dischuffed....

[Deepol]

Tornado in Glasgow on 21st September. She arrived on time after a succesful run and I believe all was well on the return. I did have in mind A1s were allocated to Polmadie(?) in early BR days not to be confused with the dumping of A2s on the shed in the 1960s..........

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Y'know - she looks great even in the GWR green.

Still prefer "proper" Apple Green though...

[60800]

It's as if they repainted her in the wrong green so she matched the scrappy new hornby model , a piece of cheap rubbish vs the bachmann A1 if you ask me

[S.A.C. Martin]

It's as if they repainted her in the wrong green so she matched the scrappy new hornby model , a piece of cheap rubbish vs the bachmann A1 if you ask me

Interesting view, the Bachmann A1 is a great all round model (bar the chimneys!) but then of course you have to remember that the Hornby Tornado model is aimed at an entirely different type of consumer to the Bachmann one. Horses for courses, but scrappy? I think not, especially with that rather impressive flywheel drive. Smoothest operator I've had on my little roundy round for some years.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

For me I'd buy the Hornby A1, just to have the satisfaction of backdating to the 1950's running condition, I wonder how long they will last with little 'Johnny' beating the 'cr** out of it, and they start coming onto E-Bay, as spares or repair ?????

manna

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

I bought a Hornby A1 with the view of chopping it into GN - see "On my Workbench" for the actual conversion - and I have to say that, apart from the very 2-D valve gear (typical Hornby) the Hornby model was streets ahead of the Bachmann one technically. The motors are about the same quality but the Hornby one has 5 poles (smoother) a flywheel which also makes for smoother running and quieter gears. I only exchanged the Hornby one for the Bachmann model because of the Bachy's separate running plate made for what I thought would be an easier task.

It does make me wonder how long Hornby have had this one on the back burner, as it were. If this is a "Budget" model then are the "Premium" models in for a serious upgrade?

[Solario]

Does anyone know how the trip went?

I have heard through the grapevine that Tornado had a fantastic southbound run on its round trip from Crewe to Glasgow.
The climb bettered the celebrated Duchess of Abercorn run and the power was calculated as 3130 hp on the 1 in 99 two miles before the summit. The summit was passed at 67mph.

Admittedly the track will be in better condition these days but nevertheless a splendid achievement.

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Was that drawbar or indicated? Whichever it was, that's one hell of an achievement!

[Solario]

The climb bettered the celebrated Duchess of Abercorn run and the power was calculated as 3130 hp on the 1 in 99 two miles before the summit.

I have been doing a little research into the Duchess run. Apparently, the Duchess clocked 3,300 ihp with 600 tons on the drawbar, so Tornado has not beaten this ( I think the Tornado figure of 3.130 which I quoted, was ihp, but I am not certain). I do not know what the load was for Tornado but I would guess at about 450 tons.

Nevertheless, an excellent run by Tornado not far short of the Duchess power output and the 67mph at the summit is very impressive.

[Blink Bonny]

[quote="Solario I think the Tornado figure of 3.130 which I quoted, was ihp, but I am not certain.[/quote]

If it was drawbar then the ihp figure would easily beat the Duchess and we'd be approaching the sort of efficiency shown by a certain No 71000, AND this with piston valves and Walschaert valve gear.

Even if it is ihp, then that's still one high output!