Excellent overall video on this model, I’ve had mine now for I think about 2 years now and still love it to this day, I purchase mine from their second run which had some improvements made to it compared to their first issue, when I received mine it was a dcc fitted model but luckily it did come with a blanking plate, that though has now been replaced with the chip being refitted to mine as recently I picked up my first dcc controller, I’m hoping to get the sound decoder for mine at some point though, as I say I absolutely love my one, I have detailed it up with the accessories including the caps that go onto the coupling rod plus an addition I did myself was I painted up 2 seated figures and fitted them into the cab, performance on mine has been excellent, it’s a great runner and has no issue with heavy trains, KR overall are a fantastic company and meeting them at shows is always fantastic, I currently have 2 of their products my other one being their Fell also from their second run of that model which had a few improvements made to it and I have the Bulleid Leader on order which I’m very excited to get because I have held and seen samples of that at some shows I have been to, hopefully it’s not to much of a wait now for the release of that and another model I have on order is the Big Bertha, I’m definitely a customer for some of their other products as well, the DHP1 looks quite interesting and if I can I wouldn’t mind the 4DD emu, great video overall, keep up the great work.
That sounds brilliant David, glad you have had such a good experience with them. Their customer service from my experience has been top class, I really appreciated all the help I got from Keith. I am hoping to see them grow from strength to strength 👍 Yours sound very sorted! How are you finding the world off DCC by the way? Thanks for watching and the great comment! Hylt
@@Proper_Chuffed Currently my experience of dcc has been good, I will stress though that I’m still a beginner to all this, the controller that I’m using is the gaugemaster prodigy express system which is designed for beginners, currently I have 5 locomotives that are dcc fitted one of those being the bachmann blue Pullman which probably gives me the most I can get out of dcc so far, I’m currently limited in what I can do with it right now, the decoders and locos I have fitted allow me to only do things such as running and lighting, the main reason I have finally gone into it is I want to try sound so when I have the money for it I’m going to go and get some sound decoders for some locos I have that have pre fitted speakers and that will give me the opportunity to use more functions on my controller and get more used to what it allows me to do.
Brilliant David, I was dc for the first couple months but figured to make the move sooner than later. I must say sound is a game changer! And really cannot stress how good HM7000 is as a cheaper option for sound. I think you’re going to have a blast sir! Enjoy it!
Hi Hylton. Rails of Sheffield are taking orders for the Co-Bo class 28 from Heljan! I have friends who own KR products and they have mixed views, similar to yours, although not so elegantly presented. A 4% gradient is challenging for modern locos (see Chawick's video on the subject). Oldly, older Triang kit that used to run on steel "Super 4" track abd were fitted with traction magnets would have no problems reaching your distillery.
Don’t you dare tempt me!!! Interesting, yes even the comments here seem to be rather mixed, I must say, I feel a little disappointed with it overall. Though it is still a spectacular looker! That’s a fascinating thought, magnets? What a wild idea!
@Proper_Chuffed I have a couple of old Triang diesels (a 31 & 37) that could pull pretty much every piece of rolling stock I owned on steel Super 4 track thanks to the magnets. But on new nickel track, they are pretty impotent. Their relatively massive wheel flanges don't help either. When Chadwick installed his helix (with a ~2° gradient, as I recall), he added steel plates under the tracks and magnets to the locos that were struggling up the incline: "There's nothing new under the sun", as they say...
The livery on this model is the only colour that the prototype carried, and suits it admirably. Curiously the 4 headcode discs, in this configuration, denote that the engine is hauling The Royal Train, which the full-sized engine most certainly never did, being only experimental and far from reliable. An excellent review, if I may say so.
Aha! Now isn’t that an interesting bit of info, I must certainly take a look at changing that headcode arrangement then, any suggestions? Thank you for watching and for the kind comments ☺️
GT3 is a great looking locomotive, but sadly it does suffer from being light for it's size! For your incline, you should try the magnet system DCC concepts have, it's called "powerbase" - just slide the plates under the sleepers on the incline and fit your loco with a tiny magnet and off it goes!
Well, look who’s in my comments 😂 hello Craig! Thanks so much for the tip, I would fear that would require me to basically rip up the scenery if I did so? 😅 This is my first layout ever, so a lot to learn, but I’ll keep it in mind. Cheers for watching man, means a lot. 🫡 Hylt
@@Proper_Chuffed yes mate, ideally you'd install it before you ballast, so you'd need to remove the ballast and re do it if you want it to be Hidden. You COULD (Like I have done before now) Just stick the plates on top of the sleepers, you can see them but with some painting and weathering they look like track infrastructure or plates etc and you can even just ballast over them truth be told - the benefits of having essentially no weight limits for inclines though man, are brilliant!
@@IronHorseRailways right on, lemme take a look at it then 🫡 thanks so much for that Craig, I’ll see if it’s a feasible thing (more financially, I basically have to import everything down to South Africa 😂) but I’ll take a look. Have a great Sunday and hope you’re doing good. 👍
My guess in why the gt3 is slipping so much is that the front bogey is lifting up the drive wheels just enough that it looses traction, if it only happens on the gradients then that is probably the issue
Wow what an unusual loco. I just looked at the website. I really like the Hunslet. I might get it and the torpedo rotating wagon. The Bulied double decker looks good too.
I love my Fleischmann vehicles, but they never included a spare part list, not to talk of a spare part drawing into their packages. They delivered it in a big blue folder to their dealers. I think they wanted to keep dealers and their customers a bit together by giving the users a reason to enter their dealers shops.
@@Proper_Chuffed They did not hide it, perhaps I would have gotten it if I had asked for. When I reentered the hobby in 2002/2003, stationary model railroad shops were in decline and more and more information had been made available online for everybody. As far as I know Roco keeps it available online and an enthusiast in the Netherlands made many of Fleischmann printed documents available online, too.
Hi mate I hope you are well These are great models. Not my cup of tea. It looks like it has some good details I've pre order big bertha which am looking forward to This review was well made and edited Thank for sharing your models with us Keep safe ARP
Hi Adi, Yes, I must admit I felt a little let down by its traction performance, but overall as a unique model, I love it. I am excited to see more from KR in the future. Thank you for your kind words man. Keep well, Hylt
I do know of better looking GT3s, but then of course they are German......This thing is spooky, it was moving when on the turntable for the pics....check again! Once again a good video and an honest review, I almost want to start modelling 00!
You are spot on, rather spooky but perhaps it would be better if my turntable was on even ground 😅 thanks for watching Rinks, wow, you wouldn’t dare model OO!
Great review and video. The traction issue needs more investigation and I have questions. One: did you clean the out-of-the-box wheels on the locomotive? Two: did you check if you had any drag from the tender? Three: do you have room to add weight to the locomotive? I find that some new locomotives have a residue on the mechanics and wheels and that new doesn't always work as intended. I would touch base with KR and see what they say and get to the bottom of the traction issue. At any rate I'm looking forward to your next installment and don't mind me I'm a bit scientifically rooted or as my wife puts it fusspot. lol
Hello 😊 yes I did clean the wheels, no signs of any oil on them, was quite clean out the box. No I haven’t checked the drag on the tender side, do you mean perhaps locked up wheels? Sorry I’m fairly new to this so might not know the terms. And yes, on opening it up, it certainly seems there is a little room to add some weight. I appreciate then technical approach, could learn a thing or two from you I’m sure! 👍 cheers, Hylt
I wonder which Idiot passed that artwork on the box. As a draughtsman who has built model locomotives, the centre driver needs to be turned 180 degrees to line up the cranks shaft holes.
@@Proper_Chuffed well, having been involved in this stuff since before half the people complaining were born I can say even if you need to fiddle with it to make it perfect it's a huge improvement on not having one or having to kit/scratch build it. Some people just don't grasp how good they have it these days.
@@Samstrainsofficially you make a really good point here, perhaps I should humble myself a little more, still £230 for a loco that really struggles up a small incline seems a bit bizarre to me. Don’t get me wrong, I adore the thing 😂
@@Proper_Chuffed there's options, if you get some lead or other less toxic yet nearly as heavy options are available and fill up any space you can find that should help it. Same should help the light tender derailment issues. Someone on RMweb or similar has probably gone there already if you ask, one important thing to with such modifications is how you attach the extra weight particularly if using "liquid lead"(fine beads of it) or similar. Some adhesives can expand over time and cause issues. Just know it's never impossible to make these things good. They have to be shockingly poorly made to be truly beyond redemption. Even at that price it's still cheaper than a similar size loco kit, its painted nicely, it's nearly good, hour or two faff to optimise it to your requirements in terms of inclines and such really isn't breaking the bank. This doesn't apply to you you're new to this as you say but its a little annoying to see seasoned model railway enthusiasts get so up in arms over such minor things so easily remedied. Perfection is a rare thing if we expect it everywhere we set ourselves up for repeated let down
@trainskitsetc that’s some great advice 😊 thank you, I definitely think I can manage that, even at a novice level. There’s no way I’m sending it bank anyways would be way too expensive for me so I can certainly give it a shot. Thank you for such good advice on this ☺️
KR Models - rock bottom locos. Why the harsh comment well I have had four of their locos all had to be returned. First one was a blue GT3 brought from Rails of Sheffield got it home barely made it around my layout then the motor stopped working returned to the shop the staff tired everything even putting in a DCC decorder in the model still nothing. The replacement GT3, the tender derailed like mad to the point the whole loco came off the track. I was interested in the Fell loco after thinking it though I decided to purchase the loco which soon arrived. The running was bad kept stopping and derailed a lot sent the loco back to the retailer who found out the wheel set was not put in right at the factory they sent a replacement again this kept cutting out due to motor issues the retailer refunded me. I don't think the models are any good I would not purchase anything from KR Models again. Stick with Bachmann or Hornby on a happier note I have just brought Bachmanns ' Loch Lomond' Class 37 brilliant model.
Hey Peter, it’s good to hear from you! Sorry I’m a bit late on response, it sounds like you’ve had a hell of time with KR models. Jeepers, what a nightmare! I must say, something just isn’t sitting right with me at all right now with it. The traction issue is very worrying, so I need to investigate further, I must admit, I was quite keen on the Fell too but now I’m hesitant about it. Ah nice one, I got a Loch Lomond too, bloody beautiful thing! 🤩
Love the tumble-home on that tender.
It is rather pretty, agreed with you there 😊
Excellent overall video on this model, I’ve had mine now for I think about 2 years now and still love it to this day, I purchase mine from their second run which had some improvements made to it compared to their first issue, when I received mine it was a dcc fitted model but luckily it did come with a blanking plate, that though has now been replaced with the chip being refitted to mine as recently I picked up my first dcc controller, I’m hoping to get the sound decoder for mine at some point though, as I say I absolutely love my one, I have detailed it up with the accessories including the caps that go onto the coupling rod plus an addition I did myself was I painted up 2 seated figures and fitted them into the cab, performance on mine has been excellent, it’s a great runner and has no issue with heavy trains, KR overall are a fantastic company and meeting them at shows is always fantastic, I currently have 2 of their products my other one being their Fell also from their second run of that model which had a few improvements made to it and I have the Bulleid Leader on order which I’m very excited to get because I have held and seen samples of that at some shows I have been to, hopefully it’s not to much of a wait now for the release of that and another model I have on order is the Big Bertha, I’m definitely a customer for some of their other products as well, the DHP1 looks quite interesting and if I can I wouldn’t mind the 4DD emu, great video overall, keep up the great work.
That sounds brilliant David, glad you have had such a good experience with them. Their customer service from my experience has been top class, I really appreciated all the help I got from Keith. I am hoping to see them grow from strength to strength 👍
Yours sound very sorted! How are you finding the world off DCC by the way?
Thanks for watching and the great comment! Hylt
@@Proper_Chuffed Currently my experience of dcc has been good, I will stress though that I’m still a beginner to all this, the controller that I’m using is the gaugemaster prodigy express system which is designed for beginners, currently I have 5 locomotives that are dcc fitted one of those being the bachmann blue Pullman which probably gives me the most I can get out of dcc so far, I’m currently limited in what I can do with it right now, the decoders and locos I have fitted allow me to only do things such as running and lighting, the main reason I have finally gone into it is I want to try sound so when I have the money for it I’m going to go and get some sound decoders for some locos I have that have pre fitted speakers and that will give me the opportunity to use more functions on my controller and get more used to what it allows me to do.
Brilliant David, I was dc for the first couple months but figured to make the move sooner than later. I must say sound is a game changer! And really cannot stress how good HM7000 is as a cheaper option for sound. I think you’re going to have a blast sir! Enjoy it!
Guess this guy is just making videos on all the locos I want to get lol. Bachmann 37, Scotrail 153, Heljan Lion and now the GT3?
😂 well I hope these help in some way? Thanks so much for watching
Hi Hylton. Rails of Sheffield are taking orders for the Co-Bo class 28 from Heljan!
I have friends who own KR products and they have mixed views, similar to yours, although not so elegantly presented.
A 4% gradient is challenging for modern locos (see Chawick's video on the subject). Oldly, older Triang kit that used to run on steel "Super 4" track abd were fitted with traction magnets would have no problems reaching your distillery.
Don’t you dare tempt me!!!
Interesting, yes even the comments here seem to be rather mixed, I must say, I feel a little disappointed with it overall. Though it is still a spectacular looker!
That’s a fascinating thought, magnets? What a wild idea!
@Proper_Chuffed I have a couple of old Triang diesels (a 31 & 37) that could pull pretty much every piece of rolling stock I owned on steel Super 4 track thanks to the magnets. But on new nickel track, they are pretty impotent. Their relatively massive wheel flanges don't help either.
When Chadwick installed his helix (with a ~2° gradient, as I recall), he added steel plates under the tracks and magnets to the locos that were struggling up the incline: "There's nothing new under the sun", as they say...
The livery on this model is the only colour that the prototype carried, and suits it admirably. Curiously the 4 headcode discs, in this configuration, denote that the engine is hauling The Royal Train, which the full-sized engine most certainly never did, being only experimental and far from reliable. An excellent review, if I may say so.
Aha! Now isn’t that an interesting bit of info, I must certainly take a look at changing that headcode arrangement then, any suggestions? Thank you for watching and for the kind comments ☺️
@@Proper_Chuffed One bottom left, one bottom right, equivalent of lamps denoting express passenger train.
GT3 is a great looking locomotive, but sadly it does suffer from being light for it's size!
For your incline, you should try the magnet system DCC concepts have, it's called "powerbase" - just slide the plates under the sleepers on the incline and fit your loco with a tiny magnet and off it goes!
Well, look who’s in my comments 😂 hello Craig! Thanks so much for the tip, I would fear that would require me to basically rip up the scenery if I did so? 😅
This is my first layout ever, so a lot to learn, but I’ll keep it in mind. Cheers for watching man, means a lot. 🫡 Hylt
@@Proper_Chuffed yes mate, ideally you'd install it before you ballast, so you'd need to remove the ballast and re do it if you want it to be Hidden.
You COULD (Like I have done before now)
Just stick the plates on top of the sleepers, you can see them but with some painting and weathering they look like track infrastructure or plates etc and you can even just ballast over them truth be told - the benefits of having essentially no weight limits for inclines though man, are brilliant!
@@IronHorseRailways right on, lemme take a look at it then 🫡 thanks so much for that Craig, I’ll see if it’s a feasible thing (more financially, I basically have to import everything down to South Africa 😂) but I’ll take a look. Have a great Sunday and hope you’re doing good. 👍
As for the adhesion - perhaps check the back-to-back measurement? I notice the stop is both on an incline and a curve (worst case scenario).
A good point, let me get on that and I’ll report back asap 👍
Another great review, man! I think you were very even-handed in your conclusion.
Appreciate it Dan! 😊
My guess in why the gt3 is slipping so much is that the front bogey is lifting up the drive wheels just enough that it looses traction, if it only happens on the gradients then that is probably the issue
Good point, though my inclines should be fairly smooth, I will take another look, thanks for spotting that. Cheers, Hylt
Wow what an unusual loco. I just looked at the website. I really like the Hunslet. I might get it and the torpedo rotating wagon. The Bulied double decker looks good too.
Right? They’re pretty unique looking and I love that KR are tackling the lesser known models. Dropped you a mail btw 🤓
@@Proper_Chuffed cool mate. I’ll take a look.
Great stuff, unusual loco, I like the testing section area with the gradient “hill of despair” and those rocks at 13:17 are truely superb!
@@doubleodave Hill of Despair 😂 love that. Thanks Dave
I love my Fleischmann vehicles, but they never included a spare part list, not to talk of a spare part drawing into their packages. They delivered it in a big blue folder to their dealers. I think they wanted to keep dealers and their customers a bit together by giving the users a reason to enter their dealers shops.
Wow Lars, that sounds absurd? They hold your parts list to ransom 😂 how truly odd!
@@Proper_Chuffed They did not hide it, perhaps I would have gotten it if I had asked for. When I reentered the hobby in 2002/2003, stationary model railroad shops were in decline and more and more information had been made available online for everybody. As far as I know Roco keeps it available online and an enthusiast in the Netherlands made many of Fleischmann printed documents available online, too.
Hi mate
I hope you are well
These are great models.
Not my cup of tea.
It looks like it has some good details
I've pre order big bertha which am looking forward to
This review was well made and edited
Thank for sharing your models with us
Keep safe ARP
Hi Adi,
Yes, I must admit I felt a little let down by its traction performance, but overall as a unique model, I love it. I am excited to see more from KR in the future. Thank you for your kind words man.
Keep well, Hylt
I do know of better looking GT3s, but then of course they are German......This thing is spooky, it was moving when on the turntable for the pics....check again! Once again a good video and an honest review, I almost want to start modelling 00!
You are spot on, rather spooky but perhaps it would be better if my turntable was on even ground 😅 thanks for watching Rinks, wow, you wouldn’t dare model OO!
Great review and video. The traction issue needs more investigation and I have questions. One: did you clean the out-of-the-box wheels on the locomotive? Two: did you check if you had any drag from the tender? Three: do you have room to add weight to the locomotive? I find that some new locomotives have a residue on the mechanics and wheels and that new doesn't always work as intended. I would touch base with KR and see what they say and get to the bottom of the traction issue. At any rate I'm looking forward to your next installment and don't mind me I'm a bit scientifically rooted or as my wife puts it fusspot. lol
Hello 😊 yes I did clean the wheels, no signs of any oil on them, was quite clean out the box. No I haven’t checked the drag on the tender side, do you mean perhaps locked up wheels? Sorry I’m fairly new to this so might not know the terms. And yes, on opening it up, it certainly seems there is a little room to add some weight. I appreciate then technical approach, could learn a thing or two from you I’m sure! 👍 cheers, Hylt
I wonder which Idiot passed that artwork on the box. As a draughtsman who has built model locomotives, the centre driver needs to be turned 180 degrees to line up the cranks shaft holes.
I see your point, that is a bit of an oversight 😅
I had one for a while, looked great but derailled like mad, so I moved it on.
So you’re not the first to mention that, any idea why yours derailed so much?
However, the traction problems you are experiencing are not normal. I suggest speaking to KR about it.
I think you’re right, will reach out to them 🫡
GT3... 3rd time wasn't the charm for british gas turbine locos
Seems like it wasn’t quite the charm for KR either, based on the amount of complaints I’ve seen here 😅
@@Proper_Chuffed well, having been involved in this stuff since before half the people complaining were born I can say even if you need to fiddle with it to make it perfect it's a huge improvement on not having one or having to kit/scratch build it. Some people just don't grasp how good they have it these days.
@@Samstrainsofficially you make a really good point here, perhaps I should humble myself a little more, still £230 for a loco that really struggles up a small incline seems a bit bizarre to me. Don’t get me wrong, I adore the thing 😂
@@Proper_Chuffed there's options, if you get some lead or other less toxic yet nearly as heavy options are available and fill up any space you can find that should help it. Same should help the light tender derailment issues. Someone on RMweb or similar has probably gone there already if you ask, one important thing to with such modifications is how you attach the extra weight particularly if using "liquid lead"(fine beads of it) or similar. Some adhesives can expand over time and cause issues.
Just know it's never impossible to make these things good. They have to be shockingly poorly made to be truly beyond redemption. Even at that price it's still cheaper than a similar size loco kit, its painted nicely, it's nearly good, hour or two faff to optimise it to your requirements in terms of inclines and such really isn't breaking the bank. This doesn't apply to you you're new to this as you say but its a little annoying to see seasoned model railway enthusiasts get so up in arms over such minor things so easily remedied. Perfection is a rare thing if we expect it everywhere we set ourselves up for repeated let down
@trainskitsetc that’s some great advice 😊 thank you, I definitely think I can manage that, even at a novice level. There’s no way I’m sending it bank anyways would be way too expensive for me so I can certainly give it a shot. Thank you for such good advice on this ☺️
KR Models - rock bottom locos. Why the harsh comment well I have had four of their locos all had to be returned. First one was a blue GT3 brought from Rails of Sheffield got it home barely made it around my layout then the motor stopped working returned to the shop the staff tired everything even putting in a DCC decorder in the model still nothing. The replacement GT3, the tender derailed like mad to the point the whole loco came off the track. I was interested in the Fell loco after thinking it though I decided to purchase the loco which soon arrived. The running was bad kept stopping and derailed a lot sent the loco back to the retailer who found out the wheel set was not put in right at the factory they sent a replacement again this kept cutting out due to motor issues the retailer refunded me. I don't think the models are any good I would not purchase anything from KR Models again. Stick with Bachmann or Hornby on a happier note I have just brought Bachmanns ' Loch Lomond' Class 37 brilliant model.
Hey Peter, it’s good to hear from you! Sorry I’m a bit late on response, it sounds like you’ve had a hell of time with KR models. Jeepers, what a nightmare! I must say, something just isn’t sitting right with me at all right now with it. The traction issue is very worrying, so I need to investigate further, I must admit, I was quite keen on the Fell too but now I’m hesitant about it. Ah nice one, I got a Loch Lomond too, bloody beautiful thing! 🤩