Well built and detailed piece. Comes with LOTS of super detail parts you must add, chains for the tender etc. Ran well and with the larger oval speakers that where put in sounds very well.
PROBLEMS: Pilot truck needs some more tension, climbs points very easy. The funky Euro coupler on the pilot was a bit of a pain to get off. The biggest thing was NO PAPERWORK as to where the detail parts went. I am using prototype pictures to locate them.
For the money it is a good addition to the collection. Comparing it to the Atherns CHallenger and Big Boy they are all on equal truff since they have been modified with the Tsunami. Out of the box before surgery the Hornby is a better unit.
You’re not the first person to complain that the new Hornby models come with no documentation. Have you checked Hornby’s web site to see if the documentation is online as a .PDF file?
AND Called them got the great runaround. Asked about the OLD paperwork that came with the first run from Rivarossi and was told that they wher all DESTROYED since they had bought the company. All I said was that was DUMB!
I am looking for drawings and such if this engine #1629 to get the real loction of these parts.
Gee, that wouldn’t sit well with me at all…not for the price! How long a span does it have on that diamond, George? You’d think a monster loco like that would straddle 6-8" of dead track with ease. All it would need is two drivers sets with pickups, the first and the last.
So, does this mean you have some phosphor bronze, wire, and solder handy?
Not that long ALL wheels on this thing pick-up. All tender and the Loco. The price is WILD, Loco, Tsunami, Labor about $650.00. 10 hours to put in the sound system and smoke generator.
I am going to play with it on the bench to see if there is a dead spot on the pick-ups. Ah! Rivarossi QC don’t you just love it !
If that is the case, George, then the tracks are the problem. It won’t be the flanges, I’m almost positive, so it has to be something forcing the loco to lift enough that it breaks connection with the track…or,…it is the track itself. You may have a dead section that extends beyond one of the sides of the diamond. Use a multimeter across the two rails and check in about 16 places near the diamond itself.
I’ll go with Selector about the Atlas diamond. I put one in about a year ago and I’m STILL fine-tuning the darned thing–should have installed a Sinohara and dealt with the extra wiring. The plastic guard rails are notorious for lifting wheels out of contact with the rails. You just have to keep scraping and filing away at those darned things. I certainly wouldn’t blame your H-8, I’ve got the older Rivarossi, and the all-wheel pickup will carry it through most anything.
However I must say, the problem is most likely the track, or you have the rare problem child, but I think it’s the track. I have one of these new beasts as well, and I put the Tsunami decoder in it with the largest oval speaker soundtraxx has that would fit. All in all, very impressive, highly detailed, great puller (pulled 67 hoppers up a 1.5% grade with out slipping). I’ve had this thing for aproximately 3 weeks now and it runs like a champ. Currently I’m working on weathering the beast, giving it a healthy coat of grim. The smoke generator is a nice idea but unless it belches out a ton of thick smoke I’m of the opinion it’s not worth it.
Adding the details was a HUGE pain but someone lent me his poster of a drawing of the H8 and so far I have all but 2 detail parts installed because I have NO CLUE where they go. If only they made a poster drawing of the other side of the H8.
Aside from the lack of documentation in the box OR on the web site, if they made a second road number I’d prolly buy it. Compaired to the first run it more detailed than the first.
For anyone needing the manual, I’ve scanned mine into large jpeg images, zipped them, and uploaded them to MegaUpload: Rivarossi Allegheny Manual w/ Diagrams. They show the placement of most of the detail.
It’s ridiculous to think that Hornby is unable to do the same.
