Hornby R1284M (RS48) Victorian Train Set

[andyman7]

8 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

Many Triang sets contained a battery controller of one sort or another, later Triang Hornby sets had simple mains controllers.  Anything containing track should have a controller nowadays.

 

 

It looks rather better than the Triang clerestories issued in a moulded faux-teak colour in the "Mainline Steam" set with the old tooling B12!

 

A few had battery controllers but most Triang sets didn't - and no Triang branded set ever had a main controller - the first set of any description that did so was the final issue 'Blue Pullman' issued by Hornby Railways in 1974, which came with an R915 controller. From 1978, a cheap Train Set mains controller (R911) was available to purchase for £3 if you bought a set. It was only in 1980 that Hornby began to routinely include a mains controller, generally the R912. Even then, none of these could be run 'out-of-the-box' because of course you had to fit your own plug in those days. It wasn't until 1993 that sets came with plugs attached following changes in UK legislation which finally required a mains plug to be fitted to electrical appliances.

 

Re (not) including one here, you are of course entitled to your opinion but I do not see any reason why this set 'needs' to have a controller; one is very easily added if required but this is very much in the spirit of the original to leave it up to the buyer.

[andyman7]

5 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

I like the idea, but didn't the previous management have 'all' the old tooling chucked in a skip?

No. They had any most of the remaining tooling that had not previously been sent over to China by 2016 scrapped due to damage. In practice, that meant only things that had not been made in nearly 20 years, and a lot of older Triang and Hornby era stuff had already made its way east - the ex-Triang shorty clerestories having been issued several times as China-made items and LoI having been reissued in various guises too (including as a 'Thomas' model').

[GWR-fan]

6 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

I like the idea, but didn't the previous management have 'all' the old tooling chucked in a skip?

 

From memory several years ago when it was suggested that the old tooling APT be re-released it was Simon Kohler who responded that the tooling had been damaged and was no longer available.  I was not aware that it was a roof leak that caused the damage to all the old tooling.

[AyJay]

Well I purchased this set via my normal outlet and I have various comments/observations to make about it:

The packaging is very impressive and I like that very much.  Also my first impression of the locomotive and carriages is that they are 'pretty' and certainly eye catching.  I think that they are also in keeping with the image of Triang -Hornby, which I suspect is the intention.

 

Looking more closely:

I did have 'issues' with fitting the Hornby decoder chip and suspect that the cause was insufficient clearance for the wires between the top of the motor and the underside of the top.  I had to squeeze the wires in beside the motor.

When I got the engine to run, initially on a rolling road, I found that one of the pickups on a driving wheel had been dislodged and was jamming the wheel when I tried to drive forwards.  I found these pickups to be flimsy and since the driving wheels have rubber (?) tyres, then what purpose do pickups on the driving wheels serve?

 

When coupling the first carriage to the tender, I had to use something pointy to hook them on, for there is a difference in height of about 1mm between the couplings, preventing them from joining unaided.

When running, I noticed that the leading wheels on the tender would stop turning on bends.  I saw that the tender wheels are of the old-fashioned split-axle type that were popular in the Triang-Hornby era.  This was strange because all the other wheels were of the  more contemporary fixed axle type.  I also checked the wheel flange depths and found that whereas everything else had a flange depth around the 0.7mm mark, suitable for finescale track; the tender wheel flanges were 1.4mm, which will no doubt explain the rumbling sound when it runs.

 

The carriages look very pretty on the outside, but there is absolutely nothing on the inside. 

 

In summary.  I appreciate that this is probably intended to be an attempt to relive the Triang-Hornby era and touch with our childhoods.  Also that this is a budget set and you get what you pay for. However...  I feel that there should have been some updating to concede to contemporary expectations.  The tender wheels in particular, let this set down.  I can forgive the lack of carriage interiors, as another contributor has indicated, there are up to date replacements.

 

Would I have bought this set if I had known this?  No!  I will not be allowing emotion to control my purchases in future.  I don't think that I will be running it regularly and will treat it as a novelty to be run infrequently.

[GWR-fan]

4 hours ago, AyJay said:

Well I purchased this set via my normal outlet and I have various comments/observations to make about it:

The packaging is very impressive and I like that very much.  Also my first impression of the locomotive and carriages is that they are 'pretty' and certainly eye catching.  I think that they are also in keeping with the image of Triang -Hornby, which I suspect is the intention.

 

Looking more closely:

...........................................................................................

 

Firstly there is minimal clearance to fit a decoder under the body on all the DCC ready Dean single releases.

 

Secondly,  without the traction tyre the loco will barely move itself.  Some versions came without the traction tyre.

 

Thirdly,  all Dean Single tenders came with the plastic wheels,  even the premium releases.  I would purchase inexpensive Mainline/Bachmann tender locomotives and use the metal wheelsets from the tender as it improves the appearance 100%. 

 

Fourthly,  the undersize pilot truck/bogie wheels may be replaced with the "display" accessory flanged wheels usually supplied with Hornby Pacific class locomotives with the fixed Cartazzi trucks. This improves the look as it fills out the front of the model.

 

Lastly,  the shorty clerestory coaches never had an interior,  but at least have metal wheels fitted.

 

I have several DCC ready Dean singles and none of them could be called reliable runners with troublesome power pickup and poor traction.  I also cut off the tender drawbar connection and glue a piece of tube vertically behind the front lateral beam on the tender chassis.  The hook on the loco then fits behind the front of the tender chassis thus closing the gap between loco and tender.

[Halvarras]

Earlier this year I wanted a pair of the Chinese-made shorty clerestory coaches in 'BR' crimson & cream livery, as supplied with the R1089 'Anglian' set with a BR blue B12 (no, not that kind of BR blue....!) for my newly-restored Tri-ang 'Nellie' (nearly there.......at last) to haul around, as I liked the look of these and they are nicely finished. I managed to find a mint pair on the 'Bay for £25. I fitted Bachmann small couplings and replaced the 12mm plastic wheels with some spares-box Jackson 14mm wheels, which jacked them up by 1mm but I recovered this by extending the bufferbeams down 1mm to take the spares-box Kenline oval coach buffers, replacing those fitted by Hornby which were bufferheads only - no stocks!

Although the windows are small the ability to see right through them from most angles irked me, so an online search turned up these:

 

https://dcresinreplicas.co.uk/product/r332-clerestory-composite-coach-seating-unit/

 

Interior for brake vehicle R333 also available. They drop straight in, no need to trim any of the floor projections (underframe clips/glazing pegs). Mine required a few loose filaments trimming away (although these would hardly have been visible from outside) but their 'chunkiness' combined with the metal wheels meant that additional ballast wasn't necessary - after all Nellie is hardly a heavy hauler! One tip - I found that an alarming amount of force was required to free the roofs from the end clips, so once freed without breaking the roof in half I reduced the size of the lugs on the roof ends.

 

No connection with DC Resin Replicas others than as a satisfied customer, who sidestepped a ludicrously time-consuming plan to chop up some spare Lima Class 117 DMU interiors 😬!

 

Very old these models may be now but they have a lot of charm and the tooling appears to be in excellent condition. Hopefully they will soldier on for a while yet!

[GWR-fan]

I am surprised at the seeming low key interest in this train set,  limited to a 1000 production run.   Given the GBP140.00 (including VAT) price the set seemed too good to be true.  Previous Dean single locomotives like "Lorna Doone" and "Duke of Edinburgh" still sell pre-owned at around GBP100.00,

 

I had pre-ordered two sets a week or two ago not really expecting to get either due the limited run and Hattons seemed to get their stock later than other outlets,  however, two sets were placed in my Trunk overnight and will soon be travelling downunder via DHL.  The coaches in this set are far more attractive than previously issued with earlier "Lord of the Isles" releases.

[melmerby]

On 20/10/2022 at 18:51, andyman7 said:

A few had battery controllers

I had one of those that screwed onto the top of 3 4.5v bell batteries and it had an on(R)-off-on(F) switch on top.

I had one of the Triang proper variable controllers connected with the red cutout button to it.

Batteries didn't last very long so a transformer and bridge rectifier soon appeared.

Edited November 4, 2022 by melmerby

[Legend]

Looks nice but I think it's primarily aimed at the nostalgia market. Anyone expecting an up to date revamp will be disappointed.   I wonder if the Blue Pullman tooling was damaged, that would make a lovely nostalgia set 

[PeterStiles]

29 minutes ago, Legend said:

Blue Pullman tooling was damaged

we believe so.. probably for the good 

[Hroth]

The most recent stand-alone release of a Dean Single was of "Achilles" (R3759) a couple of years ago, three still available from Olivia's Trains for £99.00 , they were a bit cheaper elsewhere...