br-nse-fan Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Hello All Tried to call Hornby this morning, and they were already closed for the day! Must be nice! Have to wait for next week as I tried calling them just after 9am local time, and missed them by a full hour! Oh well... Anyhow, had a request for the Catalog and batch numbers for these engines. Unfortunately, I have misplaced most of the instruction leaflets as I tend to only keep one per class of loco, so I can not provide the batch numbers... R2349 - Ark Royal R2374 - Hood R2487 - St Vincent R2429 - Superb Loco's that do not appear to be affected: R2408 - Sir Edward Elgar* R2793 - Dauntless R2575 - Lion *may have shown some whitening similar to image #2 above... not positive however, and will be keeping an eye on it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Hmmmm, now worried, think I need to check my Achilles then... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br-nse-fan Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Just got a response from Hornby.... they are asking that I send back ALL the locomotives that are displaying metal fatigue.... that's 7 locomotives! Since none of the Class 50 body shells have any damage, Tanya at Hornby has asked that I keep them at home and not send them back, only the chassis's. I will update once I have more info. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Peter Beckett Posted December 19, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 19, 2012 I got my 31 out of the box yesterday to have a look at it and one of the ends seemed to sag a bit. Closer examination showed that one end had snapped off. I stripped it down and no visible signs of corrosion, just a bad design. After many emails to parts suppliers I sent one to Hornby and got the reply they dont supply to the public (spare parts, that is). A return email explaining the problem and quoting the Hornby number R2420 and also mentioning that the service sheet HSS 276H does not have a part number, I received an email from Tanya Garrett advising me to return the chassis to Margate so it is now flying airmail to sunny Kent. Thank you Hornby for your excellent response to what seemed an impossible solution. Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br-nse-fan Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Thank you Hornby for your excellent response to what seemed an impossible solution Absolutely! I second that opinion! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Peter Beckett Posted January 8, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 8, 2013 I received an email from Tanya today, informing me my chassis (not the original I suspect) will be heading down south to a wet and cold Hastings in Victoria Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon020 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Apparently any lack of communications on their part is not an indication of no progress. I know many have received e-mails confirming the progress of work on their models... I hadn't. I rang today to see what was happening having confirmed receipt of the loco through the Royal Mail in early december... but having heard nothing from Hornby. Apparently it's on their system and in work... whatever that means was not clarified, but hopefully it'll be resolved soon. so, "no news", if that's the situation you're in, is possibly good news. Will update when I know more; it's useful to share experiences of this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40 058 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 I posted my damaged chassis back to them early December. So far I havent had it back or had any further comms with Hornby. I dont mind though, im confident they are doing it as quickly as they can given the spares availability and possible que for replacements etc. They seem to have been pretty good at resolving this issue. Im not in any rush anyway! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon020 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 I posted my damaged chassis back to them early December. So far I havent had it back or had any further comms with Hornby. I dont mind though, im confident they are doing it as quickly as they can given the spares availability and possible que for replacements etc. They seem to have been pretty good at resolving this issue. Im not in any rush anyway! Yes, so it was the same with me; I just chased them up as my friend had posted his back early december, received a confirmatory e-mail and reimbursed postage... which considering I'd heard nothing, I thought odd. I'm not bothered either way as hopefully I'll have a modifiable 31 to work on sometime this year... again, I'm in no rush either :-) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roy h Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 it seams as thought they are very busy with the 31 (31 110). As at christmas i was treated to another sound chip and when i wnet to fit it notices a small crack and the body was very tight to remove. it was only when i went to refit the body the ends had dropped. a quick search on line brought me to this thread and forums so joined up. the day after a phone call to Hornby and all i said was " i have a train where the ends have dropped off" did not get chance to say any more and the lad on the phone went " i take it is a class 31 and to send it in with a covering letter" it has been with them for about a week and a half now so if i hear of when it might be back ill update on time taken. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted January 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2013 Hornby rang to say they would fix it - but it must be in a big mountain of them being fixed as it has not re-appeared as yet..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Peter Beckett Posted January 14, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 14, 2013 I will be very interested as to how they FIX the chassis as its a design problem with the chassis, compounded by the material used. I am putting my money on a replacement chassis with a design modification. I should know in another few days Peter 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br-nse-fan Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 I will be very interested as to how they FIX the chassis as its a design problem with the chassis, compounded by the material used. I am putting my money on a replacement chassis with a design modification. I should know in another few days Peter Please do let us know... post a couple photo's if there is something new! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Guys, you'll have to be patient. It took almost a YEAR for my 31110 to return. Because if the batch production in china, they only have spare chassis when 31s are being made on one of the lines. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br-nse-fan Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Guys, you'll have to be patient. It took almost a YEAR for my 31110 to return. Because if the batch production in china, they only have spare chassis when 31s are being made on one of the lines. Did you send it back with or without the body? From what I understand, is that you'll get your loco back quicker if they don't need to source a replacement body as well as the chassis. I could be wrong... but that's just that I have heard/read. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Not sure if that counts now as I sent mine back with the body and still haven't heard anything back yet! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickL2008 Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 im glad I steered clear of the Hornby 31 before all this, especially seeing the prices they cost NL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Trainshed Terry Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2013 im glad I steered clear of the Hornby 31 before all this, especially seeing the prices they cost NL All I can say I must been one of the lucky ones to get away with this problem. They have been fine since the day I purchased them. I do check them on a regular time period to makes suer that they are not going to fall apart on me. Terry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickL2008 Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Hi Terry - Yes mine never had this problem, although one I did buy not so long ago did, the body was cracked on one end in a few places, and the parts where the bufferbeam is etc, completely broke off when I removed the body ... fortunatley said model was a donor for its chassis for its Lima counterpart NL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 That said, My 31268 is the smoothest runner in the fleet and I'll be looking to add additional examples from the sound batches. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Peter Beckett Posted January 21, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 21, 2013 A large parcel arrived today and after burrowing through all the packing I found the original box I sent the chassis back for "repairs". Inside securely wrapped was a new unit that looks remarkably like my unit before it broke. So no redesign just a replacement part. Heres hoping it lasts Peter 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40 058 Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 I thought it would end up just a replacement part and not a re-design. It should last ok, as long as the base metal isnt contaminated, as this was why they started to disintergrate/snap off. The cab ends are very thin and definatly a weak point but they should be able to stay in one piece easily enough unless its handled roughly or dropped. I have several Hornby 31s, some box fresh others modified and all are perfectly fine, apart from my 31 110 (my only one from 1st batch) which only snapped off because of contaminated metal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainmaster64 Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Considering buying a Class 31 at some point as a medium-strength diesel unit for my line; however after reading this I'm very wary of the thought now. My preferences seem now to lean towards buying an older Class 37, poor detailing and all... at least it would run properly, without fear of disintegration within five years! That said, exactly which Hornby product numbers have been affected by this? I mean which RXXXX items have been tormented with these issues? That way I know and will be able to stay clear of them for future. If someone could supply a list of them I would appreciate it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Can't remember off the top of my head but it is mentioned several times through the thread. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickL2008 Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Considering buying a Class 31 at some point as a medium-strength diesel unit for my line; however after reading this I'm very wary of the thought now. My preferences seem now to lean towards buying an older Class 37, poor detailing and all... at least it would run properly, without fear of disintegration within five years! That said, exactly which Hornby product numbers have been affected by this? I mean which RXXXX items have been tormented with these issues? That way I know and will be able to stay clear of them for future. If someone could supply a list of them I would appreciate it. Unless you dont have the skills, why not use the Hornby 31 chassis to repower a Lima 31? its been done several times now and the Lima 31 body is better moulded in some areas as well and looks more like a 31 NL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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