Sam, your you tube channel is "incredible"... Hattons had sold out of the R3422 so I ordered R3423 being BR Black Late Crest. When I placed my Order on 21st June, they had 8 in stock. I checked one hour later and they only had 5.. R3423's left. Since then Hattons have completely sold out of stock of all their Hornby Adams Tank loco's... Wow, that's amazing and a pat on the back to you for your complete honesty when reviewing these Loco's Well, take a bow because you deserve it "Sam our Loco man"
Thanks so much Selwyn, I truly appreciate your kind words - haha yeah things do seem to sell out after videos - it's probably not all down to me! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Just acquired one of these locos, and I’m delighted with it EXCEPT that my version R3423 (BR Black Late Crest) had its decoder socket incorrectly wired. Apparently, there was a batch made around 2014-15 that had this faulty wiring. In short, the track wires from the front bogey are soldered to the wrong pins, with the result that while the loco works fine on DC, it will (probably) fry any DCC decoder installed. There are rectification explanations available if you Google “Hornby Adams Radial wiring fault”. It does require some fiddly re-soldering, but its not too big a job if you’re confident/competent with soldering. Great video Sam, as ever. Your channel is one of the very best out there ! Many thanks
Glad to see you review this one after the oxford! I've had a hornby adams radial for over a year and it's easily the best runner in my collection. I don't recall any glue marks on mine but I haven't done a close inspection in a while. I do remember it also being a little oily when I first got it much like yours.
Hi Sam, The only ones left ended up in the Lyme Regis Seaton area and although very young in the early 1950's I can distinctly remember seeing and being pulled by one on a family holiday. The only reason I can explain this is at such an early age the unique gracefull design printed itself on my brain. Excellent video with very thorough and well presented information.
Great video, have just received my R3423 (B.R. version) from Amazon for which I paid a good price of £69.57 - Only 3 left as at 5/01/21. Your video is spot on - runs so beautifully, and what a great crawler! and pulls 10 carriages so easily, without slip
I chose to buy a Hornby Southern Black Adams Radial and have to say I think it is a really attractive loco. One of my favourite. Great review Sam. Very useful comparison. Thanks.
Sam....Hornby Adams Radial Fix: My New Loco was slipping and Driving wheels lifting around curves, the front pony being far too rigid with all wheels @ 11.5mm. The pony being difficult to work on I removed the wheel set by pulling off one wheel off each and removing the axles. I replaced the pony wheels with 10.0mm Powerline P1109 Insulated metal wheels, you need to use those large flange wheels such as 10mm Trax wagon wheels, to keep the pony on the rails and through the points.......... I used a black marker pen to blacken out the wheels and axle heads....... This Loco runs Fantastic and is capable of pulling at least 15 Passenger Coaches....
First off My favourite steam engine The basis for my favourite OC made my wildnorwester “Adam” RIP They used to work on the Lyme Regis branch My Nan lives there and sometimes took the train when she was younger
After this I went and ran my Oxford, previously only having checked it worked ok. You are absolutely right, on any pieces of uneven track it gets stuck. It seems to run ok as fast as my Hornby Schools locos, so no issues with the running speed. I did have a lot of issues initially with it blowing up DCC modules. I eventually tracked it down to a very large soldered joint on the motor that was occasionally touching the wheel, hence killing the module. Rails has the Hornby one for £69.50, so I ordered one.
Ahh yes sorry to hear that - it seems they're all that way unfortunately. Oh dear - that solder joint isn't good news - very sloppy! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I have two of Oxford, both on dcc and one has also sound. Both run very well but can't pull a lot. After the bogie modification and extra weight it is better but still has problems with uneven track. I didn't pay a lot for them so i be quite happy with them, specially the sound on. Nice to see your test of the Hornby one. I am thinking of buying one. Your tests are one of the best on RU-vid. Don't change it because you are thinking of sponsoring or something like that.
I recently got a Hornby grange class. I was surprised by how light it was but I am still happy seeing as my other locos are mainline collet goods and Dean goods. I was most happy about the sprung buffers!
I had been wondering if I should get the Hornby Adams Radial, and now after seeing your video, it's clear the answer is yes, I should get one. Great review, look forward to buying one for myself.
We've got an Oxford Adams Radial in Southern black, but I think we got lucky and got a good one as it runs pretty well, goes slow but it seems naturally slow and doesn't smell. However it does have the same problem with uneven track/change of gradient. had her since May 2018, maybe the trip halfway round the world to New Zealand sorted the motor out. All the best
Hi Sam I have actually managed to get details of the locomotives that worked the Lyme regis Branch in the 1950s and early 1960s they were 30582 30583 30584, officially allocated to Exmouth Junc shed.
Sam I bought one of the Hornby Adams radial and when it came it was in perfect condition no glue marks and it runs great I have not missed yet following you reviews thanks.
Great review, I have received mine (same as yours) this week, it is a good kettle. I had not been carefull on the finish of mine, so, I cannot say you if mine have an Heljan-like finish. Anyway, I had just seen a small contentious point about the Hornby's Adams Radial : mine had stopped skidding on some points of my provisional layout, Kato HO rails laid on my lounge's carpet, not really flat. But this happens only at minimal speed, when you crank her up, anything goes. My advice : don't run her at pace or low shunting speed on uneven track. I think it is something due to the conception of the prototype : long chassis with just two driving wheels. One solution for Hornby would have to sprung the driving wheels to avoid this. But I think this might have to do with my track, code 80 when Hornby/Peco setrack is code 100, one test to do... At least, the motor doesn't blows up after two hours of poor running, like my ex-Oxford Rail sent back to Hattons for refund... Yes, it is a good runner overall, I confirm.
Hi Sam. I got this loco the oxford and in the process of altering the rear bogie to prevent it lifting the driving wheels i love my model its in the southern rail green version once I've sorted it i will be happy i did buy this model as used ,had it been bought new [ yes you've guessed it SENT IT BACK ] LOL but I do like it, pity Hornby didn't do it in the same southern green. Another great review Sam. thank you.
If I'm not mistaken a couple of these engines were kept in service to run the now defunct Lyme Regis branch from Axminster to Lyme regis. Because they were quite powerful but could handle quite sharp curves (due to the radial configuration of the wheels) they were ideal for the fairly heavy (summer) passenger trains.
The odd one is the West Country, she’s the only one in BR while all of those locos are in Southern. Love the Q1 in that siding. Cheers for a lovely video Sam
This just made my “which tank engine do I get next” choice harder...overall tank engines with a similar shape to the radial are understated and beautiful. Very tough choice!
WOW! That sums it up. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👌 When you showed the underside of the mechanism, I KNEW we were in for a treat. The looks are very nice indeed... But the PERFORMANCE!! That's nearly a Benchmark Model. I know your Model Railways are MUCH cheaper than here in the Colonies... But considering what you GET, that's outstanding value for money! I'd have TWO, and they would still be less than a comparable U.S. Loco!! 😞😖 Cheers and stay SAFE! Carmine ✈🚂🚙
Love this loco and ended up returning three models (two Oxford Rail and one Hornby) which struggled to run on flat track without wheelspin. Finally tempted by another Oxford at a bargain price and - touch wood - it seems to run okay. Glad your Hornby runs well
I have an Oxford one in the preserved livery and so far seems to run okay. I think they are geared to run slower than the Hornby but my motor doesn’t seem to get too hot. I fixed the pony truck problem by filing the axel slots a bit deeper which give the wheels a bit of spring on the pins the axel sits on. I have been tempted at times to get the Hornby Lyme Regis pack though.
I saw a video on Dailymotion on the Oxford model. I guess the person making the video couldn’t tell that the drivers weren’t on the track, so they sped it up. 2 minutes after that, the motor blew up. Smoke poured, gears spun very loudly, and it slipped back down the hill it was climbing. The next video from them was how to fix an Oxford Rail Adams Radial.
I have always loved this loco, and when oxford announced it I got one of the first. Mine run's very well no nasty smells, but it does suffer from the unsprung pony truck. she usuall pulls 4 mk 1's and occasionaly a few goods,I'v even left her running at about 50% and gone for dinner and returned to find her still runing and no smells. Very tempted by the hornby AR but as I'm in the process of laying a loft layout, it's going to be tortoise point motors first (owch).
Thanks Barley - glad to hear yours is better overall! If you have an Oxford without a faulty motor, then that's much more compelling! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
My oxford EKR 5 runs fine. It burned out an inductor on the pcb when I put it on my dcc track without fitting a dcc chip, but still ran fine. She's now DCC and runs round my layout with ease, albeit without much haulage strength. Have to say the Hornby one seems much better, but I can't justify another when I have over 260 locos already.
Amazing video. I really do like The Hornby Adams Radial Tank engine. Had good details, loved the cab though. Also I really liked the matte black finish, just gave it an amazing touch to it. Loved the Great video Sam! Love every video of yours. - Nano ")
I recently snapped one of these up for less than £60 from Kernow's and in spite of bad reviews my impression meets yours.....decent runner, good looker and for that price! Great video
I always have a look at your reviews before deciding what to seriously consider as a new buy. A few weeks ago I thought of getting the Adams Radial Tank. Having watched your reviews of the Oxford Model I ruled these out. Any way I went for the Hornby Train pack with the BR liveried Adams and Lyme Regis Branch line coaches which was heavily discounted. Same experience as you the loco ran well great mechanism but does need the track to be laid properly. Agree not all track in the model world is laid this way and if there is any slight dip in the rail height it will spin the wheels so you need to be spot on with the track laying to get the best performance at low speed. They are a great looking model bags of character no other tank engine like it. Glad you now have one that performs it is a pity Oxford did not reach the level of production quality they did with their N7 (which is easily my best modern loco in terms of build and performance) when the Adams was made albeit I think this was their first loco? Any way keep up the reviews very enjoyable to see as well as informative. Thanks.
Thanks very much Clive, that's great to hear! Glad you avoided the Oxford Adams - mine's been nothing but trouble. Yeah - at least Oxford's more recent offerings have been so much better! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
After watching your review on this model, i have just bought this loco, the late BR version from Kernow models at a great price for £67.99. Didn't find any issues with it, highly recommended.
This loco so nearly made it into my top 5 of the year - it was joint 5th but I chose to put the Bachmann 5MT ahead of it just because my Radial performs terribly. At least it gets an honourable mention
I grabbed an Oxford Radial in April and it did not run...at all. So I sent it back for the Hornby version and that run's beautifully and luckily had no quality control issues on the detail etc. Super happy with it and I think It was £79 excluding postage from Hatton's. I'd say Oxford's has the edge in a couple of areas on detail, but given that it runs so well and it still looks awesome I'd just recommend Hornby's, you know you will get a good runner. My second hand Q1 runs better than the Oxford Radial I had to return!
How funny! Your Oxford Rail Adams Radial Tank Review popped up in my recommended feed a few days ago and now you release the Hornby review. It’s almost as if RU-vid knows! 😂
@@SamsTrains I wouldn't put it past them to have come up with something like that in their algorithm! Was very enjoyable to watch the two pretty much back to back 😃
It's a stark contrast to the loco I have just purchased which is the bright yellow Dapol B4 (Sussex). I have the Oxford version of this loco but i would possibly look into getting the hornby loco.
I’ve got the Hornby Lyme Regis Branch Line pack with the Adams Radial. It looks and runs brilliantly. Well worth getting when on special offer. Another excellent review Sam 👍
The first pull away with four coaches was really lovely. A good model and at £80, a bargain. Good job Sam. . . . . . and then a Q1 in the background :-)
Two things: 1. Intro song of the day, "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin. Has the engine of the day entertained you? 2. You could see about swapping mechanisms of your Oxford, and Hornby 4-4-2Ts. I thought that would be an experiment that you can try.
Hello. Just a heads up on the Hornby Adams Radial Tank. I bought one, its a lovely looking loco in my view. However, although its sold as DCC Ready, there is no room to fit a decoder. The place for it is in the tender area, but with a decoder fitted, you cannot get the bodyback on. Crazy, had to send it straight back, and the problem was confirmed by the retailer who was very helpful and had come across the problem previously.
Oxford’s cabs are always fabulous! Having such a detailed cab in such an enclosed area is amazing considering the price point here. :D for the money, I’d say Oxford’s version is the loco you should go for.
Here's an interesting fact: The Southern Black and Late BR Black Adams Radials are the exact same number - The paperwork in the video says it was eventually 30582, the same number as my BR Black Radial
Hi Sam, When you were slow running this engine after the run in the rear set of bogie wheels did not spin. Just seemed to lift and drag in both directions. When you sped the engine up to connect the coaches the wheels started to spin.
I've been going on a BR Black spree this year, and the Hornby Adams Radial is definitely the best looking in that livery! The Heljan Garratt looks great, but it doesn't have the beautiful lining of the Adams Radial
It leaves me speechless Sam, that after all these years and the benefit of modern techniques, that the likes of Hornby, still can't build a Model without these basic faults. The loco seems to run well which is a bonus, but with so many issues with many of the New Models coming on the Market, someone is going to look out, as the buying public's expectations are not being met...Another good review....Bob
You might remember me, and my comment on the music at the start of your review videos - well, it's got even better - The Entertainer by Scott Joplin! Maybe another snippet of music you could use is Pineapple Rag - also by Joplin. Anyway, great review once again.
The way you described the passengers as dying of old age by the time they reached their destination, that's what made me think it might be The Green Ghost Train. Don't forget about my idea of a Ghost Trains in the Dark running session. I'd love to see that sometime, but before Halloween is preferable with me.
Beautiful model Sam! It’s great to have a preserved example but it looks like it’ll never steam again! It should because tender engines are way more expensive!
I know this is irrelevant-- but for the longest time, I had an idea for a tank engine (this actually the second time typing this because youtube rfreshed for no reason), the configuration being 4-8-6, but in recent times i changed it to 4-4-4-8 (would've been 4-4-4-4 if not for the larger coal bunker), yes indeed, it is a *DUPLEX* TANK ENGINE, insane really. It would have sloped side tanks, normal cylindrical smokebox but with smoke deflectors, banjo dome and a low-profile double funnel like the flying scotsman's with a whistle near it like the a4 class and a normally positioned second whistle, that of a d51, and dual-caliper vented-disk/disc breaks/brakes on each driving wheel closest to the piston on each side (something i brought back from the car community). Unintentionally extremely flexible, figuratively and literally, I cannot find one specific purpose for this *thing,* passenger trains and expresses, goods trains and heavy cargo, rushed orders and smooth rides; though I can tell you that it isn't very money efficient. And almost forgot, nice video, Thanks for staying loyal to your fans and content.
" Smells like burning electronics up here. Don't ask me how I know that" Would that be the LED controller from China, the terrier you blew up, or the Oxford Radial? Haha.
So here's something interesting. I bought a Hornby Adams Radial when they where new and I can safely say it's my least favorite Loco. The problem is that not only was the detail badly applied and already damaged, but the loco also doesn't run properly. It runs very slowly and then has a burst of speed before slowing back down. I had a look at it running without pistons and saw that one of the cylinder rods likes to shoot out. Causing the entire thing to slow down because the piston is blocking it from doing so. A fun fact about mine is that I bought the preserved one in BR black before it was painted BR black. I guess mine was ahead of it's time.
Ahh that definitely sounds like the motor mate - sorry to hear about that! You should have sent it back and got it replaced :( Thanks for watching - Sam :)
I brought mine (lined BR black) 3 years ago. I wanted an Oxford one, but I couldn't find any 2nd hand one on eBay (I wanted a cheap), but I fond a Hornby one for 63 £ - "as new" - so I went for it. I ran it with 20-23 wagons without a problem, and it was also able to pull the Xmass train for a test! Here's my loco anomaly: I own two (by accident) SNCF 231 E locos by Altaya (re-branded and modified ex Rivarossi stuff) with strange characteristics: - I have no idea how to dissemble them, the one that still has some paper says nothing about it, I removed all the crews from the bottom, the chassis got loose (and i got access to the gears), but that's all, I also asked on a French forum (since it is an SNCF loco), but they said that they tried the same too with no luck (the original Rivarossi ones are sightly different with the back of the motor is visible inside the cab, but these ones has a cab detail glued in - yes i cut it out to see what is behind it, but i only found a fully closed up motor, no screw or anything - ). - on "cold" both locos take about !1.3 Amps at 7V! , but after 30 sec or so, when the motor warms up it drops to 500 mA (and the loco goes much faster). The motor is hot, but i can still touch it (on the one I cut the cab-detail out). Paper says it is a 5 pole motor, and has similar over-complicated all metal mechanism, and chassis like most old Rivarossi tender locos, (with brass bearings)! - They are loud, even by Rivarossi standards (yes i oiled what i could access to)! I would appreciate any help with these!
Blimey that's very impressive! Ooh blimey - that's definitely not good - interesting that it sorts itself out in the end though! Thanks for watching - Sam :)
Always liked the 415 Class, was originally gonna get the Oxford OO Gauge one, though then saw one for O Gauge but then thought I could make one in N Gauge, that was till I saw the designs for the 5in Gauge castings! I've still yet to work out which gauge to get one of these in, prob O so something can run with my Terrier. Great Video as always Sam! ~James
Hi Sam its my Sam how are you keeping during this pandemic I haven't been watching your vids Iv been really sick but it wasn't covid 19 thank god but I'm better now your biggest fan Jack ;D
Hi Sam, another really useful review. I agree that the Adam's Radials really are superb looking locos. It is a shame about the Hornby build quality - they really need to work on their finish quality or consistency of finish. I have some railroad models which are finished superbly and more expensive Hornby models with the dreaded glue marks! Thanks for the video - I'm definitely considering buying one of these locos now BW David
The black is ironically blinding me. Like it's pure "In your face", yet subtle enough not to complain either And a diecast boiler, well is this a gift from God or something? Never actually seen such a thing, honestly
So happy to see this is a good working model, I’ve like the look of these but was severely put off by the oxford one. Granted the glue marks are a bit of a downside but, overall though, I’m happy to see that there’s a decent runner available :)
hello Sam amazing video and bit of irony as i just got my adams radial today and its the bluebell example and very nice hiding of the J72 behind wagons
