Class 31's - Which model is best?

[Shadow]

I'm looking at getting a Class 31, but was wondering which model is the best.

 

Looking through various post's here on RMWeb (and other sites) there's a various answers.

 

So which is the best? Performance, looks ,etc.

 

Triang, Hornby, Hornby railroad, Lima, (other?)

 

Dave

[steveb860]

On a performance basis, the new Hornby chassis, on a looks the right shape  basis the lima/Hornby Railroad version. Combine the two, add a few detailing etches and wire handrails, and that will be hard to better 

[Clive Mortimore]

I have a right mix of Brush Type 2s and find merit in all of them. I hope my photo helps by answering which I think is the best.

 

Here are some of my Brush type 2s. 

[Shadow]

I like the green one.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

On a performance basis, the new Hornby chassis, on a looks the right shape  basis the lima/Hornby Railroad version. Combine the two, add a few detailing etches and wire handrails, and that will be hard to better 

Will it ever occur to Hornby that they have all the parts to combine to make a lower manufacturing cost Class 30/31 with the superior centre motor drive, in their toolbox...

[Shadow]

I seem to recall somewhere that the Railroad model uses the old ima mould.

 

If that is so, does the newer Railroad version have a higher spec than the older Lima ones?

 

Do they use the same drive system?

[chris bales]

I seem to recall somewhere that the Railroad model uses the old ima mould.

 

If that is so, does the newer Railroad version have a higher spec than the older Lima ones?

 

Do they use the same drive system?

No. It has a better motor Hornby rebuilt spec not the old Lima motor. there in the Railroad range but not cheap £50-£60  a lot about so mite come down in price to clear

[steveb860]

Part right Chris. Yes the Railroad 31 uses the Lima moulding, Shadow, but with newer motor on a slightly modified Lima chassis, hence my use of Lima/ Railroad earlier. 

[Mike Storey]

I don't think anyone has bettered the old Airfix body, although the motor was awful.

[chris bales]

Part right Chris. Yes the Railroad 31 uses the Lima moulding, Shadow, but with newer motor on a slightly modified Lima chassis, hence my use of Lima/ Railroad earlier. 

Yes your right my friend Sorry about that. I had a couple of Lima 31s witch had good motors and ran very nice. Only have one Hornby 31 now BR Green syp looks good to my eye and runs superb. { After cutting the belt fan drive off }

Edited May 25, 2014 by chris bales

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

I don't think anyone has bettered the old Airfix body, although the motor was awful.

That's the one that does it for me too. I have these bodies on new Hornby chassis, got cheap when the ends rotted off. Looks like a Brush 2, lovely quiet running instead of the world's loudest coffee grinder.

[stewartingram]

I don't think anyone has bettered the old Airfix body, although the motor was awful.

At the time of its introduction, the Airfix 31 was reported in one of the mags (scale Trains or MRC maybe?) as hauling a phenomenal load. I think it was about 35 coaches. I ended up with 4 of these models, always found the mechanism good. Mind you as I was a service engineer for a few shops at the time, I did give them a bit of tlc, basically a strip down and careful re-assembly. As a matter of course I also added extra pickups to most locos (still do) to improve electrical reliability. They certainly put the Hornby, Lima, and Mainline chassis in the shade at the time.

 

Stewart

[Guest 40-something]

I'd go for the Lima body with the Hornby non-railroad chassis.

 

The railroad bodyshell is ex-Lima but Hornby have mixed up the tooling, whilst the sides are original condition with the bodyside banding, the ends are the refurbished type with the banding removed.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

At the time of its introduction, the Airfix 31 was reported in one of the mags (scale Trains or MRC maybe?) as hauling a phenomenal load.

Further attractive features were the ease with which the plated brass wheels in the unpowered bogie could go onto the driven bogie axles. From two models, producing a double motored chassis was very easy as the powered and unpowered bogies had the same mounting. Made new pick up wipers for the metal tyred power bogies from nickel silver wire wound onto a couple of small self tappers per side, screwed into the bogie baseplates, and connected both sides for very reliable pick up.

 

Did this conversion for operation outdoors as the traction tyred original (as with all traction tyred models) was useless the moment there was any damp on the rails, and traction tyres don't last long outdoors anyway so best eliminated. Converted into a twin motor unit, with no other changes, it pulled very well indeed. The motors proved consistently good performers, but just as with the very similar motor in the N2 slack tolerances in manufacture meant they were always noisy.

[SRman]

I have two Lima 31s that I detailed up and considered worth converting to DCC. One, 31 327, ran superbly but the the other, 31 004, was rather iffy.

I have just scored a very reasonably priced RailRoad 31 off eBay, with a view to swapping my good Lima 31 004 body onto the far superior Hornby Chassis. I'll probably recover the decoder from the Lima chassis and sell the Lima/Hornby combination off at whatever price I can get.

 

M experience with Lima British models in general has been that if one gets a good runner it is generally very good and stays that way. If one gets a poor runner, there is very little one can do to improve it. The 31s are later releases from Lima and do have the advantage of extra pickups (as does their class 59) compared to most earlier models..

[bigherb]

The 31 club

 

 

Triang

The muts nuts when it came out. Still looks good and can be effectively detailed. Later ones like this have extra pick ups but the moulding is not as crisp as early ones due to worn tools (they made these by the thousands) limited haulage unless you have steel track and able to use the Magnahesion. Good motor that responds well with modern controllers.

 

Airfix

Nice body shame about the motor. Can be very noisy but runs OK. Better haulage due to traction tyres if the plastic wheel haven't disintegrated.

 

Lima

Nicely detailed. Quite good haulage due to traction tyres and the later lowered geared motors, if you get a good one they run well.

 

Hornby Premium (non Railroad).

Highly detailed with a centre motor all wheel drive great haulage and one of the smoothest runners made.

[Shadow]

Thanks for the detailed photos and info.

 

Dave

[F-UnitMad]

I had an Airfix one years ago, but it had some things that spoiled it - the central 'drop down' bit of the body was shortened, and the motor bogie had moulded centre axle "wheels". Yuk!!!

Lima made a decent body, model spoiled by those awful "Volvo bumper" tension locks that stuck out a mile. I always found Lima pancake motors thrived with extra weight added to the loco. Well-oiled, they could t hen run quite smoothly.

Hasn't the present Hornby model had chassis metal fatigue problems? If you find a good chassis, my understanding is that the 'best' 31 in 4mm is a Lima body on a Hornby chassis.

 

Now I have a Heljan O Scale 31, & I think it's great..... but there are modellers ready to tear it to shreds for not looking like the real thing at all.... if you talk in thou of an inch or points of a millemetre to three decimal places...

Edited May 27, 2014 by F-UnitMad

[Ray M]

For some reason, maybe just to me.

But the Hornby 31 just does not look right.

And thats why i ain`t got 1.

[Clive Mortimore]

For some reason, maybe just to me.

But the Hornby 31 just does not look right.

And thats why i ain`t got 1.

Hi Ray

 

I will agree with you. It does not seem to have the right tumbleholme and the roof is too rounded, the top should nearly be flat.

 

I am basing my findings on having a go at making one from plastic card. It is a very strange shaped locomotive. Little things like the cab taper, most classes it is almost straight, not the Brush type 2 it has a very slight curve to it. The tumbleholme starts at the waist.

 

Mind you my one runs wonderfully.

 

You can still have fun trying to improve the looks of a Tri-ang model. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/62561-rough-engineering-made-easy-converting-diesels/?p=1041311

Edited May 27, 2014 by Clive Mortimore

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

For some reason, maybe just to me.

But the Hornby 31 just does not look right...

Not just you. There's a misrendering of the inset cabside windows on the new Hornby which 'throws out' the appearance. There should be a distinct step outwards behind the upper half of the cab door as the body comes out to full width. All the previous bodies got this essential detail correct.

[Horsetan]

...and for those who like mixing bits together, here are some hybrids someone made earlier....

[Michael Delamar]

My Hornby 31, had some slight weathering since this shot was taken.

 

[rob D2]

I have three Hornby super detailed 31s , they are the smoothest in the fleet.

I also have a lima 31, to use the body , which is probably slightly more accurate than the newer Hornby one, but I'm not too bothered TBH.

 

If you do go with a newer Hornby , check the threads on metal fatigue and which ones are prone to it

[45059]

The debate over which model is best has been argued before, and doubtless will continue until another new model appears. I think it may well be a case of 'horses for courses'.

 

For me, although it may not to some be strictly accurate, the Hornby 31 captures the look of the loco well enough for me. It does have its vices- not least the tendency for some to have their chassis fall to bits! (31110, 31270 plus one of the green ones, either 5511 or 5512 I can't remember which.) But it is a smooth runner, is DCC ready, has working lights and is already 'super' detailed. I now have 20 of them.

 

I must of had what appears now to me to be a rare form of clairvoyance, in so much as I snapped many of these up when they were going cheep, for @ the £50 mark, where as they seem to fetch more now second hand. To buy one new now you may have to mortgage the cat, and as for Hornby supply problems, well these have been equally well documented.

 

The additional bonus of the Hornby model is that the grills and fan shrouds are removable and interchangeable. This allowed me to add numerous machines to my fleet that I felt either Hornby wouldn't produce, or would take an age to do so. They scrub up quite well. Here is the latest addition as an example.