Well I have to say that I'm moderately impressed with the Hornby 31 - at least with the blue version. Never was a big 'skinhead' fan, so these comments are aimed purely and simply at the banger blue model which has been trundling around my layout for the last hour or so.
Firstly it runs beautifully, silky smooth, more so after fitting a Lenz Gold decoder. Prior to that starting and stopping were a tad 'sudden' but the back-emf feature of the Gold decoder has certainly improved matters. I'd have preferred a heavier loco, which would have been perfectly feasible had Hornby not persisted with their working fan. Eliminating that might also have allowed easier decoder location - I'm not all together happy with the suggested (and adopted) arrangement. I'm waiting for the decoder to slip and foul up with the flywheel drive mechanism, and I'm confident it will.
I don't like the way Hornby have mounted their NEM coupler sockets. My railway uses Bachmann mini-type couplings throughout and Hornby's feeble attempt at close coupling causes more problems then it solves. The NEM socket should be mounted on the bogie where it belongs! Nothing derails on my layout except when attached to my Hornby class 50, or this new 31, which indicates that the coupler mount is the issue and nothing else. One shouldn't have to be selective about what one can, or can't tow behind a loco. I can see anyone trying to use one of these locos on sharp setrack curves having serious problems.
The front end appearance isn't quite right. Either the outer cab front windows are too deep, or too narrow. I can't make my mind up which, but one thing is for certain and that is they're not correct. I'm working here from photo comparisons and not from scale drawings, which might explain my uncertainty. Other than that I think that the model looks something like a class 31. The fine detail work is exemplary, although I have to say that some of it would have been more readily appreciated if it hadn't fallen off whilst attempting to remove the body to allow the fitting of the DCC decoder. If detail so fine is going to be provided then I believe it should be adequately secured. The sand pipes on the inner bogie ends have all now fallen off, and my eyesight is struggling to allow me to refit them. I just don't see the point in the sprung opening doors. If they can't be opened and left open, they're a waste of time.
Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't the orange decoder wire go to the pin marked '1'? If I plugged my decoder in that way round the lights wouldn't work. This harps back to the problems with the original release of class
50s. I can't believe that Hornby have got it wrong again?Finally I don't particularly like the weathering. It's certainly not the worst I've seen on a factory weathered loco, but it's still fairly naff. I've no problem with Hornby choosing to weather locos, but surely it makes more sense to leave that to a later release, giving modellers the choice (especially with the potentially most popular livery variation) of having self-weathered or ex-works condition loco(s). At least with the latter it's much easier to renumber, and as a result have the potential for buying more than one rather than have to wait for any future releases.
Overall I like the model, but think it's somewhat over-priced. The latter has certainly been an issue in the shop with a number of customers saying it's too expensive and leaving with yet another Bachmann diesel instead. I've personally bitten the price bullet with this first blue release, and much as I'd potentially like another two or three to add to my loco fleet, I'm afraid the price is a major put-off. I'm not saying I won't get more, but I'll now wait until an ex-works blue model is released. I'm buggered if I'm going to try renumbering a weathered blue loco.
John.