Hornby Announce a Re-tooled Class 91 for 2020

[cravensdmufan]

1 minute ago, andyman7 said:

the measures here suggest that the fix is relatively straightforward

Yes Andy, though I was worried about attacking a one day old £200 loco!

 

The similar treatment that I gave my Bachmann Co-Cos wasn't so critical as the it didn't matter if I "over filed" and the centre axle ended up slightly loose - the bogie was always going to be good and stable on the outer four wheels.  With a Bo-Bo it's important to file across straight and not take too much off.

 

My advice to owners of the new 91 would be:  if your loco happens to  run well enough over your pointwork  but is just a bit noisy then leave well alone!  Mine dipped quite noticeably on a few points (especially at very low speed) and actually derailed a couple of times.  That's why I decided to try the modification.

[97406]

The most popular feature of the Class 91s with the drivers was the in-cab solarium, seen here faithfully reproduced by Hornby.

[Bucoops]

16 minutes ago, 97406 said:

The most popular feature of the Class 91s with the drivers was the in-cab solarium, seen here faithfully reproduced by Hornby.

No light bleed, that's something.

 

Eye bleeding however is an issue if you get too close.

[SkierM]

Hi All

 

I’ve just taken delivery of a Class 91 “Durham Cathedral”.  Loco looks great and I’ve fitted it with a Dapol Imperium 21 pin DCC chip which seems to perform well.  Loco is smooth running but as others have mentioned is a bit clunky over point work.  My layout has standard Hornby points - the loco is alright running over them bar one where the front axle does noticeably clunk.  I can probably live with it for now as it isn’t horrendous although I would have expected a loco in this price range to cope with all types of point work without any issues.

 

I do own some older Hornby InterCity coaches in the same livery - these resolutely refuse to couple to the loco as the couplings are different.  I have to confess I’ve not come across this type of issue before so was wondering if anyone could advise on the best way to resolve this particular problem - can I easily change the couplings on the loco or coaches or am I going to have to invest in the newer coach models due to be released shortly?

 

Kind regards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ThaneofFife]

a few coats of varnish on the cab light LED should dim them down nicely unless they have  CV that can be tweaked

[cravensdmufan]

2 hours ago, SkierM said:

Hi Al

 

I do own some older Hornby InterCity coaches in the same livery - these resolutely refuse to couple to the loco as the couplings are different.  I have to confess I’ve not come across this type of issue before so was wondering if anyone could advise on the best way to resolve this particular problem - can I easily change the couplings on the loco or coaches or am I going to have to invest in the newer coach models due to be released shortly?

 

Kind regards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am able to use my rake of original Mk4s in both pulling and pushing mode, though I had to bend the loco's coupling upwards to match the level of the Mk4's coupling bar.

 

Fortunately all my Mk4 coach couplings are all nice and level, and the rake of  6+DVT run very smoothly on their replacement Hornby metal wheels, which also add that tiny bit more weight to the bogies.

 

I'm away from home at the moment but will post some photos on my return in a few days.

[SkierM]

That would be really useful thank you.  
 

Glad to hear that there is a way of getting my existing coach stock to couple to the new loco.  
 

I went to school in Durham so know Durham Cathedral well which is why I really wanted this loco on my layout.  

[Hilux5972]

33 minutes ago, SkierM said:

That would be really useful thank you.  
 

Glad to hear that there is a way of getting my existing coach stock to couple to the new loco.  
 

I went to school in Durham so know Durham Cathedral well which is why I really wanted this loco on my layout.  

You could try these. Simplest option I reckon. Either put a wide one on the 91 or the narrow one on the coaches. 

Edited June 5, 2022 by Hilux5972
Added

[Rhydgaled]

On 05/06/2022 at 17:49, Hilux5972 said:

You could try these. Simplest option I reckon. Either put a wide one on the 91 or the narrow one on the coaches.

I don't know whether Hornby ever updated their earlier IC225 tooling to feature NEM pockets but, even if they did, I don't think they have produced any in Swallow livery for a long time other than the new tooling. Therefore, any old Swallow mark 4s from Hornby are probably the same as mine which appear to have large D tension locks as part of the bogie moulding. Replacing the couplings on the old coaches is therefore probably NOT an easy job, so for anyone with a new-tool 91 and old coaches putting the wide couplings on the loco is probably the way to go if you want an easy life. Please note that I have NOT tried this, I have neither a new 91 nor new mark 4s - mine are all the old tooling.

[wrex]

Wonder if Hornby will put this livery into production? Would love to be surprised!

 

New Livery for LNER Intercity 225 Fleet - https://youtu.be/MGRVdq5BOBA  

 

 

 

[jonnyuk]

18 minutes ago, wrex said:

Wonder if Hornby will put this livery into production? Would love to be surprised!

 

New Livery for LNER Intercity 225 Fleet - https://youtu.be/MGRVdq5BOBA  

 

 

 

now that is smart, looks the dogs..........

[Legend]

It would be good if they put it on the new production run (I think there are more due next year ?) . They would need to do the mk4s as well .  It might be the same factory that makes them - but it might not !

[60800]

This is my 91119 so far. Currently working on the area of the nose above the bufferbeam, where Hornby oddly left the chassis sticking out. Chassis filed back and insert added, which is in the process of being blended into the body. 

 

The roof has has the 91/1 details added and has already been painted, the windscreen wipers have been modified to current type and the yellow warning panel on the nose has been painted after filling in the tdm hatches. 

 

Transfers with correct undersized Intercity branding already sat waiting; Done by precision transfers, including the 91/1 bodyside grilles which will be mounted on very thin plasticard before being attached to the loco. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What was that about invalidating warranties? 😅

 

Cheers,

  60800

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by 60800

[97406]

7 hours ago, wrex said:

Wonder if Hornby will put this livery into production? Would love to be surprised!

 

New Livery for LNER Intercity 225 Fleet - https://youtu.be/MGRVdq5BOBA  

 

 

 

 

Ace!

[JSpencer]

On 19/05/2022 at 11:15, PaulRhB said:

 

I put mine on a flat sheet, see ruler under frame, on some 1mm shims. The inner wheels don’t touch the board. 
 

so I tried the same on the inner wheels,

 

 

the outer wheels don’t drop any further by eye though, still daylight under the flanges. 
 

The outer wheels won’t go up or down although there is limited movement up to the body on the inners that allows the front to drop in a fraction more I guess. It’s a bit odd. 
 

 

Effectively the bogie is pivoting around the outer axle so it takes most of the weight hence it drops into any gap hard. The inner axle is taking virtually no weight so I guess occasionally it’s either hitting the frog at a funny angle hard and bouncing off or a minor issue with b2b is exacerbated by it?

 

The DJM class 71 bogie pivot is closer to the inner wheels. And there is very little up or down play and the loco derails on most curves and points I have. The Hornby 71, perfectly centred, romps around any track work I can throw at it. So my hunch is that your reasoning is pretty correct. 

[newbryford]

On 14/06/2022 at 13:47, wrex said:

Wonder if Hornby will put this livery into production? Would love to be surprised!

 

New Livery for LNER Intercity 225 Fleet - https://youtu.be/MGRVdq5BOBA  

 

 

 

 

They've already released a mock up/render

Edited June 15, 2022 by newbryford

[87004]

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

 

They've already released a mock up/render

Hornby Magazine have released a render, not Hornby.  The Oxblood red colour was a bit out, so I can understand why you thought it was Hornby themselves. 😆

Edited June 15, 2022 by 87004

[Pete the Elaner]

58 minutes ago, 87004 said:

Hornby Magazine have released a render, not Hornby.  The Oxblood red colour was a bit out, so I can understand why you thought it was Hornby themselves. 😆

 

I didn't notice the red so much as the light grey. I think it looks very like Oxford's cock-up Swallow light grey.

[SkierM]

Thanks for all the advice on the couplings.

 

I have to say that having run the loco a couple of times it has to be the worst performing loco I have ever owned.  It is so clunky over point work and now seems to struggle to cope with second radius curves.  You can’t possibly leave it running on its own as it is constantly derailing.  I have locos half the price of this that cope with my layout perfectly.  
 

Being returned for a refund - life is too short for this.  

[Hilux5972]

1 hour ago, Pete the Elaner said:

 

I didn't notice the red so much as the light grey. I think it looks very like Oxford's cock-up Swallow light grey.

That’s the grey thats on the real thing. I quite like it. The style of Intercity but not a copy. 

[Pete the Elaner]

5 hours ago, SkierM said:

Thanks for all the advice on the couplings.

 

I have to say that having run the loco a couple of times it has to be the worst performing loco I have ever owned.  It is so clunky over point work and now seems to struggle to cope with second radius curves.  You can’t possibly leave it running on its own as it is constantly derailing.  I have locos half the price of this that cope with my layout perfectly.  
 

Being returned for a refund - life is too short for this.  

 

How could they get it so wrong? The class 87 was fine in that respect. That shouldn't be so much different should it?

[cravensdmufan]

Model Railways Direct have two 91s in their sale at present:  LNER £163.49 and GNER £152.59.  (No connection with MRD just a customer).

 

Hornby R3891 LNER, Class 91, Bo-Bo, 91118 'The Fusiliers' - Era 11 - Model Railways Direct

 

Hornby R3893 GNER, Class 91, Bo-Bo, 91117 'Cancer Research UK' - Era 10 - Model Railways Direct

 

Edit : Sorry unable to paste link to pages - don't know why!

Edited June 16, 2022 by cravensdmufan
Problem copy and pasting links

[SkierM]

So the saga continues.  I decided to have one more attempt at the Class 91 running issues.

 

I switched the point out that the loco was particularly clunky on for another Hornby one.  This has instantly made things better.  I have also checked my track carefully and spotted that on one curve the track dips slightly due to a join between the baseboards - this was allowing the lead wheel set to just lift off the track resulting in the derailment.

 

I get the impression that due to the tight tolerances on this loco you need as perfect track as possible.  If you have issues with points it may be worth swapping them out for a different set.  It seems to have helped me - will report back again once I sort the curved track section.  Fingers crossed this may fix my running issues.  

[SkierM]

Hi All

 

Final update.  I changed the points which solved that issue and then addressed the second radius curve.  By checking the level of the track and adjusting I managed to get the loco to negotiate the curve.  The tolerances here are small - my spirit level bubble is in the centre, just a smidge off and the loco behaves (just).  It always feels that it is barely clinging on and as mentioned before you can’t take your eyes off it for a second.  As a sanity check I ran my HST “Farewell Tour” set over the same track with absolutely no dramas.  
 

I then moved on to the third radius and the loco was straight off on the first curve.  As JSpencer mentioned there is no lateral movement on the front bogie so the slightest undulation on a curve and the front bogie lifts throwing the loco off the track every time.

 

Refund time and order placed for Class 87 instead.

[zoomer1979]

Had a run of my 002 today. The running is clunky and it is very speedy and trainset like. I had already got a V5 sound chip for it so decided to fit it and calm it all down using the CVs. Speakers were fitted vertically in the cab corridors facing into the body, making it sound great and coming from the heart of the loco. I could only haul my existing Mk4s due to the previously mentioned coupling issue. Yet another "could do better" model from Hornby. Wish Cavalex hadn't been scared off.

Neil.