I mentioned in my last blog post, that I decided to test my old Hornby stock to see if it still worked with a view to using some on a new layout.

Most of the stock was bought around 1980/81 and for several years was used on various "trainsets" in my bedroom, before being packaged away in my parents loft. When I moved to my own house I took the stock with me ... and promptly returned it to the new loft.

Principally I was interested to see if the locos still ran and my old controllers still worked:

• R328 Class 47 (type 4) Co-Co Locomotive - Mammoth D1670
  
• R779 0-4-0 Saddle Tank Locomotive - Desmond
  
• R332 Class 253 Intercity 125 Train Pack (Class 43 Power Car)
  

• R900 Power Controller
  
• R915 Power Controller
  

There are also copious amounts of Horby set track (straight, 2nd & 3rd radius) and some flexitrack.

I had started playing around with a piece of set track on an old plank of wood to have a go at ballasting and I decided to bodge some wires on the end of this and use it as a short test track. Not exactly a long run but enough to assess if the engines would still run.

I started with the saddle tank and having also kept the service sheet, stripped down the body to expose the motor. There was no obvious corrosion and the motor/wheels still turned freely by hand. A quick once over with some tweezers to remove small fibre deposits and a drop of "3-in-1" at the recommended positions and it was time to give it a try.

A check with the multimeter showed that the R915 controller was providing the correct voltage so the loco, without body, was placed on the track and with a gentle tap the motor started turning, not very well but enough to provide confidence. A quick look at the wheels provided an answer - they were filthy. So the next 15 minutes or so was spent carefully rotating the motor/wheels by hand and using a peco track rubber to remove the build up.

After this the body was replaced and the the engine tried again - by this time my 5 year old daughter had come to see what daddy was up to and "volunteered" to drive the train. The video below shows a short clip of the test in action.

http://youtu.be/oWPXinqsSfk

I'm pleased to say that both the Class 47 and Intercity power car also worked with a similar level of servicing. So after 20 odd years in storage my trains still work - time to start building that new layout.

Peter

P.S. In the process of this testing I discovered an excellent website entitled "Hornby Railways Collectors Guide" (http://www.hornbyguide.com/), which has additional service sheets and details on Hornby stock from 1955 to 2011