David-1314249 Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Hi, not posted before as I mainly just read stuff for help as I’ve only just got into TT. However to help others here goes I have the green hst at hornby for repair due to lack of drive. At the time I wondered if something had broken off a wagon and got inside the powertrain as I found a black piece of plastic loose inside. This repair is still at hornby. However I have another one brand new green hst which upon receipt of my new coaches today I tried out. The hst for whatever reason derailed, upon returning to track I find the exact same problem as the other hst. Low and behold under the wheel I find the same piece of plastic as the other one. This I will now need to return. I’ve added a picture below to help others or help me confirm my hypothesis. I was unable to check the first hst as the screws couldn’t be undone on the chassis. Hope this post helps and is allowed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc4946 Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 That's a drive shaft linking the centrally mounted motor to one of the bogies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David-1314249 Posted April 17 Author Share Posted April 17 Thank you…shame it failed after one derailment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 You do seem to have been very unlucky David. I’ve not heard of this happening before, but others may correct me. Luckily Hornby are very good at fixing things under warranty - faults shouldn’t happen though! Just to help others understand any factors that might cause this that they need to watch for, what track system are you using? Hornby? What radius curves are being used? Is the derailment happening in the same place? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David-1314249 Posted April 17 Author Share Posted April 17 Hi moccasin, it’s all hornby track the derailment on the second one happened on fourth radius. It ran fine at full speed without the coaches. But then once I added the coaches it left the bend. It happened the once, now I can’t check what may have caused it as both hsts are down. Only leaves me with the scotsman which runs fine on it last time I tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritInVanCA Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 6 minutes ago, Moccasin said: You do seem to have been very unlucky David. I’ve not heard of this happening before, but others may correct me. Luckily Hornby are very good at fixing things under warranty - faults shouldn’t happen though! Just to help others understand any factors that might cause this that they need to watch for, what track system are you using? Hornby? What radius curves are being used? Is the derailment happening in the same place? You know I really like a "glass half full" attitude but considering Hornby is more and more supporting international sales from the UK it starts to worry some of us if issues start to become frequent. Returning items internationally is not always easy and it can take months to sort out the duties that were incorrectly levied. I still believe the logic that was being applied at launch that it tends to be the problem locomotives that get attention rather than the large number that are OK but I do start wondering when my luck will run out. So every time I order the question is "do I feel lucky?"! Especially since I'm now ordering from retailers to get a discount and lower shipping charges. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 1 minute ago, BritInVanCA said: You know I really like a "glass half full" attitude but considering Hornby is more and more supporting international sales from the UK it starts to worry some of us if issues start to become frequent. Returning items internationally is not always easy and it can take months to sort out the duties that were incorrectly levied. I still believe the logic that was being applied at launch that it tends to be the problem locomotives that get attention rather than the large number that are OK but I do start wondering when my luck will run out. So every time I order the question is "do I feel lucky?"! Especially since I'm now ordering from retailers to get a discount and lower shipping charges. I do appreciate that and also that I’m looking at this from a domestic market lens. Much more difficult (costly and long winded) from across the Atlantic or in the Antipodes! Without seeing Hornby’s returns figures, it’s hard to know how common these faults are as you say. There are probably hundreds of happy HST owners already who have no problem and this forum is naturally the place people come to when they have a problem. It’s worth contacting Hornby direct with your specific points because they’re all valid. With their own sales in the US, there must surely be a way of dealing with at least some repairs within the US & Canada otherwise these problems will recur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon M Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Hi David, I had this exact issue on my HST swift, managed to fix myself and not had any issues since, posted on here - hopefully link below: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David-1314249 Posted April 17 Author Share Posted April 17 Ahh thank you Simon, I might try however does show it’s a possible point of weakness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon M Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Yes. Agree, once I got it back in I could not see how it could have come out, unless it wasn’t in correctly in the first place. good luck if you have a go yourself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntpntpntp Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 I wonder if this is due to the bogies swivelling too far or maybe a yoke / pocket has moved on the shaft, creating too wide a gap so the shaft drops out of a pocket? I've seen the latter happen on rare occasions with N gauge bogie locos, cured by easing one of the pockets a little closer (1mm or less) after refitting the shaft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Allen Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 I had 2 era 7 HSTs fail straight out of the box, 1st motor just spun, the 2nd ran very slowly and the era 8 one has also failed in the same way as the others and been sent back for repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Would be interesting to know just how prevalent this problem is given it has now been reported in multiple threads along with how to fix for those willing to do a little disassembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generic Hornby Username Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 3 hours ago, BritInVanCA said: You know I really like a "glass half full" attitude but considering Hornby is more and more supporting international sales from the UK it starts to worry some of us if issues start to become frequent. Returning items internationally is not always easy and it can take months to sort out the duties that were incorrectly levied. I still believe the logic that was being applied at launch that it tends to be the problem locomotives that get attention rather than the large number that are OK but I do start wondering when my luck will run out. So every time I order the question is "do I feel lucky?"! Especially since I'm now ordering from retailers to get a discount and lower shipping charges. Very true. I know they’re thinking about launching TT:120 in the US at some point, so I’m really hoping that remedies the problem of shipping overseas. But it is stressful. One loco I had to send back for a full chassis replacement, and my second is looking like it will need to be sent back too. I don’t want Hornby to lose money on the sale, but the shipping costs are pretty enormous to pay out of pocket. I get the sense Hornby is improving as they gain experience in TT, but in the short term it can be stressful. It’s a lot cheaper to get it right in China than it is at the repair facility. Even for those who fix it, I would still recommend sending an email alerting Hornby about it. The more they hear about an issue, the quicker they can resolve it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritInVanCA Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 21 hours ago, Generic Hornby Username said: Very true. I know they’re thinking about launching TT:120 in the US at some point, so I’m really hoping that remedies the problem of shipping overseas. But it is stressful. One loco I had to send back for a full chassis replacement, and my second is looking like it will need to be sent back too. I don’t want Hornby to lose money on the sale, but the shipping costs are pretty enormous to pay out of pocket. I get the sense Hornby is improving as they gain experience in TT, but in the short term it can be stressful. It’s a lot cheaper to get it right in China than it is at the repair facility. Even for those who fix it, I would still recommend sending an email alerting Hornby about it. The more they hear about an issue, the quicker they can resolve it! I hate to burst your bubble but Hornby USA is a joke. Even in OO they only have half a dozen locomotives listed and most of them are out of stock. I had a conversation with someone fairly high in the organization about TT120 availability in the US and they said there were a lot of issues with the US subsidiary. This was at launch so things might be improving but I wouldn’t hold your breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritInVanCA Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 On 17/04/2024 at 11:44, Moccasin said: I do appreciate that and also that I’m looking at this from a domestic market lens. Much more difficult (costly and long winded) from across the Atlantic or in the Antipodes! Without seeing Hornby’s returns figures, it’s hard to know how common these faults are as you say. There are probably hundreds of happy HST owners already who have no problem and this forum is naturally the place people come to when they have a problem. It’s worth contacting Hornby direct with your specific points because they’re all valid. With their own sales in the US, there must surely be a way of dealing with at least some repairs within the US & Canada otherwise these problems will recur. I’ve provided lots of input to the mothership about the sorry state of Hornby USA (Canada is non-existent as the US site won’t even ship there). “Thank you for your input “ was the flavour of the reply. They may just not see a market worth supporting but don’t want to be that blunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 Hmmm not ideal, another major territory with an under performing distributor. These are some of the things that Hornby has been getting wrong in the past that needs sorting out now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmanoz Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 Just to update Australian supply, my local hobby store has a total of 40 TT:120 items in its catalogue with no new items in something like 12 months. They include the original 2 sets and 6 locos, 5 steam and 1 x 08. Then if Rails can ship 4 Mk3s to me for a total of £18 postage (Hornby charge would have been 4 x £50), why would I go elsewhere. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Allen Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Third time lucky! Went to Rails and bought one from there. They even tested it ran ok for me. Looks great with the Blue/Grey Mk3s. Just need my swallow livery back from repair working correctly and I'll be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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