REVIEW: Hornby Railroad 9F 'R2880' "92221"

[markS&D]

From the outset I would like to say, that the 'Hornby Railroad Range' is aimed at the Younger end modeller, who is not so interested in extremely fine details. This brings us nicely to the Railroad 9F.

On removal from the box, and standing the loco 'side by side' with an older '1980's Margate made Tender Drive 9F' the new loco looks far superior. Here are some of the differences on first glance:

Correct Size Loco Driving wheels (instead of Hornby's older 'Margate idea' of "One size fits all!")
Sprung Buffers
Seperately applied Handrails
Darkened Wheels and motion
Full Cab Glazing.

One of the major upgrades to this model also means that it is now '5 pole motor Loco drive', and is no longer pushed along by a tender drive, that coupled with the fact that the new model has considerable weight, means that it runs exceptionally well. My example ran very well straight out of the box, and this was further improved after a period of running in. It proved to be very smooth and responsive, and has a very frightening turn of speed! (if one cranks the throttle a bit too High!) This also means on the plus side that the motor has plenty of power in reserve for hauling longer trains.

The loco really is weighted very well, it can handle decent length trains, even on my Somerset and Dorset Based layout, it can haul 9 coach trains up 1:35 gradients more in keeping with the prototype, and far better than the old 'tender drive' example could even hope for!

With pickups on 8 of the loco driving wheels, and pickups on the tender wheels 'Diamond crossings and complex pointwork' proved not to cause my example any problems.

The only issue I had with mine, was in the Loco tender drawbar area, the 2 upper copper contacts on the rear of the loco needed easing upwards slightly, so that they made proper contact with the metal plate on the underside of the tender.

One thing that I will say, and this is not just restricted to Hornby, the instructions do not really give much indication as to where you are supposed to position the DCC chip prior to refitting the body ( The instructions show you where the 8 pin socket is, but thats it). I think with these 'DCC ready' models, the instruction leaflet, could be a little more comprehensive, and show the end user where to position the chip, especially when they are aimed at the younger or less experienced modeller.

To sum up then:

Yes, the loco is in the Railroad Range, but the effort that Hornby has gone to with the Locomotive chassis, in my opinion puts this model in a class of its own. It is a sort of 'Halfway House' between 'Railroad' and the 'Super Detailed' range, it is definately one of the best 'Railroad' models.

Yes the 'Bachmann Model' has the edge in terms of fine detail, and is a real stunner, but when you consider how well the Hornby model performs on the rails, it looks good, and is half the price. Plus extra details can always be added if the end user wants to go to the trouble.

Chassis: 8.5/10 (not as detailed as Bachmann, but an exceptional runner in any case).
Body: 7.5/10 (Looks very good, but again lacks the fine details and is an older tooling, has the older couplings, the tender lets it down, it is the same tender chassis, minus the tender drive mechanism).
Running Properties: 9/10 (ran very well over difficult trackwork)
Value for Money: 9.5/10 (very good price, can be got for less than £60 delivered if you know where to look) (when you consider I paid £50 for a 'tender drive' '9f' 20 years ago, it really is good value).

Bachmann has the edge in terms of the overall detail and look of the loco, The Hornby is a nice example, that is cheaper, is a good runner, and can be improved with DIY detailing.

[sishades]

This is one the finest examples of this range to boot. When it was originally released getting one was akin to find Lord Lucan riding Shergar wearing a shirt with "Man Love is best" written on it. Needless to say I have two of them and what great models they are.

[Essex2Visuvesi]

This is one the finest examples of this range to boot. When it was originally released getting one was akin to find Lord Lucan riding Shergar wearing a shirt with "Man Love is best" written on it. Needless to say I have two of them and what great models they are.

What he said
Son has one and it runs very well.
Also its detailed enough to look good but not too detailed to have parts fall of if you turn it upside down

[markS&D]

Here are some shots of the loco running on my layout:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJFMTHaH ... el&list=UL

I am really quite pleased with it.

[thebritfarmer]

Nice looking layout, and thanks for the 9F review. I have one on my list

[markS&D]

Nice looking layout, and thanks for the 9F review. I have one on my list

Thanks.

Further to what I said about fitting the DCC chip, I found on this model, I used a Hornby R8249, I mounted the chip vertically on the front end of the loco chassis (behind the body locating lugs), there is just enough room to fit the chip.

[bike2steam]

About 25 years ago I converted an old tender drive Evening Star to a 'Crosti' rebuilt to conventional running, gave plenty of good service, when the new loco drive (Hornby) Evening Star came out, I used the chassis as a replacement - excellent runner, quiet, smooth, and powerful enough for a 'class 8'. Got an Evening Star body if anyone wants it, just you pay the postage ??

[markS&D]

I have an older tender drive 9F, but I have found in my case it does not work so well under DCC.

[Metadyneman]

The one downside to this loco which is a real nuisance is that it will not accept a decoder much bigger than the basic Hornby one so a Bachmann 36-553 is out as is the Hornby Sapphire. This is a shame because personally I find the basic Hornby decoder too basic when it comes to adjusting speed levels.

[Essex2Visuvesi]

The one downside to this loco which is a real nuisance is that it will not accept a decoder much bigger than the basic Hornby one so a Bachmann 36-553 is out as is the Hornby Sapphire. This is a shame because personally I find the basic Hornby decoder too basic when it comes to adjusting speed levels.

I have a digitrax DZ125 in mine... fits perfectly with room to spare and has plenty of adjustable CVS to enable good running

[markS&D]

Nice looking layout, and thanks for the 9F review. I have one on my list

Thanks.

Further to what I said about fitting the DCC chip, I found on this model, I used a Hornby R8249, I mounted the chip vertically on the front end of the loco chassis (behind the body locating lugs), there is just enough room to fit the chip.

It was quite tricky to get the chip to fit.

As I said, I do think that Hornby could be a bit more comprehensive in their instructions, and show end users where to fit a DCC chip, It is not always obvious,.

[Phipps]

I'm planning another 92221/92203 "Black Prince" conversion,this time for Alfie to have an example.
Funny thing is though that an old chap I met at the Holt station Volunteers layout would like me to pick up a complete pack as well,so I can make him one.
Looks like there'll be three of these Black Prince locos all made from the R2880 model eventually.
http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... =1&t=23763
You'll find it in this thread from a year or two ago.

[markS&D]

The one downside to this loco which is a real nuisance is that it will not accept a decoder much bigger than the basic Hornby one so a Bachmann 36-553 is out as is the Hornby Sapphire. This is a shame because personally I find the basic Hornby decoder too basic when it comes to adjusting speed levels.

You are absolutely right, regarding the Decoder chip.

I had to fit the 'Hornby R8249' into my example, it was not the easiest task, I ended up positioning the chip 'vertically' at the front end of the loco chassis, and it took a few trial runs to get the loco body to fit.

The 'R8245 Sapphire Decoder', would have been a better choice, seen as though I like to Double head locomotives on my layout. The 'R8249' has no facility to alter speed settings, and seen as though the 9F, runs very fast, I cannot double head the loco.

Having said that, the loco is an excellent performer, and I stand by what I said in the review, it is excellent value for the money