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Bill

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    Hornby 2 BIL

    in Hornby

    Posted · Edited by Bill

    The 2 Bil (R3162X) arrived on Friday.

    It is being run on a DC layout even though it has a decoder on board, and seems to run very well in the forward direction (power car first).

     

    To get it to go in the opposite diredtion from rest is another matter. It won't - you crank the power up to full blast and give it a gentle push and - nothing.

    It sits there like a lump of lead grinning at you with a 2 Bil toothy smile. (I imagine that the 2 Bil face could have been the inspiration for Spongebob :))

     

    However if I drive it forwards and then reverse it, it will run very well - even slowly.

    It has been run it in in both directions and the problem still persists.  

    I am thinking of leaving it running overnight but worry it might wind up damaged in some unexpected way...

    Sould I remove the decoder? Would this help to make it perform as designed expected?

    Do the Hornby models need a blanking chip?

    I notice it came without one - the few Bachmann models that came chipped all came with spare blanking plugs...

    Has anyone else experienced this problem?.

     

    Other than it's a lovely model but I still do wish Hornby would leave modelling EMU's to Bachmann and company...

    Hattons Model Railways of Widnes (formerly Liverpool).

    in Model Shop Guide

    Posted · Edited by Bill

    Small beef with Hattons..

    They have in general been excellent in their service over the years...

    I would currently rate them an A minus

    But with regard to Hornby's 2 Bil they left me hanging in outer space.

    They failed to inform that they would be unable to fulfil the pre-order that was placed..

    I only found out by contacting them after reading with some alarm about Hornby's short supply of the model.

    So just in case anyone is still patiently waiting, you might well discover your order has been bumped to a June delivery and that no one has told you...

    This is an area where they need to get their act together, pronto :)

    Hornby 2 BIL

    in Hornby

    Posted

    The BILs and SUBs were compatible electrically and brake-wise, so no modifications would have been necessary, but they would never normally have run together in service because they were designated for different types of services on different routes.

     

    A mystery

    In the 1950's - 60'sThere was a train on weekdays that arrived in Woking from Waterloo at around 4.09 pm -  4 x 2 Bils coupled together.

    It was split and the front half went off to Alton and the rear half went down the line to Guildford and Portsmouth.

    Before the Portsmouth section left... without fail a mysterious 4 Sub (Bulleid) was retrieved from a siding on the North side of the station and ceremoniously attached to the the rear. (As it was always empty we assumed it was placed there for the convenience of school children to do what they wished in it rather than with it in those days...)

    The question then arises what was the purpose of it as the capacity was clearly not needed?

    Where did it (the 4 Sub) go? - it certainly was not removed at Guilford for use on the Effingham line which was exclusively populated by 4 Subs at that time...

    If it went all the way to Portsmouth, then what on earth was it doing there?

    It never seemed to ever return back up through Guildford to Waterloo during waking hours... Which it must have eventually done..

    Perhaps somebody knows - but the point is yes there was a regular train service consisting of 2 x 2 Bils and a 4 Sub - from Woking to who knows where..

    So there is a prototype and I hope Hornby does the decent thing and puts the expereince of the 4 V#! behind it and goes for a 4 Sub...:)

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