Glad to hear you won the Hornby quality control lottery! I’ve been hearing quite a few have been having issues with theirs (if something is off with the tender connection, the loco will just stop dead) and more than one example has had a crank pin fall out. But obviously there are good ones out there too! It seems to me the reviews are either “this loco is faulty” or “this loco is fantastic” with little in between. Shame it doesn’t have a flywheel though. For a loco of that size and price, and being labelled “ultimate” you’d think they could put fit one in.
Hi mate I hope you are well I have a rr one and the new one. The new one is fantastic Alot of features on it. Mine is stunning You got a collection there Top video Keep safe ARP
The 1977 one is lovely for its time, I had one in my teens! I do note the driving axles spacing is wrong, which I only just noticed... I guess because back in the late 80s it wasn't so easy to compare to other models or prototype pictures 😂
There is something really appealing about the 1977 model. It runs pretty well, but I think the connecting rods/valve gear being out of scale chunky give a sense of weight in the motion the newer models lack, so it's a keeper.. 😊👍
Hi, good review of a cool looking loco, I’ve seen some not so good reviews of it to be fair, not my cup of tea, I do like to see the Hornby inclined piers and sidewall on a layout, thanks for sharing.
it's a very nice model, but I've seen quite some people complain on very basic defaults, the pickup capacity on the wheels and the connection plug between tender and loco fail. If it's only one or two, there are always cars build on a blue Monday, but there are significant more, that's really sad for those who encounter that problem. But esthetically it's a beauty…
I totally agree with you, if Hornby sent out replacement parts for those modellers who can do the work then I wouldn’t be so bad, they don’t and expect you to send the model back which can get damaged and they won’t take responsibility for it, a once great company not where it should be especially when customers want quality and reliability and value for money.
Hi. Can you please run the lock without a decoder. See if that makes a difference. Most reviews I’ve seen it’s really been on dc that’s been an issue. Cheers. Dave.
I ran it in on DC , as I have a test oval of track for that purpose, no problems encounted or It wouldn't have been changed to DCC for the main layout...
Just a general comment on the quality control of these loco's. It seems to me, and everyone else there's an unduly large number of these locos with issues. What we don't know is how many have been sold.? Any manufacturer of models/cars/toasters etc will expect a failure rate of x. I Would love to know what Hornby's failure rate is and whether the new black 5 is above average or not. Maybe a new tooling has an expected one as high as 10%, but this falls over time and rapidly drops to 1/2% as the feedback and experience in production builds. I don't know, but I would still recommend this model. There is a warranty system in place, damage in transit isn't the bug bear it once was, and in my experience I have 1 loco in about 60 mail order purchases, have what appears to be transit damage. So returning locos to Hornby wouldn't be a worry. Have confidence, especially if it's, a model you really would like to have. 👍
Interesting, this is the 3rd review I have seen of the latest Hornby Black 5 and yours so far is the only one working ok. Did you find any issues running round your tighter bends slowly? I would so like one but holding off due to bad reports.
nope - It ran around both radius 2 and 3 curves without a problem, well it was slowing down a bit when I got nearer the max number of coaches , but anything would..
This is an inaccurate model, there is a large amount of well researched information available of which Hornby have not used, bogie wheel profile, gap between the running plate and the boiler the incorrect brake shoes and hangers why Hornby keep painting pipe work is very poor. Sorry I am being negative but this a massive missed opportunity from Hornby. Along with the lamps being far out of scale and no option to close couple the tender and the horrid thickness of the tender sides etc etc.
If no one cares then we get poor quality models like this, compare the new Hornby Black Five to the standard achieved by Accurascale with the Manor Class, properly researched by people and a company that do care about the end product. Hornby continually built up this Black Five during its development I spoke with some of the development team at a couple of shows, it has to be said that they have not delivered an accurate model by current industry standards at all. Sorry if you don’t like my negative comments Hornby have more competition than ever and they need to do better or they will fail as a business this is being played out in front of all modellers and the the industry as a whole and Hornby is still an unprofitable company.
Sorry, It's not that I don't agree as such, it's just I'm not really too worried. (Totally agree with your comments about Accurascale / Hornby not being profitable etc). However, for me I can appreciate this model for what it is. There will always be detractors, as I'm sure some will argue Accurascale got it wrong in some way with the Manor, Indeed Railway Modeller reviewing the Black 5 criticised the Regulator lever as being from a Coronation Princess loco, But looking at a real Black 5 at Locomotion Museum, it has the same regulator lever as this model... Its still the best black 5 there is and I'm happy with it. For me Accurascale are boring and playing safe with their locos, a Gwr 4-6-0 / a Class 60 or 37....zzzzz. 😴. However I applauded them for their Chaldron's and bought 3 boxes.... We are all different and enjoy different aspects of this hobby...
I agree , and thanks for the feedback - It's a learning curve and I'm just doing it for fun...try it sometime - must admit it makes you realise how good some of the other RU-vidrs are out there
