Hornby Coach Lights In Action

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Hi Guys,

Well you probably recall the posting about the Hornby 'Maglights' that were recently made available.  Well having picked up a couple of sets in the Amazon BFSale I was then looking for some suitable coaches to fit them into.  Believe it or not finding those was harder than getting the lighting sets, but I finally found some yesterday in my local model store.  I had hoped for LNER teak's but ended up with LSWR ones as it was either those or generic BR Red ad the LSWR looked better.

Anyway before I show you the coaches I thought we'd need a loco to go at the front, ultimately the intention is to pair these coaches with my class T9 'greyhound' which was an LSWR loco, but for now I thought I'd use a new little saddle tank loco, an ex-GWR class 1361 model in BR Black livery (#Super you will wet yourself when you see the rivets on this one lol!!).  This is not a Hornby model it was actually designed and made by DJ Models and available exclusively from Kernow Rail in a number of different liveries.  Unfortunately DJ Models is no more and most of the variants are now sold out at Kernow, but they do still have a few of the BR Black versions (no's 1361 and 1362) and the good news is they are currently selling these remaining models at half original price!  So here's the loco;

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Here's the info/instruction sheet for this loco which is quite interesting for those who want more info...  One of the really cool things with this is fitting a DCC decoder chip when you want to go digital is simplicity itself.  Whereas with most models you need to dismantle them to get to the DCC socket here all you need to do is remove the smokebox door, which is secured by small magnets, pull out the mini circuit board plug the DCC chip into this and then replace the board and door!

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Also here's the 'exploded diagram (incl a couple of close ups) plus parts list' of this model, in some ways when you look at this you can see why DJ Models went bust as the sheer number of parts that go to make this model up is incredible for a little loco (it comes in around 4" long), how long it takes to assemble all this and fit all the detail parts included is anyone's guess, but it can't be cheap that's for sure...

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Anyway here's a little video of the loco with the coaches attached to show the lighting in action as well as how they switch on;



Finally to save a new post, here's a couple of tank wagons I just received, these ones are made by Dapol, another UK model maker who I believe are now owned by Hornby, although they were always compatible...

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Happily collecting things all my life... Big Grin
[-] The following 2 users Like Nigels's post:
  • Mister No, Super
OMG...look at how prominent those rivets are and.............they are even on the boilers footplate...wow...beautiful. Look at the Cab details and window glazing to boot. That Cab would look great with a small, not too bright, light in it. Great choice on the coaches. They look fantastic with the interior details and window glazing. Looks like the magnet has to be quite close for the lights to work....right?

Annnnddd....look at the rivets on those cool tankers, I am loving these. Smile
Totally agree with all you say Super, or should I start calling you 'rivet-boy'? Smile

Seriously, the level of detail on the loco and those coaches is something else, I don't know if you noticed, but the coaches even have interiors including seating and on the brake coaches the brake wheel.  I think I'll have to get some little people so I can add some passengers to them.

I have to say I was blown away by the number of parts in that loco, not even taking into consideration its small size it probably has several times the number of parts in an average loco.  Some people have criticised it for this saying its over complicated and that all the gearing makes it noisy.  Well I have to say I disagree with them, mine runs lovely and smoothly and quietly especially since I've run it in.

As you say the magnets do have to be quite close, although if I were to get some neodium magnets that may work from further away.  It's also difficult to remember which end of the carriages I've fitted the circuit boards which is where you have to wave the magnet, not that its a big deal to wave it along the length of them.  Regardless I like the quality of the lighting, definitely adds to the coaches Big Grin
Happily collecting things all my life... Big Grin
[-] The following 1 user Likes Nigels's post:
  • Super



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