very good look at what is a very overlooked thing, in my humble opinion for the price of that model a set of non traction fitted wheels should be standard in the box,
Hello a great video, thanks for sharing. I have removed the traction tyre axle and relaced it as per your video. Happy that I can now run my Javelin and not have to worry about the cleaning the track after use
I’ve Never liked traction tyres avoid them like the plague all they do is dirty the track since I stopped running them no issues with dirty track thanks for the advice how to get rid of them cheers Al
Hey Eugene, great video as always! Unfortunately, I had a similar issue with a Hornby Pendolino. It was so frustrating that I ended up selling it and using the money to buy another train. The problem was that the powered bogie kept derailing with even the slightest change in acceleration. I tried changing the traction tyres, but that didn't help. I also swapped the wheels for regular ones like you did, but that just made the train slower and it struggled to get moving, especially with more than 4 cars; as it ceased to accelerate altogether then. I didn't bother trying to convert it to DCC because I felt it would be a waste of time and effort. It's a shame because I really liked the Pendolino from my childhood, but Hornby's attempt at it was disappointing. The model's performance is seriously lacking, and as such I don't think it should be sold in its current condition. Hopefully, some other model maker will give it a shot and do a better job with an OO gauge Pendolino in the future. As I would really like to have a Pendolino that works and doesn't ruin my track condtion.
Yeah, I returned my Pendolino to Hornby due to de-railing issues and they claim to have swapped out the wheels. The TTs cause shorts on my Peco Express points so they have to go and then it's a question of what sort of top speed can be achieved. Agree this model doesn't do justice to what is such a popular train. Hornby would appear to have the market for modern image trains like this all to themselves - for 00 gauge anyway.
If you want the correct scale speed of 140mph id recommend swapping out the power bogie for a 1st gen pendolino or eurostar one. I did this & removed the tt’s and got a max scale of 190mph. Its a decent motor as i can run an 11 car pendo with 1 bogie comfortably @125 scale ( although doesn’t like inclines 😂 )
Hi, thanks for that. Yeah, I've been contemplating that one. The Eurostar is a much more powerful motor alright. Next up I want to sort the Pendolino and then add lighting to the Eurostar which I've already removed the TTs on.
Hi Eugene. Another great video my friend. Just as a thought here. I wonder if adding a powered truck on the non powered driving car would add more traction? Just a thought mate. Meanwhile I have been gorging on retro trains and train sets as of late so I started with the R825 Tunnel Freight. A masterpiece of a train set.
Thanks for that. A second power car would fix the 6-car slow down for sure but I'm not sure it would fix the top speed. As some folks have suggested in the comments, swapping the power bogie for that from a Eurostar for example might do the trick. I'm actually Ok with the current speed level for normal running. The Pendolino is a problem for me so I need to fix that. That Tunnel Freight Set was a nice set. I've nearly been tempted with some 40+ year old sets recently that were in great nick. May revisit when I clear my current backlog of videos.
Great video! On the subject of upgrading your Pendolino wheels to get rid of the tyres, I have seen this done on another channel, the main issue was slipping when the complete set is run. It looked a bit complicated for me as instead of changing the whole axle he changed the individual wheel. Looking forward to seeing your results and how you plan to do it. 👍
Thanks Stephen. I realise I'm going to have challenges with the Pendolino and additional weight in the power car will likely be required for more prototypical rakes and top speed will have to be traded off. Quite a few people have derailment problems with this model at higher speeds so the trade-off on speed will be less of an issue. It will be interesting to see the data from this modelling "experiment".
I did the same thing with mine although I did add a bit of weight,I wish Hornby would redo this model and the Pendolino with a decent chassis as they’ve done with the hsts
Yeah, I was intending to add some weight until I looked at the numbers though it would probably help the 6-car performance a bit. Agree on the need to redo those models. They're Railroad level with lights at the moment.
I presume then that the wheel set with traction tyres has pick ups fitted - otherwise it couldn't possibly make a difference. Strange for them to do that, but good luck for you that they did!
I'm surprised you've had no issues with wheelspin, I've got an older version of this "Sir Chris Hoy" on DCC and I have to be really delicate about getting it going or it just wheelspins. It tends to start slowing and wheelspinning after a few minutes of running too which I don't really understand. My track/wheels are clean, the rake of coaches run very nicely, and I get the same result with or without extra weights. I'm only running the standard 4 car set on a flat layout. Its a bit tricky since you've not had the same problem but wondered if you might have any ideas whats behind it?
Great video but a shame you should have to go down the DIY route to make your model better to run. I’ve all but given up on Hornby now. Looking forward to the class 70 video looks like a great livery and model especially with sound 👍
Good question and I intend to find out as I really need to get the TTs off my own Pendolino. I have a backlog of 3-4 reviews to complete right now but the Pendolino is in my sights.
Hi, I'll be doing this to my Avanti in the next few weeks and posting a video on it in Feb. It's not the same direct swap as the Class 395 - work is needed to replace the wheels on the drive axles. I'll cover this in the video.
Yes, I was of a mind this would be part of the process but once I got the results without it I held off. The motor on this set appears to be underpowered so added weight would require some fine tuning to balance any tractive benefits versus the load impact. If operating on inclines you'd probably have no choice but to take a hot on top speed in order to have sufficient weight in power car to negotiate an incline without slipping.
Hi Eugene, I have got three class 395's - the one you've got, the white 'London Olympics' one and the 'City Express' one. So this was a helpful video for me! If you get the Bachmann S-Stock Train, they include a spare set of traction tyres which are required for running on inclines. If you remove the reaction tyres from Hornby trains, you usually find that the train will skid going around a 2nd radius curve at a slow speed, and won't tackle inclines as you say. I think traction tyres are for people with small train set type layouts and not people with larger layouts like you. Quite a lot of Hornby's customers still run those traditional kinds of layouts with inclined piers. Thanks for uploading. See the S-stock in action here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XtZMy9Goqr4.html If you are prepared to make the financial sacrifice required to add this model to your collection, click here! www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/models/s-stock-four-car-set-2022
Yeah, I think Hornby are still thinking of those older layouts. I've had an interest in the S-stock but the price is so crazy at £595 with no sound. They were going for a more reasonable £339 back in 2019 so that's a huge hike in 4 years. Just sorry I didn't take the plunge then.
