Playing with Hornby Dublo 3 rail again

[Golden Fleece 30]

We need an 'envy' button!

 

Getting them past SWMBO would be a problem. (I have two women in the family who both think trains are a waste of money and that I have too many already. (I fail to understand either idea....)

 

I'm off to a toy fair in Northfleet later. Here's hoping....

My wife thinks I have too many but still accepts me buying them thankfully. I had left her having lunch saying where I was going and turned up with the Liverpool explaining its rarity lol.

 

She has not minded that I have dropped a scale to TT without selling any others and did ask what scale it was so she could buy some people to populate the layout, she had surprised me with some but at the time did not know the size and got N and HO lol.

 

Even our 6 year old knows the difference as at a recent toy fair I was genarally looking at some 00 and she said "those are too big for your trains".

 

Enjoy the toy fair, hope you get a bargain.

 

Garry

Edited April 29, 2018 by Golden Fleece 30

[sagaguy]

Have you guys looked at Hatton's. Some Cities on there at very reasonable prices but will need restoration work. http://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/1000440/1000588/1000640/0/Hornby_Dublo_OO_Gauge_1_76_Scale_Steam_locos/prodlist.aspx

Talking of Hattons,sometimes,i can`t resist some of their offerings on their preowned pages,this will be with me this week & will be fitted with a 3 rail p/up.

 

 

                                      

 

                          Ray.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Talking of Hattons,sometimes,i can`t resist some of their offerings on their preowned pages,this will be with me this week & will be fitted with a 3 rail p/up.

 

 

W2265-PO_3388079_Qty1_1.jpg

 

Ray.

Is this your second one Ray? I thought you got one a couple of months ago.

 

Looking back at previous posts this is a second one which looks to be B of B as opposed to your other one as a W/C.

 

You need a blue one now.

 

Garry

Edited April 29, 2018 by Golden Fleece 30

[Golden Fleece 30]

Regarding the bargains I was lucky with a boxed very good St Paddy which came up as Buy it Now for about £150 and I got a similar 3-rail EMU the same way. It was luck to just be on Ebay as they appeared. My nickel 3-rail A4 was bought as a non runner with a loose wheel. 48094 came in a job lot in a rough state so I knew that would need a respray, at the time I did not even know it was amongst the items until the parcel arrived, I knew an 8F was included but not which version. That parcel was like finding the crown jewels as it also included the rarest of items, an EMU with plain green front. This is not the common one with a moulded line for the yellow but unpainted, this was one of only 200 without the moulded line. I still have not seen a bargain for a Ludlow or 80059 yet so don't have those.

 

It is just being in the right place at the right time.

 

Garry

Edited April 29, 2018 by Golden Fleece 30

[sagaguy]

Is this your second one Ray? I thought you got one a couple of months ago.

 

Looking back at previous posts this is a second one which looks to be B of B as opposed to your other one as a W/C.

 

You need a blue one now.

 

Garry

Ummm,yes,a result of wee small hours browsing finally getting on to Hattons preowned pages

 

                        Ray.

[Wolseley]

It is just being in the right place at the right time.

 

Garry

 

Unfortunately for me this would probably mean being on eBay at around 3 or 4am local time.

[sagaguy]

Unfortunately for me this would probably mean being on eBay at around 3 or 4am local time.

That`s about the time of the morning when I browse only UK time.One of the side effects of being retired I guess.LOL.

 

RAY.

[kevinlms]

Have you guys looked at Hatton's. Some Cities on there at very reasonable prices but will need restoration work. http://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/1000440/1000588/1000640/0/Hornby_Dublo_OO_Gauge_1_76_Scale_Steam_locos/prodlist.aspx

Won't the Hatton's ones be remaining stock, from when they purchased the factory leftovers from Meccano? Well perhaps not Cities, but they certainly had brand new items advertised, until well into the 80s.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Won't the Hatton's ones be remaining stock, from when they purchased the factory leftovers from Meccano? Well perhaps not Cities, but they certainly had brand new items advertised, until well into the 80s.

No, I asked them about 10 years ago when they found some new track they found in the stores and they said all the rolling stock had gone a long time ago so these will be just normal second hand ones.

 

Garry

Edited April 29, 2018 by Golden Fleece 30

[Il Grifone]

The fair was a bit underwhelming - a surfeit of dealers in overpriced die-cast road vehicles.... However I did get a Tri-ang TC Pacific body (where did I put my spare chassis? - long desired - since the model first came out*), a Dinky 0-4-0T* (bit tatty), a couple of cheap Dublo wagons (late underframe mineral and an Esso tanker body (no shortage of underframes for this!) and a couple of yards of Peco? fibre base N/S TT track (proper sized sleepers!) plus a couple of road vehicles ans a US tank wagon - the most expensive item was £2.50.

 

* She now needs a tender, I can use a Gresley one for now as Tri-ang/Hornby did. Her bell is missing, but you can't have everything.

Edited April 29, 2018 by Il Grifone

[Golden Fleece 30]

The fair was a bit underwhelming - a surfeit of dealers in overpriced die-cast road vehicles.... However I did get a Tri-ang TC Pacific body (where did I put my spare chassis? - long desired - since the model first came out*), a Dinky 0-4-0T* (bit tatty), a couple of cheap Dublo wagons (late underframe mineral and an Esso tanker body (no shortage of underframes for this!) and a couple of yards of Peco? fibre base N/S TT track (proper sized sleepers!) plus a couple of road vehicles ans a US tank wagon - the most expensive item was £2.50.

 

* She now needs a tender, I can use a Gresley one for now as Tri-ang/Hornby did. Her bell is missing, but you can't have everything.

Hi David,

 

Is that the original TC body or the later Hiawatha? I don't think the body moulding was different though, only just the plastic.  The rear pony truck may have been different as the version with the TC tender had a Princess one with a hole for the tender coupling but the A3 tender itself had a hole with the loco pony truck having the pin.

 

Regarding the TT track, I know Wrenn made a fibre based one with the rail held in clips but Peco I thought was individulay but could be wrong on that. Gem may have done a fibre track before their plastic version came out just as they did the points, fibre then plastic.  I have never seen the Welkut track so no idea what that was like.

 

Garry

Edited April 29, 2018 by Golden Fleece 30

[Il Grifone]

Hi Garry,

 

She's a pukka R.54 T.R 2335. Now the layers of dirt are removed, she looks really clean and tidy. The white paint along the footplating is flaky, but that's not a problem - I've just bought a new pot of Tamiya acrylic. The headlight is present, complete with dangling wires, but I'll replace that with a LED. I have a spare Princess block somewhere - it came to hand the other day, but I put it away again.... I do have a Model Power chassis and thought of a combination, but there's a firebox backplate where the motor has to go and I don't want to carve her up, so it will have to be the Princess. I have a choice of tenders the Hornby Gresley or a Bachmann UP Vanderbilt on 6 wheel bogies - not right either, but rather better.

As for the bell, somewhere (again I saw it recently) I have a scrap 'Davy Crockett' body (bought for the boiler fittings) which may have one or I could turn down a brass screw in the drill.

There were two bodies, but stupidly I didn't buy the other one because it was broken. There's another fair in a couple of weeks so maybe....

 

The track is devoid of maker's name, but the rail is held every fourth sleeper by a metal clip and there are fixing holes in these sleepers. Being at the ends of the sleepers. this is just asking for them to be broken off as has happened to a few - a bit of card and glue will soon fix that. At least the rail is nickel silver. It could well be Wrenn Gem or Welkut. I don't recall any other makes of fibre TT track, but there might have been.

 

I wasn't going to buy any more U.S. freight cars, but how couldn I resist a 'ready to roll'  tank car labelled £4 in a box marked "half marked price"? It has X2fs, but I'll stick it in a block train. It's a bit wobbly but I'll convert it to 3 point suspension - a couple of strips of plasticard stuck to one of the bolsters will soon solve that.

 

David

 

EDIT for bad aim on the keyboard

Edited May 1, 2018 by Il Grifone

[Il Grifone]

Chapter and verse on the Tri-ang model of 2335.

 

https://tri-ang.weebly.com/4-6-2-steam-loco--tender.html

 

I shall have to find the proper tender....

 

http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/photos/cpr_steam/2300.htm

 

An excuse to use up some of those Romford drivers with too many spokes?

 

The blinkers are smart!

 

http://cs.trains.com/ctr/f/3/t/23144.aspx

Edited April 29, 2018 by Il Grifone

[Golden Fleece 30]

Chapter and verse on the Tri-ang model of 2335.

 

https://tri-ang.weebly.com/4-6-2-steam-loco--tender.html

 

I shall have to find the proper tender....

 

http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/photos/cpr_steam/2300.htm

 

An excuse to use up some of those Romford drivers with too many spokes?

 

The blinkers are smart!

 

http://cs.trains.com/ctr/f/3/t/23144.aspx

When you see the real one the model, especially for the day, looks very good.  My only criticism was Tri-ang's issue of putting a front coupling on in place of the full cow catcher.  The Neverwazza looks really smart along with the real one.

 

Garry

[Il Grifone]

If I could get the Model Power* mechanism to fit without carving up the cab.... It looks and runs better than the Tri-ang one, though I doubt that it is anywhere near as robust.

 

* I think it's Model Power, but it could well be Mehano like the chassis used in the above article. They were probably sourced from Yugoslavia (as it was then) in any case.

It's completely free of markings.

 

I don't know why he was surprised at Harrods being well stocked with Tri-ang. All department stores sold trains back then.

[Il Grifone]

Taking advantage of SWMBO's temporary absence, I decided to lash out on a second Pacific on eBay. She has a bent (acetate) tender and is missing the cylinders/valve gear, but looks promising. I'll keep the better body and fit the other one to my chassis. ( :) two locomotives are always better than one!).

 

This is a bit far from Dublo 3 rail but she'll end up with Dublo wheels and probably 3 rail to run with my Trix American stock. I must build the 'ready wired table top' layout that has been a project for years.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/108405-trix-trains/page-5

 

The track layout is 997 with a loop added on the LHS to make two circuits. I'll use Trix large radius ('large, as in 15¾"!) curves on the outer circuit to run Dublo (and Tri-ang etc.) as well. I use a modified form of the Twin system where one locomotive picks up from the centre rail and returns to a common running rail and the other is normal 2 rail. Thus I can run anything. (The track will be trix fibre with universl points at least in the outer circuit. Somehere on the internet there is how to convert normal points to universal Trix Express IIRC, but the track is the same, There is a Trix Express plastic based track, but you need tio be in Germany to obtain/afford it.(I've only ever been able to obtain 10 curved rails.)

 

I'm waffling on again so I'll shut up!

[sagaguy]

Ah,the joys of retirement,give me the time to turn these parts into a green diesel shunter.I actually turned the magnet through 180 degrees so that it now runs in the correct direction.The Wrenn 2 rail chassis came from ebay,the body from Wrenn Galore,ladders from a scrap body from Mtrains & other spares that i have accumulated over the years.I must get the layout running but these projects fascinate me.

 

 

 

                                        

 

                                        

 

 

                                               Ray.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here are my 08 repaints with an original.

 

Garry

Edited May 8, 2018 by Golden Fleece 30

[Il Grifone]

The second CPR Pacific has duly arrived, She lacks cylinders and valve gear, but I have a spare cylinder block. More seriously the motor turns slowly and the commutator smokes. I cleaned all the muck off, but still no go. Then I carelessly bugg broke the carbon block off one of the brushes.... I'll have to borrow the bits from my green 'Princess' for now. I tried to straighten the acetate tender, which sags in the middle, with hot water. It works with dinosaur figures, but not in this case.... It's just as well i was expecting a dud motor and knew about the tender. I've found a suitable tender though. It's marked 'Santa Fe' in large letters* - easily remedied -  and will do until I find the right one somewhere. Incidently the front pilot is complete except for a slot for the dropper of the Mk III coupling. I'm undecided what couplings to fit (Trix probably), but in the mean time I can remove the coupling hook leaving the loop and fill the slot.

 

* It belongs with a 2-8-0 of uncertain parentage. The engine is unpowered as it's tender driven, but the tender I have is unpowered too. It has six wheel bogies (trucks if you prefer) so probably came from the Pacific from the same manufacturer. Mine is missing the steps and front platform. One day I 'll build her a new one....

 

http://tycotrain.tripod.com/steamengines/id2.html

 

Mine will not have X2f couplings (all my U.S. Locos have Kadees!) and will sit on the rails properly, unlike the unfortunate example in the link

 

EDIT I've just noticed. Americans are obviously unaware of  Cockney rhyming slang or they would have called the 0-4-0 something else....

            On the other hand looking at it..... There is a marked resemblance to Lima's 0-4-0. They claimed she is an Alco, but the nearest I've ever found is an 0-6-0T similar to the tank version of this beastie or 'crittur' as they have it over there.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Il Grifone

[alfsboy]

i am sadly not a player or collector  of Dublo trains but Great Eastern Models of Norwich have a large collection of used rolling stock ,bridges ,not sure about locos etc up for sale .Its on  their Facebook but for those of a  more nervous disposition  a phone call will work.

hope it helps someone.

[sagaguy]

I wasn`t quite certain where to post this but as it runs on an HD layout,so here goes.

 

                 

Well,here she is,Heljan EM1 fitted with Trix EM1 pantographs.They are not wired in at the moment but at least,it will look right under my catenary.Very fragile roof detail which i have slightly damaged.It will now look better under my Trix OHLE.The wire is a bit thick,i may cut it off at a later date & solder the wire to the pan baseplate.

 

 

                            

 

 

                                    Ray.

 

[hallmodelspares]

Like your Em1 looks great also liked your silver a4, Have you done the dublo lms style coaches in silver similar to the older Hornby versions from the tender drive era?

[sagaguy]

A bit of a rarity,a Heljan EM1 with pantographs that actually contact the wire.I think i`ve sourced a miniature slide switch that will be used to switch the supply from track to overhead.Runs well without snagging.I now have a Heljan EM2 for which I will need another two Trix pantographs.I will do a video but at the moment,it`s only a short length of OHLE.

 

 

 

                       

 

 

 

 

                                       Ray.

 

[rockershovel]

That’s rather effective..

[Wolseley]

I managed to end up with three Dublo City class locomotives (I already have four Duchesses) when I really just meant to have one.  When I started looking for one, months went by and the only ones I saw coming up for sale were either very much worse for wear, or ridiculously expensive.

 

My first purchase was a Wrenn blue City of Glasgow body, in mint condition (apart from one small paint chip to the smokebox) which, unusually for a Wrenn offering, was fairly cheap.  I then picked up a three railed Dublo chassis (I say railed rather than rail, as I'm pretty certain it started its life as a two rail example) to motorise it.  I then discovered the differences between the Dublo and Wrenn City chassis.  While I was prepared to fabricate a new mount at the rear of the chassis, I began to have second thoughts about undertaking the necessary alterations to the front, so I sought out a Wrenn chassis and, after looking for quite a while, got one at what was a reasonable price.  I will be fitting it with a spare Dublo third rail pick-up I have some time soon.

 

Which left me with a Dublo chassis and no body....  My next purchase was a rather ratty looking Dublo City body for something like ‎£5 and a very low rate for post and packing.  It was rather bizarre - someone had painted it Brunswick Green, numbered it 111 and put a GWR "shirtbutton" logo on the cabside.  They had also painted the chimney, not copper, as one might expect, but green (to represent verdigris perhaps?).  I was originally intending to paint it maroon (or whatever you call that colour) but, after a while, I found that I rather liked it in green, so it's going to remain green, although I will strip it and repaint it.  I haven't got around to buying nameplates yet, but it will end up being "City of Edinburgh".

 

So far, so good, but one problem.  When I was about 10 or so, there were two locomotives out of everything on the market that I desperately wanted, but were always financially out of reach.  One was the Dublo A4, "Golden Fleece" and the other was "City of London".  Now I had two Cities, but one was blue, one was green - neither was maroon.

 

Then, after looking at overpriced examples month after month (I wasn't even considering a "City of Liverpool" on grounds of the necessary outlay to get a good one) i managed to get my hands on a near mint "City of London" for ‎£50.  All I now have to do is fit it with a spare Dublo third rail pick-up I have (I have three of them in a drawer - which will leave me one for some future project by the time I finish the Cities) and touch up a few scratches on the tender.

 

So there you have it - a tale of three Cities.