis to sag. Body removal is indeed easy, a marked contrast to the Bachmann EMU fleet! 1 hour ago, kintbury jon said: Thanks for that. I hope that they will be available as spares then. The SWT and Southern ones are too modern for me. I'm happy with my NSE one despite the visual issues but would be good to try and get it running a bit better. I suspect that the cost of complete chassis parts will be less economical than simply buying an entire SWT or Southern model and swapping bodies. Can anyone confirm whether the bodyshells for the old model are a straight swap? The more ambitious may also want to graft new cab ends onto the older models... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted633 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) Just quickly lashed up by VEP to the Bachmann 4-TC to see if it could handle it. The answer is yes, but it did struggle a tad and an incline would certainly be a no no! Far better than the original though and can handle it's own coaches with ease (which of course, is all it's meant to do) As an aside, the coupling bar supplied with the VEP to enable two to be connected together has proved to be a very useful addition to my 4TC + 33! Edited January 27 by ted633 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles73128 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 51 minutes ago, SWT442 said: Some not particularly brilliant shots of the SWT one on the bench. The new style of packaging was a bit of a surprise but at least it made it easier to remove the models. The old foam tray was quite a tight fit. Though it's odd that the motor coach comes in its own packaging. The colours look pretty good to me, be interesting to see how they compare to Bachmanns 3-CEP. Andy. Still missing the door handle (grab) on the refurbished (added) saloon door! But overall sounds a great improvement. Just fitted TXS to my other B+G, NSE and blue. Can’t wait for my Southern! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Darius43 Posted January 27 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 27 Another delivery from Kernow 😀 Cheers Darius 16 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Hi, If the trailer bogies have pin point axles have Hornby reduced the depth of the wheel flanges?. Regards Nik Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray69 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I hope Hornby sell the interiors for the DTC, as it could replace the ones they fouled up in the NSE version with it's solid compartment wall. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Covkid Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 5 hours ago, SWT442 said: No drag at all. The trailer bogies all have pin point axles and roll very freely. I've a pair of the SWT ones on the bench at the moment, found both motor coaches smooth runners on the rolling road and the body a doddle to remove to fit a decoder. One slight niggle is the motor coach bodies being a touch too easy to remove! Picking up from the top of the coach body seems to risk the clips on the bottom not engaging fully, causing the chassis to sag. Definitely a good upgrade from the first release, and I really hope we see a 4-CIG join it at some point. Andy. Am I the only one left wondering why, if when retooling the motor car, Hornby didn't make a hatch underneath to house the decoder / blanking plug ? It is stuff like this where Hornby could be a leader in model innovation, particularly as they have their own brand of decoders 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernman46 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) 6 hours ago, D3489gibson said: 423417 Gordon Pettit with its Namesake in front, celebrating his 88th birthday. Good to see this fine Gent is still hale & hearty ............................ 👍👍 Edited January 27 by Southernman46 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted January 27 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 27 1 hour ago, Southernman46 said: Good to see this fine Gent is still hale & hearty And a good opportunity to compare real and model front ends. Of the Vep. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 2 hours ago, Covkid said: Am I the only one left wondering why, if when retooling the motor car, Hornby didn't make a hatch underneath to house the decoder / blanking plug ? It is stuff like this where Hornby could be a leader in model innovation, particularly as they have their own brand of decoders The PCB on which the decoder sits is under the roof so it would have required a much bigger redesign. At least the body comes off very easily! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frobisher Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 30 minutes ago, andyman7 said: The PCB on which the decoder sits is under the roof so it would have required a much bigger redesign. At least the body comes off very easily! Mind you, the chassis is completely new being metal, but clearly Hornby wanted to stick with the power bogie they had rather than go for a low profile central drive to both bogies as they were needing to tool up a new interior anyway etc., A missed opportunity. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Decorum Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 14 hours ago, Gray69 said: I hope Hornby sell the interiors for the DTC, as it could replace the ones they fouled up in the NSE version with it's solid compartment wall. I recall that Simon Kohler promised replacements when the first tooling appeared. It never happened. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted January 28 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 28 2 hours ago, No Decorum said: I recall that Simon Kohler promised replacements when the first tooling appeared. It never happened. I remember flagging the solid partitions as an issue when SK was showing the test shots. His response was a shrug of his shoulders. Possibly a bad day for an otherwise generally respected individual? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 With a 20% eBay money off voucher this represents a good price. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315126519044?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=90j_qsyqqlo&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=nWwfM6fYQfq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY Still two left at time of posting. I have bought one to see if I can do a body swap with my NSE one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Hi, Just received my 4 VEP in SWT. The power car may be the heaviest RTR OO EMU power car at 427 grammes. I haven't got a way of measuring OO speeds at the moment but here is a plot of current vs. DC voltage for the power car (with interior lights): I'm going to dig my vernier callipers out to measure the wheel flanges and other wheel dimensions. Regards Nik Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles73128 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 1 hour ago, NIK said: Hi, Just received my 4 VEP in SWT. The power car may be the heaviest RTR OO EMU power car at 427 grammes. I haven't got a way of measuring OO speeds at the moment but here is a plot of current vs. DC voltage for the power car (with interior lights): I'm going to dig my vernier callipers out to measure the wheel flanges and other wheel dimensions. Regards Nik My Southern arrived today! Yep, the MBS is a bit of a monster. It thinks it’s a Heljan cl128! I’m impressed! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 (edited) Hi, The motor coach turned out to weigh 427 grammes, so just 11 grammes more than the Bachmann 4 CEP equivalent and one gramme more pull (47 grammes) than the 4 CEP. I haven't measured the static friction of the trailer coaches but the gradient and curve predictor I've been helping with predicts this 4 VEP should be able to start on a 1 in 40 gradient with a 36 inch radius curve. Once I've DCC the VEP I can try it on the 1 in 40/36" radius gradient on the club layout Beggarwood Lane (although the incline is scenic and has no third rail so VEPs and the like wouldn't in reality go up it without diesel assistance). Regards Nik Edited January 30 by NIK Improving grammar. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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