rpjallan

Good on Hornby for doing stuff like this. I think it is one positive thing they are doing. I just hope they make enough to supply everyone who wants a set...

I don't think Hornby really care about stuff like that unfortunately...

What loco/stay alive is it? I have bought all the components to make some of my own stay alives. I may get some time to try this over the next couple of weeks. I have quite a number of different DCC Concepts stay alives sitting around also. I have just serviced my Hornby LMS Jinty 0-6-0 to use as a test bed. I need to service my Stanier LMS 2-6-4 tank also as I have a Zimo sound decoder to fit in it & it doesn't have great pickups.

The LNER had articulated coaches well before these. A member of my club has some he built from a kit.

No there isn’t any negatives to using them. It’s like removing capacitors when fitting a decoder. Your loco won’t run worse…

I tend to agree with this but I don’t think Hornby are the only manufacturer that is guilty of this…

For the price, I don’t know why anyone would not fit “snubbers” to the ends of their bus wires. Just in case! Same as twisting your bus wires. It is a simple thing that will help prevent running problems on your layout & could save decoders.

New/Old Stock Elite on eBay Australia today. $450.00 + postage...

The body of the Dublo 08 is plastic. It's a 2 rail loco. I haven't tried to clean the residue off yet. Was hoping to get some advice on here first. I don't want to make it worse. Just comparing to older Triang Hornby locos I have cleaned recently as they are a similar age...

Thanks for your replies. As I said initially, the problem is not with my loco but a member of the club. I have checked & he is using the same washing up liquid I have used. I have cleaned two old class 31s & the tender from my old Britannia (but not the loco body) with no problems. See photos attached. This is definitely some sort of deposit. Just looking for suggestions on how to remove it for this guy. And wary about my Britannia body as it appears the tender body is green plastic but the loco body is painted black plastic...

That’s all well & good but any suggestions on how to fix this? Like I said already, it appears it can be rubbed off to a degree.

Well, like I said, the two diesels & the tender body were fine…

Hi Everyone. I mentioned on here recently that I was restoring/refurbishing some old locos that my brothers & I had when we were kids. I have finished a couple of old Tri-ang Hornby/Hornby Railways Class 31 Diesels & they came up really well. The bodies were pretty grotty and an old guy at my club recommended cleaning them with a soft toothbrush in Luke warm water with a few drops of ordinary washing up liquid. I did this and they cleaned up beautiful. Almost as good as new. Anyway, another member of the club contacted me saying he tried this on a Hornby Dublo Class 08 body and it had ruined it! I have had a look at it this morning and it seems to have some sort of white coating over most of the body. It doesn't seem to have ruined the paint underneath because I was able to scratch/rub some of this coating off & the paint underneath looks ok. Does anybody know what causes this or if there is an easy way to remove it? Getting it out of the more fine detail would be the hardest part I guess. Forgot to mention - I am in the process of doing up my old Tri-ang Hornby Britannia at the moment. I have cleaned the tender body (but not the loco body yet) the same way with no problems. It is the same colour as the 08.

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!

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!

I like my Elite & have no plans to replace it but £329 is a lot of money for such old technology…

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.

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 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.

I'm waiting on some parts for my Britannia but once they arrive I'll get the chassis together & see how it goes.

Well, I found my synchrosmoke element & having a very close look it is very fine wire. I cleaned mine up & it does indeed read between 30-33 ohms. Now all I need is the packing for inside the smoke box & some smoke oil. Just a note: I seem to remember these elements were red when they were new & this one is a very dark brown. I hope that's not a bad sign. Are these elements damaged if they are run with no smoke oil?

I might have to give this a try also. I am currently overhauling my old Britannia with syncrosmoke R259S. I have an old element but I don't believe it works. I'll have to measure the resistance. Is it possible to refurbish the old element or do you have to cobble something together with the new wire?

Still not having any luck unfortunately...

Thanks for all those suggestions. I'll have a look at them.

The problem is the nylon bushes on the armature I think. Everything else is pretty good. But I'm just going to leave them as they are for the moment.