Good information on what initially appeared to be an unfixable write off. Must be a worry for Hornby with so many problem expensive locos like this out there with far less skilled owners.
Fascinating insight. Lack of Quality control is as far as I can see is the main drawback to this outsourcing stuff. It is Hornby's name that is blackened by the poor quality, and it is them and the retailers that are left to pick up the pieces. I've always been of the opinion that if it is not you that has to deal with the complaints of customers then the same amount of care doesn't go into things as should. I agree with you Manufacture should be brought back, I'm sure we could make just as good a job or better than the Chinese. Hopefully it's perhaps something we should learn from the pandemic that we shouldn't be so reliant on other countries to manufacture things for us. .
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited and when do we factor in the environmental costs of this outsourcing, maybe then we can balance up bringing this production back to these shores.
Well done Mike. It seems more and more with the latest Hornby releases that some rectification is needed. I’ve got a few lined up to go through works soon, so your tips will come in handy. Take care, Tony
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Best way to go about it, had issues with direct buy before so I tend to go through the local models shop these days so replacement etc is not such and issue.
Thank you very much for this video, I had a similar issue with the wheels of a loco but I was terrified about disassemble it. Though it is not the same model, the proceeding is very similar of what you show in the video, and I have been able to solve the problem.
Brilliant Mike. I'm glad that crank radius arm tweak helped as it did in my late evening star. It's just that I was too much of a numpty to know it's proper name lol !!!
Good video glad you could fix it. We should not have to sort these problems out. My first gwr star class arrived in bits. Kept the second one fixed it myself. Sticking with my older models.
I loved the 'dry wit' associated with the presentation - all observations I've similarly encountered with my 2x Super Detailed Brits - 70000 & 70013. Almost worth a revisit as I cannot achieve that smooth slow running - reluctance for the very reasons you highlighted - not the most accessible of locomotives!! Al.
Glad I came across this video Mike, as I'm thinking of buying one (Thomas Hardy) to sound fit, but not so sure now. Fools rush in where railway modellers fear to tread!
Hi Chris yes they are a fath for sure. Mine had been fine since. If you do get one note carefully regarding securing the lubricators before opening the body
What a beautiful model ! I had a silver seal Oliver Cromwell back in the day, cant remember the year but it must have been about 1975 ? But i was never a fan of tender drive locos ! A real trip down memory lane!
Hi Mike, I admire your courage to take on this difficult repair task. You truly have become an expert ! I do agree with other commenters regarding the QC problems in China. But why is Hornby's attitude regarding this problem not changing ?? It is years now we deal with this problem !! But sadly for me this is the end of the road of buying products from the Brexit UK. My latest order came with a supplementary tax bill from the delivery company - that's normal VAT - but the extra costs on top for import is just outrageous ! I loved British loco's but 'politics' have put an end to it. I will follow you here on YT with a feeling of 'nostalgy' from the good old days. Thanks for sharing and all the best ! Greetings, Filip in France.
Running very sweetly now that for sure Mike I would be much too hamfisted to carry out that sort of operation though and would probably have to send it back, found it all very interesting none the less. I am having a problem with my newly arrived Hornby blue Merchant Navy 35024, keeps on stopping for no apparent reason , a slight push and she continues on her way (trackwork is all clean etc) so hope and pray there is no major problem, return production to Margate hear hear !! All the best Stewart
Hi Stewart how are you? Sorry to hear about your MN I wonder what the issue can be, would you be able to do a close up video of her and the problem maybe?
Hi Mike. Brilliant loco. its a shame you had so much trouble with the running. these loco's are not cheap and therefore every care should be taken. so that the loco get to us in perfect running and working order. thank you for sharing your experiences with the loco. but i will still go ahead and buy one......thanks again Tony
i dread anything going wrong with my locos..oh for the days when you just undid a screw to release the body..having watched so many 'fixing' youtubes I have gathered the confidence to have a go. I had dodgy 9f then realised the tender wheels were jammed. not only that but the tender chassis was bowed. Still couldn't get the tender body off ended up 'breaking' some bits of plastic off the tender chassis but you can't see them and the wheels now spin. Its a bit much when you have to 'break' a model to make it work properly! but hey well done for fixing that Brit. it took some perseverance!
Was this a Hornby 9F? I’ve a BR Black example that suffered the same tender issue, sadly very common but easily fixable with a replacement tender chassis which are available for a couple of quid.
@@ringmastermodels yes it was a Hornby Railroad 9f. I noticed other people had the same problem on the Hornby Forum but I still couldn't get the tender body off hence the broken plastic but ti works now..My next resort would've been a new tender/chassis. despite the vague service sheets it is still very hard to get loco/tender bodies off. Thanks for your suggestion.
Well done Mike, you sorted the issues, lovely runner now. Sad thing is, your model is (was) not a one off, people have been reporting similar issues with other Hornby models
It's not just the britannias, my S15 has the same wobble so i may check and do this mod. It's always been okay but it has been through a motor which ran for nearly 3 years with no issues before giving up due to loss of magnatism. It went in exactly the same way as your older S15 vid described. Replaced it with a B1 motor to hopefully avoid any issues. So far so good 🤞
i just purchased a brand new hornby Q6. it was a great price of 105 quid .i put it on tracks and forward it was perfect .the hum of the motor pick up was all i heard .but...in reverse it went slow and quiet till it picked up speed to just above a crawl then a horrible vibrating ,grinding sound started.it still ran smooth but noisy.on investigation it was a loose motor mount .it was loose at the front.i lifted the motor and nipped up the screw.job done.i contacted the seller before doing this .they said to return it but didnt have a replacement .all others i saw were 130 to 140 quid.so i fixed it.the seller gave me a 10 quid part refund which was good of them .
Hi Mike - I received my Britannia through the post today, and was delighted to see it runs beautifully on DC straight out of the box. So I then wanted to fit a decoder. From this moment my nightmare began! I removed the front bogie and body retaining screw as per the instructions. Then tried to move the body forward from the rear and it wouldn't budge. Being very gentle at all times I exerted a bit more pressure and the body did pop off at last!. But so did one of the cab windows and a pipe and a small plate. 😡 I fitted the decoder and tested with body off and it still runs smoothly. But can I get the body back on? Can I heck! That metal piece at the rear just will not go into the slot in the body! I've been trying for over an hour now. I will go back to it tomorrow when my nerves are calmer 😠 So I just watched your video and see I'm not the only one with a problem. Thanks for posting your experience. Oh, BTW I subscribed. 👍 Cheers. Vivian. UPDATE: Just watched your video a couple more times. I got the front of the body lined up and pushed a lot harder, and the back part clicked on! All well now, so thanks very much for your guidance. One day I'd like to fit sound as it is a lovely model and deserves that enhancement. but it will be a while before I can muster courage to go through all that again 😰
Hi Vivian, I thought the decoder goes in the tender? anyway, yes it's a right faff to get the body back on. Hope you glued the lube boxes in place? Pay great attention to the route the wires take from the loco to the plug, this will no doubt be your issue as they get snagged. Good luck and thanks for the Sub
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Thanks Mike. Mine is 70013 Oliver Cromwell the NRM one from 2007 I think, and the decoder socket is above the motor in the body. I got a mint boxed one off eBay. I was really grateful for your advice in gluing the lube boxes. I managed to carefully superglue the pieces back on with a tiny spot of Gorilla gel on a cocktail stick. It was all quite stressful. I'd like DCC sound in it one day so I may have that professionally fitted; probably cost a bit but my nerves can't take another session on it again haha! Cheers. Vivian
This is what puts me off buying Hornby locos, I live in France and have a reluctance to start repairing new locos for fear of invalidating any warranty but if I send it back I've lost the loco for at least four weeks and I don't now know if there are issues returning products post Brexit. Just imagine if you had ordered that from your retailer with a sound chip fitted you'd potentially have £300 worth of useless locomotive. For the sake of balance I have had terrible problems with my Bachmann standard class 4 which after some research it appears is not uncommon all these manufacturers really need to up their game as far as mechanical build quality is concerned when you are paying nearly £200 for a locomotive (much more if you want DCC and or sound fitted) it is not acceptable, the thing should perfectly straight out of the box and problems such as this should be a lot less common. Glad you got it sorted in the end.
Well done for fixing the problem. I, like others have said, do not have the skill or patience to attempt something like that. Indeed, I have an original Princess Elizabeth which I took the body off. It was working fine until I did that, just wanted to clean the wheels properly. Unfortunately, when I came to put the body back on I caught the wires and disconnected them. Doesn’t work now as I don’t know how to fix it. Won’t be trying that again. Roy.
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited that’s very kind of you. This could “kill 2 birds with one stone “ (my wife’s words, not mine) as my mother in law lives right by Chichester Station and, of course, we haven’t been able to see her for quite some time. Perhaps we could set up something soon? My email is roystudds@msn.com.
Both my Britannia and Oliver Cromwell. have started running badly like you say in this video. Getting the body off and back on again is a p in the what have you. So perhaps I'll checl out for some of the points you mention and see if I can sort my two out.
Excellent! Splendid detective work. Another Master Class in Micro-Engineering. I have a couple of 'Brits" to service. Here,s hoping I don,t have to refer back here! But ,if I do, Many Thanks for the heads up. (BTW - Have had similar dialogue over a copy of 'Cock O'The North" with 'The Old Firm" with the usual kerfuffle.Eventually ( a month later) sorted of course . The key word here is 'kerfuffle", which I don,t get anywhere else although.to be fair, this is entirely possible. Any how Many Thanks .
Indeed I have two Hornby Britannia's. One from 10 years ago, and one 4 years ago. They have different chassis, and the older chassis is much better, as is the case with a number of Hornby steam loco models. The reason is that Hornby were not keeping an eye on their manufacturer in Hong Kong (Sandakan), and their main competitor (Bachmann/Kada Corporation) slipped in & bought Sandakan from under Hornby's nose, and obviously gave Hornby their marching orders !!! So around 6 years ago now, Hornby were in a blind panic with nowhere to produce their numerous ranges. They even hid what was happening from their shareholders !!! Hornby of course needed someone with similar standards of technology/machinery or they were finished. Luckily they stumbled on PIKO an ex East German model railway manufacturer, who had just opened their own factory near Canton in the PRC. PIKO were not expecting Hornby and did not really have the spare capacity to accommodate Hornby. So limited quantities of products were all that was possible for around two years. PIKO quickly enlarged their plant, to accommodate the new situation. However this explains why many of Hornby's models had to have their chassis redesigned, and so are now very similar to Pikos own models internally. This is not a perfect solution, as Piko were never thought of in Germany as being a top quality range !! All this I learnt from the Editor of a German Model Railway Magazine who had just returned from China, at the time Hornby had climbed into bed with Piko. The above helps to explain why Hornby bodyshells are almost as good as they can be, but the engineering of chassis and other internals, is suffering technical issues, assembly faults (as do Piko products), and other niggly issues such as absurd flangeless wheels. The problem of the retail price is also becoming an issue, although Hornby products are still a little lower priced than equivilent Roco/Fleischmann/Piko ranges from German shops !
Hi, really hard to tell without seeing it. Can you get it running in the service cradle and check the coupling rods? Quite often a bent radius arm can cause it
Hello, that was interesting to see. It seems to sadly be the case that poor initial assembly is blighting newer models. Careful investigation can sort most poor running. Best regards to you
Congratulations on you perseverance, she real did turn out good in the end. It’s a shame that such fine models can be ruined by poor sub contractors and their lacking quality control. I hope Hornby do stick to their word and take the findings further.
i know most of the viewers will be aware of this but if they go to toy and train fairs they can pick up much better deals.i went to doncaster on sun 22nd.i got a mint hornby b1 for 65.00 and mint bachmann royal scot for 35.00.from a nice lass who runs one of the stalls.i have bought lots off her and others anx never had a bad one .same locos on ebay ...b1 95.00 and scot 75 to 80.00.
I would like to echo your request to bring back production to Margate, Given the rising cost of manufacture in China (reflected in the huge increases in recent years of new models), continued lack of QC, and China's danger to western economies, it seems the time is now right to be thinking about this.
great info, strip down and comments - BUT you must have been one of the lucky ones as my Hornby Brit. developed the dreaded "Mazak Rot" and then after attempting to E-Mail contact Hornby on 2 different occasion,s with no reply either time - my Brit .now sits in its box gathering dust !! it just disgusting that in todays age Hornby are asking a kings ransom THEN sell models that really arn,t fit for purpose - clearly their quality control must be completely "non-exsistant" !! and just HOW do they get away with ??
Hi Tony, thanks. But I am very surprised Hornby left you high and dry like that! Was this a new model that developed the problem? very worrying. Did you use this address customercare@Hornby.com I'd try again, they are very slow but I have never had no reply at all, good luck
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited hi- thanx for the info- yes it was a new model when bought about 4 years ago - will try Hornby again and see what happens this time - thanx again
Hi Tony ,Had the same problem with the tender chassis completely disintegrating with the dreaded Mazak rot .Just to be able to get my 9f back on the track ,i used a old tender driven britannia and took the electrics out and it was able to keep the 9f running .The trouble is it only has the two outside axles and no middle axle ..There is a guy on e bay who does a replacement chassis block ,but having tried his item i reverted to the ringfield tender motor .My loco in question is R2880 92221
This is so typical where the share holders pockets are more important than the customer. On-shore companies resorting to cheap off-shore labour especially Chinese where quality control/assurance is non existent
You have 'no idea why the gear cover was not fitted correctly in the first place'? Perhaps I can help: Sloppy quality control by Chinese workers on the assembly line, who are either overworked or poorly trained, or perhaps both. This is not a dig at the Chinese workers; it is a Hornby management problem!
This is why we shouldn't buy anything MADE IN CHINA! I wish Hornby (& others!) would get the message that we would happily pay a bit more for products made in THIS country, where we aren't supporting a dictatorship (although some might disagree about the current government in this country, I am happy to demure on that) and where people who need jobs could get them. It's not always about money and profit for already rich shareholders.
Hi David, I have some sympathy with that view point I must say, trouble is it's woven into the very fabric of our society such that to avoid it would be near impossible.
Good information on what initially appeared to be an unfixable write off.
Must be a worry for Hornby with so many problem expensive locos like this out there with far less skilled owners.
RETURN THEM, MAYBE HORNBY WILL GET THE MESSAGE..
Many thanks John, I knew she had it in her :)
Fascinating insight. Lack of Quality control is as far as I can see is the main drawback to this outsourcing stuff. It is Hornby's name that is blackened by the poor quality, and it is them and the retailers that are left to pick up the pieces. I've always been of the opinion that if it is not you that has to deal with the complaints of customers then the same amount of care doesn't go into things as should. I agree with you Manufacture should be brought back, I'm sure we could make just as good a job or better than the Chinese. Hopefully it's perhaps something we should learn from the pandemic that we shouldn't be so reliant on other countries to manufacture things for us. .
Hi Paul, many thanks, I agree fully. Nor should we be propping up such hostile countries!
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited and when do we factor in the environmental costs of this outsourcing, maybe then we can balance up bringing this production back to these shores.
They are a business who's bottom line comes down to $$$. Perhaps you could start a factory making model trains and do a better job?
Well done Mike. It seems more and more with the latest Hornby releases that some rectification is needed. I’ve got a few lined up to go through works soon, so your tips will come in handy. Take care, Tony
Hi Tony, very glad to help my friend, take care
Lovely model glad you have her running well now.. makes me very reluctant to get one myself however.
You should! they are lovely but I fully understand your concerns. Get the shop to test it first maybe?
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Best way to go about it, had issues with direct buy before so I tend to go through the local models shop these days so replacement etc is not such and issue.
Very helpful indeed, and that’s now a lovely runner!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you very much for this video, I had a similar issue with the wheels of a loco but I was terrified about disassemble it. Though it is not the same model, the proceeding is very similar of what you show in the video, and I have been able to solve the problem.
Great to hear!
Brilliant Mike. I'm glad that crank radius arm tweak helped as it did in my late evening star. It's just that I was too much of a numpty to know it's proper name lol !!!
Cheers Gary, yes seems much better now :)
Good video glad you could fix it. We should not have to sort these problems out. My first gwr star class arrived in bits. Kept the second one fixed it myself. Sticking with my older models.
Cheers Paul, oh no that is bad about your Star!
I loved the 'dry wit' associated with the presentation - all observations I've similarly encountered with my 2x Super Detailed Brits - 70000 & 70013.
Almost worth a revisit as I cannot achieve that smooth slow running - reluctance for the very reasons you highlighted - not the most accessible of locomotives!!
Al.
Cheers Al, glad it was fun too
Glad I came across this video Mike, as I'm thinking of buying one (Thomas Hardy) to sound fit, but not so sure now. Fools rush in where railway modellers fear to tread!
Hi Chris yes they are a fath for sure. Mine had been fine since. If you do get one note carefully regarding securing the lubricators before opening the body
What a beautiful model ! I had a silver seal Oliver Cromwell back in the day, cant remember the year but it must have been about 1975 ? But i was never a fan of tender drive locos ! A real trip down memory lane!
Thanks Mike, glad it took you back
Hi Mike, I admire your courage to take on this difficult repair task. You truly have become an expert ! I do agree with other commenters regarding the QC problems in China. But why is Hornby's attitude regarding this problem not changing ?? It is years now we deal with this problem !!
But sadly for me this is the end of the road of buying products from the Brexit UK. My latest order came with a supplementary tax bill from the delivery company - that's normal VAT - but the extra costs on top for import is just outrageous ! I loved British loco's but 'politics' have put an end to it. I will follow you here on YT with a feeling of 'nostalgy' from the good old days. Thanks for sharing and all the best ! Greetings, Filip in France.
Hi Filip, I am sad to read of your troubles, not fair you should have to pay import tax, I thought that had not come in yet?
Glad you solved it Mike , seems like you don’t have much luck with your new locos. Regards Fred
Cheers Fred, yeah feels like it, it really does
Running very sweetly now that for sure Mike I would be much too hamfisted to carry out that sort of operation though and would probably have to send it back, found it all very interesting none the less. I am having a problem with my newly arrived Hornby blue Merchant Navy 35024, keeps on stopping for no apparent reason , a slight push and she continues on her way (trackwork is all clean etc) so hope and pray there is no major problem, return production to Margate hear hear !! All the best
Stewart
Hi Stewart how are you? Sorry to hear about your MN I wonder what the issue can be, would you be able to do a close up video of her and the problem maybe?
When Mike uploads video and the notification bell rings, the 1st and only thing to do is stop what you're doing ans watch the video 👍
I appreciate that many thanks indeed :)
Hi Mike. Brilliant loco. its a shame you had so much trouble with the running. these loco's are not cheap and therefore every care should be taken. so that the loco get to us in perfect running and working order. thank you for sharing your experiences with the loco. but i will still go ahead and buy one......thanks again Tony
Cheers Tony, let me know how you get on, I am sure I am just unlucky lol
i dread anything going wrong with my locos..oh for the days when you just undid a screw to release the body..having watched so many 'fixing' youtubes I have gathered the confidence to have a go. I had dodgy 9f then realised the tender wheels were jammed. not only that but the tender chassis was bowed. Still couldn't get the tender body off ended up 'breaking' some bits of plastic off the tender chassis but you can't see them and the wheels now spin. Its a bit much when you have to 'break' a model to make it work properly! but hey well done for fixing that Brit. it took some perseverance!
i stick with my Triang locos, cant be bothered with this clowing around by hornby, where is Mr koler in all this ?
Was this a Hornby 9F? I’ve a BR Black example that suffered the same tender issue, sadly very common but easily fixable with a replacement tender chassis which are available for a couple of quid.
Thanks very much, worth the effort I feel :)
@@ringmastermodels yes it was a Hornby Railroad 9f. I noticed other people had the same problem on the Hornby Forum but I still couldn't get the tender body off hence the broken plastic but ti works now..My next resort would've been a new tender/chassis. despite the vague service sheets it is still very hard to get loco/tender bodies off. Thanks for your suggestion.
@@petersmith4455 well said , detest this made in China toot from Hornby. Abandoned purchasing anything from Hornby since they defected to China.
Brilliant job mike 👏, hope hornby looks at this as I have my eye on a couple of locos from the 2021 range im a bit reluctant to buy 🤔
Thanks very much, yes I have an order in for a certain black loco :)
Well done Mike, you sorted the issues, lovely runner now. Sad thing is, your model is (was) not a one off, people have been reporting similar issues with other Hornby models
Thanks Anthony, glad I stuck with it. Sad to hear I am not alone
It's not just the britannias, my S15 has the same wobble so i may check and do this mod. It's always been okay but it has been through a motor which ran for nearly 3 years with no issues before giving up due to loss of magnatism. It went in exactly the same way as your older S15 vid described. Replaced it with a B1 motor to hopefully avoid any issues. So far so good 🤞
Hi Loss of magnetism? Not heard of that in a new motor before. Glad its all sorted now
i just purchased a brand new hornby Q6. it was a great price of 105 quid .i put it on tracks and forward it was perfect .the hum of the motor pick up was all i heard .but...in reverse it went slow and quiet till it picked up speed to just above a crawl then a horrible vibrating ,grinding sound started.it still ran smooth but noisy.on investigation it was a loose motor mount .it was loose at the front.i lifted the motor and nipped up the screw.job done.i contacted the seller before doing this .they said to return it but didnt have a replacement .all others i saw were 130 to 140 quid.so i fixed it.the seller gave me a 10 quid part refund which was good of them .
These issues should not be present, well done on the fix
I thought I'd replied to this before from two years ago but it's just popped up as missed.
Well done for getting it running properly. It looks a small motor for a big locomotive
Thanks Oliver, oddly this is one of the bigger motors I see lol
Hi Mike - I received my Britannia through the post today, and was delighted to see it runs beautifully on DC straight out of the box.
So I then wanted to fit a decoder. From this moment my nightmare began!
I removed the front bogie and body retaining screw as per the instructions. Then tried to move the body forward from the rear and it wouldn't budge. Being very gentle at all times I exerted a bit more pressure and the body did pop off at last!. But so did one of the cab windows and a pipe and a small plate. 😡 I fitted the decoder and tested with body off and it still runs smoothly. But can I get the body back on? Can I heck! That metal piece at the rear just will not go into the slot in the body! I've been trying for over an hour now. I will go back to it tomorrow when my nerves are calmer 😠 So I just watched your video and see I'm not the only one with a problem.
Thanks for posting your experience. Oh, BTW I subscribed. 👍 Cheers. Vivian.
UPDATE: Just watched your video a couple more times. I got the front of the body lined up and pushed a lot harder, and the back part clicked on! All well now, so thanks very much for your guidance. One day I'd like to fit sound as it is a lovely model and deserves that enhancement. but it will be a while before I can muster courage to go through all that again 😰
Hi Vivian, I thought the decoder goes in the tender? anyway, yes it's a right faff to get the body back on. Hope you glued the lube boxes in place? Pay great attention to the route the wires take from the loco to the plug, this will no doubt be your issue as they get snagged. Good luck and thanks for the Sub
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Thanks Mike. Mine is 70013 Oliver Cromwell the NRM one from 2007 I think, and the decoder socket is above the motor in the body. I got a mint boxed one off eBay. I was really grateful for your advice in gluing the lube boxes. I managed to carefully superglue the pieces back on with a tiny spot of Gorilla gel on a cocktail stick. It was all quite stressful. I'd like DCC sound in it one day so I may have that professionally fitted; probably cost a bit but my nerves can't take another session on it again haha! Cheers. Vivian
This is what puts me off buying Hornby locos, I live in France and have a reluctance to start repairing new locos for fear of invalidating any warranty but if I send it back I've lost the loco for at least four weeks and I don't now know if there are issues returning products post Brexit. Just imagine if you had ordered that from your retailer with a sound chip fitted you'd potentially have £300 worth of useless locomotive. For the sake of balance I have had terrible problems with my Bachmann standard class 4 which after some research it appears is not uncommon all these manufacturers really need to up their game as far as mechanical build quality is concerned when you are paying nearly £200 for a locomotive (much more if you want DCC and or sound fitted) it is not acceptable, the thing should perfectly straight out of the box and problems such as this should be a lot less common. Glad you got it sorted in the end.
Hi Phil, thanks for watching. Yes I would feel the same in your situation!
Well done for fixing the problem. I, like others have said, do not have the skill or patience to attempt something like that. Indeed, I have an original Princess Elizabeth which I took the body off. It was working fine until I did that, just wanted to clean the wheels properly. Unfortunately, when I came to put the body back on I caught the wires and disconnected them. Doesn’t work now as I don’t know how to fix it. Won’t be trying that again. Roy.
Hi Roy, many thanks. Sorry to hear about your PE, where in the country are you?
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Thanks for your reply. I’m in Feltham, west London.
@@roystudds1944 Hmm I am near Chichester in West Sussex, I was wondering if I could take a look at it for you?
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited that’s very kind of you. This could “kill 2 birds with one stone “ (my wife’s words, not mine) as my mother in law lives right by Chichester Station and, of course, we haven’t been able to see her for quite some time. Perhaps we could set up something soon? My email is roystudds@msn.com.
@@roystudds1944 Email sent
Both my Britannia and Oliver Cromwell. have started running badly like you say in this video. Getting the body off and back on again is a p in the what have you. So perhaps I'll checl out for some of the points you mention and see if I can sort my two out.
Good luck Mike, if you go for body removal do make sure the lube boxes are secure
One to bear in mind for the future.
Thanks, goes lovely now :)
Excellent! Splendid detective work. Another Master Class in Micro-Engineering. I have a couple of 'Brits" to service. Here,s hoping I don,t have to refer back here! But ,if I do, Many Thanks for the heads up. (BTW - Have had similar dialogue over a copy of 'Cock O'The North" with 'The Old Firm" with the usual kerfuffle.Eventually ( a month later) sorted of course . The key word here is 'kerfuffle", which I don,t get anywhere else although.to be fair, this is entirely possible. Any how Many Thanks .
Many thanks Ian, hope it helps if needed.
Just found this channel subbed 😀
Awesome, thank you!
Indeed I have two Hornby Britannia's. One from 10 years ago, and one 4 years ago. They have different chassis, and the older chassis is much better, as is the case with a number of Hornby steam loco models. The reason is that Hornby were not keeping an eye on their manufacturer in Hong Kong (Sandakan), and their main competitor (Bachmann/Kada Corporation) slipped in & bought Sandakan from under Hornby's nose, and obviously gave Hornby their marching orders !!!
So around 6 years ago now, Hornby were in a blind panic with nowhere to produce their numerous ranges. They even hid what was happening from their shareholders !!! Hornby of course needed someone with similar standards of technology/machinery or they were finished. Luckily they stumbled on PIKO an ex East German model railway manufacturer, who had just opened their own factory near Canton in the PRC. PIKO were not expecting Hornby and did not really have the spare capacity to accommodate Hornby. So limited quantities of products were all that was possible for around two years. PIKO quickly enlarged their plant, to accommodate the new situation. However this explains why many of Hornby's models had to have their chassis redesigned, and so are now very similar to Pikos own models internally. This is not a perfect solution, as Piko were never thought of in Germany as being a top quality range !! All this I learnt from the Editor of a German Model Railway Magazine who had just returned from China, at the time Hornby had climbed into bed with Piko.
The above helps to explain why Hornby bodyshells are almost as good as they can be, but the engineering of chassis and other internals, is suffering technical issues, assembly faults (as do Piko products), and other niggly issues such as absurd flangeless wheels. The problem of the retail price is also becoming an issue, although Hornby products are still a little lower priced than equivilent Roco/Fleischmann/Piko ranges from German shops !
Hi James, amazing information thanks very much for putting it out there
That's running well now.
Yes really pleased now
My USA Scotsman r30802 has a tight spot in it at the same place. No matter what I do it always has it. Do you know what it could be?
Hi, really hard to tell without seeing it. Can you get it running in the service cradle and check the coupling rods? Quite often a bent radius arm can cause it
Hello, that was interesting to see. It seems to sadly be the case that poor initial assembly is blighting newer models. Careful investigation can sort most poor running. Best regards to you
Many thanks indeed, sometimes it has to be ultra careful lol
hi the more i see of these problems the longer i will keep my Triang locos.this clownig around is just not good enough by hornby
I know what you mean Peter
It's quite shocking that Hornby didn't see these problems sort it out themselves! I mean WTF are they thinking to release a Loco in that condition?
Yes it's sad, but lets hope better is to come
Congratulations on you perseverance, she real did turn out good in the end. It’s a shame that such fine models can be ruined by poor sub contractors and their lacking quality control. I hope Hornby do stick to their word and take the findings further.
Agree fully Rob, it does show the designs are sound however
i know most of the viewers will be aware of this but if they go to toy and train fairs they can pick up much better deals.i went to doncaster on sun 22nd.i got a mint hornby b1 for 65.00 and mint bachmann royal scot for 35.00.from a nice lass who runs one of the stalls.i have bought lots off her and others anx never had a bad one .same locos on ebay ...b1 95.00 and scot 75 to 80.00.
Thanks for the info, lots of deals about if you are in the right place at the right time
I would like to echo your request to bring back production to Margate, Given the rising cost of manufacture in China (reflected in the huge increases in recent years of new models), continued lack of QC, and China's danger to western economies, it seems the time is now right to be thinking about this.
Hi Tony, would be good and you are spot on about the danger of China
great info, strip down and comments - BUT you must have been one of the lucky ones as my Hornby Brit. developed the dreaded "Mazak Rot" and then after attempting to E-Mail contact Hornby on 2 different occasion,s with no reply either time - my Brit .now sits in its box gathering dust !! it just disgusting that in todays age Hornby are asking a kings ransom THEN sell models that really arn,t fit for purpose - clearly their quality control must be completely "non-exsistant" !! and just HOW do they get away with ??
Hi Tony, thanks. But I am very surprised Hornby left you high and dry like that! Was this a new model that developed the problem? very worrying. Did you use this address customercare@Hornby.com I'd try again, they are very slow but I have never had no reply at all, good luck
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited hi- thanx for the info- yes it was a new model when bought about 4 years ago - will try Hornby again and see what happens this time - thanx again
Hi Tony ,Had the same problem with the tender chassis completely disintegrating with the dreaded Mazak rot .Just to be able to get my 9f back on the track ,i used a old tender driven britannia and took the electrics out and it was able to keep the 9f running .The trouble is it only has the two outside axles and no middle axle ..There is a guy on e bay who does a replacement chassis block ,but having tried his item i reverted to the ringfield tender motor .My loco in question is R2880 92221
Note the “Made in China” label. Hornsby need a bit of quality control.
Hi Peter, yes indeed. However see my Merchant Navy videos, Hornby have been spot on with these!
I very much doubt quality control would be any better in Margate than it is in China.
This is so typical where the share holders pockets are more important than the customer. On-shore companies resorting to cheap off-shore labour especially Chinese where quality control/assurance is non existent
Certainly understand where you are coming from there Bruce
Easier solution is to purchase a 1970s Hornby version that will still work and have higher secondhand value in 50 years time!
Got one of those :)
You have 'no idea why the gear cover was not fitted correctly in the first place'? Perhaps I can help: Sloppy quality control by Chinese workers on the assembly line, who are either overworked or poorly trained, or perhaps both. This is not a dig at the Chinese workers; it is a Hornby management problem!
Hi, yes you are probably right, thanks for the info
This is why we shouldn't buy anything MADE IN CHINA! I wish Hornby (& others!) would get the message that we would happily pay a bit more for products made in THIS country, where we aren't supporting a dictatorship (although some might disagree about the current government in this country, I am happy to demure on that) and where people who need jobs could get them.
It's not always about money and profit for already rich shareholders.
Hi David, I have some sympathy with that view point I must say, trouble is it's woven into the very fabric of our society such that to avoid it would be near impossible.