Hornby R2946 BR Class 423 VEP derails on curves

[oorail]

I have a brand new Class 423 VEP in BR blue that I bought from a shop in Canada (I am in the USA). I purchased a second new Class 423 VEP in NSE (R2947) on a special offer from a different shop in the UK. Probably about a month or so apart.

The

R2946 kept derailing around curves even at very slow speeds as I was trying to run it in. Initially it was on 3rd radius curves but it did the same on 4th and 2nd radius curves as well. After taking a look at it, I discovered that the NEM socket mechanism

wasn't smoothly moving in the "groove". This was restricting the movement of the last bogie on the VEP, and on any curve, that last bogie was trying to go straight instead of around the curve, and it would leave the track. I was able to fix the problem by

removing the NEM socket mechanism completely and it worked ok for a few minutes, then the NEM socket mechanism on the driving car developed the same problem. So I removed it as well.

The R2947 didn't have this problem initially but developed it half-way

into running it in. Other DMU / EMUs from Hornby and other vendors that don't have this "in body groove" mechanism for the NEM socket don't seem to have this problem at all.

I was wondering if anyone else had this problem. I also posted a video up

on YouTube to show how to fix it:

http://youtu.be/IphDSS4lFGs

Thanks

[LTS]

Hi
I posted a question on exactly the same issue about 4 months ago. Hornby took all 4 of mine back for modification. I think you have correctly identified the issue. If you propose to run them together the send them back for repair, otherwise, take

the coupling off and they will work. I appreciate your are in the States so return them to the retailer, they should be aware of the fix.

[Phil_Spiegel.]

I too have experienced this problem with the 'outer' bogies of the set (mine is the blue version) - The problem will be affected by radii - which I mostly try to keep 'largish' (Roco 6 or more) BUT I model an area with a tightly-curved bridge which imposed

a strict low speed condition: I model this with Roco Radius 4 (about the same as UK Radius 3) - and at the 'reverse curve- when the coupling has to move from one extreme to the other POSSIBLY nearing its mechanical limits (Radius 2 ?), but CERTAINLY reaching

the point where the return-spring offers a sudden load, I believe the lack of weight over the outer bogies, allows the bogies to 'ride up' RATHER than turn. I DID CONSIDER adding some weight over the outer bogies, but opted for the simpler choice of removing

the NEM pocket and SPRING, as I will not be combining units into longer trains (in the forseeable future) - this seems to have removed the problem and matches your observations.
You may have seen adverts from a supplier recently, when offering the units

at a new lower price of 100GBP (unfitted) - stating that this was due to Hornby clearing its stocks pending an 'Improved' (quote from ad) version later this year.

[oorail]

LTS said:

Hi
I posted a question on exactly the same issue about 4 months ago. Hornby took all 4 of mine back for modification. I think you have correctly identified the issue. If you propose to run them together the send them back for

repair, otherwise, take the coupling off and they will work. I appreciate your are in the States so return them to the retailer, they should be aware of the fix.

Cool. Glad to know I'm not the only one with this problem, I suspect that I wasn't

though. Unfortunately returning them to the retailer for repair or replacement is rather cost prohibitive as they won't cover the return postage and will re-charge me the postage to send the repaired / replaced item. This wouldn't be too bad but for some reason

the postage from Canada is astronomically high. The cost in postage alone was more than 50% of purchasing it from the UK, between taking the VAT off the price and the low cost shipping via DHL, its actually cheaper for me to buy online in the UK than it is

to purchase from retailers in the USA or Canada. So thats actually what I did, I picked up the NSE version and figured it was just my luck to have the same problem!!

[oorail]

Phil_Spiegel. said:

I too have experienced this problem with the 'outer' bogies of the set (mine is the blue version) - The problem will be affected by radii - which I mostly try to keep 'largish' (Roco 6 or more) BUT I model an area with

a tightly-curved bridge which imposed a strict low speed condition: I model this with Roco Radius 4 (about the same as UK Radius 3) - and at the 'reverse curve- when the coupling has to move from one extreme to the other POSSIBLY nearing its mechanical limits

(Radius 2 ?), but CERTAINLY reaching the point where the return-spring offers a sudden load, I believe the lack of weight over the outer bogies, allows the bogies to 'ride up' RATHER than turn. I DID CONSIDER adding some weight over the outer bogies, but opted

for the simpler choice of removing the NEM pocket and SPRING, as I will not be combining units into longer trains (in the forseeable future) - this seems to have removed the problem and matches your observations.
You may have seen adverts from a supplier

recently, when offering the units at a new lower price of 100GBP (unfitted) - stating that this was due to Hornby clearing its stocks pending an 'Improved' (quote from ad) version later this year.

Phil you are correct about the extra weight,

when I was trying to figure out what the problem was I couldn't get it to derail when I applied any pressure to the outer bogies. I did see the bogies "ride up" rather than turn as well. I too have no plans to combine them, so I am not too concerned about

having to remove the NEM socket. Its too bad as the model is great aside from this particular problem.

[LTS]

oorail77 said:

Cool. Glad to know I'm not the only one with this problem, I suspect that I wasn't though. Unfortunately returning them to the retailer for repair or replacement is rather cost prohibitive as they won't cover the return postage

and will re-charge me the postage to send the repaired / replaced item. This wouldn't be too bad but for some reason the postage from Canada is astronomically high. The cost in postage alone was more than 50% of purchasing it from the UK, between taking the

VAT off the price and the low cost shipping via DHL, its actually cheaper for me to buy online in the UK than it is to purchase from retailers in the USA or Canada. So thats actually what I did, I picked up the NSE version and figured it was just my luck to

have the same problem!!

Appreciate your problem. Suggestion - E-mail Hornby Customer Services via this website and tell them the issue re derailing. They must have approved agents in Canada / USA who can do the work. As to postage since all

3 countries (Canada, USA and UK) have similar retail laws they should refund your postage. Hornby know the product had some faulty batches so I'm sure they will be cooperative. Don't see why you should have the issue through supporting a UK company! Good luck.