Assistance with the William Whitelaw

[Generic Hornby Username]

Greetings!

Shortly after returning from school, I eagerly went to unbox my DCC Easterner train set. I had previously set up track and gotten the 4 Amp transformer. So, I set the train on the track and got to work downloading the A4 vehicle profile. That all went down without issue. I did a few slow laps around my layout and found a few spots that caused derailments. I have never run a loco on it before so that wasn’t too surprising. Once I remedied the significant track issues, I set out on running in my new loco.

Overall I was pleased with the performance. I noticed that the 2nd wheel on the tender wasn’t very free rolling and it was causing a squeak. I ascribed that to needing to get some oil which I’ll order and remedy. No issue there. Other than that and improving my track work (which is still substandard- a few areas where the A4 and MK1s bounce ), the only other issue seemed to be the motor was a bit noisier than I would have expected. But to be honest I had no frame of reference since this is my first model, so I wasn’t sure quite what to expect.

Ultimately, I got about 2ish hours of running before I faced a real problem. Then the locomotive ground to a halt. I immediately stopped the locomotive and moved it to a new area on the track to avoid strain on the motor. No big deal. But when I went to start it again, there was no movement. The DCC sound came on as normal and still sounded superb. But there was no movement of wheels. I turned off the DCC sound and tried again and heard a high pitched buzzing sound. This sound was not emanating from the speaker, but from the mechanism. I cycled the train and tried again. The DCC sound and app controls worked flawlessly, but the loco wouldn’t move. The same noise appeared.

I went through the trouble shooting steps of force closing the HM7000 app and going back in. No improvement from that. Then I unassigned the loco from the app and deleted the locomotive from my engine shed. Then I went in and went through the steps of relinking the decoder and downloading the locomotive profile again. Again, the app worked flawlessly and within 15 minutes the TT A4 profile had been redownloaded and I tried again. The sound again worked flawlessly and the app was still registering exactly right. But again there was no movement and the buzzing sound.

Summary of details:

1) I’m running the Hornby 4 Amp transformer

2) I have no DCC controller except for HM7000/HMDCC

3) I have the digital power track (not the analogue one that I know is for DC)

4) My layout is pretty basic. Pretty much an oval with sidings. I didn’t want to bite off more than I can chew with this first one. Some might accuse me of having a toy train layout! sweat_smile

I was curious if any of our community here have suggestions for me. I’m totally open to the possibility I’ve screwed something up. While I’m leaning towards a mechanical fault, I know I need to keep some humility here since this is my initial foray into this world. This wouldn’t be the first time a novice interacting with delicate machines broke something.

Cheers!

[Rallymatt]

It does sound ominously like there is a mechanical issue and has followed a known pattern of failure. My best advice is give the lovey people at Hornby a call to get a return reference and send it back ASAP so they can turn repair/replacement around quickly.

If you want and feel confident you could check a couple of items.

With loco upside down, is there ‘back lash’ on the centre axle? That is where there is intentional play or movement forward and backwards, using a thumb or finger. If it’s solid then it’s most likely a gear issue and return is your best way forward.

You can also check the valve gear has not become displaced and causing a ‘jam’ It’s always best to handle locos by the body not chassis area, wheels etc as it’s so easy to bend the delicate parts of the valve gear. The models to feature some unusual angles when viewed from below, that’s so the parts will all clear.

[Fishmanoz]

GHU, unfortunately I agree with RM - sounds like a mechanical return to Hornby under warranty issue.

And just an aside on your power track - while it works perfectly fine, the digital version is not needed with your setup. Power to the track with the 4 Amp PSU is DC. Digital is mandatory only if you are running a DCC controller between the PSU and the track. App control doesn’t need it.

[Generic Hornby Username]

Thanks to both Rallymatt and Fishy! I'll send an email off to Hornby with much of the same information that I included here. Hopefully it gets resolved without too much issue.

Cheers!

[Rallymatt]

A phone call will speed things along 👍