"Hornby 2013 Announcements: a review"

So the Hornby announcements are here, and another year's worth of releases are in front of us. There's no doubt in my mind that much of Hornby's intended new releases will genuinely be well received, very sought after, and much loved in fact, once they touch down on these shores.

The model I am looking forward to most, as most who read this blog will expect, is the Gresley P2 no.2001 Cock O' The North. To say I am thrilled at a ready to run P2 is an understatement, and I understand it will be available in "design clever" and "Railroad" varieties at two different prices.

The LNER sleeper car, though expensive at £61 (RRP) will no doubt get the nod, along with the reliveries of the L1 and B1.

It is however in the Railmaster + eLink combination that I am most delighted. It seems as a Mac user I am finally catered for with the impressive Railmaster software. This is a "must have" and I am in no doubt that it will finally solve my problems of what control system to use.

Writing for members of the forum RMweb, Simon Kohler had this to say:

Dear RMweb Members,

By now you will have seen what new models and hopefully delights Hornby will be producing during 2013.  There are some obvious favourites and some that may cause you to scratch your head and ask why?  If that is the case please do not sit and wonder, ask the question and I will do my best to answer you.  

One thing I would like to stress is that there will be some who no doubt will say, “There is nothing there for me!”, well if that is the case then let me know what you would like to see or what you feel we should be producing.  Those of you I have met at the various shows know that I am always keen to listen to ideas and suggestions so please do not be shy, let me know. 

As I have said on more than one occasion, we do not decide what is in the Hornby range, the modeller does so please here is your chance.  Over the next few weeks I shall be finalising the 2014 Hornby range so please do not delay.

2012 has been quite a challenging one for all of us but I have every faith that 2013 will be a great year for the model railways of Hornby and I would like to thank all who have supported me during the year with their words of encouragement and advice.  It is much appreciated.

Finally, may I wish each and every one of you a truly wonderful Christmas and a joyous New Year.

 

I have just one suggestion for Mr Kohler. A model guaranteed to sell in its thousands.

Gresley J50 at Copley Hill. Copyright Railbrit, used to best illustrate the point.

The Gresley J50 was the London and North Eastern Railway's "Jinty" insomuch that it could be found all over the system. These handsome tank engines were used for coal trains, local pickup goods and some passenger traffic, shunting and even banking duties. More information can be found on the superb LNER Encyclopedia.

LNER modellers have been crying out for a proper tank engine for years. Lima's J50 was an awful model, and an all new J50 in the vein of the recent Thompson L1 would be an absolute winner. No LNER modeller would be without one.

I myself would buy a literal fleet of them. That's a guarantee. Lord knows, for my future Copley Hill based layout, I'd need around twelve J50s! That's before I get onto the few I need for pickup goods and empty stock workings on Ganwick Curve...

I do think there's a lot of positives to take out of Hornby's 2013 announcements, but I know Hornby could have an absolute winner with this locomotive type if they announced it for 2014.

So my final word for the day: Hornby have impressed today with their strategy and commitment to the hobby. Let us encourage that further, and let them know what we want - and then follow up and buy it if the quality is up to the normally high standards associated with them.

Until next time!

"Hornby B17/1 Review"

Allow me to pose a question to my readers: do you feel that Hornby have produced the best Eastern Region model of all time, with their long awaited Gresley B17 model?

Answers in the comments section please, I know my thoughts on the matter and you'll know them too soon enough!

Ever since Hornby announced their new B17, I'd been harbouring a desire to run a "football" special on my layout. It had to have a B17 at the front, it had to be LNER apple green, and it had to be named Charlton Athletic (my chosen football club for life. I'm aware this wasn't one of the real B17s, but I refuse to have a footballer in any form with any other name. So that's that!)

The day finally came last Friday. I was staggered. Had this model really arrived? Delayed, delayed, and delayed some more, but finally it was here. Hornby have through several sources suggested it was a model for which everything which could have gone wrong, did.

I'm very grateful to them however for seeing it through. The Gresley B17 has, rightly, a very strong following. It has a very interesting history, is a handsome locomotive, and with the "footballer" moniker, crosses the boundaries between railways and that other hobby of sport.

Opening the box, I found Hornby's latest container design. Owing much to the Bachmann method, of a cardboard slip, with cardboard inner box and plastic container, it's a big improvement on the previous polystyrene and it's my view that Hornby need to be praised for developing this new style of box.

Gone, I hope, will be reports of model damage with these very well designed containers.

 On taking the model out of the box...wow. That's the only word I can muster.

Note the Charlton Athletic footballer nameplate sitting above Home Guard...!

The model has a great presence, particularly in the fully lined LNER apple green livery. Despite a few worries on various internet forums, the unlined cylinders are correct for this livery (2800 Sandringham being built by the North British Locomotive company, which painted them plain black).

This was confirmed by checking my copy of the RCTS Locomotives of the LNER: Part 2B, where on page 109 it states "The N.B. Loco Co. used the same style for nos.2800-9 as for the Pacifics they had built four years earlier, painting the cylinder sides black".

It should also be noted that only the Darlington built B17s had the classification "Class B17" painted on the bufferbeam, so 2800 is correct in not having this feature, simply with no. 2800 painted in gold leaf, shaded black.

What is incorrect is the lack of white lining out on the front bufferbeam, and this is a strange one to get wrong, given the number of photographs out there of the prototype, no.2800, and the rest of the class in LNER apple green livery.

 

The Westinghouse pump on the right hand running plate is correctly painted black, and it is an item standard with the Hornby L1, it seems.

However on the smokebox there is a minor problem. The circular plate on the smokebox top is recessed, when photographic evidence in The Power of the B17s and B2s shows this plate to be flush with the curvature of the smokebox. This is a minor point, but I fear the recessed nature of the plate makes it very difficult to fix.

The footplate and boiler backhead are exquisite, and up with the best of them. You really have to see some of the detail in the flesh to understand how it all goes together, particularly the tiny working vent on the roof!

The GER pattern tender provided with Sandringham is amazing in terms of its detail. It really captures the look of the prototype, and the red lining out on the frames has to be seen to be believed.

It really does hit all the right notes.

 

Be warned, however: both on the cabside and on the tender, the wire handrails are in fact plastic, and are quite flimsy as a result. I haven't broken one of mine yet, but it's clear with less than careful handling, the handrails are susceptible to breaking.

It must be said: comparing this latest and newest GER tender to the original GER tender (re-released and continuously retooled from its Triang origins up to now), the older tender (bar the buffers and the coupling hook) actually holds up quite well. It's not as fine, certainly, but its major proportions seem to match closely the latest tender. 

The cylinders have notches cut into them: this is clearly to provide clearance for the bogie (which appears to be standard with Hornby's B1 model) for getting round tight corners.

This does look odd head on, but cannot be seen side on, and to be fair is a standard "cheat" used by RTR manufacturers to get the models to go round corners. I have absolutely no problem with this "cheat" and in my view doesn't detract from the model's quality at all.

The valve gear, on the other hand, is an absolute joy to behold. Comparing to drawings and photographs, the model is perfect in this area, particularly the eccentrics and slide bar.

Now I turned to the detail pack. You get a pair of cylinder drain cocks (which are really nice mouldings), a pair of front steps, and a set of guard irons (tweezers not included!)

The guard irons are a very welcome addition and a significant step up in terms of separately added detail. They are surprisingly weighty as they are cast in metal, but unfortunately they are also the wrong shape, being straight as a die when all major drawings and photographs of the class show a curve halfway up, to match the ones on the rear of the tender (which are correct on the model).

Then of course you have all the associated pipework thereafter. I am scratching my head a bit on this one as I'm not 100% certain which ones go where. I'll do another blog when I've found out!

The one component not pictured above is the coupling hook, which is standard with all previous Hornby releases as far as I'm aware. It's a good fit into the bufferbeam.

 
I removed the bodyshell to make a few changes, so took the opportunity to photograph the chassis. There's no flywheel as on some of the more recent releases, surprisingly, however what you get is a solid diecast metal block, combined with a decent motor and gearbox combination give a model which I expect will be a decent hauler. Certainly the chassis was extremely smooth on my rolling road.

The tender is "permanently coupled" in terms of having a fixed bar and electrical plug. It can be removed by unscrewing the bar and removing the plug carefully. I've had no problems with the single A4 model I have which uses this plug and bar arrangement, so I am expecting not to have any hassle with the B17. The DCC chip, as you'll have guessed, needs to be fitted in the socket in the tender.

The big change I've made to my model is to remove the front number on the bufferbeam, and add the white lining out using a HMRS lining sheet. My model is intended to become a British Railways branded example, so the front numbers on the bufferbeam had to go!

Overall, the Hornby B17 is a model which so very nearly perfect. There's a few niggly things on this first release which can be put right quite easily (bar the recessed plate on the smokebox. It doesn't look right and is going to be difficult to correct), but it doesn't detract from the fact that it is a very solid, extremely fine model.

But is it the best of the recent Hornby Eastern Region models? Pictured above are the Hornby B1, B17 and L1, from left to right. The L1 was released first, with the B1 released second, and the B17 (announced at the same time as the L1) has actually come fourth, behind last year's announcement of the Hornby Thompson O1, which touched down around Warley in November.

Since my sample of the latter has not yet arrived, I won't bring it into the discussion, other than to say I've seen some samples and as a result, I'm very much looking forward to my O1 arriving.

All four models are excellent portrayals of their prototypes, and all three models clearly utilize some common components. Safety valves are one, domes are another, the front bogie is standard to B1 and B17 (and is used as the rear bogie on the L1), along with certain parts of the valve gear between B1 and B17.

Even if the actual tooling for a component is not the same, model to model, factory to factory (if they are in fact, made in different factories) then certainly it is the case that Hornby have made good on sharing portions of their Cadwork between these three models.

The paint applications on all three models are top notch. The apple green of the L1 and B17 are in line with previous Hornby releases of the A1 and A3 Pacific, and to my eyes are a little dark, but it's not enough to detract from the overall excellence of their livery application.

However, the only "perfect" model, for me, of the three is the Hornby Thompson L1, the first of the bunch. With the two different bodyshells available (curved or straight running plate), different smokebox doors, different steps and several other details besides, top notch livery application and a motor/gearbox combination which produces one of the most surprising haulers of recent years from Hornby, it gets the nod.

There's nothing inherently wrong with the Hornby B1: I recently bought two at very low prices and have found them to be excellent models in themselves, if, annoyingly, prone to derailment rather more than I thought was ever possible!

It's just that the Thompson L1 really does nail the look of the prototype, with absolutely no detail or running problems, in any way. Both the B1 and B17 have such problems in certain areas.

The Thompson L1 is the best steam locomotive Hornby have ever produced in my opinion, but the B17 could in theory take that mantle in its second batch of models, available next year I would hope.

What Hornby need to do is sort the missing lining out on the bufferbeam, look at the round plate on the smokebox and see if that can sorted relatively cheaply, sort the shape of the additional guard irons out, and to offer in their 2013 range, a B17/1 with a group standard tender, in LNER apple green, with a footballer nameplate and number next year. A model, perfected with very minor alterations.

Then it would take the mantle of "Best Eastern Region Model" that the Hornby Thompson L1 currently holds (for me at any rate).

Is it worth buying despite the minor discrepancies noted above? Absolutely! There's no doubt in my mind that this is a quality model, and those willing to do a little bit of modelling will thoroughly enjoy this superb bit of model design.

My view is simple. No Eastern Region modeller worth his salt can go without this model. It's brilliant. Hornby at their best: their top notch, brilliant best.

More of this please Hornby.

Until next time - thanks for reading!

"Hornby B17/1 touches down"

Review to follow later this weekend.

However, dare I say it has to be a contender for one of the finest model locomotives ever made...!

Until next time!

"Hornby B1: repairs and renumbering"

It's not often that I get my head turned by a cheap as chips model.

Okay, that's a total lie: I am constantly having my head turned by cheap as chips models, and this is one of them. I bought a pair of Hornby B1s on eBay recently, one significantly cheaper than the other (damage to the front buffers and valve gear) and both in fact were a model of 61138.

The first thing I did to the cheaper one with damage, was to fit new buffers (from Peter's Spares on eBay) to replace the damaged ones, and a new set of valve gear (bought from another eBayer). The result was an as new model which ran beautifully.

The next stage was to renumber and rebrand the locomotive. I used Fox Transfers numerals and lettering for this job, taking care to make sure that both the number and combination of BRITISH RAILWAYS on the tender was historically correct.

In fact, there is a photograph of North British Locomotive Company built no.61203 running with a semi-fast train to King's Cross in December of 1949. This photograph can be found in the book The Power of the B1s and is the first photograph in the "Great Northern" section of photographs.

61203 is however extremely dirty and workstained in this photograph, and I intend to weather the model as per the photograph at a later date.

The original Hornby numerals and cycling lion emblem were removed using a mix of a screwdriver carefully dragged across them, and a cotton bud with Revell's colour mix lightly appled.

Johnson's Klear was applied to the tender and to the cabside before the waterslide transfers were applied, and once applied and dried using kitchen paper, the numerals and lettering were sealed using Johnson's Klear once more.

The front numberplate was made up from single numerals off a Fox Transfers sheet, and the single lamp on the upper smokebox door bracket is a Springside LNER type white lamp.

You may also notice that the smokebox door has gained a footstep! This is a resin casting I made earlier this week for this precise detail. Some B1s had it, some didn't. 61203 needed it, and now has it.

Overall I'm happy with the renumbering and rebranding. I can say categorically that whilst it is a very fine model indeed, I wouldn't necessarily have bought these over the Bachmann B1 if they had not been at these very reasonable (some might say ludicrous!) prices.

The fact is that I should have been more aware of just how fine these Hornby B1s are. I am mesmerized by the rivet detail on the chimney and the detail of the valve gear. Obviously there are certain Hornby traits I am not fond of (such as the plastic wheel inserts in the bright metal rims) but these can be dealt with very quickly.

Overall, the Hornby B1 is a fantastic model, right up there with the best of them. For my money, the Thompson L1 is still Hornby's finest steam locomotive model they have ever produced, but the B1 comes pretty close.

Let's see if I am still saying that in an hour's time, as I unbox Hornby's latest B17/1 model, Sandringham!

Until then!

"Going to print!"

Yes - we're finally doing a print run! It's a very limited print run mind, of 500 books, and quite a few of these have been pre-sold too. They will be made available for sale, worldwide, on the BRWS Ltd's eBay account in February, once they have been printed and bound.

The books are A5 size and number 112 pages inside. This is two pages shorter than the eBook, and edits have been made to squeeze the whole of the book in, AND some new material in the information section of the book.

The story has had a few subtle edits to captions, and grammar corrections throughout.

It is now the finished article, and in light of the book's new medium, Dean Walker (artist extraordinaire) finished a brand new front and back cover for the book, which you can see above. It is phenomenal!

The barcode contains our ISBN details, and where would we be without www.britishrailwaystories.com? Which has stood us in such good stead for so long.

It's been a very hectic, at times exasperating, and other times triumphant 2012. Now we have the chance to make 2013 even better, with the first book going to print, and two more books being written as eBooks and then going to print later next year too.

2012 has been the year of the unnamed engine. 2013 will be the turn of industrial shunters, mean streaks and a storm brewing round the corner.

Until next time!

"Christmas Competition Time!"

It's that time of the year again, and I have started a very special Christmas competition on the ever growing The British Railway Stories Facebook Group. All you have to do to enter, is to join the group, and follow the simple instructions.

The winner will receive a pre-production copy of the first print run of Tale of the Unnamed Engine!

Merry Christmas one and all!

Simon

"Of apple greens and things...Bachmann Tornado conversion, Part 2"

In the last blog on this project, I had started turning Bachmann's apple green model of 60163 Tornado into 60136 Alcazar (although I must emphasize, in apple green 60136 was always unnamed).

The next stage of the build was tackling the tender rebuild. The coal space needed to be lengthened by a prototypical amount, and a new water filler cap needed adding. I started by drilling into the moulded coal at the front of the tender.

A sharp scalpel was used to cut between the drill holes, and several different files were used to produce this finish here.

I then repeated this method with the rear water tank.

One thing you will notice is that I have left the curved bulkhead in situe for the moment. This is to allow the tender to retain some rigidity while cutting out, and filing, both ends of the tender down.

Now, do you remember all of those moulded coal inserts that come with the original Peppercorn A1s? How you'd normally throw them away or store them indefinitely? Now they can be useful again! 

By inverting the moulded coal piece, clipping the attachment points, and gluing to the inside of the Bachmann A1 tender, you have the correct length tender space, ready made. I reattached the bulkhead too, and created the water filler cap's floor from plasticard. The only thing missing at present is the quarter semi-circular piece on the bulkhead, but I'm working on a cunning plan for that (for a future update).

 

 I added the coal (crushed lumps of real coal) and glued these back down with PVA, straight from the bottle with no diluting whatsoever. The photographs I've collated of 60136 have several shots of it coming out of King's Cross with a very overladen tender of coal, so this amount is actually rather conservative in comparison!

Now for the next modification. The Bachmann Tornado's smokebox door is wrong for any A1 Pacifics I intend to depict in the 1948-50 period, by way of the numberplate being on the top strap instead of above it. I therefore removed a spare door from a Doncaster A1 that is also being modified, and removed the handrails and top lamp iron. This was then stuck down onto a piece of plastic.

A moulding box was made out of Lego bricks, and sealed through the use of postal tape.

The moulding box was filled with Alumilite Moulding Rubber, and left to set for a 24 hour period.

Once set, I had a go at casting plastic copies of the original smokebox door. It's something of a black art this, and I cast quite a few before getting one which was "just right".

The top electric lamp was removed from the Tornado smokebox door and added onto the plastic copy. The handrail knobs were reused, albeit with new wire, and an upper lamp bracket was taken from my previous A4 conversion kit to complete the smokebox door.

The results speak for themselves, I feel. What we have is nothing more, and nothing less, than 60136 as she was in 1948/49 and in apple green. A very straightforward conversion that anyone could do for themselves.

I've been very much encouraged by the results of this particular test build, and am looking forward to doing this conversion a good many more times for my planned fleet of A1s to use on the forthcoming new layout I am developing behind the scenes.

The advantage of casting the extra smokebox doors, comes from being able to now provide decent smokebox doors for A1s, A2s and (with the lower step removed) any of the Thompson A2 varieties as well.

When (not if) Bachmann release their Express Passenger Blue Tornado model, I'll be ready to do some modelling of Darlington batch blue A1s too. Not only that, I can finally retire my original 60130 Kestrel (made from a Doncaster batch) and make an accurate one! The Doncaster model will then be put to good use as 60120 Kittiwake (a rare bird in my fleet in that I intend to have a model of her in apple green, and in Express Passenger Blue too).

I also intend to have a go at replicating the Hornby A3 smokebox door in the manner described above, so I can provide copies for modifying the latest Bachmann V2s again too.

Until next time, thanks for reading.