Farang

I had the Hornby Dublo Silver King. Looking back it seemed very small. Was it a "scale" model? How does its size compare to the current Hornby A4?

Shocking news. I met Jeremy over 40 years ago. I remember when he went into producing videos - VHS in those days - and remember telling him it wouldn't be successful. But it was. I last saw him a few years ago at Alexandra Palace and was in email contact with him a couple of months ago.

See the January Hornby Magazine p87 for "Clan" update. The green running plate was standard for Crewe-built Britannias and Clans painted green. I never saw a Clan but wouldn't mind a model of one. But parting with the best part of £200 is another matter.

Members 249 Location: Basingstoke, Hants. Posted 19 hours ago I was told by a Hornby rep., that over time, the polystyrene interior packaging will deteriorate. Having said that, some of my loco's are now twenty years old, and the packaging is fine. We are told that polystyrene does not deteriorate and eventually the world will collapse under its weight!

At Sandown Park on Saturday at least two dealers were offering the original Clan (so 10 years old?) at £175. These were "new" models, possibly ex-shop stock. Prices for Hornby locos were high - £139 on models that may have been five years old, or more. . Several dealers were offering similar prices. If I was a cynic and paranoid I'd say it was a bit of price fixing. But we're talking toy trains here so surely not. And before anyone says it, yes dealers can ask whatever prices they like but whether people will pay it is another matter. I didn't see much money changing hands. As much as I'd like Sir William A Stanier in maroon I wasn't paying £195. When was it produced?

I was at a swapmeet recently and a trader had one of the original Clans for £85. It looked okay but is the current model the same tooling as was used back in 2009?

I have started buying Hornby (China) locomotives and note that the style of packaging has changed over the years. There appear to be four designs of packaging: 1. The "window" box with a card insert with an illustration of the locomotive. The model is held in a moulded polystyrene tray. The detail parts are in a recess in the front of the tray. 2. As above with the loco held in a split, moulded polystyrene tray. The detail parts in a recess in the top of the upper half of the tray. 3. As above but with a blank card insert and the box within an illustrated sleeve. 4. The current packaging with the loco held in an acetate clamshell pack. Were there any variations on the above? When were all these changes made? Knowing that would be a guide as to the age of any model I may see for sale at an event or online. In addition to the above when were models fitted with the NEM coupler pocket and when did they become DCC Ready?

The 8-wheel tenders attached to the T9s and other Drummond locos were BOGIE tenders. You may add to your knowledge by looking at Don Bradley's book: LSWR Locomotives The Drummond Classes (Wild Swan 1986).

Sorry, what is the meaning of TTBOMK? The LSWR T9 8-wheel tenders were on bogies with inside bearings. Urie bogie tenders had outside bearings. So why did Hornby produce a tender without bogies? I'd guess because with bogies it wouldn't traverse second radius curves. Keep in mind that Hornby is making toy trains.

Thank you all for your comments. I did remove the body and inspect the mechanism. There is no sign of Mazak rot and the gears were lubricated. So I suppose it must be the gears. As no one has these in stock I'm not going to wait for what might be a considerable time so I shall return it to the dealer when I see him in November. Pity as it's a nice model. I had to return a T9 which suffered Mazak rot. That too was a nice model except for the bogie tender which did not have bogies! But that's another story.

Just bought this item at an exhibition but it is a poor runner. When power is applied it will move slowly but then at a particular point in the wheel's revolution it locks. Give it plenty of power and it will run steadily. I'm wondering if it's the gears? Any advice gratefully received! This is a weathered loco, when was it produced? As an aside it would be helpful if Hornby showed the year of manufacture on the box label.

I wrote to Lyndon Davies on 9th August and am waiting for his reply.

I bought Ellerman Lines, nice model but the number on the left hand cab side was not level. The number on the other side was fine. I returned it to the retailer but they could not replace it as all their stock had the same fault. I wrote to Lyndon Davies about this on 9th August and I am still waiting for reply. A couple of years ago I had the same problem with a S15. Again it was the number on the left hand cab side that was printed at a pronounced angle. Again the retailer could not replace it as all their stock had the same fault. Have others experienced this problem?