Sonic N Gauge J50

[Roy L S]

There is still a thread open on "Revolution Trains" for this loco, but as it is now a Rails exclusive it felt more appropriate to start a thread here.

 

Last I heard from Rails this loco was still expected to be delivered Dec 22/Jan 23.

 

Sod's law I came down with a flu bug yesterday so was unable to go to Warley today as I had planned. I was planning to drop by the Rails stand for an update and so was wondering if anyone else did and is able to share the latest news?

 

Not the end of the world if not.

 

Roy

[CF MRC]

Look forward to seeing them. 


Especially the LNER versions. 

Tim

Edited November 28, 2022 by CF MRC

[WorldWarTrains]

Hi chaps, I am new here, and decided to register tonight.

 

I have both the J50 and large prairie on order from ROS.

 

I rang them last week for an update, and they stated that the 2 trains are still on track for Dec/Jan delivery.

 

It makes me wonder though if these dates are accurate, especially considering the turmoil in China at the moment.  I hope I am wrong though.

 

I still havnt seen a fully decorated model in the prairie, and as far as I am aware nor has ROS,  but again, wishing I am wrong on that.

 

If anyone knows more please speak up, would love to get them on the track for crimbo.

 

Cheers,

 

Andy.

[RichardT]

I’m afraid that they’ll arrive when they arrive. No point pinning your hopes on a deadline over which none of us have any influence!

 

Best RichardT

(three on order…)

[WorldWarTrains]

News just in from ROS....

 

J50 has been delayed, and the new expected release date is March.  Boo hoo.

 

So with that, the Prairie will probably be next Christmas.

 

No probs... I can wait.... (Arrrrggghhhhh).

 

 

 

[TomE]

A shame, but not surprising given the problems in China at the moment. 

 

Looking forward to this one whenever it arrives!

 

Tom.  

 

[Roy L S]

On 02/12/2022 at 21:35, WorldWarTrains said:

News just in from ROS....

 

J50 has been delayed, and the new expected release date is March.  Boo hoo.

 

So with that, the Prairie will probably be next Christmas.

 

No probs... I can wait.... (Arrrrggghhhhh).

 

 

 

 

Sadly for some reason I was half expecting there to be another delay with these. Disappointing but not a surprise.

 

Edit: -

 

I hadn't realised just how delayed they have actually become; they were supposed to have arrived be shipped by the end of last year! Here is a quote from N Gauge News...

 

First samples are already being tested and it is hoped the models will be ready to ship by the end of 2021.

 

I suspect there may be some who having paid a "non refundable" £20 deposit to Rails who could be becoming a little frustrated. The one thing I do think Rails could do is be a little more proactive in providing updates, I get lots of e-mails from them selling stuff, but not once has any of the now multiple delays for this or the OO A5 been mentioned.

 

Roy

Edited December 4, 2022 by Roy L S

[WorldWarTrains]

On 03/12/2022 at 14:08, Roy L S said:

 

Sadly for some reason I was half expecting there to be another delay with these. Disappointing but not a surprise.

 

Edit: -

 

I hadn't realised just how delayed they have actually become; they were supposed to have arrived be shipped by the end of last year! Here is a quote from N Gauge News...

 

First samples are already being tested and it is hoped the models will be ready to ship by the end of 2021.

 

I suspect there may be some who having paid a "non refundable" £20 deposit to Rails who could be becoming a little frustrated. The one thing I do think Rails could do is be a little more proactive in providing updates, I get lots of e-mails from them selling stuff, but not once has any of the now multiple delays for this or the OO A5 been mentioned.

 

Roy

Yes, I agree.   Rails OS should as a business with loyal customers, keep us updated with regular, well....updates.  Not very considerate of them in my humble opinion.

 

I am one of those who have paid 2 non refundable deposits, and would have really appreciated some firm dates posted on their site under the product description. As it turned out, they were based on old information.

 

To be fair, I placed the orders via deposit based on what I believed to be the most up to date information under the product description. Not great news, but I'll wait this one out.

[CF MRC]

Any updates?

 

Tim

[Gareth Collier]

2 hours ago, CF MRC said:

Any updates?

 

Tim

https://railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/n-gauge-class-j50

 

[TomE]

Didn't realise there was a thread running here too! 

 

News here: https://bit.ly/43jK6VV

 

Tom.  

[Roy L S]

33 minutes ago, TomE said:

Didn't realise there was a thread running here too! 

 

News here: https://bit.ly/43jK6VV

 

Tom.  

I hope assembly of the production models is a bit more carefully done than some of these examples, note the horizontal gaps between cab moulding and the lower loco body, and also (I have mentioned this elsewhere) the raised Ross safety valves are not properly seated in a number of the shots.

 

Yes, I know the pictures are cruelly enlarged, but even still there looks to be room for improvement assembly wise.

 

Roy

[justin1985]

I'm not sure how many people might have noticed, but the first of the final production J50s made an appearance on Copenhagen Fields for a few hours at the Bristol Thornbury Show at the weekend. 

 

 

This was brought from China personally by Mr Sonic himself, who explained the production batch are on the boat as we speak, and should be on their way to customers late June / July!

 

The CF team agreed it looks exquisite, and it ran beautifully. We're also confident that the bearing design is consistent with e.g. Farish Jinty, so 2mmFS conversions should be quite simple.

[TomE]

The J50s have docked in the UK according to Rails. Deliveries expected to start in 7-10 days depending on how quickly they clear customs. 
 

Tom. 

[Mobylette]

My Paypal account was charged the balance due for my J50 order on Friday,  so I guess they are getting nearer to being delivered. I am really looking forward to this loco:  the samples look great.

[Roy L S]

Looks like my credit card has been charged too.

 

Roy

[Crepello]

Mine’s been despatched.

[Roy L S]

My two have arrived, very nice models and lovely sweet runners, the only issue I have found is that loco body screws are very tight, so tight in fact that I managed to inadvertently grind the head of one screw away, so as it was my screw up ended up carefully drilling the head off the screw to get the body off. Not an issue as it has four retaining screws and three will be enough, but more a warning to others to be careful!

 

Other thoughts, they run very sweetly, but if looking to chip them like me, a right-angled of "micro" decoder will be needed, bog standard size can't be made to fit (or at least I couldn't find a way). I think DCC sound even using a Zimo MS 500 would be very challenging - I'll leave someone else to figure that out and share!

 

Roy

[TomE]

Mine also arrived today. Photos now being taken for an NGN review but first impressions are that it's an excellent model all round and runs very nicely straight out of the box. 

 

 

Tom

[Gareth Collier]

Mine arrived this morning; LNER black, lined in red. Not exactly pre grouping Southern but a rule 1 purchase.
Wow. Visibly excellent, virtually silent, very smooth running at all speeds (on DC) and a great price. Congratulations Sonic.

[TomE]

The review is now up here

 

The more I look at the J50 the more I think Sonic have done a really top job with this one. All round it's an excellent model. 

 

Tom.  

[Roy L S]

Mechanically speaking there is nothing revolutionary in the design, it fairly simple, and is in fact very reminiscent of Farish coreless motor tank locos, my only slight reservation is that there appears to be no positive location for the motor, it seems to simply be clamped in place by the top- plate and that's it which feels a bit crude.  With no ancillary functions absolutely no need to go for Next 18, the 6-pin is just fine for this type of model.

 

Overall, in design terms I would describe the model as competent mechanically but there isn't anything exceptional about it. My experience of running two of them resulted in one running well after a suitable period of running in, and while the other one worked OK on initial testing, once I started running it in on my layout problems emerged, a "thumping" sound could be heard with each rotation of the wheel, I suspect the problem to be either a quartering issue or a non-concentric wheel. Inevitably there will always be a small number of locos that aren't right, and to be fair to Rails they didn't quibble, and confirmed I should return it.

 

In terms of detail and finish, both locos are very nice indeed.

 

Overall, especially considering the price (£109.95) I think Sonic have done a great job, and I foresee it being an extremely popular model for them/Rails.

 

Roy