Advice on damaged Elizabeth II ‘70’ Jubilee Purple loco

[Anthony-366831]

I’m hoping somebody on here may have an answer for me to this problem that has left me devastated.

I have finally gotten my hands on a ‘purple 70’ Elizabeth II, at considerable cost I might add, from a reputable uk store.

However, when I opened the sealed box it has a couple of issues:-

1) being a quite substantial shimmy, albeit I only ran it very quickly on a rolling road on dc so this could rectify with a light service and being run in.

2) my biggest issue, however, is that the cab roof has some sort of residue on it that looks like the mark you get from superglue vapour when you use the glue in a confined area. I shall upload photos below.

Does anybody have any ideas what this could be and how to remove it?

When you try and clean it with a cotton bud and distilled water it disappears but, as soon as the area dries again, you can watch it reappear before your eyes. I’ve never come across anything like it.

Being this model was sealed I’ve reached out to Hornby directly and they have washed their hands of it completely, despite it quite obviously having been shipped in this condition having been sealed still in the brown shipping box.

It’s taken me such a long time to get my hands on a sealed version of this stunning loco that I’m devastated and heart broken. So any help would be appreciated.

I will note I have reached out to the shop and they have offered a refund on return, or have asked me what I would consider a fair discount to keep the model. So I can’t say they haven’t been fair, it was sealed after all. So this is in no way a mark against them.

I just want to have the model I’ve always wanted that was effectively going to become an heirloom to my autistic son who has a special thing for this train. So it needs to be pristine.

Thank you in advance.

Anthony

[Brew Man]

As the cab is black you could try carefully re-painting it. If the mark is where I think you mean, it is very slight.

[Bulleidboy]

I think I would do as Brew Man suggests and carefully repaint it. The picture is not too clear on showing what you describe and it almost looks like "orange peel" in that the paint has been applied to thickly. This loco has now been around for some time, so was it a stock item from the dealer or had they acquired it from Hornby some years ago?

Sorry to be negative, but although you say it was sealed, if you are careful it is quite possible to open a loco box, remove and then replace the contents and then make it look as though it had never been opened.

[SteveM6]

You could try gentle (and I mean very gentle) polishing with T-cut on a cotton bud across the whole roof so that the sheen stays the same across the whole panel.

If that doesn’t work then careful masking and a light respray of satin black using an airbrush would be advised.

[ColinB]

What you could do is mail TMC models and get them to repaint just that bit. Yes it will cost a bit more than doing it yourself but as you say it is an expensive model (why I do not know, I got mine for RRP off Hornby after the prices went haywire). I got them to fix the transfers on a tender where someone had put oversize ones on and result was perfect.

[96RAF]

Possibly abrasion from the packaging. A fix depends upon if it has taken the paint away or just marked it. Either the T-cut or a repaint as suggested.

[atom3624]

If you're up for the repaint, take very careful consideration where that fine mist of paint might feasibly go and ensure it won't go anywhere you don't want it to.

Satin black spray, but practice elsewhere to familiarise.

If you're experienced in this, then my apologies!

Al.

[Anthony-366831]

Hello all. I just wanted to reach out and thank all of those that responded.

I begrudgingly decided to send the model back today as nobody could definitively give me an answer on what this was, or how, and to what standard, it could be repaired.

I can airbrush, but this model was just too rare for me to even contemplate doing myself, and without getting answers from specialists without them seeing the model in person (which is fair enough), I didn’t feel it was right for me to be sending the model around the country, if in the end I had to return it anyway. Hence my decision.

So once refunded, I will begin my search for a replacement.

I just wanted to ensure this page had a conclusion. If I do hear back from the seller on what it was and whether it was repaired, and how, I will come back to you all just in case it’s helpful for someone else in the future.

Anthony

[atom3624]

It is the 'safest, most logical' conclusion. I hope you get fully reimbursed and good luck in your hunt for a replacement.

Al.

[mjb1961]

Now you are going to be refunded you can start to look for a replacement, you didn't say how much you paid and I know that they are asking good money for them on eBay,have you looked on Facebook market place,i have seen a few on there recently for a fair price, there was one for £300 although it states that it had been run a handful of times so something like that might appeal to you if you are looking to run rather than collect.

[Anthony-366831]

Hello all.

I was able to pick up a replacement from an alternative mainstream dealer that is pristine and it runs like a charm, albeit it needs running in. But thank you for the Facebook idea. Been scammed a couple of times off of there and nothing was local, so I just paid a little extra, for piece of mind.

What I will say though, is the train I sent back has simply been put back up for sale with ‘mark on cab roof’ and ‘test run’. Nothing about its horrific wobble/shimmy. And no images of the cab roof.

The sale price is as I paid for it in pristine condition so I am a little peeved at the seller/company.

Now I’m not going to name them, they were excellent with me, both with this and in the past, but I will identify the train.

I believe it ok for me to say, “I once owned this ltd ed. train no. 2043 of 2500, and it needs a cab roof respray, or if it doesn’t when/if you now own it, then it’s already had one.”

It’s also the worst runner out of the box I’ve ever seen. However, it may just need a full service/wheel quartering realignment that some of these Elizabeth II’s suffered with. Make sure you test run before purchase.

Up until now I have not done anything that ‘might’ effect the value of this loco but with the seller now being less than honest I felt it necessary to identify the problem loco at least.

I hope this helps someone someday.

[ColinB]

A lot of them will be never run. I must admit mine runs ok I don't know what all the fuss was about. In a few years time I suspect it will be like that Coronation Mug my mum used to keep in the cupboard. With mine I put real coal in the tender as I buy them to run, so that definitely is not going to fetch top dollar.

[What About The Bee]

A lot of them will be never run.

 

 

And that, boys and girls, is why the Jubilee locomotive will never retain rarity or top £ figure. Nearly all of them will be nestled into their boxes. So there will be 2500 of them, less a handful like yours Colin, just waiting.

When the current owners go to sell, they will find that "NOS" and "NIB" is common.

Bee

[atom3624]

I can never understand somebody being enthusiastic about a hobby, paying good money for something which could run on 'the hobby', then never even taking it out of the box!

I suppose each to his/her own.

Al.

[ColinB]

I don't know if you watched that James May program on toys, there was a guy on there that had a Wrenn in totally mint condition and was horrified when James asked him if he was going to run it. There is a crate that does the rounds that contains a Triumph Hurricane motorcycle in "knock down" form as shipped to the US in the 1970s, nobody has ever opened the crate to see if is all there. Generally stuff that is worth a lot of money if when it was made breaks easily or there wasn't many made, that way there is only a few in existence, as Bee said if there are a lot then their price is never going to be high.

[Yelrow]

Atom, i think you would be surprised at the number of people, several, on this forum, that collect, but never run, their locos. There are many car collectors, exactly the same, (Bangers and Cash). I am not one, i would add. Whilst i have a lot of locos, 100, plus, they all get a turn, and are all on display, with boxes, carefully locked away in trunks. I know several guys who have no layout, but many boxed locos.

[96RAF]

For those wondering - NOS means new old stock and NIB means new in box.

As an aside ref never used stuff that never will be used - my neighbour in Cyprus was a collector of old bottles of port as an investment. These were priced in the hundreds per bottle. It was more or less guaranteed that the contents would be undrinkable, so the likelihood of anyone enjoying their expensive purchase were very slim indeed.

[Aussie Fred]

Port is good for at least 10 years and quality port (the stuff you pay hundreds for) will last up to 30 years and still be drinkable - as another aside. Usually you are paying for the bottle and lable, not contents, but then must be unopened.