Tri-and Lord of the Isles

[roythebus]

a while ago when clearing my mother's loft I was handed a box of locos and stock I though I'd lost years ago; it included of some stuff bought for my son when he was quite young and it included a Lord of the Isles. with the usual bit of oil and a clean-up it ran nicely, but not on my finescale track! 

 

Maybe sacrilege, but I took the driving and trailing wheels out and turned them down in my antique Unimat and put them back in to 14.5mm b-t-b. The loco runs even better and amazingly pulls 8 assorted Mk1 style coaches! I'm now looking to replace the front bogie wheels with something more to scale, they should be 16mm diameter according to one source.

 

BTW the loco has plated shiny drivers.

[hayfield]

I guess it also depends on what size will fit not only in height but axlewise, unless you are willing to modify the chassis if needed

[Golden Fleece 30]

I machined the wheels on mine to go through Peco modern universal points (they are different to older universal ones) , and 3-railed it, and she pulls a dream with 8 or 9 Exleys in tow. One thing that does improve its running is removing the magnet in the chassis block as it does hold back the free running of the trailing wheels.

 

Garry

Edited September 2, 2018 by Golden Fleece 30

[Il Grifone]

The prototype's wheels were 4' 1½" in diameter. Mine has a set (Jackson 16mm IIRC), but there isn't a lot of space. They weren't expected to go around a curve of under 1½ chains radius (13½" radius in 00) and some play in the frames was quite adequate. Neither did they have to negoiate a sudden transtion from level to something like 1 in 20 on Tri-ang's elevated  system (hence the chunk missing from the valance!) I also turned down the flanges of the driving and trailing wheels in an attempt to convert her to EM and messed up (a drill and a file are a poor substitute for a lathe, especially if one is ham-handed...). I fitted Romford wheels as a remedy, but they only did 32mm which are too large (an earmarked for GNR No. 1 poi *) A replacement Hornby set are sitting in a drawer.... I've carved up the chassis block to correct the 2mm surplus on the buffer height (which ruins every Tri-ang model IMHO) and replaced the Tri-ang gears with Romford to compensate. Deprived of her Magnadhesion, she is nose heavy and I planned to use the weight of the tender to compensate. I also intended to fit coal rails instead of the plates (Tri-ang made the same mistake they did with their 3F 0-6-0!). but only got as far as cutting off the plates. One day I'll resurrect the project. She is such a beautiful machine that she deserves preservation**.

 

 

* Italian for 'later'. Can also be domani (tomorrow) used as in This year., next year....

 

** The last time I say the Tussaud's replica at Windsor, she was in a deplorable neglected state (rather like mine!)

[Golden Fleece 30]

The prototype's wheels were 4' 1½" in diameter. Mine has a set (Jackson 16mm IIRC), but there isn't a lot of space. They weren't expected to go around a curve of under 1½ chains radius (13½" radius in 00) and some play in the frames was quite adequate. Neither did they have to negoiate a sudden transtion from level to something like 1 in 20 on Tri-ang's elevated  system (hence the chunk missing from the valance!) I also turned down the flanges of the driving and trailing wheels in an attempt to convert her to EM and messed up (a drill and a file are a poor substitute for a lathe, especially if one is ham-handed...). I fitted Romford wheels as a remedy, but they only did 32mm which are too large (an earmarked for GNR No. 1 poi *) A replacement Hornby set are sitting in a drawer.... I've carved up the chassis block to correct the 2mm surplus on the buffer height (which ruins every Tri-ang model IMHO) and replaced the Tri-ang gears with Romford to compensate. Deprived of her Magnadhesion, she is nose heavy and I planned to use the weight of the tender to compensate. I also intended to fit coal rails instead of the plates (Tri-ang made the same mistake they did with their 3F 0-6-0!). but only got as far as cutting off the plates. One day I'll resurrect the project. She is such a beautiful machine that she deserves preservation**.

 

 

* Italian for 'later'. Can also be domani (tomorrow) used as in This year., next year....

 

** The last time I say the Tussaud's replica at Windsor, she was in a deplorable neglected state (rather like mine!)

Hi David,

 

I am surprised she is nose heavy as mine runs without dipping on nickel rail so magnadhesion would have no effect but what I forgot to say earlier is after removing the magnet between the wheels I replaced the slot with lead. I doubt it was much different due to the size of the hole but thought it may help.

 

Garry

[roythebus]

Ha, I was forgetting about the 2mm too high Triang syndrome! I'll have to have a look at that. I remember removing the magnadhesion magnet though. It still runs well through my fine scale track. I had a feeling the valances over the front bogie were too high.

 

The Triang front bogie wheels are about 12mm, far too small!

Edited September 15, 2018 by roythebus

[Il Grifone]

Hi David,

 

I am surprised she is nose heavy as mine runs without dipping on nickel rail so magnadhesion would have no effect but what I forgot to say earlier is after removing the magnet between the wheels I replaced the slot with lead. I doubt it was much different due to the size of the hole but thought it may help.

 

Garry

 

Hi Garry,

 

Sorry I missed this post! All the weight ( Tri-ang XT60) is in front of the driving axle so she tips forward. Mine still has the magnets and lead is a bit more demse than AlNiCo. I  gather that later Hornby models use some sort of puny Oriental motor, so the effect would be less pronounced. I thought that the weight of the tender bearing on the rear on the locomotive. would allow the smokebox to be filled with lead with benefit to the adhesion which is somewhat lacking. I fitted her with oversized Romford driving wheels which have to go. I acquired a set of Hornby driving wheels (years ago) so will fit those, but they will need bushing as she now has 1/8" axles. I need some 1/8" steel rod too. Perhaps I should bore out the Romford gear to 9/64" and use a Tri-ang axle (plenty of those!) or perhaps get a new set, as they now supply gear sets for this strange diameter. (There's always a use for a set of 30:1 Romford gears....)

 

David

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi Garry,

 

Sorry I missed this post! All the weight ( Tri-ang XT60) is in front of the driving axle so she tips forward. Mine still has the magnets and lead is a bit more demse than AlNiCo. I gather that later Hornby models use some sort of puny Oriental motor, so the effect would be less pronounced. I thought that the weight of the tender bearing on the rear on the locomotive. would allow the smokebox to be filled with lead with benefit to the adhesion which is somewhat lacking. I fitted her with oversized Romford driving wheels which have to go. I acquired a set of Hornby driving wheels (years ago) so will fit those, but they will need bushing as she now has 1/8" axles. I need some 1/8" steel rod too. Perhaps I should bore out the Romford gear to 9/64" and use a Tri-ang axle (plenty of those!) or perhaps get a new set, as they now supply gear sets for this strange diameter. (There's always a use for a set of 30:1 Romford gears....)

 

David

Hi David,

 

One thing I had thought of doing but did not need to was putting a phosphor bronze spring from the body to press on the bogie as the Dublo W/C locos had and the TT prairie tank.

 

Those small later motors were fitted in a few locos like the B12 and Jinty amongst others replacing the trusty XO4 ones. I never had one in a loco but have recently bought a couple to try to make a motor bogie for a TT class 20 which only has 14mm inside the bonnet.

 

Garry

[hayfield]

Hi Garry,

 

Sorry I missed this post! All the weight ( Tri-ang XT60) is in front of the driving axle so she tips forward. Mine still has the magnets and lead is a bit more demse than AlNiCo. I  gather that later Hornby models use some sort of puny Oriental motor, so the effect would be less pronounced. I thought that the weight of the tender bearing on the rear on the locomotive. would allow the smokebox to be filled with lead with benefit to the adhesion which is somewhat lacking. I fitted her with oversized Romford driving wheels which have to go. I acquired a set of Hornby driving wheels (years ago) so will fit those, but they will need bushing as she now has 1/8" axles. I need some 1/8" steel rod too. Perhaps I should bore out the Romford gear to 9/64" and use a Tri-ang axle (plenty of those!) or perhaps get a new set, as they now supply gear sets for this strange diameter. (There's always a use for a set of 30:1 Romford gears....)

 

David

 

 

Whilst this may not suit most perhaps an etched chassis with some sort of beam compensation could be the answer. And or motorise the tender chassis. A lot of work but may be worth it.

[Il Grifone]

Hi David,

 

One thing I had thought of doing but did not need to was putting a phosphor bronze spring from the body to press on the bogie as the Dublo W/C locos had and the TT prairie tank.

 

Those small later motors were fitted in a few locos like the B12 and Jinty amongst others replacing the trusty XO4 ones. I never had one in a loco but have recently bought a couple to try to make a motor bogie for a TT class 20 which only has 14mm inside the bonnet.

 

Garry

 

Hi Garry,

 

I had thought about a spring but it would be tricky to get the tension right. There's no problem with a Dublo West Country! I've recently acquired a Hornby J52. Her previous owner had painted her black so I got her cheaply but it saves me the trouble (The GNR livery is very attractive but inappropriate for the fifties.). I was pleased to find an X.03 inside and not one of the Chinese efforts. I suppose they are OK, but....

 

David