Cheap Hornby Schools class (DCC ready.)

Whilst I've been posting on the computer this morning, postie paid me a visit with a loco I bagged on Ebay during Boxing day. I already have this particular loco ("Blundells") anyway, but I do like the "Schools", and it will be duly renamed/renumbered in due course. I was lucky with this, maybe other bidders were still under the influence of Santa's sherry, but I won it for under £40, DCC ready, so what's not to like!
Keith.

Attached files

 

Well, it just got better still! When I received the loco, it was very well packed in a shoe box (no Hornby box) and the 8 pin DC/DCC plug was loose in the box with it. On initial examination, I noticed that the tender body was unhooked at the back (it's secured near the front by 2 screws, 1 each side). Later on today, I took the tender top off completely, and found that not only is it DCC ready, which I knew about, but the reason the 8 pin plug was loose in the box was 'cos it already had a DCC decoder fitted........Bonus! Onto the rolling road, reset decoder number from 0003, set the initial 28 speed steps to 128 (my usual setting) and away it went, as smooth as silk. At less than £40 for a DCC fitted "Schools", I'm a very happy bunny, although when it was listed on Ebay as "Loco & wagon" (never heard a tender called a wagon before!) I felt that the seller wasn't aware of what He/She was selling, and it was also listed as 'untested' so I guess I was taking a chance on it anyway. I'll probably lightly weather it at some point, next job will be an order to Fox Transfers for name and smokebox number plates.
Keith.

 

There's no info on the decoder itself, Toto, but I think it's only a basic Hornby one, not my choice, but it's already fitted, so that's a plus! Having said that, it runs the loco beautifully, and even a Hornby decoder is usually at least £15, which makes the loco itself even cheaper......lucky again!

Keith.

 

My Ebay 'strategy' (if you can call it that!) is
(A) I set myself a realistic limit of what I think an item is worth, and NEVER go above it by being carried away in the heat of the final moments. I take the view that, unless it's a rare or unusual item, like a bus, there'll be another along shortly.
(B)I NEVER bid until 5 seconds from the end. That way, unless the opposition is either very quick or using a 'sniping' site, they're unlikely to have time to make a counter-bid.
(C)If I'm likely to be out, or the auction ends at some godforsaken hour of the day, then I'll occasionally use a "sniping " site (I use GIXEN, others are available!). I set the bid limit and how far from the auction end GIXEN makes my bid. If I get outbid, GIXEN lets me know, but not always in time to counter-bid (if I want to......unlikely!)
Of course, these tactics don't always result in success, and like others, I've lost items that I would really have liked to have won, together with items that others have bid ridiculous amounts on, in which case, they're welcome to them. I always try to assess my bid against what the item cost new or what is available from some of the 'box-shifters', and I pride myself on not paying more than I have to. It's not just the Yorkshiremen who have the reputation for being 'tight', after all, I was born not that far from the Yorkshire border and I may have Scottish blood in me, as Grandad was a 'Wallace' .......what a combination!

Keith.

 

Rob H wrote:

After some thought, I've decided to renumber it as 30926, renaming it as "Repton". I gather this loco was sent or sold to the US after withdrawal, presumably into a museum somewhere, but has since been repatriated to the UK and is currently being overhauled back to running condition. My reason for choice of name? Well, I'm Derbyshire born and bred, and "Repton" is, as far as I know, the only "Schools" class loco named after a Derbyshire public school......simples!
It'll have to wait a bit though as I already have quite a few jobs/projects on my hands at the moment, but I'll get there eventually.


Keith.

 

Gary wrote:

It wasn't anything approaching a 'Public School', Gary, although it was back in the day when all the teachers were BSc/PHd/BA etc and wore mortar boards and gowns, strict discipline and caned if you stepped out of line! (Headmaster was 6ft 5in and was reputedly an Ex Rugby prop-forward......if he said it was Thursday, you didn't argue, even if it was Monday!). Silly part about it was that I've never been an academic, never interested in going to University, and this was very much an academic school, but apart from the school grounds being alongside the Midland Main line, the main school (Tapton House) was the house which the Railway pioneer George Stephenson spent the last ten years of his life while supervising the line's construction. When coal was discovered during digging of the Clay Cross tunnel, He was subsequently involved in the Clay Cross Company (think "Ashover Light Railway") and several local collieries including the one (now long closed) in my village, he had an influence on quite a lot of our local history......no wonder I've a lifelong interest in railways, but I'll stick with reality when it comes to naming loco's!

Keith.