The Alternative Adams Radial Tank

[Bigmet]

It must be available, because it came to play on the layout yesterday evening. Very nice too, well up to the standard Hornby are achieving at present on appearance; and running all it ought to be, quiet and smooth. Rather like their M7, a model which really is rather good, to the extent that beyond adding a little dirt and loose detail such as fire irons, a bucket and some real coal it is 'complete'.

[Peterm]

I'm waiting on the Southern Railway Green Adams Radial, 3520 on pre order from Hattons. I'm hoping it comes while the pound is so low at the moment.

[mattmay05]

Received mine a little while ago, very nice model, over the Oxford version, it's just more refined in every area, its heavier, better design, right shade of green, right dome, just a nice model well worth the extra £20.
Very smooth very quiet... super model.

[mattmay05]

Did a small review on the model, LSWR coaches also due end of the month,

https://youtu.be/2-fYOB4bC90

[Mike Parkes]

Reports elsewhere indicate that a number have the dcc socket wired incorrectly with a set of pickup wires connected to accessory terminals which will cause a decoder to blow and on dc will mean that some wheels are not providing power to the motor. In addition lack of adequate space to fit a decoder plug into the socket has been noted.

[Peterm]

Worth having a thorough check of the wiring then, although due to lack of space I'll probably hard wire mine... when it gets here. Thanks for the tip.

[D605Eagle]

To me the only really noticeable improvement over the OR model was some daylight under the boiler, I've not seen a green OR product but on the BR black one its just not noticeable. I would say that both are very nice models indeed and it is a shame to think that both probably started working on their models around the same time, so we end up with duplication which doesn't really help anybody.

[Peterm]

To me the only really noticeable improvement over the OR model was some daylight under the boiler, I've not seen a green OR product but on the BR black one its just not noticeable. I would say that both are very nice models indeed and it is a shame to think that both probably started working on their models around the same time, so we end up with duplication which doesn't really help anybody.

It does price wise.

[mattmay05]

Reports elsewhere indicate that a number have the dcc socket wired incorrectly with a set of pickup wires connected to accessory terminals which will cause a decoder to blow and on dc will mean that some wheels are not providing power to the motor. In addition lack of adequate space to fit a decoder plug into the socket has been noted.

Indeed all Dcc sockets on all models / variations are all wired incorrectly, all fine for DC control, but requires a quick re-wire 3 wires need to be changed 5 minute job. But sadly Hornby still for replacements send people a faulty model, sadly models at the factory are tested on DC not DCC maybe need to change their testing policy.
On the room for the DCC indeed it's tight and damn near impossible to fit a decoder without modification to the bunker which I have done, It appears to be a common trait on tank engine models not leaving enough room or treating DCC as an after thought.

[Bigmet]

I an not a fan of Hornby or Bachmann's decoder socket positioning technique as it has generally been seen on OO steam loco mechanisms; the biggest advance was the move to getting them into tenders, when one is available. There the 'large box' which is a tender interior at least makes the typically clumsy socket mounting of less consequence.

Credit where due though, a socket in a tank loco bunker as described by Mattmay is an intelligent position choice even if let down by being incorrectly wired. Possibly there should be credit for progress, based on the three most recent tank locos I have seen. Hornby L1, socket nicely positioned in large empty bunker, easy job; Hornby J50, socket adjacent to a good sized removeable weight in the side tank, easy job; Bachmann V3, Next 18 socket - very compact - positioned in a large empty bunker, easy job. Let's see if this better performance is the trend of the future...

DCC testing at line end of mechanism assembly would be an intelligent move, as it should catch any systematic miswiring in locos. A simple piece of automatic test equipment of no more than a flying lead from a decoder, and a DCC unit in programme mode supplying a test track would catch such problems on the assembly line. Someone should only suggest this on Hornby's site...

[Ken Shabby]

I bought one at the weekend using some money I was given for Christmas, and decided to go for the 'as preserved one' in LSWR livery.
I had planned to go for the cheaper Oxford model, but after watching a review on Youtube showing the Oxford model getting stuck with it's wheels spinning on a gentle incline, I decided to buy the Hornby one instead.
And would you believe it , when I tested the loco tonight It to got stuck with spinning wheels just like the Oxford one
A close inspection of the track showed a almost invisible dip on a radius 4 curve which every other engine I own has passed over without issue.
After some very coarse language I did a temporary and rather brutal repair by removing the ballast from the problem area and wedging a small screw driver under the rail to jack the track up a tiny amount. This solved the problem and the loco ran round the the curve in both directions without any further problems, a proper repair and reballasting can be done tomorrow.
The loco handled a test train of 4 of the old generic Hornby Southern coaches without slipping and has now been packed away until Christmas.
In short it's a really nice model, but it does need well laid track in order to run well.
Ken

[Bigmet]

Ken, if it is any consolation this 'getting stuck on slight track irregularities' problem is endemic to small older designs of four coupled locos with leading and trailing unpowered wheels (and singles come to that) because there's a whole pile of problems in these designs leading to a lack of flexibility in vertical movement for the unpowered axles.

I have built several kits for atlantic tender and tank locos, and once, hell on wheels, a 4-4-4T. (Even the real railway found that last type very light footed; Gresley rebuilt to 4-6-2T an entire inherited NER 4-4-4T class which were good steamers but just couldn't reliably put the traction down.) The main problems in the model are a very low footplate, combined with very large diameter carrying wheels in the bogies and trucks, So these unpowered wheels cannot go upwards to any extent on a bump in the track, because they will foul on the underside of the footplate and bodily lift the loco on skidding wheels. A secondary pair of problems is that they are usually very crowded wheelbases too, there's 'no room to work in' if attempting compensation arrangements or whatever springing is possible; and it is difficult to give the driven axle vertical travel, and if you do so then controlling the torque reaction is necessary otherwise the thing can go along like a seesaw. Quite an art in short.

[thebritfarmer]

There have been many problem with the Hornby version blowing decoders as they are wired wrong, so watch out for that also.

[mattmay05]

I bought one at the weekend using some money I was given for Christmas, and decided to go for the 'as preserved one' in LSWR livery.
I had planned to go for the cheaper Oxford model, but after watching a review on Youtube showing the Oxford model getting stuck with it's wheels spinning on a gentle incline, I decided to buy the Hornby one instead.
And would you believe it , when I tested the loco tonight It to got stuck with spinning wheels just like the Oxford one
A close inspection of the track showed a almost invisible dip on a radius 4 curve which every other engine I own has passed over without issue.
After some very coarse language I did a temporary and rather brutal repair by removing the ballast from the problem area and wedging a small screw driver under the rail to jack the track up a tiny amount. This solved the problem and the loco ran round the the curve in both directions without any further problems, a proper repair and reballasting can be done tomorrow.
The loco handled a test train of 4 of the old generic Hornby Southern coaches without slipping and has now been packed away until Christmas.
In short it's a really nice model, but it does need well laid track in order to run well.
Ken

There is a slight alteration that can be made to improve this, there's a small washer on the front bogie this can be filed down to add some more play or movement, lowing the drivers slightly. It will always be a problem with this wheel arrangement, the finer these models become the more sensitive they become to poor track work.

And yes 3 wires need changing on the DCC socket on the loco, to stop them blowing chips, have changed 12 so far, as Hornby just send a replacement with the same issue. Also could do with more space in the bunker for a chip.