Hornby R2329M Thames-Clyde Express "Dornoch Firth" : Donation Overhaul

Toby who sent me the Hornby 9F and Jouef 29 a while back asked if I would like to have this Britannia Class "Dornoch Firth" as a donation!
Thanks very much to Toby for this very generous gift.
You can see the 9F video here • Hornby R2016 BR Class ...
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[@Eddie-Earth]

Lovely to see my ‘Arnold Sands’, ‘Scarwood’ and BR ‘Railfreight’ wagons running on your layout Bill!

[@johnstephens649]

Saw a Britannia on a FB Group as a non-runner for £20. Missed out and wish I had been quicker as they are very graceful looking locos!

[@charlie1872]

What a generous donation and a lovely set. Lucky boy Bill

[@ianp45]

That set was factory weathered,I have the same set ,bought brand new from a well known shop in Sheffield.

[@medwaymodelrailway7129]

Enjoyed your latest video Keith thanks for sharing DD.

[@wamgoc]

Love your videos, which give us great confidence that virtually any problem is repairable and that sometimes, just a good clean up, is all that's needed, to give a non-running loco, a new lease of life! Thanks so much!

[@johndrew3202]

Interesting about the rods movement, I have a Clan loco 72000 which keeps bending its rods as it goes round the layout in 1 direction. All my curves are more than 2 rad. Will check the clearances on the pins. Also good tip about the wiper pick-ups on the tender and the Milliput plastic, thanks for all your ideas and tips.

[@bernardshieldstysonfive1009]

Hi Bill brilliant video again very nice looking locomotive looking forward to your layout update you have a very nice layout and I like the way you make your trees keep up the good work and videos Bernard

[@paulnewnes1921]

When we were kids we used to cycle out to a little village near us each evening to watch the Grimsby to London Fish trains which always had either a Brit or 9F on them. Immingham had 6 Brits for this purpose consequently have always been my favourite Locos. I've actually got that particular set you have been given and it does come factory weathered which as you say has been subtley applied. Lovely Loco.

[@HarrisHandle]

Hi, that Britannia loco looks very nice

[@timgray3491]

Great locomotive that one Bill, enjoyed the video, thanks Bill

[@charlie1872]

The layout looks great and I share the same feelings about changing/rebuilding but I have never gotten around to it. Life gets in the way and I always seem to have challenges around the layout. My layout occupies the whole room and I made the mistake of not including a lift out section and I must crawl under the table. Your new plan looks great but like yourself I have thought about installing a turntable but I don’t have the space; I have three loops in each direction at one end so that will need to suffice as a fiddle yard. I like the crossovers as this provides additional routing. Good luck with this project and I look forward to following your progress

[@BrianSanders-tn7pi]

Hi Bill. May I suggest using plasticard rather than Miliput. It will bond better. Lovely loco, what a gift.

[@gerardburton3741]

Hi Bill, I think the wheels are from the missing coach. You are right about the coach without the crest not being from this set. It should have 1 brake and 2 composite coaches. But still a wonderful gift.

[@peterm7548]

Don't forget to put on the wheels! Great video of one of my all time favourite Hornby locos. My pride and joy when I was a boy was my Hornby Britannia - it even had Synchrosmoke! Now that I'm bigger I've got two on my layout: "Oliver Cromwell" from the Hornby 15 Guinea Special train pack and "William Shakespeare" for my 1950s Golden Arrow train.

[@beeble2003]

Always seems strange to me that they named a locomotive after Oliver Cromwell...

[@peterm7548]

@@beeble2003 The Britannia class was named on the suggestion of Bishop Eric Treacy who was a celebrated railway photographer in the 1950s as well as a bishop! I cant account for the selection of each name but in 1948 the BR Locomotives Naming Committee decided that the class would be named after celebrated British historical figures, ex-GWR Star Class locos and Scottish Firths as in the loco Bill has serviced here.

[@beeble2003]

@@peterm7548 Yeah, just seems strange to name a locomotive after somebody who, ultimately, was a failed revolutionary.

[@derickl436]

Britannia’s are lovely looking, but I always had a thing about tender driven locos. Maybe one day…

[@gordanmilne7034]

Another great video bill, I think some charity shops would be very grateful for any donations to sell on.

[@michaeldavies9600]

Nice job Bill well done :)

[@russellbenton2987]

Nice one . Dornoch Firth is one of the last series of Britannias with a bigger tender . Never know what they are called but maybe a BR1F . Hornby haven’t produced too many of these , so it’s quite unusual . Really nice loco though

[@dansmodelrailways7886]

You’d be surprised how much current a wheel with a tyre actually picks up. I have, as an experiment in the past wired one of those types of tender to be ‘self contained’ and it ran lovely. Just stalling on points

[@jorodo299]

Lovely looking engine. Seems quite late for a tender driven loco - wonder if it was one of the last such models that Hornby brought out? (A very generous gift but I suspect it was at least partly due to the donator wanting to hear 'Dornoch' pronounced correctly).

[@robstrains8711]

Black gears are 3 pole grey are 5 pole pretty sure they changed in the 90s. This is also a weird one because I am sure this should be a loco drive motor going by the product code.

[@kitchenhamfarm]

Good stuff bill have you ever attempted to fit a flicker fire box to any of your steamers...................tony

[@oobill]

No. I don't think it would really be worth the trouble. I have a glowing firebox in my Caley 812 and you can hardly see it with the crew in.

[@johngibson4641]

Hi Bill ,, What is the stuff called that you kneeded together with your fingers to fix the break in the body. Is it lilliputt or milliputt you were calling it. By the looks of how you prepared it by rollin it around with your fingers reminds me of a radiator/petrol tank goup type of hole fixer to plug holes in them. Thanks in advance m8. Cheers from John in Australia.

[@donsharpe5786]

I noted your coaches were close coupled. Did they have the big Hornby D couplings on them. If so how did you fit the magnetic couplings on them.

[@JanjyGiggins]

I've got a second-hand Hornby Coronation from 2012 that's been giving me similar problems with too much play in the wheels and rods. The rods bend incredibly easily. The slightest knock - even just going into a tight turn at not quite the right angle - and they start clicking against each other. I've even had them lock up entirely a few times. So I'm looking forward to seeing how you sort yours out.

[@oobill]

This is probably the worst case I've seen so I will be looking into it soon. Along with why the motor is so loud.

[@pierslindley]

What a lovely locomotive. I cannot understand why Hornby abandoned swivelling bogies in favour of fixed ones?

[@dj_efk]

Cost!

[@nicholasbishop3300]

Runs lovely for a ring field motor Bill Nice loco Nick Australia

[@tonypetts6663]

I was thinking it's the best running ringfield loco I've seen in a long time, I also didn't think the whine was that loud at all.

[@CustomiZe_]

If you manage to find a way of making it quieter, let me know as my 9f has the same motor setup and it whines a lot as well.

[@kevinludlow7561]

Another great video, as you said a more up to date Ringfield configuration, was it a five pole motor I've heard that Hornby produced some?

[@oobill]

It's a 5 pole. And yet it performs no better than some older 3 pole ringfields.

[@hotdogpilot6319]

Grey gears usually means a 5 pole motor. Andy

[@fossil9559]

Another fantastic film Bill, what magnetic couplings are you using on the coaches ?

[@oobill]

Just cheap ones on ebay from Porter House models. I just glue them on without using NEM pockets.

[@peternorris6438]

Need that loft layout for more space

[@oobill]

More on that in next video....

[@hughoconnor9172]

I guess assembly is done by half a dozen people and they don't have to do everything like you had to!

[@beeble2003]

I suppose you're more likely to need extra pick-ups when the locomotive is going across points, and the flanges are more likely to be in contact with the rails while going through points. But I agree that those flange pick-ups seem more like wishful thinking than anything else.

[@simonturner5450]

Interesting video as ever Bill, you could change the number to 70051 Firth of Forth if you wanted to be a little more local. Silver Tay Models do the numbers on eBay.

[@charlesemerson6763]

Apart from that annoying whine that was pretty good mover for an old Britannia.