Flying Scotsman tender drawbar fastening screw fell out

[Moccasin]

Was just running my Flying Scotsman around the layout and noticed the tender wobbling a little, particularly over points.

I then noticed a small screw lying between the sleepers. At first I thought it might be that I’d not replaced one of the tender body screws back properly but this was longer and was a flat head screw rather than a cross head/Philips style screw. on turning over the locomotive, I realised that the screw had come out of the tender drawbar fastening and the only thing keeping the tender attached to the locomotive were the wires. The wobbling was presumably the screw getting caught in the points.

I’ve been handling the model carefully, so is this something that could happen by itself or is it possible that when the model was repaired and the tender chassis repaired, the screw wasn’t screwed back in fully? Even now it doesn’t feel tight after screwing it back in. I’ll keep an eye on it now as the screw is easily lost if it detaches again. Otherwise it’ll have to go back to Hornby if it keeps happening.

[Robc058]

Hi I had something similar with William Whitelaw but I never found the screw. Hornby replaced it (actually I received the bar and both screws).

It is worth reporting this to Hornby - they should be made aware if users are facing this issue.

[South Coast Flyer]

This seems to be quite a common issue, it’s happened twice to me, I think the screw works itself loose during use

If I remember correctly @Rallymat suggested a tiny drop of blue ThreadLok should secure it in place and allow removal if needs be.

If the screw is lost the only recourse is a call to base for a replacement

[Moccasin]

@Roboc058 & @SCF. Thanks both, hadn’t seen/remembered previous posts on this issue. Will keep an eye on the score as the model gets handled a fair bit (TT120 and inquisitive cats don’t mix so well, so it gets put back in its box after use). Will report to Hornby so it can get logged for possible fettling whenever they come to address the various first generation design issues.

[Railbob]

Moccasin,

I had the exact sam issue with my Flying Scotsman, I noticed that the screw was loose when I took her out of the box so I tightened it up. I then ran it in but after about 20 minutes noticed that it was rattling over the points, stopped her and found that the screw had worked loose. I've fixed in with a touch of Threadloc.

Railbob

[Rallymatt]

a tiny drop of blue thread loc will hold the screw in place or even white which Loctite describe as thread sealant is probably sufficient. The screws have plain shanks that the drawbar act on so once the screws are set in place the bar should be able to pivot freely without loosening the screws. You could probably set the screws with a drop of pva!

[Daedalus]

You want Purple Loctite 222 it is for small threads that may need disassembly with handtools.

[Fishmanoz]

Just to put this and the previous instance in the same place: https://uk.hornby.com/community/forum/replacement-a4-tender-coupling-screw-356220?ccm_paging_p=1#end-of-replies

Trouble is this one is now down on page 2 of the forum and isn’t found by a quick look.

[Moccasin]

Thanks all. I’ll get some Loctite as I’ll otherwise be paranoid it’ll happen again. You live and learn.