Playing with Hornby Dublo 3 rail again

[Jenny Emily]

After over a decade in storage, some of it much longer, I built a layout for my Father in his den. A quick video for enjoying the reliving of many childhoods!

 

 

 

[Legend]

Jenny, thanks for the Video. I was only ever a Triang Hornby man, but I do love Dublo and the trains of the era , so this video is something out of the ordinary.  My modern trains are much more accurate and I try to keep as close to prototype movements as I can, but I do wonder in the course of doing so if we have lost the fun of just playing trains. Sometimes it good to get back to basics

 

Again many thanks

[Dublodad]

Hi Jenny

 

Good to see that you have "seen the light". I am one of a number of "Geeks" who regularly run "loose laid" 3 rail layouts and am very pleased to see your input. You will of course need to connect a "fiddle wire under the turntable between your incoming road and the single road to power the shed roads.

 

A number of us will be presenting a lare "loose laid" 3 rail layout at the Warley show at the NEC in November.

 

Terry

[TheSignalEngineer]

Nice to see the old Dublo stuff out again. I still have mine which I started collecting with 'Montrose' in 1958. It comes out loose laid occasionally and the grandsons love it.

[Jenny Emily]

My Father and I used to take his exhibition layout on the road every year. This ended in around 2004 or so due to his age and the amount of work required. The baseboards were recycled in around 2011 into my shed layout and the steelwork underneath was used to reinforce the side walls of my shed. The only pictures I can lay my hands on are the following three from around 2001.

 

 

His current layout as shown being put together in the video is a pale imitation of what there once was on the exhibition layout where we could run five trains at the same time on two levels. It used to take all of the Friday afternoon before a show to set up, and a further three or so hours to dismantle and package into his trailer for the journey home. There are some old videos from the 1990s somewhere showing it running if I can find them and convert them to a format to upload to Youtube.

[switcher 1]

Ah, that familiar rumble of a train running around on bare boards.

[Il Grifone]

And of course it works right away straight out of the box.....

[Jenny Emily]

Well, not quite! The 8F was the third locomotive to be tried. A 2-6-4 tank and a Bristol Castle failed to work and will need to be investigated. Of all the locomotives I tried that day, only four spluttered straight into life. An N2, Crepello and second 8F also failed to run. My Father informed me today that upon searching the loft he found a class 20 which worked without hesitation.

[Il Grifone]

Probably it's only dried oil and crud on the brushes. Sometimes there's aspot of corrosion on the copper band of the brush springs of the ½" motors, which acts as an insulator. (One of mine had this the other day coupled with an intermittent short in the same place. She's OK now.)

[Jenny Emily]

It's rather fun climbing about in lofts searching out old WWII ammo boxes full of stuff. I've found the buffer stops, more ttrack than you can shake a stick at, around 30 locomotives and a couple of hundred wagons and coaches. I'd say about half the locomotives are unserviceable in some way. From what I can tell, failing magnetism and burnt out armatures are the usual culprits with at least three locos suffering detached connecting rods or chassis bushes worn oval.

 

We also refurbished some controllers. One of the A3 controllers was dismantled, cleaned and thoroughly inspected and the power cord fully replaced. A T15 transformer got the same treatment and is coupled with a C3 controller. These still work really well. I would not have used them without refurbishment as the original power cords were showing accelerated signs of the insulation breaking down and cracking and crumbling.

[BR60103]

One of the guys in Toronto rebuilds old HD (and Wrenn). He remagnetizes motors.

He has a test for the magnets. I think it's a 6" or 8" bolt with a collection of nuts and washers on it; if the magnet holds it up, it's acceptable.

[peach james]

Mucking around with trains

 

(I was going to spend the evening with the big lad playing trains, but instead, we spent it looking for the box of scouting stuff...which we still didn't find !)

[bbishop]

Jenny,

 

I would recommend that you have the electrics PAT tested before use.  Before then, have a good look at your plugs (should be child safe), fuses (should be kite marked) and, whilst you are about it, tighten the screws.

 

Bill

[Jenny Emily]

The controllers were checked over by my Grandfather who was an electrician before he retired. He's a nitpicking perfectionist, so they should be okay with his seal of approval. I should also add that they received new plugs as the originals were of indeterminate age.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Jenny Emily

[Il Grifone]

Dublo and similar vintage transformers do not have the thermal cutouts required by modern regulations (they can be added). That said, I happily use mine, but I try* to avoid leaving them unattended under tension. Unlike today's rubbish (usually of far Eastern origin), they do not run warm in use, so there is a good safety margin.

 

In my career in electronic servicing, I have had to scrap perfectly good equipment because of failure of these cutouts (usually a fusible link buried inside the windings). This required the replacement of the transformer, but it either was not available as a spare or the price was prohibitive (often the case for spare parts - this also applies in our hobby of course).

 

* Sometimes i forget (old age)

[sagaguy]

Hornby Dublo is almost indestructable,with spares readily available & people who offer repairs,it will still be running when todays plastic offerings will be worn out.I have posted this pic before years ago but to prove that HD survives,here it is.I bought this at a swapmeet in Epping in about 1985  for about £15,it was running but very poorly,After a stripdown,lubricating & cleaning,it ran perfectly.The body was in a sorry state,it requred a full repaint,I mixed 2 tins of Humbrol dark & light green to match the dark green of the original & spray painted it wih an airbrush,the grey was brush painted.

It really is nice to bring these old models back to life.

 

                                Ray

[sagaguy]

The wonderful thing about HD locos is that very few are beyond redemption.Because they are cast metal,very little breaks off.This Silver King body casting was given to me but had the cylinder covers cut off,why escapes me,however it was a perfect opportunity to turn it into a replica of a pre war Sir Nigel Gresley.The valve gear was modified & a single connecting rod made from Nickle silver sheet.Anyway here it is.

 

 

 One item i would have liked were the twin articulated teak coaches,i`ve often wondered if they could be made from two postwar coaches.

 

 

                           Ray.

[sagaguy]

With a bit of patience & managing to purchase tenders from Ebay at a sometimes reasonable price & replacement coal load castings from Mtrains,the Silver king  loco can be transformed into most members of the class,(i didn`t try for a double chimney version -yet).I repainted this into Silver Link.The valve gear could be squeezed into a valenced body.I think i finshed it with the transfers & name,i`ll see if i can dig it out.Iv`e also got an A4 finshed in BR experimental blue but i`ve got to work up to lining it with Fox very expensive transfers.

 

                 Ray

[brianusa]

Like David mentions, old transformers can still be used with sensible caution. The one controlling the trains is a modern solid state which can run four tracks. I use it to run two and have three old Lionel transformers to run lights and accessories, etc. These are all around sixty or seventy years old, cord, plugs and all and still give service; PAT doesn't exist over here!

 

Brian.

[Il Grifone]

The wonderful thing about HD locos is that very few are beyond redemption.Because they are cast metal,very little breaks off.This Silver King body casting was given to me but had the cylinder covers cut off,why escapes me,however it was a perfect opportunity to turn it into a replica of a pre war Sir Nigel Gresley.The valve gear was modified & a single connecting rod made from Nickle silver sheet.Anyway here it is.Silver king copy.jpgSir nigel 1 copy.jpg

 

 

 One item i would have liked were the twin articulated teak coaches,i`ve often wondered if they could be made from two postwar coaches.

 

 

                           Ray.

 

The problem is that the articulated end (ie the centre) is not domed, but straight. This can be ignored, but gives the game away. The original articulation uses a complicated lever system to lock the bogies into place, but this is not really necessary - I used a couple of Meccano bolts what else?) through holes drilled through the bogie (the casting conveniently has both ends marked - one is the coupling of course) and the coach floors, when I did one once. The headstocks are easily removed by bending and the tinplate fatigues - a couple of bends should do it - you get 4 spare buffers out of the deal as well. The only snag is that you really need to damage an example of the relatively rare full third. The coaches are based on 52' 6" prototypes (but made slightly short for some strange reason) Apparently these ran in sets - brake/third + third (artic.pair), composite, third + brake/third (artic pair). (Expensive with genuine items!)

 

I've wondered if something could be done by joining the roofs of LNER coaches and the suburbans, but never investigated properly. It should be possible to make a BR version, though there is no BR full third. (The BR versions are represented as panelled, which is incorrect as the prototype coaches were steel. (Faux panelled in LNER days (pre-war at least) just like the Dublo model.)

Edited October 21, 2015 by Il Grifone

[Golden Fleece 30]

As has been mentioned earlier most Hornby Dublo were made of metal so very easy to strip and repaint but even their plastic bodies are easy to do.  Here are some metal and plastic bodies I have repainted.

 

Garry

[Golden Fleece 30]

For you Hornby Dublo enthusiasts here are a couple of Bristol Castles in a completely different disguise.

 

One is a Star class loco and is ALL Dublo.  The cab sides have had all rivet detail removed and filed to remove the rear window, a piece of brass was placed behind the front one and then soldered up to fill the space (the casting had a small chamfer filed in to hold the solder in place).  The roof was cut back and a small spacer fitted between the black and copper top chimney to lift it.  The tender body had all rivets removed then about 5mm taken off the bottom to lower it but still leaving space for the plungers to work.

 

The County has had some of the front inside cylinder casting removed, the centre splashes milled back to the width of the front and rear ones then a new brass one piece splasher made and fitted over these.  The cylinders were moved further forward and an extension to the connecting rod added to allow it to still be usable.  Also the cylinders were filed slightly to give the WR tapered look but without spoiling them due to other parts this is not as much as it should be.  The tender sides had the top flare removed and then new bass sides fitted onto the shell.  I know the frames are wrong but I discovered this too late to change it for the 8F/City one.  Unfortunately there are no Dublo style transfers for this loco so some of the curved bits had to be done freehand after using standard Castle ones.

 

The photo of the County and Castle shows I do have the odd gloss finish loco.

[Golden Fleece 30]

As I am an A4 man through and through and seeing all 34 A4's during my childhood, my ambition is to have them all. Here are all 34 in BR livery with 60001 bottom right and 60034 top left. Silver King, Mallard and Golden Fleece are as bought. Andrew K Mckosh, Sir Nigel Gresley and Walter K. Whigham are Tony Winzar repaints all the rest are mine. Some tenders are from different sources for variation but the locos are Dublo with the exception of 60034 which is Wrenn. I know there was a 35 but this was destroyed in the war (at York too) but as it never made BR days it does not count.  I do have a valanced Dublo A4 body somewhere so one day I may do the 35th.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here are my 2 Garratts (1 Heljan and the other Dublo) working the up and down lines.  The last clip shows that 2 fireman maybe needed to shovel the coal on at the speed it is racing at.  I have mixed feelings between both locos as they both have good and bad faults with them.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJQsd1qFpcQ&feature=youtu.be

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here we have the Co-Bo which has had its tyred wheels replaced with plain steel ones.  This is probably its limit without extra weight added but it is long enough for my layout so I probably wont be looking at increasing the weight.  The R1 on the up line is comfortably pulling 6 coaches and a wagon later in the clip.  The last shot shows her trying to compete with Mallard for the world speed record I think.

Garry