Duchess of Abercorn - Damaged on Delivery

[PeterM67]

Today I took delivery of my DCC fitted Duchess of Abercorn.  The fun started when I opened the packaging to check it out when I was greeted by little bits of transparent plastic falling out of the box. I quickly realised that these bits of plastic where actually from the protective clam shell which had some chunks broken off  in the area of the LHS smoke deflector.

I also noticed a small piece of clam shell plastic lodged under the smoke deflector which I was able to remove. At this point I assumed that apart from this everything was fine - unfortunately this proved not to be the case. This evening I got the Duchess onto the track ready to run in. Well it ran for approximately 1s before abruptly going dead - loss of connectivity to the app. It recovered and the same thing happened again, and again...

So I had a close look and noticed that the valve gear had been physically bent inwards and it was obviously jamming. This would have been in the same area where I noticed the damaged clam shell. I'm guessing that when it was packed at the factory they somehow forced the clam shell into the locomotive body so causing damage. The cardboard box itself is fine.

This will obviously be going back to Hornby on Monday but in the meantime I'm a little bit annoyed!

[Tim Allen]

The packaging of items really needs addressing. I suppose this is what sub contracting out does for ya. 

[PeterM67]

I'm afraid my Duchess's have been a little problematic. This will be the second one that needs to be returned so a 66% failure rate whereas my other locomotives have been mostly OK. Maybe I just need to avoid LMS / ex LMS locomotives 😂

[Craig-803583]

2 hours ago, PeterM67 said:

I'm afraid my Duchess's have been a little problematic. This will be the second one that needs to be returned so a 66% failure rate whereas my other locomotives have been mostly OK. Maybe I just need to avoid LMS / ex LMS locomotives 😂

That it ..... blame Stanier. 🙂 It's all his fault!

[Craig-803583]

3 hours ago, Tim Allen said:

The packaging of items really needs addressing. I suppose this is what sub contracting out does for ya. 

Worst thing is the egg box packaging that they use with sets. The pullman coaches don't even get the dignity of a plastic clamshell.

Now the world has polystyrene cutters readily available and trainset boxes no longer come with polystyrene.  Alas.

[happy tt]

@PeterM67sorry  about the state of loco  when you got it ,  i wonder was it inside a cardboard box from  china with the  boxed loco in  the clamshell inside the red and yellow  box  to protect it on the way to hornby .

if so   did they take it out of that cardboard box and put it in a different  bigger cardboard box  with no packing so that it moves  around  like they do   if they did they should have maybe  seen the damage but you said the box was ok 

 or did they leave it in that box and then put it in a bigger box to send to you so  the loco was in two cardboard boxes plus the one with the  clamshell  that held it place  inside the red and yellow box when it  left the warehouse at margate.

i suppose if they did not  open the red and yellow box to have a look at the loco they would not find the damage  before they sent it to you still not good hornby  but  you can't blame people at this end  for someone in china not doing they job correct😅

Edited Saturday at 04:17 by happy tt

[PeterM67]

The Hornby display box and the outer cardboard box appeared OK, The plastic sleeve that the clam shell is inserted into also looked OK. The damage was only apparent when the clam shell was removed from the sleeve and given that the outer packaging appeared OK I would suspect that this happened back in the factory.

As for transportation via DPD it was the standard bubble wrap and a larger outer box. There was some free play in the box so the bubble wrapped inner package could move to some extent however there was no obvious sign of any crush damage or general abuse as I have seen previously with a few deliveries.

Edited Saturday at 06:44 by PeterM67

[Rallymatt]

It’s highly probable it was damaged before leaving the factory. Once they are in the retail card box and outer card box the next person to open them will be the customer. 

[StuLarge]

Mine actually has added dense foam padding in the top of the clamshell between it and the sleeve, have not fully opened her, but my initial thought was "hope that hasn't crushed any of the fine detail". This time only bubble wrap was between the retail box and cardboard outer, nothing between that and the shipping carton.

[PeterM67]

That dense foam does make for a tight fit with the sleeve and you need to be very careful when refitting it. I wonder if they forced it on at the factory and caused some crush damage in the process.

[Silver Fox 17]

41 minutes ago, PeterM67 said:

That dense foam does make for a tight fit with the sleeve and you need to be very careful when refitting it. I wonder if they forced it on at the factory and caused some crush damage in the process.

I will say I was surprised when the Duchess packaging had the dense foam and how tight it was. Thankfully mine were okay but I did wonder if it would cause any problems and before using the sleeves again removed it.

[Kenneth-365689]

Having read the above I decided it was best to check my  Abercorn, which arrived on Thursday 12th. The packaging is very tight, however, no physical damage detected. I removed the top two blocks before putting it away again. 

[happy tt]

I did like the black  dense  foam that my TT120 class 43 came in it was very easy to put them back in and  take them out again.

i bet it would be far too expensive for the steam locos to  be in the dense black form. compared to the clam shell                                                                                                                                       I   don't like my 00 locos in their clam shells they are too tight on some  locos body work and  i found some at the front end on one of my oo  hornby Thompson locos .i had damage to some of the small details on the boiler door   and above it from being too tight  when it arrived from hattons   🥲 but  it runs ok  lol😄

[PeterM67]

I suspect most of us treat our models like the crown jewels when it comes to packing them away in their boxes. Sadly I doubt this applies to the factory where they are against the clock to get a shipment out so accidents will happen!

My Duchess is now safely back at Hornby to be sorted out. Hopefully she'll be perfect on her return 🙂

[Silver Fox 17]

51 minutes ago, PeterM67 said:

I suspect most of us treat our models like the crown jewels when it comes to packing them away in their boxes

Not one of my models has ever gone back in it's box. The shed and garage are full of empty boxes, some even thrown away.

[ntpntpntp]

I find the original packaging is the best option when transporting a case load of locos to an exhibition.   Rolling stock on the other hand tends to travel loose in bespoke stock trays. 

This adoption of clam-shell packaging by many different brands in various scales, surrounded by yet more layers and a box or sleeve, is all very well but it means the boxes have become ridiculously large in some cases and they take forever to unpack or re-pack 😞  My older models seem to have survived perfectly well in polystyrene and a simple card lid, or a plastic box and shaped plastic inlay.  I do ensure there's plastic film between the model and the inlay and box lid wherever possible, to protect against wear.

Edited Wednesday at 19:21 by ntpntpntp

[Ilmson]

9 minutes ago, ntpntpntp said:

I find the original packaging is the best option when transporting a case load of locos to an exhibition.   Rolling stock on the other hand tends to travel loose in bespoke stock trays. 

This adoption of clam-shell packaging by many different brands in various scales, surrounded by yet more layers and a box or sleeve, is all very well but it means the boxes have become ridiculously large in some cases and they take forever to unpack or re-pack 😞  My older models seem to have survived perfectly well in polystyrene and a simple card lid, or a plastic box and shaped plastic inlay.  I do ensure there's plastic film between the model and the inlay and box lid wherever possible, to protect against wear.

I agree. These boxes are ideal for transport. That's why I keep all my boxes stacked in Euro boxes, even when I put the locomotives and wagons in display cases. I would be uncomfortable cramming my trains into a single box.

You never know when you might have to move.

[PeterM67]

In a few months hopefully I will have moved and the days of needing to pack everything away will come to an end. Mind you my wife appears to be making plans for all the extra rooms and they don't appear to involve space for my trains 🤣

[Rallymatt]

I think the foam lined cases are useful for storing things between sessions, a little more practical than the retail pack but still well protected. I have a cupboard full of the original boxes for everything! 

[ukpetey]

I always heed advice from Antiques Roadshow and the like when considering retaining boxes. Items tend to have a higher re-sale value if they are in the original packaging. It drives the current wife crazy! Which is a bonus!