R1279M Hornby Network Traveller Train set review

This is the Hornby R1279m train set now on sale at £86 with a rrp of £120
Come with me abs have a look at this charmingly fun little set

[@stormbowman7148]

This type of locomotive often comes with misaligned power pickups. I have had to adjust several of the pickups so that they touch the wheels no matter what. Often, if you push a wheelset to one side, you will see that the opposite pickup loses its connection. This is a problem because the pickup becomes unstable. Adjusting the pickups carefully by bending them outwards will massively improve the running conditions of the locomotive. Mine crawls over each Insulfrog point, even Express Points. Make sure the outward angle of the pickup is the same on both sides, so the wheelsets stay in the center.

[@GreatEasternMainlineSpots]

I personally think this set is pretty decent, especially as a beginner I love the loco and the oil tanker

[@chuckmaddison2924]

Here in Western Australia this set is $ 246, and the red one at back $ 333. With one store asking $ 449.95. There is no sense in the pricing here with anything. London is a long walk . Or Cardiff.

[@Steves00gauge]

That’s madness. I’m guessing buying here and shipping doesn’t help? My ex girlfriend had a friend who moved to oz and she came back and brought her boyfriend for a trip. He said it was cheap here compared to home for lots of brands etc

[@chuckmaddison2924]

@Steves00gauge Not always, also in Western Australia I would probably need a new power pack. In the East the British should be good. What the issue is that they stuffed up here with the voltage. It should be 240-250 But we got 260 and can go higher. So 240 stuff doesn't last long.

[@DrDeep-ts4pg]

Hornby don’t have an official distributor here in Oz so I usually bring back Hornby items in my luggage when I visit my family in the UK

[@chuckmaddison2924]

@@DrDeep-ts4pg That I didn't know. I would have thought Frontline or Hobbytech would have been

[@et9233]

I was once told the tissue paper that's wraps new train sets is anti-static paper. Prevents a build of static interference with the contents inside

[@hadynmcloughlin4661]

Thanks for a great little unboxing and review - I assume this would be a great starter set to setup and get into the hobby? More track would be easy to buy and add to it?

[@Steves00gauge]

Definitely so but I would suggest for just a few £ more if you can stretch to it maybe look at the red rover set. I’ve reviewed that also and it’s often on sale and can be found for £119 now compared to its launch of £160-£180 That comes with more track etc

[@Galacticmaster]

That's what I have hated about hornby sets. True they are pretty good looking and sometimes a bargain for what they contain yet the mechanics of their trains is still 90s era. You want advanced DC or DCC working Kato shoot everyone down, even there DC is smooth.

[@monsvillerailways5736]

Looks interesting Steve. Shame about the slow running. I have the Tri-ang Hornby R. 152 version from 1969 to 1975. Doesn't run slow either. 😅

[@dutchbeef8920]

They done good here, this is an actual loco not a fantasy 0-4-0

[@markphillips5368]

Plastic wheels leave a dirty black mark on the rails, that eventually transfers to the wheels of the loco, resulting in poor running until you clean them. As you point out, it wouldn't cost a lot of money to equip all the wagons with metal wheels and do away with plastic wheels entirely.

[@Steves00gauge]

It could just be me but I find the plastic wheeled wagons derail now and again when reversing over points, maybe it’s a sighting issue but I’m no expert. I’ve bought a job lot of broken wagons that have metal wheels for £10, 12 of them so I should get a few decent metal axles out of them and they were local so I viewed them when I picked them up. To be fair they were mostly just broken buffers, missing hooks so seemed a decent deal.

[@alanthornton3654]

Its stuck cause of dirt on the tracks

[@islamacdonald575]

Out of this and the red rover, which would be bestnfor a 7 year old begginer? Any help appreciated, he loves your videos!

[@Steves00gauge]

To be honest at the current sage price of the rover set at £119 it’s a safe bet. Neither have too much delicacy in parts so won’t fall apart easily. However if you can’t get the rover at sale price the network is a safe bet. Did see it recently as low as £75

[@patrickbooth3168]

Did you use the controller that it came with ,i would try a gaugemaster controller

[@Steves00gauge]

I used my gauge master from my n gauge set.

[@BritishRail60062]

Nice set up. Price for the set should be £70 for what comes in it. I take it you didn't try putting sheets of A4 paper under the track to stop the burrs getting into the mechanism?

[@Steves00gauge]

It was in work on the floor around 40 mins or so and was already recorded. Then it went onto the layout at home, this is the same footage as the short.

[@BritishRail60062]

@@Steves00gauge No problem mate, Its just that I didn't want the burrs to clog the driveline for the price they cost mate :). On some models I have bought in the past, I had to teardown the chassis to get all the dust and fluff that gets jammed in them is shocking but 40 mints like you do should be fine. Sadly this Jinty I have in parts tells a different story. It's from 1987 so its been around a bit.

[@ollychap1985]

Your right hornby train sets always used too come with 2rd radius curves Not great that the locomotive doesn’t run that good. I think sadly Hornby has very bad quality these days I have the same loco but as a railroad separate loco and it runs no problems .do you have a gaugemaster controller they give you much better running

[@Steves00gauge]

The layout is run on an old skool Hornby one that’s worked great for years, not a fan of the newer ones but I do have a Gaugemaster one with my n gauge set I could use to see if it’s different

[@ollychap1985]

@@Steves00gauge I’ve found I get much better running with the gaugemaster. One thing to check with your loco is do all four wheels pick up power.a good test is a pp3 9 volt battery. I always clean the wheels on new locos it’s surprising how dirty they are sometimes

[@antonypavey8497]

Get your money back, that performance is poor

[@jokic_dynamic]

It’s the controller I have the same engine runs better on better controllers