LNER Coronation Stock

[zr2498]

42 minutes ago, Ollie K said:

From an owner’s perspective how are the GAM Coronation coaches? Never seen any in the flesh, presume they are stunning.
 

Heard they had running problems when reviewed but have never seen any on a layout to verify that.

I haven't seen the Hornby coaches in the flesh to make a direct comparison, but I can say that the GAM coaches are superb, especially the quality of construction, the paint finish and glazing. Of course they are all brass so significantly different construction. The internals are represented, but I dare say not to the level of colour and patterning that Hornby have indicated.

Hornby do have the coach lighting, unlike GAM who do not, so that might be more important. Hornby have also tackled the corridor connections reasonably well, especially with a radius 2 specification, whereas GAM handles no less than 32" radius (30" at a push).

There was an issue with them running. Far too much drag on the wheelsets and resistance at the boggie rotation. So a GAM locomotive could not haul a set of it's own!

I did a modification as described here, half way down page 4:

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/40088-golden-age/page/4/

 

I shouldn't have had to do this, but was determined after such an expenditure. Now running fine, but still have it on mind to retact the buffers a little to avoid the possibility of buffer locking.

 

Now I have had another look at the modification I did, I did add this note:

 

 

So I will probably have to do something with the Hornby 'Empire of India' to improve traction.

 

Note that if the Hornby and GAM coaches had both been available at the time, I may well have gone for the cheaper option. Albeit, I would like to have seen a review of them first.

[DougN]

As an aside, all 5 of the coronation locomotives can be achieved from the renaming and numbering of the Empire of India (1928 tender, flat backed) and the Commonwealth of Australia (Curved back Tender). I have renamed and numbered mine with an Empire of India becoming Union of South Africa. I did manage to get a Hornby Dublo Dominion of Canada when Rails were selling them off cheap however the new tender coupling had lost one of the contacts which I am part way through rebuilding. Therefore it never ran! I did try the loco with a tender from Empire of India which did run nicely. The fix is to use a piece of 1/16 wide phosphor bronze strip to replace the broken contact. An incredibly fiddly process which I am only part way through!

 

 

[zr2498]

5 hours ago, DougN said:

As an aside, all 5 of the coronation locomotives can be achieved from the renaming and numbering of the Empire of India (1928 tender, flat backed) and the Commonwealth of Australia (Curved back Tender). I have renamed and numbered mine with an Empire of India becoming Union of South Africa. I did manage to get a Hornby Dublo Dominion of Canada when Rails were selling them off cheap however the new tender coupling had lost one of the contacts which I am part way through rebuilding. Therefore it never ran! I did try the loco with a tender from Empire of India which did run nicely. The fix is to use a piece of 1/16 wide phosphor bronze strip to replace the broken contact. An incredibly fiddly process which I am only part way through!

 

 

Thanks for the info. I assume the Dominion of Canada had to loose the bell on the front?

[DougN]

28 minutes ago, zr2498 said:

Thanks for the info. I assume the Dominion of Canada had to loose the bell on the front?

Yes it certainly did. I suspect that some one like Fox transfers sells the Bell and frame also if you did want to use a "Empire of India" to rename/number. 

 

 

[Golden Eagle]

7 hours ago, DougN said:

As an aside, all 5 of the coronation locomotives can be achieved from the renaming and numbering of the Empire of India (1928 tender, flat backed) and the Commonwealth of Australia (Curved back Tender). I have renamed and numbered mine with an Empire of India becoming Union of South Africa.

This is very much on my “to do list”, but I haven’t yet been bold enough to start taking the crest and numbers off…any tips on how best to do this without damaging the underlying paint?

[DougN]

14 hours ago, Golden Eagle said:

This is very much on my “to do list”, but I haven’t yet been bold enough to start taking the crest and numbers off…any tips on how best to do this without damaging the underlying paint?

 a very sharp scalpel, steady hand! I found that the silver that Hornby used is quite a top surface over the underlying blue. therefore carefully they can be scratched off with just the tip and very little pressure. the good thing is the new numbers from Fox (the ones I used) practically cover the old number location. The only down side is the buffer beam numbers from Hornby are slightly smaller than the new fox transfers so all the numbers need to be changed  on the beam. Fox also supply the coats of arms which are very nice and also cover the previous space very well. 

 

I found this really enjoyable to do as the Empire of India to Union of South Africa was really a present to myself for finishing a major project at work. It was a nice 2 hours of gentle easy modelling. 

[Golden Eagle]

7 hours ago, DougN said:

 a very sharp scalpel, steady hand! I found that the silver that Hornby used is quite a top surface over the underlying blue. therefore carefully they can be scratched off with just the tip and very little pressure. the good thing is the new numbers from Fox (the ones I used) practically cover the old number location. The only down side is the buffer beam numbers from Hornby are slightly smaller than the new fox transfers so all the numbers need to be changed  on the beam. Fox also supply the coats of arms which are very nice and also cover the previous space very well. 

 

I found this really enjoyable to do as the Empire of India to Union of South Africa was really a present to myself for finishing a major project at work. It was a nice 2 hours of gentle easy modelling. 

Very reassuring! Much appreciated.

[micklner]

8 hours ago, DougN said:

 a very sharp scalpel, steady hand! I found that the silver that Hornby used is quite a top surface over the underlying blue. therefore carefully they can be scratched off with just the tip and very little pressure. the good thing is the new numbers from Fox (the ones I used) practically cover the old number location. The only down side is the buffer beam numbers from Hornby are slightly smaller than the new fox transfers so all the numbers need to be changed  on the beam. Fox also supply the coats of arms which are very nice and also cover the previous space very well. 

 

I found this really enjoyable to do as the Empire of India to Union of South Africa was really a present to myself for finishing a major project at work. It was a nice 2 hours of gentle easy modelling. 

Use a new curved Swan Morton Number 10 Blade, and gently brush the blade over the item to be removed until all its all gone, do not rush .

 

Never ever use a pointed blade.

Edited October 2 by micklner

[Michael Hodgson]

On 03/08/2024 at 13:02, PeterStiles said:

I've normally found getting roofs off coaches reasonably easy, many people expect to be able to populate their coaches with people. My wife always frowned at trains going round a layout with empty coaches.

She obviously doesn't remember the good old days when they were run by BR.

[1471SirFrederickBanbury]

On 30/09/2024 at 13:18, zr2498 said:

Just ordered A4 'Empire of India' in blue to go with a set of Coronation coaches. Not sure why I hadn't done that before.

 

 

Guess the blues won't match, but I won't get the 'blues' about that. 🙂

 

 

Mallard will go with the dynamometer car, and the reduced set of coaches.

 

 

Well done Hornby for having a go at producing the Coronation set. And at 25% of the cost of GAM (ignoring 10 years of inflation), and capable of running on train set curves unlike the GAM.

Just hope the Hornby loco can pull the GM heavyweights?

and at least Hornby got the bufferbeam valances (especially with that messing up the hole running board height and profile), the whistle valve, and the nameplate positioning.  Both have second rate wheels though.  Ignorance wasn't bliss, and I'm glad I know now how much work is needed to get what I want out of a 4mm scale A4.

[Tiddles47]

Hi all,  Had confirmation from Hornby that the coaches will be here at the end of the month.. the wait is finally over! 

[JaymzHatstand]

16 hours ago, Tiddles47 said:

Hi all,  Had confirmation from Hornby that the coaches will be here at the end of the month.. the wait is finally over! 

 Is that all of them, or just the obbo as suggested further up the thread?

 

This could prove to be quite challenging financially in the weeks before Christmas!

 

Cheers

 

J

[Tiddles47]

1 hour ago, JaymzHatstand said:

 Is that all of them, or just the obbo as suggested further up the thread?

 

This could prove to be quite challenging financially in the weeks before Christmas!

 

Cheers

 

J

All of them!!

[K Hatton]

I've just got off the phone with a lovely lady at Hornbys customer support team.

 

Unfortunately I am out of the country for the last 2 weeks of October (and don't want to miss the payment window) however she advised that when the items are in stock Hornby will send an email to advise if payment details need updating and will hold pre-orders for 14 days.

 

She could not give an exact date (understandably) but did say "if they arrive *as expected* I should still be within the 14 day holding window when I return" (1st November)

 

I'm guessing by this they expect them the last week of the month (obviously subject to any last minute changes/delays etc).

 

I guess the only problem I have now is finding somewhere long enough to keep them all with an A4 on the front 🤔😂 (rough maths of 30cm per coach/loco)=300cm or just under 10ft!

Edited October 11 by K Hatton

[Markeg]

"I guess the only problem I have now is finding somewhere long enough to keep them all with an A4 on the front 🤔😂 (rough maths of 30cm per coach/loco)=300cm or just under 10ft!" 

 

A Coronation twin coach set is aproxiamately 460mm, Observation coach 260apx and add A4 Loco 300mm, This equates to 2400mm apx, around 8'.

So you will have room.  I have a Mailcoach set.

 

Mark

[K Hatton]

5 hours ago, Markeg said:

"I guess the only problem I have now is finding somewhere long enough to keep them all with an A4 on the front 🤔😂 (rough maths of 30cm per coach/loco)=300cm or just under 10ft!" 

 

A Coronation twin coach set is aproxiamately 460mm, Observation coach 260apx and add A4 Loco 300mm, This equates to 2400mm apx, around 8'.

So you will have room.  I have a Mailcoach set.

 

Mark

Thanks for that info, I based my (as stated 'rough') maths on 9 standard coaches + loco.

[gary_lner]

For anyone attending the great electric train show today. Check out making tracks as they have the coronation coaches running on the layout. They did look pretty good running around.

[Ollie K]

Looks like Sam the chap who designed the model CAD is on the Hornby stand with decorated samples too. Can’t make it along this weekend but was hoping someone who’s looking forward to the Coronation rake would get a chance to see them up close. 

[adb968008]

Tbh this looked amazing…

 

 

look at the detail inside the observation car…

 

 

[micklner]

Chrome Strips thickness, plus Roof/Side  Joins on Coach A  at each end  ??

 

Nicely painted.

Edited Sunday at 18:43 by micklner

[gwrrob]

The Hornby stand didn't have the full length formation due to space constraints but it was seen in it's entirety on the Making Tracks layout.

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

If the Coronations is a success, maybe a Silver Jubilee set !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

manna

[Tiddles47]

11 minutes ago, manna said:

G'Day Folks

 

If the Coronations is a success, maybe a Silver Jubilee set !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

manna

Or even a West Riding?! :p 

[manna]

6 minutes ago, Tiddles47 said:

Or even a West Riding?! :p 

Fingers crossed, they've got the basics.

 

manna

[RyanN91]

3 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Tbh this looked amazing…

 

 

look at the detail inside the observation car…

 

 

They look fantastic! Especially the fabric upholstery in the observation car! Not only do we now know that the beautiful LNER Coronation coaches are due at the end of the month! We also know for those unfortunately unable to attend and seeing these photos for first time that the Flirt 3s/4s are due in January 2025! Instead of the estimate Winter 2024 2025!