Jenny Emily

I have 17, though a handful are the newest tooled Bachmann version. Add to that two old Hornby Dublo models from my childhood in a display cabinet. 
 

All bar one are in BR livery, and I think I’m making it my mission to ultimately have all 34 that got BR livery. 
 

Hornby (and Bachmann) don’t make it easy, with some A4s having never appeared in modern tooled standards (when will they issue 60016 Silver King??) Others appeared very briefly and can be a pain to track down. 

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

Looking in Ramsey's British Model Trains Catalogue 8th Edition it says.

 

LNER A4 (Railroad*) (2008)

 

(R1136) 60015 Quicksilver BR Green Sp Edn 2000 ex-Yorkshire Pullman mail order set - 09

 

I think that's suggesting that some were sold on individually.

 

 

*Even though Railroad I always thought they were somewhere in the middle.

 

 

Jason

That makes sense - basically finding a way to shift slow selling stock. That explains why the box inlay looks genuine (it is) but no Rxxxx number. 
 

If this is a Railroad A4 loco, then actually they are pretty good. I might see if I can get cab glazing as a spare part for it. 
 

As far as I can tell, other than this one, Quicksilver is one of the elusive A4s in model form in BR livery. 

3 hours ago, Knapdale said:

R1136 according to Model Rail Database. 
 

https://www.modelraildatabase.com/locomotives/details/3166/

Having looked closely at the pictures of listings on Ebay, I think you are right that the loco is from that set. The tender must have been swapped from another A4 as the one in the set looks like the awful one with the remains of the tender drive in. 
 

The card inlay is odd as it is a perfect match for my other older super detail Hornby A4s and is printed to the right card stock in a way that could never be replicated by any home printer. The box may well be from whichever A4 that donated its tender, but this inlay is really keeping me puzzled. 

3 minutes ago, Black 5 Bear said:

Having looked at the 

 

Jenny, the pictures appear to be of a Bachmann product rather than one produced by Hornby. Beware!

I can assure you that the model is made by Hornby and the internals verify that as seen in the pictures I posted. The other giveaway is having ‘Hornby made in China’ moulded into the bottom. If you look at the internals, they are Hornby. A Bachmann A4 is very different. 
 

I have several Bachmann A4s, and know the differences. 

11 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Are you sure it's not a clever fake?

 

I've had a look at all my Hornby locos with that type of packaging (about 20) and the barcode is pin sharp, not fuzzy also the loco number does not stand out from the background and is not pock marked.

 

EDIT, the loco number is also a different font.

The card is damaged by having had something stuck to it then removed, as seen in the pictures. The Rxxxx would be under the seperately applied sticker with the loco number on, but it is not possible to remove it without destruction of the card underneath. That number has clearly been added by a former owner. 
 

1 hour ago, MossdaleNGauge said:

It’s the road leading to Stonebridge Park Depot, just to the left of the crash is a sign saying no parking. Will make an interesting episode of Train Truckers and how they rescue the train.

 

The sign actually says no unauthorised parking. 

Edit: looking at the road, there are no signs at that point to indicate it as private land, and without double yellow or double red lines, or more specific signage, insurers would have a hard time claiming the cars were illegally parked. 

The card inlay showing it as a BR green Quicksilver super detail and DCC ready loco is an actual Hornby one, so it must have come from Hornby as just a loco in a box. 
 

was the R1136 set with a DCC ready super detail loco or not? If not then this isn’t unsold stock from Hornby made for that. 

There are many with that tender coupling, ranging from the early 2000s onwards. I’m looking for its specific Rxxxx number. 

The lack of cab internal printing and windows suggest Railroad, however the boiler handrails are separately applied metal, though the cab handrails are moulded. 
 

what would the Rxxxx of a similar era Railroad type Quicksilver in BR green have been? If such a thing actually existed?  Do the Railroad models have tender pickups, as this one is wired to use them. In any rate, it isn’t in a box that identifies it as being anything other than Super detail.
 

The card inlay, showing the Hornby model picture, of Quicksilver, is a commercially printed shiny cardstock inlay from a Hornby locomotive box, which points away from the R1186 set which is why I ruled that out. The chassis matches my Golden Plover, is DCC ready, except the valve gear looks cruder. 

I wondered if anyone can help identify the Rxxxx SKU for this model:

I recently purchased a Hornby A4 secondhand, but cannot find any reference to it when I do a search. It is 60015 Quicksilver in BR late crest green but not from the R1186 set as this is in a locomotive box with a genuine card insert featuring a picture of this model.
 

Where the Rxxxx SKU would be there is damage, and a label with the loco’s running number has been firmly stuck. 
 

The loco is loco driven, with extra pickups on the tender. The tender is the newer tooled version post dating any remains of the tender drive chassis and has a coupling in a NEM pocket. It features an 8pin DCC socket in the loco. 
 

The chassis has cruder valve gear than later models, but the main connecting rods are quite fine and it includes the lubricator drive. 
 

Inside the box the instructions are stamped R2721 but that is for a different liveried A4. Looking at the loco body, it is not a renumber and the numbers have been tampo printed as per any other Hornby A4 with zero signs of renumbering or repainting. The Quicksilver nameplates also match the style as used by Hornby on the other A4s including being located by lugs and glue on the body - there os no sign that these have been off or reglued. 
 

The model is mint and looks to have never been used. 
 

Hopefully someone can identify its catalogue number as my searching has drawn a blank. 
 

6 hours ago, Vecchio said:

If you want user friendly you should try z21. Even I can use it...  You probably see one at an exhibition - ask if you can have a try...

I already have an NCE which I like for running trains, and the Gaugemaster I used for the programming track died so I had to find a way of programming locos. 

Due to failure of the Prodigy Express I formerly used on my programming track, I’ve had to try and use my NCE instead. Can’t say I’m impressed with its user friendliness. 
 

I cannot find any option to read the loco address despite searching through menus. Can anyone tell me how to do this on the NCE? On the Prodigy it was really straightforward and user friendly to do. 
 

Thanks in advance. 
 

Edit: I did find the answer. They weren’t shooting for user friendly when they designed the NCE! 

On 02/05/2023 at 11:40, JSpencer said:

 

 

The chip just goes in between motor and circuit board - though note, the circuit board is lifted slightly so do not screw it back down tight (TBH I could not think of worst place for a chip in a loco!).

Insulating tape was added after.

 

Same way I did mine, though I fully removed the motor to do it. Your way looks better, as the drive shafts are tricky to slot back in. 
 

I put the decoder in to one side so around half was overhanging a flywheel. It won’t touch, but leaves less stress pushing the circuit board up. I was able to screw the circuit board back in as a result, less a tiny amount. 
 

Following advice a few pages back, I carefully removed one cab then removed the chair base on one side. This then gives enough room for the powerbank to slide in snug on the floor between the console and rear bulkhead. The wire needs to be run carefully past the bulkhead and back to the decoder without letting it get between the body and chassis block as this stops the body clips re engaging to hold the body on. 
 

The first one took a while with some trial and error, but I’m confident the next one if I convert it will be a lot easier because I know what I’m doing. 

A tool could have just broken. They are quite old. Bachmann had this with the old former Mainline Midland coaches where after a last hurrah of several releases they announced that all further versions were cancelled because something broke. 

7 hours ago, miles73128 said:

I’d did the same! Except I managed to get the chip under the board, on top of the (insulated) motor. Not ideal I guess, but wanted to retain the interior booster detail. Did you manage to get the booster inside as well? I also got the stay alive inside the (trailing) cab, which you can’t really see. Surprise! The Hornby class 71 has cab lighting which is only accessible on DCC! 

I didn’t have a powerbank to hand, but certainly would consider one. I had contemplated above one of the bogie towers taped to the underside of the circuit board but don’t know if it would fit there. Good to know that the cab is an option. 

4 hours ago, JSpencer said:

 

Interesting. There was no way for the chip to fit just above the circuit board?

 

No room above the circuit board - it is super tight! 

I managed to fit the TXS decoder to a class 71. Not straightforward or for the faint hearted!

It required lifting the circuit board then removing the motor. This exposed a way through into the battery box underneath where the speaker can be mounted and the wires threaded back through before refitting the motor.
 

I then used Kapton tape to insulate the top of the motor so the decoder could sit at one end at a 45° angle. The circuit then was secured on top and the body replaced. 
 

It’s beyond a tight fit! But it works. I installed the class 73 sound file to be used in electric mode until such time as the actual class 71 sound profile becomes available. 

I completed my ‘will it fit’ 21 pin edition tests. I think it is easiest to say I couldn’t find a loco that it wouldn’t fit into. Every loco I tried there was room for it plus at least the smallest speaker enclosure setups. 
 

In many cases there was room for the largest speaker enclosure snd a powerbank. Those saying these decoders won’t fit most locos clearly haven’t actually tried. 
 

It even fits in the rather tight Heljan class 14 with room for the speaker enclosure in the cab. Yes the body will fit back on over that:

13 minutes ago, E100 said:

Obviously, it’s very hit and miss whether you can install the speaker and power bank due to the connectors.

Most locos don’t need a powerbank. On locos with a factory fitted speaker, it happily uses that. 
 

most of the 21 pin locos I have tested can accommodate the powerbank with no issues, and often a large speaker enclosure too if required. 

For anyone wondering about the HM7000 Bluetooth decoder in 21 pin format, here is proof that it is EXACTLY the same size as an ESU Loksound V5. That means anything the ESU fits, then so does the HM7000. To further verify this, here is slso a photo of the HM7000 decoder fitted in an Irish Model Railways A class. 
 

I bought mind from Rails snd they arrived maybe four days after I ordered snd paid. 

I believe the factory pre production sample was correct as per Paul Bartlett’s photo, but the production models arrived different. 

Just received mine from Rails. One wagon looks like it took a trip through the skip at Dulux but the other two are all right, except the factory has painted the white from the tyre sides on the flange instead. I scraped it off thinking it was overspray before realising what they were supposed to have done. 
 

I’ve tested the next18 HM7000 decoders in every type of next18 equipped loco I could find to see which it actually fits in. 
 

Surprisingly it fitted in the smallest loco without modification. I produced a video of my test fitting results: 

These decoders also work on ABC shuttles. I explore setting them up and getting them working using DCCconcepts’ ABC modules and a couple of CV changes: