I have a BR Pug model, and I think it’s pretty decent. It’s not massive on the details, but for what I payed for it 2nd hand (only £20) I’m fine with that.
This model is suitable for conversion to three rail. My pig looks great with lipstick, quite attractive in fact. Please don’t insult my pig, she gets very upset
I had a Hornby Pug many, many years ago - and it was bloody rubbish. There's nothing to really go wrong with it, but it would run for about twenty minutes, and then slowly die. My dad had the damn thing CKD (Completely Knocked Down) a great many times. He knew what he was doing, but the stupid thing kept dying. He got fed up with it, eventually, and threw in the towel, and the Pug in the bin, but not before he got me an 0-6-0 Diesel shunter, which worked perfectly for years. And Hornby are still selling that Pug, as a new engine. The cheeky bastards.
@@SamsTrains my father has one, he had a medical episode while we were messing with the layout. Long story short we ended up leaving in a hurry to seek help and left it going around and around. He had three days in hospital and came home to find it running quite happily. Last I know it's still going strong and never been taken to bits.
This little guy was my first ever model train, I loved it to death. It looked strange pulling two wrenn Pullman coaches but hey that's what I was given and I'm still hooked today.
This model is like putting a coat of paint on a dilapidated house. From a distance it looks nice, but then you come up close and notice there are broken windows, broken doors, the copper pipes have been stolen by vandals, and there is asbestos in the ceiling. All the new coat of paint does is make you look closer to see more clearly how bad things are.
This was considered a great little model when it was first released by Dapol, but that was 40 years ago now. Bringing it up to date wouldn't be too difficult, considering the tiny motors that are available these days, but that would involve Hornby spending a few quid. The ghost of Simon Kohler would not be happy with that.
That's right - 40 years ago I'm sure it was lovely! I think it just needs retooling from the ground up - and I think it'd be a real looker then! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@SamsTrainsMy memory of forty years ago was that this first locomotive for Dapol gave them a bad reputation for years. Only very recently would I could start to consider the purchase of Dapol. Add to that how they made Wrenn worse while claiming they had improved them.
Prior to making this model, Dapol had a kit available, for which the tool came from Airfix, and before them, Kitmaster. So in a sense, this model is closer to 60 years old rather than 40. I made a couple of the kits in the mid-70s.
@@Cthulhu1970 Searching UA-cam for : Rosebud Kitmaster kits Should show a vid on the Pug kit seeming to be exported to the US in 1959. So the kit was perhaps 65 years old. From Toy Man TV. However the Dapol RTR model from 1984 looks to have no interchangeable parts from the kit.
I bought two of these second hand eight years ago, squeezed a chip into the cab, and with a lot of adjustments and TLC they both have run great for many years if the track and the pickups are cleaned regularly they handle my layout which has many points with ease they are two of my favourites
As the Chuckle Brothers would say - oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Thank you, Sam, for helping me to save $149 - NZD; that's how much the Prince Pug costs as my local model shop. Instead, I'll put that money towards something better, like a Heljan Class 33/2 or whatever else takes my fancy.
Marron *is* French for chestnut, and the colour "chestnut" is a reddish-brown shade, so, ironically, Hornby's spelling mistake still makes some sense, as "maroon" is another variation on the shade, and it comes from the French word "marron" :P Probably a spelling mistake by the Chinese.What was that instruction on that American brake van box?
As an Airfix kit, these babies were a favourite of 009 and 00N12 modellers, back when Eggerbahn were about the only manufacturer of RTR NG stock. I've seen these wee things in all sorts of odd liveries, sometimes with 6w chassis or running as 0-4-2STs. Using tramway shrouds and cow catchers, anything which would fit underneath would do. Tonnage was achieved using glue and small lead fishing sinker weights!!
Would have thought putting the Airfix or Rosebud Kitmaster Pug body on good quality N gauge mechanism is what would have been seen. Converting the very poor HO gauge Dapol or Hornby mechanism to N gauge would have been a nightmare delivering rubbish running. For that purpose no point buying a locomotive mechanism that is really a throw away product.
I got one of these and bought the High Level Pug chassis kit to under it with the motor in the boiler. A bit of super detailing and you have a lovley model!
I’ve heard plenty of talk of how old and outdated Hornby’s Pugs are. When this loco was announced, I had a small sliver of hope that it would be better than it was. A new paint job doesn’t count as better. Hornby!! For the love of anything, please put this in the RailRoad range where it belongs. Doing otherwise is insulting our intelligence.
Yep - a new paint job is the only thing going for this, and even then it's questionable with those handrails. This needs to be in the Railroad range at the least, and in the junkpile at worst! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@SamsTrains Surely the one thing that locos in the Railroad range MUST be is reliable? If they are poor performers or don't work then entry level modellers are going to quit the hobby in frustration. What are Hornby wanting to achieve releasing this?
Lipstick on a pug! The funny thing is I have a 1980's saddle tank (? probably got the name wrong but LMS 16032) from Hornby which is a bit of a pocket rocket but the motor is fine (and not visible), it has some cab detail (unpainted), it has separately fitted brass whistles/safety valve and it weighs 123g. It can be had for about 20 quid online and yes it it just plain black with gold lettering but still I think I know which one I would rather have.
My Hornby Pug which has the earlier pickups was a hopeless case and just stuttered and died continually until I fitted a stay-alive. Now it runs over any dirty track or points. The decoder and capacitor, however, completely fill the small bit of cab space not occupied by the motor. Yes, a re-tool is long overdue.
My son and I stumbled upon Halburn Hobbies in Edinburgh a few days ago and this was in one of the cases. I bought it after a thorough look over simply because Sam reviewed it. The owner was as nice as could be and my son got some other goodies. It's just a display piece for me and now that it's home and in the case I enjoy seeing it. 🤗
I wanted one of these back in the 90's, and the W4 Peckett being a similar but vastly better model got me back into the hobby. When I saw Hornby were bringing this back at roughly the same price as the Pecketts I did a spit-take and just bought a second-hand one for £20 instead.
Like you, I bought a secondhand one for a similar price to yours - and so I was delighted by it. But then, if you pay a lot more, you naturally expect a lot more. Mine is a great little shunter on electrofrog points, and can go around 9" radius curves.
Hornby 040 sentinel has a totally different inside mechanism (and a 4 pin DCC socket), but has the same issue with wires draped over the worm gear. Worked OK out of the box and pulls six wagons with ease, except over dead frog points. With a tiny 25mm wheelbase, really needs a shunting wagon for extra pick ups or maybe suspension to ensure all wheels are in contact with the rails.
As soon as I saw the word "disastrous" in the title I went and grabbed my popcorn! Thanks Sam. A cute loco but like you say well overdue for a remake. Maybe with a stay-alive in it too that would be great. There is a video here on UA-cam of a guy who reworked the chassis to put a coreless motor in it that didn't intrude into the cab so it can be done. Cheers.
I believe that this model was originally made by Dapol. Along with the Class 56 etc. Hornby acquired the molds when Dapol stopped making model railways.
Dapol didn't stop making model railways, they stopped making 00 gauge models, to concentrate exclusively on N gauge. Now they are back making all sorts of gauge models.
I've got the Dapol one of which there is a kit to give it a new chassis, motor and cast metal blackhead in the cab. Not available for the Hornby one apparently.
I never had the money to get into model railroads until recently, and this was rhe first enging i bought. Its run well so far, I've had it for a few months, and have had no issues. Sad to see i may have just gotten lucky
I recently bought one of these in black for about £40 from eBay. Well worth it for that many as it runs very well. It's absolutely tiny and looks great
Just buy a second hand Pug - I did, at a local show, for £15! Stripped it down, cleaned it up, lubricated it and it runs really well! I did have to shim the motor to ensure it meshed with the axle gear wheel. It's actually worth £15 and a bit of effort.
It's a typo - the loco isn't anything like chestnut!! So many people trying to make excuses.... look at the listing on Hornby's site, it's been corrected to maroon! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
No one's putting a gun to your head to buy it, stop using greed as an excuse for when you want something you don't need and can't afford it. Besides, it has to pay for it's self. Whom among us has any concrete information about how much it cost to make? What the condition of the tooling is these days? What might have needed done to keep it going? Is this price reflective of them wishing to make money to put into a retool? Who knows, greed is the laziest most simple minded explanation really and brass tax, buy it or don't being annoyed won't change jack.
@@peters1127 greed would be making enough to be in profit and then wanting to make that profit unreasonable. Hornby are overall not yet a profitable business. You don't call someone greedy for eating less than they need to survive you call them greedy for eating more than necessary. Lol educate yourselves on the company you wish to talk smack about otherwise you just look silly.
Hi Sam, excellent review as always! I was surprised you didn't mention how badly warped the running plate on this model was... after 40 years of production, you'd think Hornby would have fixed that by now!
While this loco is very badly marketed, I do feel there's a place for these old vintage models. What would be nice though would be if Hornby would consider either a) upgrading them to NEM pocket couplings or b) releasing a conversion kit of some sort (in this case, something like a NEM pocket with a screw hold correctly placed to interface with the existing screw coupling attachment). Since they've now started dipping their toes in the magnetic coupling market, and a lot of their railroad (or *should be railroad*) stock is still not NEM fitted, it would be a sensible step.
Hornby insist on producing ready to run at high prices. Could there be a place for a base model with extra detailing parts, handrails, name plates, reverser rods, any of the potentially fitted parts. After all this is a business model that works very well for their stable mate Airfix. It’s not like railway modelers don't already do this sort of stuff with their layouts!
Yeah but equally that's kinda useless and irrelevant if you want a red pug 😀 you know for the price of an accurascale 66 you could buy a Squier by Fender Stratocaster learn to play it and write a song about how much Hornbys pug costs.
This loco is the exact reason why Hornby are no longer as popular as manufacturers such as Accurascale per say, but they need to understand that producing the same, aged, tacky models will not help overcome their already tarnished reputation. Instead of making silly Sci-Fi models and Beatles Shrines, perhaps they should have a proper go at making something quality. They are clearly capable to do so as well, ie: The Class 56, The Peckett, The Ruston & so many more! The way things are going at the moment are absolutely diabolical.
This video is unique because my pug actually runs nicely, it stops on points at slow speeds but its because of the small wheelbase and our switch's frog size (The layout is american but we use multiple locos from countries) THOUGH! to be fair, I have the LMS Black pug. This video gave me a good perspective and what to look out for, thanks Sam!
I made a Pug out of the Dapol (ex Kit master) body kit and a 0-4-0 chassis from South Eastern Finecast (could have been Nu-cast) and a motor with a flywheel it ran like a dream
Thanks Sam it's one of those videos were you want to cry! I have a BR Pug but it really should be called a Duck. It literally waddles around the track wagling from side to side. Model no. is R3728 another sticker on the box gives a longer part number of R3728-38-284. Given the frustration that we all feel it's just a shame there isn't a motor manufacturer, who produces their own 5 pole motor were you can cross refer to Hornby's. Giving you the option to swap it for something better.
The cover over the x head, was a safety feature, as most of these worked in docks or running down public roads..nice paint but could have been re tooled as a modern model..nice chunky design...
This is an insult to Hornby customers. Even if they left the tired body they should have upgraded the chassis and mechanism. They spent time and money making this look good but no substance. Great review Sam. God bless you.
I bought a hornby pug around the turn of the century and returned it within a couple of weeks as the performance was not good and i was told it was a 1000 hour motor then it needed replacing. I went on to motorize an airfix pug kit.
I think if you change the motor and hide the motor and maybe 3d print a fire box. You’ll get a pretty good Pug but y’all probably know that. But this was a great video Sam! One thing about me is that I don’t care about the detail, I care more about how it runs! Keep making the great videos! :)
I have one of these which I've detailed - but due to the age of the tooling it's in my static collection. I really do wonder what on earth Hornby were thinking when they announced this for the 2024 range without making some improvements (DCC socket/NEM Couplings/improved motor etc). But given Hornby's "track" record on dropping clangers & messing up I'm not surprised.... Good Review Sam
It's actually a pretty accurate rendition of a L&Y Pug; chassis was always garbage but I guess it was the best they could come up with back in '84. Anyone wanting one that includes the full cab detail and an accurate chassis, High Level Kits do one that is incredible but takes a fair bit of effort to build. Do so though, and you end up with a compensated chassis with an incredible amount of detail, including a cab interior that is far beyond what RTR can create.
I have one of the older ones, I love it, but it is horrible to run, I saw Jenny Kirk make a video about how to cram in a DCC chip and stay alive in the cab so will do that at some point and hopefuly will still have room to put pointing Peter in one of the cab doors
The bottom shows “Made in China”. Now that doesn’t mean this is the one and only reason for disaster. Not anymore. Point is, there is a brand name on the box. Point is also most manufacturers still go for short term success, the fact that this model is over 40 years old as for the basic design. A nice lick of paint and a straight painted line and sharp printing cannot hide bad quality. The Chinese factory simply puts out products the brand owner asks them to according to the demands the brand owner wants. Nothing more, nothing less. This goes for all brands that have their stuff made overseas. Now as for the model train world, things can be done quite differently. As an example I give you Piko from Germany. Many rolling stock under their brand name is made in China and the overall quality is no less than excellent. This is achieved by a very active CEO Rene F. Wilfert who travels to China regularly. I doubt the Hornby CEO does that as well given the dreadfull quality of this loco. Greetings from Hekelingen, Holland. Willem.
This is an example of "you get what you pay for". The main problem with the Pug, other than seeing the motor in the cab, like any 0-4-0 is electrical pickup. If you apply Inox mp3 to the wheels and pickups it will run much better. Alternately for the pickups a small amount of carbon grease is also very good. The plastic bearings will outlast the model. Also on 0-4-0 models you can easily compensate the front axle so all wheels stay electrically on the rails by removing the bottom of the bearing on the front keeper plate. Finally on my Pug, I put in a DCC non sound decoder with a storage capacitor and replaced the diecast zinc weight with a piece of sheet lead. I makes the model a little heavier. Its heavy enough to shunt about 20 of my 4 wheel wagons on the flat.
Sam, the Pug story is similar to Märklins BR81 tank engine. It's still in production under the "Start Up" range and has been left virtually untouched since the 60s with no separate details or tooling upgrades, not even glazing in the windows or proper valvegear. But it is made of metal, which is something. The prototype was a heavy shunter and the model would've possibly found a home on many peoples layouts if Märklin would bother upgrading it with a new tooling, separate detailing, fine valvegear and sound. But as with the Pug, this seems very unlikely to happen. In comparison, the BR74 tank engine is availible in the Start Up range, and it has fine separate detail, valvegear and recently upgraded with sound! It's very odd how manufacturers think sometimes...
I think it was a great marketing ploy by Hornby to add extra realism for owners of this loco by requiring them to carry out an overhaul / maintenance / repair before it can be operated :)
I 'm quite sure I bought mine in the 70s for around £20. It was a Dapol product and quite good for it's time. It still runs nicely but yes it should be in the Railroad range now.
A bit of research in Railway Modeller archives, and I find that the Kitmaster Pug kit first appeared as long ago as 1959, and was quickly followed by a Perfecta kit for motorising it - I don't know how effective the motorisation was. The price of the un-motorised kit was 2/6d, I think (12.5 pence!), which coffin-dodgers like me may remember was regarded as a quite reasonable price at that time.
There are only two possible conclusions when you look at Hornby's business and marketing decisions. Either: (1) The company is desperately short of money, on its last legs, and the board are just releasing any cheap product they can in order to generate cashflow and keep the bank(s) at bay, or (2) the board are greedy, treating the company as a cash cow to enrich themselves, and they are simply investing far too little money into decent, quality products which would impress the public and lead to a recovery in the company's reputation. Either option is undesirable, and obviously counter-productive from the public's point of view. Although I was certainly an enthusiastic model railway fan in the 1970's and 80's, there's absolutely no way I would return to the hobby nowadays, especially considering the product prices.
Hi Sam I’m gonna buy the Santa express Hornby train set .. can I make the track smaller ? As I think it may be a bit wide for my table I want it to go on .. thank u ☺️
I would love a decent pug, I saw the only running one at the East Lancs, it was hillarious seeing it run a small train through the fields at their autum steam gala
Is this inspired by the Ffestiniog Prince saddle tank? Since this is an old Dapol/Mainline model how far does it date back? No chance of sprung buffers here then. What is the oldest model/item in the current Hornby range?
At first looking at the details I thought this could make for a decent beginner’s model at a far reduced price. After looking at the mechanism maybe it’s not such a good idea either… Btw I think the ‘whistle’ at 14:35 looks like a bell judging by the shape, although with that awful moulding it could be anything😂
Great amusing video, but........ you forgot the warped running plate, but as every Hornby loco that has one is warped I can understand you not bothering😂😂
Thankyou, Hornby, for selling Sam a 5-star disaster. I totally agree with you here. However, the engine's disastrous performance will possibly be nothing compared to the disaster, which might unfold behind your sturdy bookcase in my birthday video. I'll remind you again about it. Although the Pug is in a nice new livery, what happened to great performance here? Sam, send the model back and demand a refund. Or, if you're really mad, chuck it down the ladder.
A better fate would be the return of the Scrapman - now upgraded at the works, and even more ferocious! This loco is the ideal "first candidate" for it, after its rebirth.
I've often wondered, when there's clearly a 'limping' action, if there's a problem with the driver quartering. It's the sort of thing that we assume is 'correct-from-the-factory', but how would this be checked by an average modeler...?
While I did check a B&W photo, and unsure the photo suggests that the handrails were painted in the same colour as the locomotive, as they are shown in, or near a similar shade as most of the locomotive. With the faults you had, I would've returned it, as it seem to fit, not fit for purpose reference.
Bought one by mistake on Saturday. (Got over excited seeing it at the back of the cupboard and thought it was a Peckett😂) Apart from being crestfallen mine runs OK though.
Hi Sam, I have a few thoughts on today video, yes I agree with you that motor set up is a right dog's dinner and didn't run right at all, but here is where we will disagree if this locomotives was to have Die Cast body and chassis a five pole motor in the body of said locomotives and also a detailed cad interior, the price of said locomotives would more than likely treble to something like £150 to £170 and add on hornby postage and packing costs your looking at £155 to £ 175, the plastic body doesn't bother me the only thing I would want changing is the motor set up and a 4 or 5 pole motor in it and the prong condition on the base keeper plate so it make it easier to do any maintenance to said locomotives.
It certainly would be more expensive - but it shouldn't be that much - the Pecketts have many of those features and go for £100-£120. The new Dapol Hawthorn Leslie tanks will be £107 and they look stunning! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I think Sam should design and 3D print a new Pug! We’ll call this the Sam’s Train line. What say, Sam? Are you up to the challenge? 😊 BTW, I recently saw a video here on UA-cam with a small 0-4-4 steam loco here in the States that’s not much bigger than the Pug, pulling a (to it) massive auto rack van. It was quite amusing seeing it pull that massive, 89’-long railcar, with its cute little teapot whistle blowing for the grade crossings! It’s be about like Sam trying to pull an elephant on roller skates down the British Rail lines! Toot, toot! 💙 🚂
Love your "background" segments with the dated black and white imagery. The model IS that bad. That capacitor and ferrite bead looks like a WWII bomb hanging there! Oh, and you've caused me a bit of grief in the office. My wife watched a couple of these with me and all she took from them was - "See, Sam's running his trains on the floor." 😱 ... and I'm totally onboard with your filament storage 😆
haha thank you! Yes I love it when the weather's so dry... I don't have to faff around storing all my filament in air tight cases haha! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
this pug is actually still around today and runs sometimes at the east lancashire rsilway just outside of manchester in bury with the running number 11234 i think edit: i posted this before hesrinf that you already stated it, also got the number wrong
I do like the Marron, (brown nut), color and the pinstripes. The rest of the locomotive is what I call a 20-footer so don't get within 20 feet or you will be disappointed. On point review, Jersey Bill
haha it's not marron - it's maroon! And absolutely - if you can help it, stay further than 20 feet away and do not approach under any circumstances! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I would definitely take Lionel updating their postwar trains to LionChief (their budget friendly/beginners range) over a straight up reissue of a #50 gang car (the o gauge equivalent to a bump and go toy) And that’s exactly what these pugs are like
Hi, good honest review of a loco from the company that keeps of giving, definitely a Railroad model in a main range box, should be called ‘Mug’ no nem pocket couplings or a dcc socket, when rival companies are bringing out some superb out of this world models Hornby churn out this stuff from a time when they were a very good company, big respect to Sam for purchasing this item and showing modellers how a once great company can do this without remorse, thanks for sharing Sam.
I recon whenever you order a train from Hornby and they see Mr Sams Trains flashinng lights and alarms go off at Hornby HQ and they all scurry roundlike the scene from Office with the fire drill until Mr Hornby bangs his hands down on his big oak desk pulls the cuban cigar from his teeth and says "Send him the reject!". Kitmasters pug looks better and there about as old as time itself
More evidence why sadly the Hornby share price is heading to $0. On the value score once it's value added to a market outside the UK honestly it may only get one star. The hornby prices in Australia are now totally ridiculous. Anyway I learned about Australian crayfish. The Hornby share price since May 2007 has been in a decaying trend. It fails to ever break out of this trend and many people were caught out in a Bull trap during Covid. Anyway. honestly with a performance as I saw here I would demand a refund. Maybe shows there is very poor QC going on at factory level.
Only royalty this is its causing a royal train in the vase (but much like the "piece of kit" that is not exactly what i mean) it just seems like they found stock of these somwhere in the old stock, probably half assambled and decided to sell them with minor improvements.
This is my second pug having sent the first one back due to poor performance and this one is no better runs like a three legged tortoise uphill.l don't think I will be purchasing Hornby locomotives anymore,l believe there are better manufacturers out there with more reliable locos, sorry Hornby should have done better new tooling might have made a difference.
In fairness, it's better than the standard Hornby 0-4-0T chassis. (The "other Pug", the 0-4-0T Thomas, Class 04 Shunter etc) I would also add that my old (2000s) LMS Pug, same chassis and everything, runs fine. Is it perhaps a problem of quality control vs design (although I agree the design is...not superb)?
Hornby’s pug has been considered a toy for years. They should have just accepted this and put it the railroad range. Thanks as always Sam.
Yeah they should - putting it in the Railways range raises expectations and then dashes them.... it's just irritating!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I have a BR Pug model, and I think it’s pretty decent. It’s not massive on the details, but for what I payed for it 2nd hand (only £20) I’m fine with that.
@samstrains will you be reviewing the Hornby flying Scotsman with tts sound and steam generator
@@joshslater2426 £20 is about right.
This model is suitable for conversion to three rail. My pig looks great with lipstick, quite attractive in fact. Please don’t insult my pig, she gets very upset
Marron has got to be one of my favourite colours. Up there with Orbange and Grein.
Yeah and yella 😂
hahaha!
We need more yella engines 😂
@@SamsTrains Honestly I prefer bleu or reod
I can’t tell if it was a typo or if they meant the Spanish word for “brown.”
Just kidding. It’s definitely a typo.
I had a Hornby Pug many, many years ago - and it was bloody rubbish. There's nothing to really go wrong with it, but it would run for about twenty minutes, and then slowly die. My dad had the damn thing CKD (Completely Knocked Down) a great many times. He knew what he was doing, but the stupid thing kept dying. He got fed up with it, eventually, and threw in the towel, and the Pug in the bin, but not before he got me an 0-6-0 Diesel shunter, which worked perfectly for years.
And Hornby are still selling that Pug, as a new engine. The cheeky bastards.
haha funny to hear they've always been bad then! Can't believe they're still making it... crazy!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@SamsTrains my father has one, he had a medical episode while we were messing with the layout. Long story short we ended up leaving in a hurry to seek help and left it going around and around.
He had three days in hospital and came home to find it running quite happily. Last I know it's still going strong and never been taken to bits.
Faulty motor. Change it, fixed. Can happen to any loco, any manufacturer.
This little guy was my first ever model train, I loved it to death. It looked strange pulling two wrenn Pullman coaches but hey that's what I was given and I'm still hooked today.
This model is like putting a coat of paint on a dilapidated house. From a distance it looks nice, but then you come up close and notice there are broken windows, broken doors, the copper pipes have been stolen by vandals, and there is asbestos in the ceiling. All the new coat of paint does is make you look closer to see more clearly how bad things are.
Oh dear, looks like Prince is going to be receiving a right French royal treatment in your 5 worst locomotives of 2024 video Sam.
hahaha quite true!! xD
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I know it’s old tooling but I really like mine. Then again the L&Y pug is my favourite so I am somewhat biased!
This was considered a great little model when it was first released by Dapol, but that was 40 years ago now. Bringing it up to date wouldn't be too difficult, considering the tiny motors that are available these days, but that would involve Hornby spending a few quid. The ghost of Simon Kohler would not be happy with that.
That's right - 40 years ago I'm sure it was lovely! I think it just needs retooling from the ground up - and I think it'd be a real looker then!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@SamsTrains I'd only just started watching when I made those comments, and then you more or less said exactly the same. 🤪
@@SamsTrainsMy memory of forty years ago was that this first locomotive for Dapol gave them a bad reputation for years. Only very recently would I could start to consider the purchase of Dapol. Add to that how they made Wrenn worse while claiming they had improved them.
Prior to making this model, Dapol had a kit available, for which the tool came from Airfix, and before them, Kitmaster. So in a sense, this model is closer to 60 years old rather than 40. I made a couple of the kits in the mid-70s.
@@Cthulhu1970 Searching UA-cam for :
Rosebud Kitmaster kits
Should show a vid on the Pug kit seeming to be exported to the US in 1959. So the kit was perhaps 65 years old. From Toy Man TV.
However the Dapol RTR model from 1984 looks to have no interchangeable parts from the kit.
I bought two of these second hand eight years ago, squeezed a chip into the cab, and with a lot of adjustments and TLC they both have run great for many years if the track and the pickups are cleaned regularly they handle my layout which has many points with ease they are two of my favourites
As the Chuckle Brothers would say - oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
Thank you, Sam, for helping me to save $149 - NZD; that's how much the Prince Pug costs as my local model shop. Instead, I'll put that money towards something better, like a Heljan Class 33/2 or whatever else takes my fancy.
Marron IS french for chestnut (I think) and I reckon they use it to mean brown too.
That is correct, although I suspect Hornby weren't using the French word for brown/chestnut on purpose. :D
It's a typo - the loco isn't brown it's maroon, and Hornby's website says maroon!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Marron *is* French for chestnut, and the colour "chestnut" is a reddish-brown shade, so, ironically, Hornby's spelling mistake still makes some sense, as "maroon" is another variation on the shade, and it comes from the French word "marron" :P Probably a spelling mistake by the Chinese.What was that instruction on that American brake van box?
As an Airfix kit, these babies were a favourite of 009 and 00N12 modellers, back when Eggerbahn were about the only manufacturer of RTR NG stock. I've seen these wee things in all sorts of odd liveries, sometimes with 6w chassis or running as 0-4-2STs. Using tramway shrouds and cow catchers, anything which would fit underneath would do.
Tonnage was achieved using glue and small lead fishing sinker weights!!
haha yeah I've seen lots of strange creatures based on this chassis - good to know it had some use!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Would have thought putting the Airfix or Rosebud Kitmaster Pug body on good quality N gauge mechanism is what would have been seen.
Converting the very poor HO gauge Dapol or Hornby mechanism to N gauge would have been a nightmare delivering rubbish running.
For that purpose no point buying a locomotive mechanism that is really a throw away product.
I got one of these and bought the High Level Pug chassis kit to under it with the motor in the boiler. A bit of super detailing and you have a lovley model!
I’ve heard plenty of talk of how old and outdated Hornby’s Pugs are. When this loco was announced, I had a small sliver of hope that it would be better than it was. A new paint job doesn’t count as better.
Hornby!! For the love of anything, please put this in the RailRoad range where it belongs. Doing otherwise is insulting our intelligence.
Yep - a new paint job is the only thing going for this, and even then it's questionable with those handrails. This needs to be in the Railroad range at the least, and in the junkpile at worst!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@SamsTrains Surely the one thing that locos in the Railroad range MUST be is reliable? If they are poor performers or don't work then entry level modellers are going to quit the hobby in frustration. What are Hornby wanting to achieve releasing this?
Its sad to see Hornby seem to be getting further and further behind using very old tooled models. A fair review Sam .
Lipstick on a pug! The funny thing is I have a 1980's saddle tank (? probably got the name wrong but LMS 16032) from Hornby which is a bit of a pocket rocket but the motor is fine (and not visible), it has some cab detail (unpainted), it has separately fitted brass whistles/safety valve and it weighs 123g. It can be had for about 20 quid online and yes it it just plain black with gold lettering but still I think I know which one I would rather have.
My Hornby Pug which has the earlier pickups was a hopeless case and just stuttered and died continually until I fitted a stay-alive. Now it runs over any dirty track or points. The decoder and capacitor, however, completely fill the small bit of cab space not occupied by the motor. Yes, a re-tool is long overdue.
My son and I stumbled upon Halburn Hobbies in Edinburgh a few days ago and this was in one of the cases. I bought it after a thorough look over simply because Sam reviewed it. The owner was as nice as could be and my son got some other goodies. It's just a display piece for me and now that it's home and in the case I enjoy seeing it. 🤗
I’m surprised that Hornby hasn’t thought of making an LMS Kitson 0F by this point given how much they love 0-4-0Ts.
I'd definitely be down for that :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Only if it's done like their Peckett W4, not this. Problem with that is the person who brought the Peckett to market now works for Accurascale iirc
Just got one at Rails of Sheffield at a much discounted price already!
I wanted one of these back in the 90's, and the W4 Peckett being a similar but vastly better model got me back into the hobby. When I saw Hornby were bringing this back at roughly the same price as the Pecketts I did a spit-take and just bought a second-hand one for £20 instead.
Like you, I bought a secondhand one for a similar price to yours - and so I was delighted by it. But then, if you pay a lot more, you naturally expect a lot more. Mine is a great little shunter on electrofrog points, and can go around 9" radius curves.
Hornby 040 sentinel has a totally different inside mechanism (and a 4 pin DCC socket), but has the same issue with wires draped over the worm gear. Worked OK out of the box and pulls six wagons with ease, except over dead frog points. With a tiny 25mm wheelbase, really needs a shunting wagon for extra pick ups or maybe suspension to ensure all wheels are in contact with the rails.
As soon as I saw the word "disastrous" in the title I went and grabbed my popcorn! Thanks Sam. A cute loco but like you say well overdue for a remake. Maybe with a stay-alive in it too that would be great. There is a video here on UA-cam of a guy who reworked the chassis to put a coreless motor in it that didn't intrude into the cab so it can be done. Cheers.
My Pug is an Airfix model from the 60's when power came from box wagons with a drive motor installed.
I believe that this model was originally made by Dapol. Along with the Class 56 etc. Hornby acquired the molds when Dapol stopped making model railways.
Yeah it certainly was a Dapol model back in the day!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
The dapol class 56 was a great model for its time. I had a one.
@@jonathanmillar1975 The old Dapol/GMR/Mainline models were if you got a good one, you got a good one. But you got a dud & oh boy!
Dapol didn't stop making model railways, they stopped making 00 gauge models, to concentrate exclusively on N gauge.
Now they are back making all sorts of gauge models.
I've got the Dapol one of which there is a kit to give it a new chassis, motor and cast metal blackhead in the cab. Not available for the Hornby one apparently.
I never had the money to get into model railroads until recently, and this was rhe first enging i bought. Its run well so far, I've had it for a few months, and have had no issues. Sad to see i may have just gotten lucky
I recently bought one of these in black for about £40 from eBay. Well worth it for that many as it runs very well. It's absolutely tiny and looks great
Thanks!
Thank you so much Paul!
Just buy a second hand Pug - I did, at a local show, for £15! Stripped it down, cleaned it up, lubricated it and it runs really well! I did have to shim the motor to ensure it meshed with the axle gear wheel. It's actually worth £15 and a bit of effort.
Marron is also the French for Chestnut. The L&Y pug was originally a model manufactured by another maker and was taken into the Hornby Range.
hi, marron is chocolate colour. it's 231 superpacific colour from "la compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord" before the creation of SNCF😉
@@missmarple5526 Sam needs to read this. I swear sometimes he just sees the first thing on Google and assumes that's the only meaning
It's a typo - the loco isn't anything like chestnut!! So many people trying to make excuses.... look at the listing on Hornby's site, it's been corrected to maroon!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
The reason that Hornby have not upgraded the model whilst charging the premium is quite simple. GREED !
No one's putting a gun to your head to buy it, stop using greed as an excuse for when you want something you don't need and can't afford it.
Besides, it has to pay for it's self. Whom among us has any concrete information about how much it cost to make? What the condition of the tooling is these days? What might have needed done to keep it going? Is this price reflective of them wishing to make money to put into a retool?
Who knows, greed is the laziest most simple minded explanation really and brass tax, buy it or don't being annoyed won't change jack.
GREED is to good of a word to use.
@@peters1127 greed would be making enough to be in profit and then wanting to make that profit unreasonable. Hornby are overall not yet a profitable business.
You don't call someone greedy for eating less than they need to survive you call them greedy for eating more than necessary. Lol educate yourselves on the company you wish to talk smack about otherwise you just look silly.
@@Samanthasrailadventures Sorry, I seem to have a different definition of the word Greed
@@peters1127 what is yours?
When Dapol first introduced it there was nothing like it ready made.The alternative was to build brass or white metal kit!
Dapol were the maker of the original J94 that Hornby sells! My pug was first made by Dapol in seventy’s,still runs fine.
Hi Sam, excellent review as always! I was surprised you didn't mention how badly warped the running plate on this model was... after 40 years of production, you'd think Hornby would have fixed that by now!
While this loco is very badly marketed, I do feel there's a place for these old vintage models. What would be nice though would be if Hornby would consider either a) upgrading them to NEM pocket couplings or b) releasing a conversion kit of some sort (in this case, something like a NEM pocket with a screw hold correctly placed to interface with the existing screw coupling attachment). Since they've now started dipping their toes in the magnetic coupling market, and a lot of their railroad (or *should be railroad*) stock is still not NEM fitted, it would be a sensible step.
Hornby insist on producing ready to run at high prices. Could there be a place for a base model with extra detailing parts, handrails, name plates, reverser rods, any of the potentially fitted parts. After all this is a business model that works very well for their stable mate Airfix. It’s not like railway modelers don't already do this sort of stuff with their layouts!
Sure - if it was made properly and upgraded so that it was actually usable, then I'd be all for it!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@chrissouthgate4554amazed that people are attracted to detail while no mention of the junk mechanism that was substandard in 1984.
Not sure if this has been mentioned before but for the price of two of these 70's Princes you could get a 2024 Accurascale class 66....
Yeah but equally that's kinda useless and irrelevant if you want a red pug 😀 you know for the price of an accurascale 66 you could buy a Squier by Fender Stratocaster learn to play it and write a song about how much Hornbys pug costs.
This loco is the exact reason why Hornby are no longer
as popular as manufacturers such as Accurascale per say, but they need to understand that producing the same, aged, tacky models will not help overcome their already tarnished reputation. Instead of making silly Sci-Fi models and Beatles Shrines, perhaps they should have a proper go at making something quality. They are clearly capable to do so as well, ie: The Class 56, The Peckett, The Ruston & so many more! The way things are going at the moment are absolutely diabolical.
And the class 60 until Caralex and Accurascale release theirs.
Hornby; "hello, I like money!"
"So what inspired you to release a 40-year-old unaltered model in a new livery today?"
"Mo-ney."
This video is unique because my pug actually runs nicely, it stops on points at slow speeds but its because of the small wheelbase and our switch's frog size (The layout is american but we use multiple locos from countries) THOUGH! to be fair, I have the LMS Black pug. This video gave me a good perspective and what to look out for, thanks Sam!
I made a Pug out of the Dapol (ex Kit master) body kit and a 0-4-0 chassis from South Eastern Finecast (could have been Nu-cast) and a motor with a flywheel it ran like a dream
Thanks Sam it's one of those videos were you want to cry!
I have a BR Pug but it really should be called a Duck. It literally waddles around the track wagling from side to side. Model no. is R3728 another sticker on the box gives a longer part number of R3728-38-284.
Given the frustration that we all feel it's just a shame there isn't a motor manufacturer, who produces their own 5 pole motor were you can cross refer to Hornby's. Giving you the option to swap it for something better.
The cover over the x head, was a safety feature, as most of these worked in docks or running down public roads..nice paint but could have been re tooled as a modern model..nice chunky design...
I'm going to get one of these soon, I will save this video and when I do get it I will let you know how it performs.
This is an insult to Hornby customers. Even if they left the tired body they should have upgraded the chassis and mechanism. They spent time and money making this look good but no substance. Great review Sam. God bless you.
Peter pointer came to my mind when I saw that cab figure.😆 Nice job Sam.😃
He should come with a speech bubble. "Oh look, another wagon load of bottles for us to shunt."
hahaha!!
I bought a hornby pug around the turn of the century and returned it within a couple of weeks as the performance was not good and i was told it was a 1000 hour motor then it needed replacing. I went on to motorize an airfix pug kit.
I think if you change the motor and hide the motor and maybe 3d print a fire box. You’ll get a pretty good Pug but y’all probably know that. But this was a great video Sam! One thing about me is that I don’t care about the detail, I care more about how it runs! Keep making the great videos! :)
I have one of these which I've detailed - but due to the age of the tooling it's in my static collection. I really do wonder what on earth Hornby were thinking when they announced this for the 2024 range without making some improvements (DCC socket/NEM Couplings/improved motor etc). But given Hornby's "track" record on dropping clangers & messing up I'm not surprised.... Good Review Sam
The capacitor in the cab could be a scale speed bag for Preston to use during slow switching days. Great review - or should I say "warning".
hahaha! Warning indeed! ;D
I think I caught a glimpse of "DCC Ready" on the paperwork.
6:10 how about "Pull my finger-Preston"? The review was... a gas! John
The 'pink' handrails is due to using the same paint on two different base materials i.e. plastic and metal, hence the differing appearances.
It's actually a pretty accurate rendition of a L&Y Pug; chassis was always garbage but I guess it was the best they could come up with back in '84. Anyone wanting one that includes the full cab detail and an accurate chassis, High Level Kits do one that is incredible but takes a fair bit of effort to build. Do so though, and you end up with a compensated chassis with an incredible amount of detail, including a cab interior that is far beyond what RTR can create.
I have one of the older ones, I love it, but it is horrible to run, I saw Jenny Kirk make a video about how to cram in a DCC chip and stay alive in the cab so will do that at some point and hopefuly will still have room to put pointing Peter in one of the cab doors
The bottom shows “Made in China”. Now that doesn’t mean this is the one and only reason for disaster. Not anymore. Point is, there is a brand name on the box. Point is also most manufacturers still go for short term success, the fact that this model is over 40 years old as for the basic design. A nice lick of paint and a straight painted line and sharp printing cannot hide bad quality. The Chinese factory simply puts out products the brand owner asks them to according to the demands the brand owner wants. Nothing more, nothing less. This goes for all brands that have their stuff made overseas. Now as for the model train world, things can be done quite differently. As an example I give you Piko from Germany. Many rolling stock under their brand name is made in China and the overall quality is no less than excellent. This is achieved by a very active CEO Rene F. Wilfert who travels to China regularly. I doubt the Hornby CEO does that as well given the dreadfull quality of this loco. Greetings from Hekelingen, Holland. Willem.
This is an example of "you get what you pay for". The main problem with the Pug, other than seeing the motor in the cab, like any 0-4-0 is electrical pickup. If you apply Inox mp3 to the wheels and pickups it will run much better. Alternately for the pickups a small amount of carbon grease is also very good. The plastic bearings will outlast the model. Also on 0-4-0 models you can easily compensate the front axle so all wheels stay electrically on the rails by removing the bottom of the bearing on the front keeper plate. Finally on my Pug, I put in a DCC non sound decoder with a storage capacitor and replaced the diecast zinc weight with a piece of sheet lead. I makes the model a little heavier. Its heavy enough to shunt about 20 of my 4 wheel wagons on the flat.
Regarding the livery. There is a Queensland football team whose uniform is marroon, referred to locally as the 'Marrones'
Good Review Sam! Pink Lipstick on a pig, that's why the Pink Hand Rails! Lol!
Sam, the Pug story is similar to Märklins BR81 tank engine. It's still in production under the "Start Up" range and has been left virtually untouched since the 60s with no separate details or tooling upgrades, not even glazing in the windows or proper valvegear. But it is made of metal, which is something.
The prototype was a heavy shunter and the model would've possibly found a home on many peoples layouts if Märklin would bother upgrading it with a new tooling, separate detailing, fine valvegear and sound. But as with the Pug, this seems very unlikely to happen.
In comparison, the BR74 tank engine is availible in the Start Up range, and it has fine separate detail, valvegear and recently upgraded with sound! It's very odd how manufacturers think sometimes...
I think it was a great marketing ploy by Hornby to add extra realism for owners of this loco by requiring them to carry out an overhaul / maintenance / repair before it can be operated :)
I 'm quite sure I bought mine in the 70s for around £20. It was a Dapol product and quite good for it's time. It still runs nicely but yes it should be in the Railroad range now.
You won't find Dapol in any seventies magazines. 1984 was the RTR model introduction year.
Its about time they took that thing in for a overhaul as itis almost as bad as a hornby class 66
Great review sam keep it up
A bit of research in Railway Modeller archives, and I find that the Kitmaster Pug kit first appeared as long ago as 1959, and was quickly followed by a Perfecta kit for motorising it - I don't know how effective the motorisation was. The price of the un-motorised kit was 2/6d, I think (12.5 pence!), which coffin-dodgers like me may remember was regarded as a quite reasonable price at that time.
There are only two possible conclusions when you look at Hornby's business and marketing decisions. Either: (1) The company is desperately short of money, on its last legs, and the board are just releasing any cheap product they can in order to generate cashflow and keep the bank(s) at bay, or (2) the board are greedy, treating the company as a cash cow to enrich themselves, and they are simply investing far too little money into decent, quality products which would impress the public and lead to a recovery in the company's reputation.
Either option is undesirable, and obviously counter-productive from the public's point of view. Although I was certainly an enthusiastic model railway fan in the 1970's and 80's, there's absolutely no way I would return to the hobby nowadays, especially considering the product prices.
Hi Sam I’m gonna buy the Santa express Hornby train set .. can I make the track smaller ? As I think it may be a bit wide for my table I want it to go on .. thank u ☺️
More typos in Hornby's announcement today of the steam Flying Scotsman. They speak of a DDC sound decoder. Or did I miss something?
I would love a decent pug, I saw the only running one at the East Lancs, it was hillarious seeing it run a small train through the fields at their autum steam gala
A quick view on DCC on the front page said, “See your dealer”.
Is this inspired by the Ffestiniog Prince saddle tank? Since this is an old Dapol/Mainline model how far does it date back? No chance of sprung buffers here then. What is the oldest model/item in the current Hornby range?
I have a mid eighties Dapol one of these that looks to be almost identical beyond the livery and detail?
At first looking at the details I thought this could make for a decent beginner’s model at a far reduced price. After looking at the mechanism maybe it’s not such a good idea either…
Btw I think the ‘whistle’ at 14:35 looks like a bell judging by the shape, although with that awful moulding it could be anything😂
Is this the mould for the old Airfix kit that Hornby probably bought?
I've got the LMS pug. It's just ok. That version looks nice. The Pecketts are great. Just bought the port dark blue to add S&DJR transfers.
Yeah the Pecketts are much better - I'd love to see a new one of these! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Great amusing video, but........ you forgot the warped running plate, but as every Hornby loco that has one is warped I can understand you not bothering😂😂
If Hornby misspell Maroon, they could of course describe themselves with the word Moron. Isn’t too far off.
Thankyou, Hornby, for selling Sam a 5-star disaster. I totally agree with you here. However, the engine's disastrous performance will possibly be nothing compared to the disaster, which might unfold behind your sturdy bookcase in my birthday video. I'll remind you again about it. Although the Pug is in a nice new livery, what happened to great performance here? Sam, send the model back and demand a refund. Or, if you're really mad, chuck it down the ladder.
A better fate would be the return of the Scrapman - now upgraded at the works, and even more ferocious! This loco is the ideal "first candidate" for it, after its rebirth.
My 40 year old pugs run extremely well... wonder what went wrong here!
@@ashraaqwahab2817 I don't think that's fair, not the loco's fault hornby wants to keep producing it without updating it!
@@AlongPreservedLines They did update the pickups; & made them worse!
Absolutely unforgivable that this ‘Piece of Kit’ is in the Railways range not Railroad. My heart sank as soon as I saw the ancient couplings! 😂
I've often wondered, when there's clearly a 'limping' action, if there's a problem with the driver quartering. It's the sort of thing that we assume is 'correct-from-the-factory', but how would this be checked by an average modeler...?
While I did check a B&W photo, and unsure the photo suggests that the handrails were painted in the same colour as the locomotive, as they are shown in, or near a similar shade as most of the locomotive.
With the faults you had, I would've returned it, as it seem to fit, not fit for purpose reference.
Bought one by mistake on Saturday. (Got over excited seeing it at the back of the cupboard and thought it was a Peckett😂) Apart from being crestfallen mine runs OK though.
Sam, you’ve got yourself a new piece of jargon to describe a re-released Hornby model. It’s a crayfish! Its creation is ‘Crayfishing?’
Hi Sam, I have a few thoughts on today video, yes I agree with you that motor set up is a right dog's dinner and didn't run right at all, but here is where we will disagree if this locomotives was to have Die Cast body and chassis a five pole motor in the body of said locomotives and also a detailed cad interior, the price of said locomotives would more than likely treble to something like £150 to £170 and add on hornby postage and packing costs your looking at £155 to £ 175, the plastic body doesn't bother me the only thing I would want changing is the motor set up and a 4 or 5 pole motor in it and the prong condition on the base keeper plate so it make it easier to do any maintenance to said locomotives.
It certainly would be more expensive - but it shouldn't be that much - the Pecketts have many of those features and go for £100-£120. The new Dapol Hawthorn Leslie tanks will be £107 and they look stunning!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I think Sam should design and 3D print a new Pug! We’ll call this the Sam’s Train line. What say, Sam? Are you up to the challenge? 😊 BTW, I recently saw a video here on UA-cam with a small 0-4-4 steam loco here in the States that’s not much bigger than the Pug, pulling a (to it) massive auto rack van. It was quite amusing seeing it pull that massive, 89’-long railcar, with its cute little teapot whistle blowing for the grade crossings! It’s be about like Sam trying to pull an elephant on roller skates down the British Rail lines! Toot, toot! 💙 🚂
Love your "background" segments with the dated black and white imagery. The model IS that bad. That capacitor and ferrite bead looks like a WWII bomb hanging there! Oh, and you've caused me a bit of grief in the office. My wife watched a couple of these with me and all she took from them was - "See, Sam's running his trains on the floor." 😱 ... and I'm totally onboard with your filament storage 😆
haha thank you! Yes I love it when the weather's so dry... I don't have to faff around storing all my filament in air tight cases haha!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
That reminds me of a running video session Sam did once with the Q1 and Hornby Holten Rocket Pocket. It was called "Trains in the Blitz"
I run my hornby/tri ang/dapol locos on my bedroom floor
@@christopherbellamy639 Not helping 🤣🚂
@@RocktCityTim only because I don't have room on my desk or my bed to build a layout on
this pug is actually still around today and runs sometimes at the east lancashire rsilway just outside of manchester in bury with the running number 11234 i think
edit: i posted this before hesrinf that you already stated it, also got the number wrong
Also Sam! Check out the Hornby 153s at Rails I think for about £90 - that's a great price for a well detailed nice little DMU
Yeah I did see that thanks! I'm thinking about it! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
The class 153 is a great model even if it is a little date and for £90.👍🏻
Sam has become my comfort youtuber
Would be fun to print a new chassis for this with a coreless mortor and print an interior for it
I do like the Marron, (brown nut), color and the pinstripes. The rest of the locomotive is what I call a 20-footer so don't get within 20 feet or you will be disappointed. On point review, Jersey Bill
haha it's not marron - it's maroon! And absolutely - if you can help it, stay further than 20 feet away and do not approach under any circumstances!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I would definitely take Lionel updating their postwar trains to LionChief (their budget friendly/beginners range) over a straight up reissue of a #50 gang car (the o gauge equivalent to a bump and go toy) And that’s exactly what these pugs are like
22:45Replace the K with two other letters
haha oh dear!!
I'm honestly starting think Hornby hires anyone for quality control
They hire people for Quality Control?
Hi, good honest review of a loco from the company that keeps of giving, definitely a Railroad model in a main range box, should be called ‘Mug’ no nem pocket couplings or a dcc socket, when rival companies are bringing out some superb out of this world models Hornby churn out this stuff from a time when they were a very good company, big respect to Sam for purchasing this item and showing modellers how a once great company can do this without remorse, thanks for sharing Sam.
I recon whenever you order a train from Hornby and they see Mr Sams Trains flashinng lights and alarms go off at Hornby HQ and they all scurry roundlike the scene from Office with the fire drill until Mr Hornby bangs his hands down on his big oak desk pulls the cuban cigar from his teeth and says "Send him the reject!". Kitmasters pug looks better and there about as old as time itself
More evidence why sadly the Hornby share price is heading to $0. On the value score once it's value added to a market outside the UK honestly it may only get one star. The hornby prices in Australia are now totally ridiculous. Anyway I learned about Australian crayfish. The Hornby share price since May 2007 has been in a decaying trend. It fails to ever break out of this trend and many people were caught out in a Bull trap during Covid. Anyway. honestly with a performance as I saw here I would demand a refund. Maybe shows there is very poor QC going on at factory level.
On instrucions it says DCC ready though not on box thanks for video Sam did you return it
Only royalty this is its causing a royal train in the vase (but much like the "piece of kit" that is not exactly what i mean)
it just seems like they found stock of these somwhere in the old stock, probably half assambled and decided to sell them with minor improvements.
After last weeks brave customer service review your back ! Have a nasty feeling that this new /old Hornby loco might not go well....
haha you may be right!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
This is my second pug having sent the first one back due to poor performance and this one is no better runs like a three legged tortoise uphill.l don't think I will be purchasing Hornby locomotives anymore,l believe there are better manufacturers out there with more reliable locos, sorry Hornby should have done better new tooling might have made a difference.
In fairness, it's better than the standard Hornby 0-4-0T chassis. (The "other Pug", the 0-4-0T Thomas, Class 04 Shunter etc)
I would also add that my old (2000s) LMS Pug, same chassis and everything, runs fine. Is it perhaps a problem of quality control vs design (although I agree the design is...not superb)?
I bet Dapol, Accurascale or Rapido can do a better job of making a more modern version the L&YR class 21 "Pug" locomotive Sam.