Why doesn't the pony truck touch the track.

[JS84Z]

So I just received my flying scotsman train set today from Amazon UK. When I unpacked the loco, everything seemed fine. But once I placed it on the track, I immediately noticed that the rear wheels won't land on the ground, I ran the loco around the loop and it just bobs up and down. Then I took it off the track and sat it on a flat surface and it becomes even more apparent:

https://ibb.co/BCdHQ75

https://ibb.co/2vjNzBb

https://ibb.co/Jyswncr

[Chrissaf]

John's three photos are reproduced below from his links.

John,

That is not a fault. The rear wheels are flange-less wheels and are designed to ride high above the track rails. The wheel axle is rigid and has no pivot, therefore they cannot follow the line that the rails take. The wheels will by design overhang the rails on curves and swing out past the line of track and ride high above the rails when traversing track points. This is totally normal for this loco design.

The box the loco came in may contain a set of 'flanged' replacement wheels. But if it does, these are only meant to be used if the loco is going to be placed in a static display case or on a shelf etc. As a set loco, the loco is more inclined to be a 'Railroad' loco, which makes the inclusion of display flanged wheels less likely.

[96RAF]

That rear truck is designed to sit off the track. It is not faulty.

Some locos provide a spare truck with flanged wheels for display purposes only.

Chris typing at the same time I was.

[JS84Z]

Phew, thanks guys for the info. I have a question now though. What exactly is the purpose of the rear truck if it's meant to be suspended in mid air and not touch the tracks?

[ColinB]

I imagine it is a "cost save" on Hornby's part, if you look at the latest Bachmann A4 you will see how they do it. Hornby probably realised that the rear Pony truck is a constant source of derailment on some models and doesn't look that realistic, so they came up with this solution. I must admit I have loads of locos with it (all the latest Hornby ones) and it is not an issue and they do look nearer to the original prototype.

[Chrissaf]

It's only raised in mid air on the models. In real life on real life locos, the pony truck is fully functional on the track.

On the model, the rear pony [raised] is just a compromise solution to give an indicative representation of the real loco wheel arrangement.

[atom3624]

In real life, there's an axle limit, permitting / limiting locomotive route availability depending on the track loading limits.

I think routinely B.R. look at 20 tons / axle - L.C. will doubtless elaborate.

That pony truck does look spot on all things considered.

You wouldn't want it to skim over as any slightly uneven curves / points will derail it.

Al.

[morairamike]

So as it's not a fault maybe the thread title should be changed so as not to put customers off.

Something like:

Why doesn't the pony truck touch the track.

[Chrissaf]

Mike,

I'm prepared to edit the title, but only once John indicates he has seen your suggestion above so that he doesn't loose track of the thread location in the forum.

[96RAF]

Some trucks were pivoted but some were fixed. Fine on main line curves in real life but impossible to use on tight model curves.

[Yelrow]

As the post stands, surely it is making a fake accusation, against Amazon. I am not their strongest supporter, but this time, they are clearly, without blame, and should be absolved.

[threelink]

Chrissaf,

I strongly recommend following Yelrow's advice to take down the damaging heading asap before Amazon threaten defamation proceedings. Amazon are not at fault. The longer the post remains, the greater the potential damage to them.

[ColinB]

I must admit when I read the title I thought that can't be right. Amazon only sells what Hornby gives it, so it would be a bit difficult unless Hornby made a bad batch. On about Amazon they did yet another of their deals at the weekend A4 TTS decoder for £29.95, for one day only.

[JS84Z]

My Merchant Navy Class (rebuilt) has flanged pony truck and they touch the tracks, they run just fine (even on first radius curve)?

[LTSR_NSE]

The older tender drive FS also have a pivoting pony truck (similar to the rebuilt Merchant Navy).

However the pivoting pony truck is no more prototypical than the flangeless levitating wheels.

Hornby have decided (either for cost or design reasons) that the current compromise is their preferred option.

[Yelrow]

Very sensible title change. Amazon legal team can stand down..l

[RDS]

@JS84Z

Moderator Note:

Thank you for selecting a Nickname.

[JS84Z]

I don't have any options available in my dash board to choose nicknames?

[Howbi]

@JS84Z..........to find the page click 'My Dashboard' in the top banner, then pick 'Community' then under 'My Profile' you will find the options for Profile picture and Nickname..........HB

[JS84Z]

What about the non-railroad version of the Flying Scotsman? Does it have flanged wheels?

Also, I had a look at the stand-alone railroad Flying Scotsman, it has a wire connection between loco and tender, where as the one from the train set doesn't. Yet, both are sold as DCC ready on many retailers' websites. Why's that?

[atom3624]

GS will probably produce model numbers, but earlier models had flanged pony truck wheels on a pony that pivoted. Since its been fixed in position, all have non-flanged, and are supplied with option flanged wheels you can replace these with for display purposes.

Al.

[Going Spare]

When Hornby introduced their DCC control system, the socket in to which the decoder plugged was fitted on the locomotive chassis, so no wiring between loco and tender was needed on Railroad models as the tenders were not equipped with electrical pick-ups. As DCC progressed and sound came on to the scene, the only place for Hornby's speaker was in the tender so wiring became necessary between the decoder socket and speaker in the tender and the motor and pick-ups in the loco.

More research will be necessary before commenting on the pony truck.

[JS84Z]

Since its been fixed in position, all have non-flanged, and are supplied with option flanged wheels you can replace these with for display purposes.

 

 

My FS is from the train set, is it possible to buy the flanged pivot pony truck separately?

[JS84Z]

When Hornby introduced their DCC control system, the socket in to which the decoder plugged was fitted on the locomotive chassis, so no wiring between loco and tender was needed on Railroad models as the tenders were not equipped with electrical pick-ups. As DCC progressed and sound came on to the scene, the only place for Hornby's speaker was in the tender so wiring became necessary between the decoder socket and speaker in the tender and the motor and pick-ups in the loco.

More research will be necessary before commenting on the pony truck.

 

 

But is it still possible to fit the speaker into the tender in this case when there's no wire in between? What is the wire there for anyway since decoders all have very long wires themselves connected to their speakers? such as this one:

 

 

https://www.frontlinehobbies.com.au/assets/full/HOR-R8106.jpg?20210309034843

[atom3624]

The wire is via a 4-pin plug, which can be removed permitting separation of locomotive and tender.

YES, a wired connection, as implied above is preferred. I wouldn't recommend 'hard-wiring' between the 2.

The routine wiring obviously permits transfer of the pickups from the tender to the locomotive - 6 drivers plus 8 tender wheels pick up electricity in the detailed models.

It's possible a 2-pin set-up might work??, but wiring will need to be via the distribution / chip, before power is sent to the locomotive I believe.

Al.