My Hornby-Rivarossi class 58 arrived tonight...

I know you will make a perfect review on it.

But can't resist asking pre-questions beforehand .

As you can guess there is a whole bunch of addicts down here waiting to order.

Questions as follows:

1) Remember from the first impressions thread the guy was moaning abt the large gap between tender and loco. Is it true.

2) Also directional lights issue?

3) Buried the Roco Br 58 ?! WoW

4) Is it 21 pin or 8 pin?

5) Is it articulated like the MaTrix 2-10-0 loco's

Cant wait .

Baykal

QUOTE (ebaykal @ 1 Feb 2008, 11:49) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Questions as follows:

1) Remember from the first impressions thread the guy was moaning abt the large gap between tender and loco. Is it true.

2) Also directional lights issue?

3) Buried the Roco Br 58 ?! WoW

4) Is it 21 pin or 8 pin?

5) Is it articulated like the MaTrix 2-10-0 loco's

Cant wait .

Baykal

Hi folks,

just going back home from work, and my camera needs to recharge first when I´m there. Thank you, T-Mobile, for WLan hot spots at Hannover station, where I´m jotting this down while awaiting my commuter train.

Please allow me to guide you to this eBay auction for some good pictures.

The gap, hmmm. It is not very prominent, but Hornby did not mould some faux wooden panels on top of the mechanism on the tender side, which would have looked better imho. We´re talking ca. 3 visible millimeters though, which really is not much. I´d say there is a little room for improvement, but the gap issue is nothing that should keep interested modellers from buying imho.

Directional lights, see below (DCC socket). It has directional lights, which is a bit weird and funky, as German steamers rarely needed them. They are usually needed on push-pull trains, which were experimented with since the 1930s, but never with class 58 engines. The January MIBA article on the class 95 points out that a special signal (left side white, right side red light) was used when the engine was used in helper service, pushing trains uphill.

Details are rich, but behold! I was at my lhs today to buy a DCC decoder, which was rather tough, since the manual (which is 2 pages of utter crap, no information whatsoever is given on how or even where to install a DCC decoder, spare part numbers, some information on the real thing - lots of room for improvement; German modellers want this kind of information!) shows a 21-pole row of pins, but the flyer says it has an 8-pole socket. Two of the three engines were damages, with parts snapped off, grabirons bent, and the plumbing on the boiler being out of shape - although the packaging itself is excellent, Brawa-style with added styrofoam. Maybe an eye should be kept on qc? Well, mine is ok, though, so maybe the dealer just got two bad apples.

However, the red paint on both mine and the dealer´s models seems prone to chipping off the metal, so watch out how you handle the engine. Also, mine has some glossy spots on the boiler - not a big deal, yet avoidable. Maybe they will wipe off - I´m still

I haven´t checked, but considering the moving third cylinder, I guess it is safe to say that the engine is not articulated.

Now, all this sounds a lot worse than the model deserves. And although I´m not exactl a Hornby homeboy, I´m merely pointing out some shortcomings to avoid disappointment from any of your side.

At 199,-- Euro, the engine is a steal. Details are up to par with recent Brawa releases, driving characteristics are a bit rough, but the engine is not broken in yet, so please don´t overrate this observation.

Two more things that meet the eye, the tone of the moulded plastic parts does not exactly match the painted red parts (which is unfortunately not uncommon on German steam engine models), and I wonder what the folks at Hornby were smoking to make this an Ep.III DB release - the last class 58 engine was scrapped in 1954 in West Germany... In addition, the 58 is something of a typical late 1920s/early 1930s engine. Mine is going to get Ep.II etched brass sgns, as soon as I have gathered the necessary data, they will be ordered.

Buffers are sprung, most add-on parts are mounted (a few are included in a little bag), another little bag contains a set of wheels without traction tires (nice touch, thanks!)

Altogether, I´d give the engine a B+ to A minus, bettered only by engines like my Brawa class 56 (at almost twice the price) and my Fleischmann 95, yet itself bettering the S2/6 and Roco class 50.

If you like the engine itself, you won´t regret the purchase imho.

OK, my train is arriving. Bye for now!

Oh yeah, boiler mounted motor, in the drawing on the "instruction sheet" (ahem) it seems to be similar to Brawa´s. The mechanism will be tested later tonight or tomorrow.

QUOTE (ME 26-06 @ 1 Feb 2008, 15:58) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The gap, hmmm. It is not very prominent, .... but the gap issue is nothing that should keep interested modellers from buying imho.

Details are rich, but behold! I was at my lhs today to buy a DCC decoder, which was rather tough, since the manual (which is 2 pages of utter crap, no information whatsoever is given on how or even where to install a DCC decoder, spare part numbers, some information on the real thing - lots of room for improvement; German modellers want this kind of information!) shows a 21-pole row of pins, but the flyer says it has an 8-pole socket.

However, the red paint on both mine and the dealer´s models seems prone to chipping off the metal, so watch out how you handle the engine. Also, mine has some glossy spots on the boiler - not a big deal, yet avoidable. Maybe they will wipe off -

I haven´t checked, but considering the moving third cylinder, I guess it is safe to say that the engine is not articulated.

At 199,-- Euro, the engine is a steal. Details are up to par with recent Brawa releases, driving characteristics are a bit rough, but the engine is not broken in yet, so please don´t overrate this observation.

Two more things that meet the eye, the tone of the moulded plastic parts does not exactly match the painted red parts (which is unfortunately not uncommon on German steam engine models),
Buffers are sprung, most add-on parts are mounted (a few are included in a little bag), another little bag contains a set of wheels without traction tires (nice touch, thanks!)

Altogether, I´d give the engine a B+ to A minus,

If you like the engine itself, you won´t regret the purchase imho.

Thanks Tom,

I guess I can live with the above, just please inform us about the outcome of the decoder installment. Is it really 21 or 8?

I am ordering.

Baykal

QUOTE (ebaykal @ 3 Feb 2008, 09:59) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thanks Tom,

I guess I can live with the above, just please inform us about the outcome of the decoder installment. Is it really 21 or 8?

I am ordering.

Baykal

Baykal,

I´ll ring up Hornby Germany tomorrow morning and keep you all informed.

I´ll also ask whether I´m going to have to dismantle the Tender, Brawa-style (good), or the loco itself (baaaad!!!!).

In addition, I´m currently researching a correct DRG number for the etched plates. I´d want an RDB Breslau engine (Oppeln had none, so it has to be Breslau) so I can run German/Polish mid-1930s trains. Sachsenmodelle has a few select freight cars based in Silesia and some even have "Eastern Silesian Railroad" inscriptions. Rather interesting imho, and I´m not personally involved with the pitfalls of researching Silesian history, since my family tree is deeply rooted in the Hamburg and Berne areas, respectively.

Back on topic: I´m looking for an RBD Breslau pre-WW2-engine which already had electric lights installed (no gas tank on the Hornby engine´s Tender!), does not have a so-called "Riggenbach-Gegendruckbremse" (a dynamic brake for steam engines that, in a nutshell, pumped cold air and water into the cylinders) - this one should be fun! Any hints, help, comments are appreciated and encouraged.

Oh yeah, the Hornby model also features the widened smoke stack, which was refitted on some (not all) early G12s (<- Prussian designation for the 58.1), making the search even harder.

Back to the model: I appreciate that all these details mentioned above are clearly visible on the model, no Riggenbach, wide stack and all. It shows how much effort went into the model, and I hope that it will be appreciated by continental modellers (this one certaily does), as right now, the class 58 appears to be an "under the radar" release - hardly a mention on the German-language forums, hardly any reviews in the magazines. Maybe this will change though, the model does not deserve to be ignored.

Thanks for all the detail - I appreciate the added depth to your comments and I'm really pleased that H have done a good job with this loco - hopefully the techniques they adopted might filter through to some off their "other" projects...

Impressed too with the fact that there are "tyre free" drivers included.

questions: ...only because I too am seriously thinking about it as a project to play with a little...

*are the wheels on the loco NEM flanges or finer.....
*are they metal wheels or plastic with metal tyres? Not an issue in general I suppose but important to me as if they are all metal then removing them for a little refining of wheel profile on the lathe won't be so full of trepidation!

Looking forward to hearing about the decoder socket!

Regards

Richard

QUOTE (ME 26-06 @ 3 Feb 2008, 11:39) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Back on topic: I´m looking for an RBD Breslau pre-WW2-engine which already had electric lights installed (no gas tank on the Hornby engine´s Tender!), does not have a so-called "Riggenbach-Gegendruckbremse" (a dynamic brake for steam engines that, in a nutshell, pumped cold air and water into the cylinders) - this one should be fun! Any hints, help, comments are appreciated and encouraged.

Back to the model: I appreciate that all these details mentioned above are clearly visible on the model, no Riggenbach, wide stack and all. It shows how much effort went into the model, and I hope that it will be appreciated by continental modellers (this one certaily does), as right now, the class 58 appears to be an "under the radar" release - hardly a mention on the German-language forums, hardly any reviews in the magazines. Maybe this will change though, the model does not deserve to be ignored.

Did you check Weinert parts?

Not being mentioned in other forums and magazines, I can understand. Its barely launched. My guess is, we will see alot of reviews after Nurnberg.

By the way, you seem to be the first one who has reviewed it. Wonder if any Hornby people checked it out ?

Baykal

QUOTE (Richard Johnson @ 3 Feb 2008, 13:39) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thanks for all the detail - I appreciate the added depth to your comments and I'm really pleased that H have done a good job with this loco - hopefully the techniques they adopted might filter through to some off their "other" projects...

Impressed too with the fact that there are "tyre free" drivers included.

questions: ...only because I too am seriously thinking about it as a project to play with a little...

*are the wheels on the loco NEM flanges or finer.....
*are they metal wheels or plastic with metal tyres? Not an issue in general I suppose but important to me as if they are all metal then removing them for a little refining of wheel profile on the lathe won't be so full of trepidation!

Looking forward to hearing about the decoder socket!

Regards

Richard

Hi Richard,

flanges are much finer (I´ll add some pictures to this post later this afternoon, as we´re due for coffee and cake* at my girlfriend´s parents this afternoon, and I haven´t uploaded the photos yet - bad me ). They are definitely not NEM, I guess they might be RP 25.

The wheels are entirely made of metal from what Hornby says and from what they look like. Nice touch, as the "plasticky" wheels were an absolute no-go on the otherwise decent class 59 from pre-Hornby Rivarossi for me.

These look a lot better.

*Bailey´s cream on top and vanilla cream inbetween cake layers that have ground walnuts mixed inside, homemade by Yours Sincerely. Hope they´ll like it

Sorry, can´t edit my old post, so here´s the pictures in a new one.

Hope you like.


Side view


Mind the infamous "gap".

I tried to take this picture under the most adverse of conditions, to make the gap look as ugly as possible. It is barely noticable, actually, as you can see from the other pictures.


Side view of the engine, emphasizing on the wheels and the flanges.


Another side view, this time emphasizing on the details that can be found on and underneath the boiler. Note the third cylinder visible underneath the boiler in this picture and the one before.


View from an imaginary bridge.