atom3624

Looks like it could possibly 'unwind' slightly to permit the movement of the wires as suggested. Not ideal, but I suppose it's all a bit of a tight fit. Al.

She did look very smooth when running, even if the front LHS steps, in front of the bogie looked misaligned at times. Paint finish suits it as well. Looks a very nice model. Al.

Glad it went so well and well done to donate so much. Al.

I found it was quite difficult to ensure totally centred. You've done well to remove AB covers caked in glue, that won't help. We've all found there's very little purchase onto the axle. Hope you're successful. Al.

I found as some have mentioned, a thin coat of lacquer on top of the Hornby green and it looks perfect. I used gloss on my Flying Scotsman, but looks great. Al.

Mentioned earlier, but as well as Peters Spares, there appear to be an increasing number of 'breakers' on Ebay nowadays. Al.

Given the choice, what would you purchase, a new-tooled, brand new, full warranty support where applicable Princess for £200 or one for £145, with the same conditions? I'm not saying these are actual prices, just 'let's suppose'. No apologies, but that £55 difference could fuel my car for at least one month - I know where my money would go. Al.

I'm on DC only, at the moment. I just had a go of the new B17/6 and the B12 - without and with flywheel. I have to admit, there was little difference between the 2 - perhaps as anticipated, the B17/6 was better at the very slow speed. From an acceptably slow speed start, say 6" per revolution, there wasn't any difference. I still stand by my original comments nevertheless. Al.

Unusual for me, all generally in agreement! Thanks for the thoughts and input. Al.

Possibly a sensitive question for some? I know virtually all of my diesel locomotives - and electric - have flywheels, and have noticed a phenomenon. Despite being skew wound, well maintained, etc., it's difficult to maintain a smooth, continuous very slow crawl. I've also noticed that many Hornby steam locomotives, until relatively recently, have long-had the skew-wound 5-pole motors, but without flywheels. When run-in / loosened up they are superb crawlers. Cheaper-fit 3-pole motors are fitted to some Railroad locomotives, and with flywheels. These are also fitted to some 'overlap' locomotives I think - like TTS A1 Tornado and P2. These are relatively smooth in operation, but cannot start and maintain a smooth, slow crawl. A recent trend has been to fit flywheels to many of the motors in steam locomotives. My recently purchased B12 is a fantastic performer, but has 'that inertia thing' with the entire driveshaft of the motor possibly being twice as heavy or more than it would have been without the flywheels, thus a stall current (?) greater than ideal is required to get it moving, which creates a slight jerk, and similarly cannot crawl very slowly, perfectly. A similarly purchased, loco-driven B17/6 has no flywheel, and has just crawled perfectly. I can understand the 'permits smoother stops if the power is cut' considerations, but that is after the horse has bolted - better to sort out the power supply. Thoughts? I prefer without flywheel. Al.

B12 is running superbly, just as expected. It's going to be a bit of a project, perhaps, and to be renumbered from 61533 to 61572 as the preserved one could appear next major overhaul .... livery change. A 'project' I've considered for some time was to replace my old-but-good tender driven 61663 Everton with a new-type, loco-driven B17. The Hornby older one is said to be a B17/4, but everywhere I read, the B17 Everton was rebuilt into a B17/6, somewhat conveniently. I 'won' a new B17/6 61669 Barnsley for a good price - thank you to the seller if reading - and have already replaced the splasher nameplates with Fox's Everton ones, and this morning replaced the smokebox door numeral - metal plate. A renumbering sheet, to permit 61572 will be used for Everton as well - only need to replace the final '9' with '3' - relatively straightforward. I prefer to use a very small, tightly wound pad of Brasso in tweezers - worked very well for me in the past. The B17 probably runs better than the B12 - which is saying a lot. It crawled around hauling 10 carriages, at very low setting without hesitation - circle of 4th radius in more than 4' ! Yes, I've removed one of the insulators on the front bogie mount to aid traction. Al.

These wagons look superb - excellent effort. Al.

I reckon a double chimney on a Battleship Grey 'British Enterprise' would look pretty nice .... !! Al.

I'm not able to 'frequent' any hobby shops enough to be considered such a regular customer that I feel I deserve 'special treatment', so I don't anticipate that. As a result, I will decide I need a particular locomotive, carriage, wagon, rails, or accessories, and simply hunt down the best offers. If Hattons are amongst those offering the best, I'll definitely use them, as their service is excellent - but that's not to say others' service isn't either, it's just something I'm familiar with. Has anyone categorically proven that 'the Class 66 thing' is the reason Hattons no longer stock Bachmann? It's a bit narrow-minded of Bachmann I believe - Hattons are quite a substantial seller in the marketplace, and continue to be so, in this ever-changing world of those who are stable, those who are not. Al.

It just seems to 'look more correct' with the double chimney - such a big, heavy beast. A single little outlet just doesn't seem to be fitting, even if it ran for much longer in original design guise with the single chimney. I agree, it's not about aesthetics, it's what is most correct, just the double chimney looks more in keeping. Al.

Just purchased an excellent used new-tool B12 - BR black. There's a lot of hype surrounding this, and I had an R150 ~45 years ago, so bit the bullet - loose steps was the only 'issue', obviously, easily resolved and running her forwards and backwards at half power for a bit. Tender was ridiculously light - as is known - so a fair bit of lead was inserted here to compensate a little. Loco weight is acceptable, and there's no room to add any more anyway, even if I wanted to - it was only a 4P3F so shouldn't be made too phenomenal at hauling!! So far, it's living up to expectations - very smooth and quiet - little dabs issued everywhere, including motor and gears where the shafts are. I bid the retooled B12. Al.

I 'ordered' mine months ago, without nameplate in light black. Al.

One thing obvious in the HO / HO model, is the proximity of the shaft to the actual end of the AB cover - no long moulding which pushes over a little stub of protruding axle. This will minimise the 'wobble' if there is any. Very unfortunate, as stated, 160 pages later and no change. Al.

Strangest of things, I remember Indian Queens - typically 10 hours after setting off from Liverpool, about 18:30 / 19:00 in the evening, everyone drained ... heading to Newquay in the family HA Viva EDJ 278 C ... relatively small world again ... Al.

I think it's a case of communication - informing and pre-empting, not leaving the customer in limbo, having to ask the questions. Well done once again to AS for maintaining the updates. Al.

Hi Fran, keep the updates coming. This is still looking like the model railway addition we've all been waiting for, and fantastic attention to detail. It is what it is, and I think everyone is prepared to wait that little bit longer for a model of such quality and detail. Al.

I see you have purchased a new chassis - good development. In the event it's still required, just noticed this on Ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/from-Hornby-Royal-Scot-Class-7P-chassis-and-motor/363033779714?hash=item54867fde02:g:B2oAAOSwrHNe-Js8 Al.

One thing I noticed is that the plastic yoke or drive cup pushes firmly into the brass flywheels - one each side. Is it possible the drive cups are loose? (Not really concentrated on what your problem is.) I replaced the motor, which came with flywheels, but without the drive cups / yokes, so had to remove from the old. I superglued into position to ensure they don't work loose again. Perhaps it's suppose to be a 'safety feature' to limit possibilities of overloading the motor - didn't work! Al.

It's the easiest, most logically assembled 'modern' locomotive I've yet encountered. I had a major issue which required my replacing the motor - not encountered another locomotive which is easier to work on, with such a well-laid-out chassis. Al.