Hornby R3229 4000 Star Class British Monarch

[rpjallan]

I have just started going through my locos doing some servicing & repairs. I bought this loco about 7 years ago from a well known British retailer. It's never been run. I remember taking it out of the box to have a quick look & a broken part fell out which I taped to the outside of the accessory parts bag before putting it back in the box. I already had a Castle & have since bought a King & they are nice models.

Anyway, I came across it today & unpacked it. I thought I'd do a quick check then run it in on my rolling road, fit the accessories & fit a decoder. I was quite dismayed! The broken part previously mentioned is the LH guard iron from the front bogie, which is metal. Luckily I have managed to glue this & it seems ok. I thought I'd better check the rest of the model over. So, I discovered that the smoke box door dart has been broken off although all of the other fine detail at the front is still intact. Also, the 2 RH steps on the back of the tender body have been broken off. I know they have been broken because there is traces of glue there. Next I found that the tender side frames are very loose. I thought that I could check these when I took the tender body off to fit a decoder.

Next problem - unable to disassemble the tender because the hand rails at the front are glued to the chassis & also the body. I can't find any way to get it apart other than to cut these which is not very satisfactory! So no decoder fitting today. I won't fit any of the accessories yet either. Another anomaly - front & rear vacuum hoses are fitted to the loco & also contained in the accessory pack.

So, a very disappointing & frustrating afternoon. Sorry for the long rant. If anyone has experience in separating the tender body & chassis I would be very grateful for some advice.

[sir john]

@ rpjallan

Hi I have several star classes all fitted with decoders .The handrails were all glued in I found the only way was to grip them with a pair of long nose pliers and carefuly wiggle them out .I used a small piece of tape on the ends to stop any scratches.I tried tweezers but they didn't have the grip

Regards john

[Going Spare]

There should have been an instruction sheet supplied with the loco. This normally illustrates how to gain access to the socket. Service Sheet 398 appears to show two screws along the centreline which may be hidden by the baseplate (although the Churchward 3500 gallon tender is illustrated on the sheet whereas R3229 looks to be paired with a Collett 4000 gallon tender) but the fixing method may be the same.

[rpjallan]

The fixing method is not the problem. I removed the screws & the body is loose. The fact that the hand rails are glued to the body & also the chassis is the problem. They don’t mention this in the instruction leaflet. I tried pulling mine out with pliers but they are too well glued in unfortunately.

[5Dublo2]

The fixing method is not the problem. I removed the screws & the body is loose. The fact that the hand rails are glued to the body & also the chassis is the problem. They don’t mention this in the instruction leaflet. I tried pulling mine out with pliers but they are too well glued in unfortunately.

 

 

I have had the same problem Hornby's Aberporth Grange that also had vertical handrails on the front of the tender. Whoever assembled the model didn't realize that the handrails on the tender front should have not been glued to the base. In my case, as the decoder socket was at the rear of the tender, I managed to lift the rear of the tender enough to fit the DCC decoder, however I could not sound fit like that so it was just a standard decoder I fitted.

 

 

[Bulleidboy]

@rpjallan

Was the model brand new when you bought it seven years ago? Broken bits are not normally glued back on by Hornby.

[rpjallan]

Yes, it was brand new. I reckon it must have been damaged at the factory when being packed or something & they just let it go. Unusual (I would think) for a metal bogie to be broken. I’m more concerned about the tender steps. It’s obvious they have been broken off & will be hard to replace. The smoke box door handle is easy to replace but again it’s extra cost. Not sure what to do about the tender body. I tried to open it as much as possible & reckon I’d struggle to get a decoder in there.

[Twintop]

I had a problem with some Xmas tree lights the other day. I soon found the root cause. It had "made in china" stamped on them.

[sir john]

@Twintop

To true even the covid was made in China and look where that's got us

[rpjallan]

Ok, so, next thing, I have been able to get hold of a smoke box door handle locally for this so that's good. I have a plan for moulding a couple of new steps for the back of the tender. I have been invited to run a couple of locos on a friends layout (which is GWR based) & I thought I'd take this loco. All his stock is fitted with Kadees so imagine my surprise when I went to fit a NEM #20 coupling & the socket is way too low! This really surprised me because Hornby's locos with NEM pockets are generally correct unlike some other manufacturers (I can't think of another Hornby loco I have where this has been a problem). What to do now? This loco has been a real disaster!

[96RAF]

I seem to remember you can get kadees with either straight shanks of various lengths or cranked up or down variants.

[81F]

A lot of my stars have had bits drop off. Indeed Glastonbury Abbey lost its inside cylinders, so I bought another and am trying to convert it to a Saint using Grange Cylinders, con rod, pistopns and pony trucks!

Just need to modify the smoke box saddle.

[rpjallan]

I seem to remember you can get kadees with either straight shanks of various lengths or cranked up or down variants.

 

 

Not for the NEM pocket ones unfortunately. I'll have to try to cut'n'shut something I suppose...

 

 

I have checked and every other modern Hornby loco I have (from 2006 onward) that has NEM coupling pockets on the tender, they are at the correct height!