Hornby Turbomotive

[The Stationmaster]

The lamps look pretty good but of course in the real world they would flicker a bit for various reasons.  Alas the two reds as a tail lamp are a figment of somebody's imagination.  i wonder if the circuitry/control could be altered to cause one of the reds to black out?

 

And why would teh firebox glow flicker with what amounts to constant daraught?  But on the other hand if we'd had an r-t-r British steam outline model with any of this even 20 years ago we'd have been amazed so 'getting there' is bound to take a while.

[PeterStiles]

19 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

an r-t-r British steam outline model with any of this even 20 years

Cough...

 

1967.. Triang-Hornby M7 complete with firebox glow...

[adb968008]

Heres the inside…

 

Chip installation is in the body, not the tender.. space for a sugar cube speaker.

top jst (unconnected) is for the front led lamps.

 

coloured wiring is the firebox flicker, black wiring is inbound tender pickups, outbound tender led wiring.

 

Firebox led board

Dont think ive seen this motor before, has ventilation, its definitely at the higher end of the scale than weve seen compared to some of the 50p-£5 motors on alibaba.

 

The body is all diecast…, only the running plate and cab is plastic, thats where the extra weight is hidden.

Under the tape are the LEDs (i didnt want to disturb) but theres definitely an led board under there and a light track to each lamp iron.

 

 

You can see the separate smokebox LED board by the chimney.

 

 

 

so intotal 4 LED boards..

1. lamps front

2. smokebox front

3. Firebox glow

4. tender lamps

 

inside the tender is very little.. a weight, pickups and an LED board. Intriguingly the instructions say you can tap the tender body to turn tender lights on/off.

it definitely feels good quality under the hood as well as above it, and it runs very smoothly, its ticking the boxes from a design perspective. I imagine a few may question why the chip is in the loco and not the tender though, but theres a space under the chimney for the speaker… I guess that may preclude smoke at some point though.

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by adb968008

[adb968008]

4 hours ago, PeterStiles said:

Cough...

 

1967.. Triang-Hornby M7 complete with firebox glow...

1977 R066 Duchess of Atholl had tooling for moulded on working lamps, but Ive never seen one with the lights working… that was the Duchess Railroad tooling used throughout the 80’s and 90’s.

 

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by adb968008

[smr248]

But a worm gear isn't very prototypical...  Very neat wiring compared to some other manufacturers (I really hate that Chinese sticky tape)

[Ian Hargrave]

Whilst trying to source an image of an Eric Treacy photo of the Turbomotive ,I chanced to find one taken at Lime Street by him while he was a young clergyman in Liverpool.Much of his early work is of the LMS in that area.6202 is heading what was a regular running in turn…..a Liverpool-Plymouth which the locomotive would haul as far as GW territory at Shrewsbury. Behind the tender is a chocolate & cream Collett.At Crewe she would of course attach the Manchester London Road portion.  The sight of a Stanier Pacific at Shrewsbury was usual right up until the end of steam .Frequently,the balancing northbound turn would be a short 3 coach non corridor local stopping train.

 

So there’s a couple of trains to think about creating with it….

 

 

 

 

[Ian Hargrave]

On 28/09/2023 at 16:53, adb968008 said:

The lamps look pretty solid fit to me, the centre lamp iron glued in.

 

The instructions only refer to changing the smokebox lampiron to a lamp, no spare lamp irons are in the bag, only 1 extra lamp (on a long clear plastic rod), clearly intended for the smokebox.

 

(But realistically this loco only ever did express passenger, LE most likely in reverse, and ECS workings, also probably in reverse).

 

i’m sure a permanent solution could be enacted to remove them if desired.

 

Couple of minor points. No shed code ?  And as I’ve posted ,there’s a possibility that on a running in turn with a local working …..yes I did see 46236 hauling 3 Stanier non corridors on a Shrewsbury-Crewe stopper….it might have used that top bracket.These are indeed very minor points on what appears to be Hornby refreshed. Thanks for the close ups of the works. My 6202 will be having an identical running in turn when it arrives 

 

 

[adb968008]

Few interesting flickr pictures..

 

all not mine..

 

 

theres a baffle plate of sorts in front of the smokebox door, that appears raised when on a train, theres several such images out there, does anyone know what this was for ?

(I tried on the model, it does not lift).

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by adb968008

[Ian Hargrave]

19 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Few interesting flickr pictures..

 

all not mine..

 

 

theres a baffle plate of sorts in front of the smokebox door, that appears raised when on a train, theres several such images out there, does anyone know what this was for ?

(I tried on the model, it does not lift).

 

The latter taken at Shrewsbury. Great choice 

[bmb5dnp1]

30 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Few interesting flickr pictures..

 

all not mine..

 

 

theres a baffle plate of sorts in front of the smokebox door, that appears raised when on a train, theres several such images out there, does anyone know what this was for ?

(I tried on the model, it does not lift).

 

Hello,

I believe it's the cover to the radiator for cooling the turbine lubricating oil. I seem to remember that Hornby said they would make it "poseable" but obviously didn't.

 

Dave

Edited September 29, 2023 by bmb5dnp1
Clarification

[zr2498]

7 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Heres the inside…

 

Chip installation is in the body, not the tender.. space for a sugar cube speaker.

top jst (unconnected) is for the front led lamps.

 

coloured wiring is the firebox flicker, black wiring is inbound tender pickups, outbound tender led wiring.

 

Firebox led board

Dont think ive seen this motor before, has ventilation, its definitely at the higher end of the scale than weve seen compared to some of the 50p-£5 motors on alibaba.

 

The body is all diecast…, only the running plate and cab is plastic, thats where the extra weight is hidden.

Under the tape are the LEDs (i didnt want to disturb) but theres definitely an led board under there and a light track to each lamp iron.

 

 

You can see the separate smokebox LED board by the chimney.

 

 

 

so intotal 4 LED boards..

1. lamps front

2. smokebox front

3. Firebox glow

4. tender lamps

 

inside the tender is very little.. a weight, pickups and an LED board. Intriguingly the instructions say you can tap the tender body to turn tender lights on/off.

it definitely feels good quality under the hood as well as above it, and it runs very smoothly, its ticking the boxes from a design perspective. I imagine a few may question why the chip is in the loco and not the tender though, but theres a space under the chimney for the speaker… I guess that may preclude smoke at some point though.

 

@adb968008 thanks for the look inside. I wonder if the firebox flicker and lights will be controllable by DCC. Other Hornby locos of late have needed rewiring to achieve DCC control of firebox (extra wires between tender and loco). With chip inside loco?

With most of the gubbins in the loco, there is a chance for a large speaker in the tender (with extra wires of course between loco and tender).

[Buhar]

26 minutes ago, bmb5dnp1 said:

Hello,

I believe it's the cover to the radiator for cooling the turbine lubricating oil. I seem to remember that Hornby said they would make it "poseable" but obviously didn't.

 

Dave

It was normally raised when running, although I can't see why it need to be put down otherwise.  Was it set before a run or could the crew raise it from the cab?

 

Alan

[adb968008]

11 minutes ago, Buhar said:

It was normally raised when running, although I can't see why it need to be put down otherwise.  Was it set before a run or could the crew raise it from the cab?

 

Alan

Raised you couldnt open the smokebox door.

[Free At Last]

8 hours ago, adb968008 said:

You can see the separate smokebox LED board by the chimney.

So in total 4 LED boards..

1. lamps front

2. smokebox front

3. Firebox glow

4. tender lamps

 

What is the purpose of the smokebox LED board?

[adb968008]

40 minutes ago, Free At Last said:

What is the purpose of the smokebox LED board?

Top lamp bracket on the smokebox door is removable, and a spare headlamp is included which can reach the led and illuminate, so an “almost” royal train config… just missing the bottom centre, which no obvious provision is made, and the bottom headlamps dont look designed to be removable to me (and no spare lamp irons are included).

 

Having done my fair share of lampiron fitting on kits, tbh I’m not sure i’d recommend modellers who aren't used to adjusting lamp irons to be swapping the lampiron.. it is as small and delicate as you think… about 0.3mm wide, thick and c2mm tall.

 

it feels a bit unfinished or ill thought, but I do like the express headcode headlamps as they are (just not in reverse).. 

 

lesson learned for the black 5 would be…

 

1. Yes to the lampiron in all positions, with illuminated lamps for fitting… the feature is very good to see.

2. be able to turn red off (but then there isnt really many cases you’d have red and white at the same end).. so theres either a single red lamp, or a set of lamp irons when it comes to reverse views.

3. make the lampirons “push out” rather than “pull out”. They are too delicate, perhaps make the irons from metal than plastic.. I can tell without trying that modellers who arent used to this are going to come unstuck.

4. get ready for spares requests for lamps and lamp irons.

5. same for the tender.

6. consider making the tender body magnetic held rather than screw fit, for ease of supporting the above.

 

i can sense theyve landed on a nugget of a feature moving forwards, if they can make it fully configurable.

Edited September 29, 2023 by adb968008

[Hilux5972]

15 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Intriguingly the instructions say you can tap the tender body to turn tender lights on/off.

 

The latest engine shed shows that feature on the new VEP’s as well. Tap the cab roof to turn on and off. Very neat feature. 

Edited September 30, 2023 by Hilux5972
Typo

[Kris]

19 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Heres the inside…

 

Chip installation is in the body, not the tender.. space for a sugar cube speaker.

 

but theres a space under the chimney for the speaker… I guess that may preclude smoke at some point though.

 

 

Having a speaker in the loco makes them sound better to my ears. When the sound is in the tender it sounds like it's trailing the loco. The larger the gauge the worse this is. 

[adb968008]

6 hours ago, Hilux5972 said:

The latest engine shed shows that feature on the new VEP’s as well. Tap the cab roof to turn on and off. Very neat feature. 

Until the part gets scratched.

magic wands are better imo. (Magnets on a stick and reed switches inside… Hornby do use these on their 4 wheeled stock).

When it comes to the tender, if the loco is on a train, going forwards.. there isnt going to be a lamp on the tender lamp irons to turn off anyway…

 

if theres going to be a lamp on the tender, and its on… it will be red (LE going smokebox first) or clear depending (tender first) on direction of travel.

 

I think that part is a little ill thought, but if they sort it, it will certainly be a winner on the Black5.

Edited September 30, 2023 by adb968008

[31A]

I'm not sure whether I've properly understood how the head/tail lamps work on the Turbomotive, and I'm not in the market for one myself but am interested in view of how they might be applied to other locos.  But, would it be possible for the removable tail lamp to be moulded in a red translucent plastic (or other other similar material) so that it converts the white light from the LEDs into red, regardless which lamp iron it is placed on?

[MikeParkin65]

2 hours ago, Kris said:

 

Having a speaker in the loco makes them sound better to my ears. When the sound is in the tender it sounds like it's trailing the loco. The larger the gauge the worse this is. 

A speaker in both is the best in my experience - the Accurascale Manor is very well balanced in this respect. 

[Michael Hodgson]

On 28/09/2023 at 15:03, craneman said:

A curious phenomenon (which you will one day discover) is that as people get old their memories of the distant past become clearer whilst their memories of the immediate past fail completely. Add to that the fact that sounds are disproportionately evocative and it is likely that those who did see the Turbomotive running as a turbine will remember it far more accurately than you appear to credit.

 

Yes but we need a hearing aid these days !

[JSpencer]

20 hours ago, adb968008 said:

1977 R066 Duchess of Atholl had tooling for moulded on working lamps, but Ive never seen one with the lights working… that was the Duchess Railroad tooling used throughout the 80’s and 90’s.

 

 

 

My Duchess of Sutherland has working lamps.

[No Decorum]

1 hour ago, JSpencer said:

 

My Duchess of Sutherland has working lamps.

Yes. It was remarked at the time that it was an odd headcode to pick for a big express Pacific.

[Hastings Thumper]

Definitely has the opening vent below the smokebox 

[The Stationmaster]

21 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

The latter taken at Shrewsbury. Great choice 

And the ECS is on the Up Fast passing over Bushey troughs.  S I wonder if it was trial run yo see how the reverse turbine fared over a distance?   The photographer must have been 'in the know'.