6202 Turbomotive

[charliefarli]

Has anyone managed to work out the difference(s) between the two versions of the Turbomotive, R30134 and R30134X? Descriptions and illustrations seem to be the same, but there is a £24 price difference. Just wondering.

[Chrissaf]

The X denotes that the loco has a factory fitted decoder.

For further information:

XS would indicate the factory fitted decoder is a Sound one, typically an ESU Loksound one.

T or TTS indicates the factory fitted decoder is a Hornby TTS [Twin Track Sound] one.

There is no current code suffix to indicate which locos are DCC Ready i.e. locos that are Analogue DC but have a socket for a decoder to upgrade it to DCC.

[atom3624]

I've wanted a Turbomotive for 50 years ..... may even get one despite these ridiculous prices!!

Al.

[96RAF]

There is a new suffix SS = steam generator and sound. These are now 21-pin.

[1BCamden1707822791]

The very exciting news regarding the release of the Princess Class 6202 non-condensing turbine driven pacific is without a doubt the best news this year from Hornby.

Hornby building on the success of a string of Stanier type releases dating back to the LMS period 3 carriage stock, and more recently the Coronation stock, along with key Stanier pacific types has paved the way for the Turbomotive announcement.

With all this said, it is important that the tender is modelled correctly as per the prototype, namely in capacity, actual type, and most importantly the under frame steps, which are unique to 6202 throughout its entire service 1935-1952

Tender #9003 had a standard coal and water capacity of 9tons/4000gallons respectively, but the under frame steps were different to all other Stanier type tenders.

Hornby coding:

LMS R30134 and R30134X

BR R30135 and R30135X

Photo extract from photograph owned by Ronald Hillier.

[Kim-344602]

I have wanted one for years. There are several problems with the Hornby offering. It seems they have changed anyway. Firstly it was DCC ready and decoder fitted options. Now it seems to be DCC ready and sound fitted. Although the artwork does show the correct tender steps, the loco only had a domeless boiler for a few months. It enetered service with a 32 element domeless boiler but there were teething problems. Less than a year later it was fitted with a 40 element domed boiler as depicted on the BR version. In that period of around 11 months, it was in the works for a total of 155 weeks. It got the domed boiler a rear before the first of the Coronation entered service so if you want to run one alongside any of the Coronation's it needs a domed boiler.

Despite some of the inaccuracies I was finally tempted to pre-order one only to find the 10% club discount has gone. Sorry Hornby, just about all of your Princess models are inaccurate as you keep trotting out the same model under different names and now the discount has gone. Hardly worth buying now.

[Fazy]

Hornby LMS princess Royals are correct to my knowledge though 6205 technically is correct for the first 6-12 months of its life before the valve gear and valve gear casting was altered. A bit of a shame they didn’t model her as she was later. Image showing what they should have done!

The boilers did get switched around a lot so if I remember correctly they are correct for a certain period of each engine’s life. 4612 door would have been better if they had gone for the Fowler wing nut locking system as she carried this longer then the latter door type. One thing that does irritate me it the coal pusher! Only one loco ever had a tender with that fitted. Though the tender was attached to sister engine for 6 months possibly 8.

[atom3624]

I suppose to many the blinkers on the BR one add to the identity and character of the locomotive, but I prefer the non-blinkered LMS version - more elegant.

I've bitten the bullet and ordered one.

Al.

[Fazy]

I have to admit I’m with you atom3624, to do with the smoke deflectors. But I think the LMS added the smoke deflectors to 6202 on account of its soft exhaust beat.

it is a interesting loco to model, she was designed never to be a express passenger. But more of a stopper/ commuter engineer where her top speed was only about 70-80mph but she could get to her top speed much faster than a conventional engine.

there is a video of a steam model of 6202 the sound it makes is quite soft and unique. The video isn’t brilliant but you get an idea of what she would have sounded like. It will be interesting if Hornby can create a sound chip for her as I would probably get one. Unless Hornby has since announced one and I missed it.

looking forward to mine and hope Hornby pulls out a blinder on it.

[atom3624]

Hi Fazy, they do mention a suffixed 'XS', so there must be a sound version.

At least they cannot get this wrong - no exhaust beats to unsynch as usual!

Al.

[Topcat2018]

@atom3624

It wasn't only after nationalisation that Turbomotive had smoke deflectors, it had them at some point when in LMS service. Like many locos It does look better without them. For a lot of information on Turbomotive I recommend Tim Hillier-Graves excellent book "The Turbomotive, Stanier's Advanced Pacific". There are lots of copies for sale on Ebay.

I have several duchess/princess/coronation class locomotives of various vintages and would like a Turbomotive, but this new, more detailed model would probably stick out like a sore thumb, so I'm probably going to turn one of mine into a Turbomotive that may not be super accurate but will be more in keeping with what I already have. I may get a friend to 3D print the bits I need. Have to move the handrails lower down the boiler of course.

More on this later if it works out OK.

[Fazy]

Hi Al, (presume that’s your name)

right I’ve looked at the Turbomotive R 30134 at £266.49 ( should have written the prices down) anyhow my order is for R30134X at £290ish though no longer showing on the website. Can’t find R30134xs either. Now I don’t recall ever seeing the XS.

so before I go of on a rant, has Hornby changed X to XS. Or did Hornby release a third version without giving enough notice to buyers who had already placed an order in good faith not knowing a more advanced model would become available.

[atom3624]

Hi Fazy, yes Al aka Alan it is.

Found this link: https://uk.hornby.com/products/lms-princess-royal-class-turbomotive-4-6-2-6202-era-3-sound-fitted-r30134txs

That's from the Hornby site, stating 'sound fitted'.

Al.

[Fazy]

Thank you Alan, reordered. For the relatively small price increase considering the price anyway I thought I’d give it a go. Will have to see how good the sound is now.

[LTSR_NSE]

@Fazy - the suffix on the sound version of Turbomotive is TXS which is the new HM7000 sound decoder. Since these were only announced in January, it isn’t altogether unsurprising that it wasn’t an option when the Turbomotives were originally announced.

Hornby are naturally intending to include their new decoders in future release models - so it is worth checking all decoder-fitted pre-orders (to see if sound option is now available).

[Baychattan]

I phoned Hornby yesterday to find out about my pre-order of a R30134X Era 3 Turbomotive. Apparently 'X' pre-orders have been changed to 'TXS' ones on Hornby's internal despatch system but they can't amend what shows on the website order pages.

[atom3624]

By all accounts a relatively successful prototype in real life, only departing operational life after a serious accident - after being rebuilt.

By the descriptions given by many, the sound should be interesting effectively, in not being interesting - no 'beats' or chuffs, just a continual turbine swish / whoosh ... !!

That it's top speed was limited to permit heavier hauling makes it more functional than sensational.

As a model, it looks great, which is what I like.

Al.