Now that Rapido have released the APT-E it makes these models even rarer in that the "E" never carried passengers and was only seen by the most determined Cruncher in real life. I share your affinity for the "Underdog" APT-P, having seen them at Euston during their all-too-short service, stitched up by hungover Hacks and rushed introduction. Thank you for highlighting the pickup issue with this model; something to be addressed for anyone wanting to run it regularly.
Nice, I've always had a soft spot for these. Growing up in Australia I obviously never got to see it, but it was a common sight in railway books I got to read. I'd look at replacing the entire motor car mechanism with something more modern and a little heavier. I have a Lima XPT model (which is basically a HST) and it's mechanism is terrible out of the box but you can see common features in the model design and construction.
I was not going to gave any overhead electric traction on my layout as I don't want to faf around with OHLE but I might just have ignore that omission to get myself one of these sets! They still are the best looking train ever made!
I wasn't sure if I'd watch this series at first, but I'm hooked now! The APT project did not deserve its fate as it did amazingly well for what it cost. I'm sure though that this time round, this remarkable train gets paid her due, with lots of tlc from Crewe works. Maybe the attention from you will help her big sister too.
Fantastic video, Craig! I can't wait to see how this one pans out. I love the APT too - sad that she didn't ever get a proper chance, although can you imagine how things would've turned out if the project had been a success? APT in Virgin livery, anyone?
She most assuredly is and forever will be a classic... Adore that classic livery and almost art deco design... Definitely one of my favorite locos because of the sheer history and retro essence...
A really interesting description of a classic British train. I find the story of APT fascinating. Thanks for providing such a detailed and informative video.
Super video. The APT is my favourite train and one that I would have loved to have seen in service and had a go at driving. As I was only about 4 when they were trailed I had no chance but they still look modern and sleek to me even in the present day. Always wanted the Hornby model as a kid!
Only just seen your video which is very interesting. You were mentioning the lights... On a train there are tail lights, headlights and marker lights at each end. In normal running, the tail lights are illuminated at the rear of the train so, in days when there were signal boxes along the line, the signaller could see that a train had cleared the section complete with tail lamp, thereby proving that the train had not divided in the previous section. Again, in normal running, at the front of the train, the marker lights are always illuminated but as for the headlights, there is only one headlight illuminated at a time. When viewed from the driver’s seat, the left headlight is the night headlight, enabling the driver to see signal identification plates in the dark, and the right headlight is the day headlight. Newer trains however, appear to have both headlights illuminated when driving forward. When driving in depots, sidings and yards, only the marker lights are used.
Hello. I have a Hornby APT set. when I first got it, it did the same things as yours. Very frustrating. I have done a huge amount of work on it and have overcome the lack of traction. This was done by casting a lead block to fit in the well of the power car. This helped but I decided to get another power car. After I did the same to that one the train worked very well. The lack of flex in the bogies is a problem if the track isn't perfect. I used soldered flexi track with no joins. I have since fitted A Hornby pantograph to my second power car so it picks up the power from my live overhead. It also provides power to the other power car via the cable on the roof. I have A video of it on my layout. Stick at it as once its working its breath-taking to watch. all the best. Craig.
hi me and my girlfriend are part of the APT-E support group that are costodian of the it. We are cosmeticly restoring it. If you would like a tour the the hole train we can arrange it with a few days notice. Thanks. Simon and Mel
maybe next time your up there ask the theiving c****s were the £5,000 they stole from us is ? and the apt-e models from rapido they stole from us ? and what about the thousands in damage they have caused to it aswell ? NRM = a bunch of thieves obsest with stealing from anyone to pay for Scotsman
They actually built 6 units for the Class 370, they were setup similar to the Class 373 in that a trainset was essentially 2 units coupled back to back, in the APT's case power car to power car. I love these units, its a damn shame how the Class 370's ended.
AshHill07 I'm pretty sure only three were put into revenue earning service, though. It is indeed a great shame what happened to the real thing, but at least this OO gauge cousin is going to be showered with love and attention to get her right as rain, again. Thanks for the comment.
InterCity82 Unfortunately those who designed her weren't railroaders, they were mechanical engineers too geeky to comprehend weather, or simple plumbing and HVAC engineering. I blame the government and the brass of BR for placing in charge non railroad engineers for all of the engineering errors. The politicians pulled the plug when it became known water froze within systems without proper drainage. This is plumbing 101, not rocket science.
Another great IC82 series. Nice to see or rather hear Craig taking the lead. Keep up the good work looking forward to rest of the series. Express models have some interesting micro plug connectors that could be used between coaches.
Greg Pegg Indeed! This is totally Craig's thing. I help with editing, graphics, thumbnail creation and filming but the rest, including how he's gonna connect all those coaches together, is down to Craig.
I had heard of it but didn't know what happened to it. It still more advanced than anything we have in the states now. The sad part is that the computers we have now could have worked out a lot of the engineering issues like acceleration, breaking, and the dizziness. They were short sighted. She's a beauty.
Interesting video! I think the APT came ahead of its time, its a shame that the project became so mismanaged. It'll be interesting to see the result of this one since Craig did such a good job on the Class 91! Good luck! Thanks for sharing! Joe.
Hello Will / Gareth. If you look back at the footage of the real APT-P and then look closely at the model you will see your model is a replica of the APT-P at the Crewe Heritage Site.
At the age of 5, my dad took me to the model railway shop in Sutton in Ashfield for my first train set. I had the option between the HST and the APT-P. I chose the HST, I wish now I'd got the APT-P.
Great video 😎 Fascinating to hear mention of the Ringfield motor... I remember when they were new out and a quantum leap in smoothness after the older motors, which were particularly hopeless at low speeds. It was kind of 0-30 in zero feet! ;-)
I love Crewe heritage centre it's my favourite place round my area and all I need to do is get a train from Liverpool lime street. Can't wait for Christmas because they are opening it up for two weekends!
Fantastic review. .The u.k were way ahead on the apt...then thew it all away shame ... I canot believe there has been no other model of this other then the old hornby one..... Bachmann or Hornby need to make a new model of this as many people would buy it as it's a very unique train. Jim
I’ve just seen this... Firstly you had the pantograph on the wrong way around. There’s a location slot in the pantograph socket and a blade on the square pin on top of the motor. Secondly it looks like your power car has either lost its traction tyres or they’ve become too hard to give you traction. The heavy die cast bogies + tyres usually give very good tractive effort from the standard Hornsby ring field motor.
Thank you for this video. I knew of the APT from watching TV shows here in the US, I learned some from your history. Bit of a bummer about the issues you encountered on the model, but for a 30 year old train it does have potential. Thanks again, Chuck
Great intro to the APT and wish the Government of the day and BR had more patience to allow the team to produce the APT without rushing things. We could have had the WCML on full APT running. This would have been great for British Train Industry for years and would have led to more innovation.
Should have mentioned the fact that the journalists were sick because they had consumed lots of alcohol and food that BR had given away to them for free before the trip.
Great video Craig. Pity that the tales of motion sickness were actually told by journalists who had spent the night before their trip drinking heavily. 😢
George Docherty Maybe so for the journalists' voyage. But there were other incidents of the tilting mechanism freezing with the train fully tilted, not a very comfortable ride for anyone aboard. Engineers are supposed to dazzle us with their brilliance, not baffle us with BS.
When is the next part coming out? I love the apt and I am trying to make a better tilt system for it for my crest award at school. Please carry on with this series. Ps do you know where I can get a cheap Hornby apt I had a look on eBay I and I found one for £150 but it's a bit out of my price range.
Hi, for the interiors i painted the 2nd class seating railmatch exec light grey and printed a scaled down version of the seat covers onto peelable sticky paper, i also did the same with 1st class only the seats were painted a blue to match the colour of 1 st class. If you ever need to see the real version drop me a message as i'm the person who's in charge and does the main resto work on the one at Crewe, my name is Brian Porter. Good video by the way !
Looking forward to the work to restore good running i will be watching closley and hopefully get some good advice on getting my own apt back to good running order a parts list of spares used would be awesome also a list of parts suppliers would be very helpfull keep up the good work
Great video, especially the shots of the real thing. I think the Hornby model is very good when you consider it was made as an affordable train set item. The tilt mechanism works well and the whole train will negotiate a 10.5 inch radius curve. NP
mak4minecraft You can see Hornby at that time put a lot of thought into her, but maybe not enough. She is definitely not up to today's modeling standards concerning detailing. It will be interesting to watch how they install the interior lighting for DCC control. One assumes there will be wiring harnessing between coaches. This is going to be a tough project.
I wonder whether anything has happened to the model since this video. Hornby obviously released a new APT in 2020, so what’s happened to this model I wonder.
Really interesting and well made video. Looking forward to seeing the APT develop over the coming weeks. As for the seat covers, could you not make your own tartan stickers/decals?
Paddy Coleman Probably better to just pain the chairs better with one color, but pasting tartan paper print outs maybe possible with a laser printer at such a small scale.
Hi Will I love your channel, but will you please ask Craig when he is going to do the second part of the APT project, because I have two and would like to bring them up to date.
Hi Will When oh when will you do the second part of the APT story, I have seemed to have waited such a long time for yo to finish it off. I have two APT's and both fail to run on DCC on the track , but on my test track the power car runs fine. So please please do the second video then I can copy you efforts. kind regards John
I remember when this was released by hornby. It was amazing. Remember things are more advanced now how they make them. So you shouldn't knock the detail. It was advanced for the 80's.
On kick start I think that's what its called there's petition to get a 9car pendolino that tilts if you join it buy paying a sum of money you might get one and its N gage
+Highspeedline01 The power cars (yes they were called power cars despite being in the centre of the train) did tilt and there were special mechanisms developed to keep the pantographs level when the cars were tilted.
