RMweb Premium Peter Beckett Posted March 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 28, 2015 I purchased the Hornby Class 40 for several reasons. 1. Checkout the TTS sound system 2. Obtain a Class 40 for my layout 3. See how much "grunt" compared to other brands of similar locomotives. 4. See for myself how the Railroad series stacks up. I will now deal with item 3. I found the pulling power (unit fitted with traction tyres) adequate for 8 Hornby or Bachmann coaches or 30 assorted wagons on the flat. However when going up the 4% incline to the high level station, slippage occurred and a push was required via another locomotive. The one good thing I discovered about the chassis design compared to Lima or Mainline, was that the Hornby chassis was designed with two similar sized drive units, one being driven and the other just electrical pick-up. I obtained a Class 40 chassis only with drive unit and pick-up unit. It was a simple task to remove the dummy unit and replace with the drive unit. You have to check polarity of motor and pick-ups to make sure no shorts or motors fighting each other. I then tested the unit and it ran up the slope with out slipping. I have never been a fan of traction tyres so I removed the traction tyre wheels from both drive units and replaced them with the metal wheels from the dummy units ensuring back to back was correct. The unit now had electrical pick-up on all drive wheels and again ascended the incline superbly. I use a Ramp meter in series with the main feed to the layout and the load having 2 motors increased by 0.25 amps which the decoder handled without any problems and not even getting warm after a long run of about 1 hour. I am very pleased with the result and the next task will be to get LED lights fitted probably via Express Models. Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnd Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Adding lights certainly improves the model but be aware with the TTS decoder it is in effect a 2 function decoder as regarding the lights ( yellow and red on all the time ), another point is I ordered the disk version of unit and when it arrived it only had 2 white lights fitted. After a quick phone call the unit was returned and the other 2 yellow lights were fitted. No problem it came back by return of post. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Peter Beckett Posted March 28, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 28, 2015 John, That's not a problem as I have some 4 function decoders so I will fit one of those for the lights Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Having to fit an additional motor, and a lighting kit sort of defeats the object of buying a 'budget'model does it not? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamperman36 Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 That would depend on how much the loco cost to purchase, plus how much attention you want to do yourself. If you just want to get it out of the box and run without any work it may not be what you want, but dont forget these are budget models and will hopefully bring in some new blood to the hobby. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnd Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Thought one of the ideas that Hornby had for the Railroad range was that they may be cheaper models but as well as appealing to those with less money they were for those that wanted to do the extra " detailing " themselves. It seems that the idea is working ! Well done Hornby. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Thought one of the ideas that Hornby had for the Railroad range was that they may be cheaper models but as well as appealing to those with less money they were for those that wanted to do the extra " detailing " themselves. It seems that the idea is working ! Well done Hornby. Spot on. My bold. these are budget models and will hopefully bring in some new blood to the hobby. ...linked to previous post. It's also helping some of us more established in the hobby! My chosen prototype requires a sizeable allocation of EE Type 4s, and the RR route with detailed and fettled Lima and Hornby bodies is the way forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinzaboy Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I'm very pleased with mine, but there were no discs in the box to complete the model. Is the 40 supplied without discs, or was I just unlucky? Fortunately I have a supply of old Lima discs that did the job! Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Peter Beckett Posted March 29, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 29, 2015 (edited) Following on from original post I will now comment on the Class 40 TTS sound. I accept that the chip is not a Loksound or Zimo or even a Digitrax SF6. But I found the sounds good after listening to clips of actual Class 40's. The initial sound level is far to high so I adjusted the sound to 1 which is a lot better. I also observed that the speaker mounted upwards into the body acted as an echo chamber so I inverted the speaker facing into the fuel tank and sealed the gap where the speaker wires came out with some of the models original black tack which noticeably improved the sound and enabled me to hear the secondary sounds like the air compressor. I am quite impressed with this Railroad model. The lights are on order and I have a set of Bachy cabin lights from a Class 37 spare so will look at fitting them and adding some cabin details and crew. Peter Edited March 29, 2015 by Peter Beckett 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted March 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29, 2015 (edited) Great post, thanks. Have a non-TTS Railroad 40 in a box that was bought cheap for upgrading, so this is all useful stuff. TTS is a great concept. Got a TTS 37 which will be upgraded and repainted as a Europhoenix 37 when I have time to order or get commissioned the transfers. Perfect model for this sort of thing. Hornby have a great concept in TTS Edited March 29, 2015 by ruggedpeak 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jitmen Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 I've just ordered one of Hattons only £74 ,one person on Facebook said his chip blew is this a common problem? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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