Silver Fox 17

I have dismantled a Mk3 coupling and there is no clip/slot in the floor to prevent droop. The arm is held up by the screwed plate and its thinness, length, and soft material allows it to drop. There is no hole in the floor but a moulded slot which is just for the arm to move out on corners.

Here is a comparison between the Mk1/Stanier and Mk3 couplings. I have not removed the Mk3 but dont think it has any connection to the body like the Mk1 does with its locating clip behind the buffer beam. The pivot point is a lot further forward.

As far as I know the coach length should not matter as from buffers to bogie centre etc should be the same, it is the distance between that is longer and the offending material would be in the same location as it has the spring mechanism for the kinematic coupling and I doubt that would be different for the 50 and 57' vehicles.

Check the bogie mounting arm, it must be tight and dead straight. If it is angled sideways at all, even a slight amount, the bogie wheels will catch the front drivers.

I don't really know which part is looser than others as I have not had one apart yet to check as I have been too busy. Obviously this is where the main problem lays with the out of alignment issues.

Here are two coaches in one photo and a coach and power car in the other and you can see the droop differently from one to the adjacent vehicle.

There has been a few issues with people having difficulty coupling the Mk3 vehicles and having them uncouple, but, many have not had the issue which did make me wonder. However, tonight as I was clearing all of my stock of the boards it was the first time to look underneath, as they had just been left there, and I noticed 1) it is a completely different design to the Mk1, and more importantly 2) some of the drop drop arms for the couplers seem more "flexible". I bought 6 coaches and on two of them I had a "solid" type at one end and a "loose" type at the other. When I say "solid" I mean there is no vertical movement, just like the Mk1, but the "loose" one just seems soft and floppy allowing it to sag/droop. The arms do not seem to be clipped or supported as well as the others. These are the first coaches I have fitted the WHWW magnets too and that made it very noticeable when the magnets on some ends was nearly a full magnet down on the adjacent coach. Obviously when they were allowed close enough the low one jumped up to the correct height. Hopefully someone else may spot this now as well.

Simply because the 57' coaches are not out yet lol.

I am not called Peter but got my notification today too.

Never had one issue of B to B being out yet so never checked but 8 out of 8 wheels all did caught the edge. As the coaches all run perfect on plain track and through points including the double slip I doubt they are out.

Running in would never have worked on mine unless the flanges removed the plastic edge. That would take longer than my life time so 30 seconds with the grinder sorted it.

With one of four just catching with the other three all stopping and yours like my third I wonder if more than one mould is used and there are very slight differences with them, especially as two others were like yours. I suspect there may be a few moulds to allow quite a few parts made at once. Tri-ang used to have theirs so on the part, 2/4 or 2-4 meant there were four moulds and that piece came from the second one.

I have just received a 4th and it is the same as the first two. The third (yesterday) was catching but went around the curve with wheels rubbing which is when I realised the main point of issue. The one today, (last in BR maroon I will be getting), stops as soon as it hit the curve as in the video but after grinding the bevel it is now fine.

I have not received a reply from Hornby yet but they do say up to 7 days for a reply. However, someone mentioned the spec stating minimum radius being R3 which seems strange (especially when they say R2 for the pacifics) so I have been looking at the coaches. The Pullmans, Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3 all state R1 yet the 50' and 57' (apart from the LMS 50' brake) state R3. Along with the added washer between bogie and coach, this leads me to believe Hornby knew that before selling the BR maroon 50' version a couple of weeks ago there is a problem with these Stanier coaches.

It is a good job the rivet counters don't look at mine then with at least 10 different classes of loco all using the A1 chassis. If I waited for Hornby to do all these "to scale" I think it would be well over 10 years or more, an then they might do some of these.

It depends, another washer MAY stop the bogie swiveling. I have no idea how much the wheels catch but packing with washers makes/allows the body to rock more if there is clearance, that is if they dont tighten the bogie to the underframe. Others can try it but I personally will stay with material removal.

I think the 50' parcels van wheel issue is mainly (probably only) related to the underframe moulding near where the coupling spring attaches. One photo shows the moulding as bought, another shows slight "glazing" where the wheels rub and the other after grinding the edge down. The coach seems to run okay after just doing this. Hornby must have known there was an issue as they have used a washer between the bogie and underframe which they don't normally have.

Thank you.

Out of interest, how do you interpret the stock level figures and do they also show how many of each item Hornby receive? I can see the 30th May is going to be an expensive day.

Thank you, most appreciated.

Any chance of seeing the Duchess and 57' figures?

Blue and grey Mk1's were in use for a few years with BR steam. Even the reversed Pullman grey and blue was used on the last steam hauled Pullman from Bradford which had all three liveries in its consist, brown and umber Pullman, grey and blue Pullman, and blue and grey full brake hauled by a B1 to Leeds.

The Hornby chassis's are so nice that apart from the Castle nearly everything else utilises the Hornby A1 chassis unless I use a Halling bogie in a tender. I still have two tank locos with my own chassis's but they will have to do until Hornby fetch out a suitable donor. The J50 will do one, the other I will have to wait a while.

I could not see anything about radius on the boxes. I am surprised R3 is mentioned especially as these are shorter than the Mk1 and Pullmans. Coaches, especially parcels, can be shunted like wagons so R1 should be suitable.

I don't think they are the same, I thought the Newspaper vans were flat sided like GUV's whereas these have a tumbleholme.