GeraldH

I and others have successfully replaced the tyred wheels on the Hornby loco drive 4F. It runs very nicely and stills hauls a surprising amount. The details are on a thread on the NewRailwayModellers forum. Hopefully this link will work https://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic.php?p=641441&hilit=Hornby+4f+tyres+wheels+rim#p641441 . If it doesn't, the thread is entitled "Hornby 4Fs?" dated 2017.

I use the standard JB Weld. As well as sticking things together like split chassis axles. I have used it to replace missing detail (e.g. broken sleepers, damaged buffer beams etc.), for filling, casting and reinforcement. It is also good for repairing and reinforcing damaged plastic casings and I have used it to repair and reinforce many household items including laptops, vacuum cleaners, sunglasses, broken self tapping screw mounts, window blinds, shower door bearings etc.. It's very tough if mixed correctly and can be carved quite easily after an hour or two before it sets really hard. I'm sure other epoxies are also good, though I quite like the grey appearance of JB Weld. There's quite a few examples on my "BNR" layout thread on another forum for new railway modellers and one or two on the thread of the same name on here.

Another possibility from AliExpress (who I've never used), although it might be a bit too unstable for a loco-tender connection? 6pcs 1:87 Ho Scale Coupler Connector Railway Train Accessories Motor Drive Rod Train Model Connecting Rod https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004310881703.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.4a639e3bw9bOIf&algo_pvid=2281d404-2cbf-42d5-b2a2-f640f193d196&algo_exp_id=2281d404-2cbf-42d5-b2a2-f640f193d196-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis!GBP!8.41!4.97!!!10.28!6.07!%402103835c17081735540184983e9a1d!12000028709883794!sea!UK!0!AB&curPageLogUid=VpzQP5NXIpSZ&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A

Silicone tubing with a ball bearing in it can apparently work... http://www.clag.org.uk/silicone-tube.html

After a lot of head scratching and breaking two drill bits (0.3mm) the workshop team managed to drill two holes into the crosshead where the previous cast fixings had partially disintegrated. The first hole was drilled all the way through the bottom of the crosshead, while the second was drilled partially through, inside the remainder of the damaged pivot. Trying to get these holes centered without a drill press required a certain amount of patience and a bit of luck. The plan was to glue some steel pins into these two holes with the pin heads holding the valve gear in place. It turns out that pin heads are not always symmetrical and care was needed to select good ones. Cutting the pins did sometimes result in the head or the remaining shaft shooting off across the workshop! As a result Bluetac was put on the head of each pin before cutting to improve workforce safety. Finding a pin the correct size for the partially drilled hole for the connecting rod proved particularly difficult as the hole tapered in. Attempting to turn down the shaft of a stainless steel pin proved too difficult and in the end a pin rather shorter than depth of the hole had to be used. This didn't look as elegant as the pin at the bottom of the crosshead, but being on the inside it is not visible to passengers. The whole assembly has now been placed back on the K1 which has re-entered service successfully... so far 😊.

The latest loco the enter the BNR's workshops is a fairly recently arrived K1. It always had fairly floppy valve gear on one side and there was a mysterious loss of plating on the associated connecting rod. Trainspotters on the platform alerted management to the possibility of impending failure and fear of disaster led to the locos withdrawal from service. An attempt to tighten up the valve gear on the floppy side resulted in catastrophic failure with the cross-head becoming completely detached. As spares are not available, the K1 spent sometime laid up, but it was eventually decided to attempt a repair using parts lying around in the BNR's works.

Well sadly I have to report that the track replacement made no appreciable difference to haulage 🙁. Although there seemed to be more friction when cleaning the steel railhead, perhaps the tea and biscuits changed the driving behaviour of No1's crew? Nevertheless in the wheel world 🙂 loco No 1 still ground to a halt on the gradient. There's only one remaining loco on the BNR with Magnadhesion (well the engineers think it has) an E2, but rather surprisingly even that didn't seem to be greatly affected. So the original nickel silver track has been reinstated and the older steel track will be placed in reserve for a (non) rainy day 🙂 .

The track gangers finally found some free time to install steel rails on the BNR's steepest gradient. Steel rail apparently has a greater coefficient of friction than nickel silver rail and it was hoped that this might improve adhesion, allowing some of the less powerful locos to work on the branch to Pewsley. To test the hypothesis trials were first run on the existing nickel silver track using a lead weighted wagon. The wagon was weighted just to the point where BNR's loco No. 1 was unable to progress. Some speedy tracklaying then took place, along with some adjustment to the pre-used fishplates. After tea and chocolate biscuits No. 1's crew took on the challenge...

Yes with hindsight it might have been easier and possibly improved running. As the spare faceplate was available it was decided to try and use it. Correct faceplates for Ringflelds in Hornby Class 25, 29, 35 and HSTs are now very hard to source. People that have done the CD motor conversions could make a few pennies by putting the old faceplates on Ebay 😊.

Attempting to get the rescued Class 21's original Ringfield power bogie running smoothly has proved to be a long running saga. Initially it seemed that the brushes were not being held firmly in place due to a damaged faceplate rivet and so the missing part of the rivet was built up using epoxy. This did not, however, seem to solve the problem and so new hollow rivets were ordered (3.5mm diameter, 5mm long). As the workshop staff did not have a riveting tool, they bodge fitted it with a punch and a vice. It looked good, but running was still not smooth. At around the same time it was discovered that the armature windings had been "repaired" previously seeming unbalancing things, so a spare armature was found and fitted in the workshop, but the running was still erratic. The loco then entered trial service, but the armature was getting stuck at slow speeds in one direction. This meant that the loco was often unable to reverse resulting in marooned and rather frustrated passengers and so the disgraced loco was returned to the workshops. On close examination it was noticed that the new bodged rivet was fractionally off 90 degrees and rather than attempt another bodged riveting exercise, it was decided to use a spare faceplate that had been tucked away in a dusty corner. During trial fitting it was noticed that the top mounting clips were in the wrong place for the Class 21's power unit. No spare faceplates appear to be available for this particular power unit, but the careful use of filler (Milliput) meant that a new fixing (self tapping screw) could be engineered. Now the saga is finally[?] over and BNR's number 12 has entered passenger service, although the paintshop didn't cover themselves in glory with this one. Despite now running fairly well, passengers seem a little nervous when this one turns up at the head of a service, perhaps the loco should have been numbered 13?

Another long running workshop saga has ended with the completion of the new shortened Treplica full brake (Replica body on Triang chassis). Issues in the paintshop means that this one also has the speckled patchy grey roof. The roof could be stripped and repainted, but there is the risk of damaging the other paintwork so it may be left as is. The paintshop are looking to change suppliers to Precision Paints, though supplies seem to be quite hard to get hold of.

After a year of delays the salvaged Class 21 has finally entered service. It's original power unit is still causing trouble and so it has been temporarily replaced with a spare. The railway is experiencing a shortage of larger diesels at the moment and so the loco was rushed through the paint shop. This nearly ended in disaster due to issues with a well known brand of enamel matt varnish which has resulted in a rather speckled roof. The Class 21 should be hauling some of the winter passenger services soon.

The railway has recently taken delivery of some second hand track. Most of it is steel which will be installed on the steepest gradient to see if it improves adhesion. One section had damaged sleepers where it had previously been fixed to the trackbed. To ensure passenger safety the damaged sleepers needed to be repaired and this was done using epoxy. This was then filed to shape and scored using a knife to create a woodgrain effect. New fixing points can be drilled into adjacent sleepers. The repair is quite robust and once the track is ballasted and weathered no-one will ever know.

You could just pop the boards on Freecycle or Freegle, then they'll find another use rather than going to landfill? It will also save you the hassle of chopping them up and taking them to the tip 🙂.

I used 19mm framed MDF for my two main baseboards, I thought I'd sealed it, but ballasting caused the ends between two baseboards to swell resulting in a noticeable kink. The trains run over it OK, but they rock over the kink which looks a bit silly. I also understand that the dust is toxic and getting trackpins in is tricky - I have to drill tiny pilot holes first. I'd not go near the stuff again for any purpose. My more recent boards use good quality ply.

I have way too many locos as I have a habit of fixing up old ones and creating new fictitious ones for the BNR. Every now and then I have a clear out and often have a few regrets, but there's only so much space for the railway and so they have to go 😀.

I fitted Ultrascale brass gears to two Mainline Warships to replace cracked plastic gears. They worked very well and didn't seem to damage anything else. The locos were still pretty noisy and I got rid of them in the end which I slightly regret as the maroon one looked very nice. Be careful when fitting the Ultrascale gears not to over tighten the grub screw as I sheared the top off on one gear. The gear still worked OK, but I couldn't then adjust or remove it.

I still use Linka, but I've never got on with the brick moulds as the brick courses do not line up with the joints and so it is hard to disguise the latter. The stone moulds work better and it is possible to fill the gaps with thinned polyfilla and scribe out any excess. The roof moulds are not great either and so I use strips of scribed card for the slates. Painting the inside of the buildings with diluted PVA also helps to strengthen/seal them.

Great work, looks really nice. Have you thought about putting in a few passengers? I've been using the cheap Chinese ones as the detail is not that visible inside the coach. Pre-painted ones are available, but often in rather garish colours, so I land up repainting them anyway.

It's nice to see the oldies being put back into use 🙂 . The BNR makes extensive use of old Triang shortie coaches. This suburban one has an interior made from recycled card and Ratio seats. Interiors have also been made more cheaply with card partitions and balsa wood seats. Painting the window frames black can help to disguise the thickness of the sides quite well and the bogies can be re-wheeled by making bearings out of matchsticks.

I have read elsewhere on the forum that steel rail has a higher coefficient of friction than nickel silver? Would replacing the track on the gradient with steel rail help? I'd be interested to know as I have some pretty ferocious gradients on the BNR.

I have found "VMS CLEAN SLATE 3.0 ULTRA" and "Mantis MiniStrip Gel" very effective on some, but not all enamel and acrylic paints. The former can remove some paints very quickly and neither have damaged the plastic on Triang, Hornby and Replica Railways models. You just brush it on. Both are available on Ebay and probably elsewhere. I prefer these to "Strip Magic" which is fiddly and did have some negative effects on my models if not used very carefully. I used to use "ModelStrip", but it doesn't seem very effective any more.

Management recently suggested that workshop staff make some progress on their existing projects before starting new ones and cluttering up the place. The line's third push pull coach is about to undergo trials after a trip to the paint shop. Unfortunately someone didn't clean the paint shop very well before spraying commenced and a few bits of detritus have become embedded in the paint. It's not too bad from a distance and some matt varnish may help after the decals have been added. For some reason the BNR's locos have been getting a coat of matt varnish while the coaches remain in a gloss finish. Now that a new compressor has arrived, the coaches may also get treated to some matt varnish as well as their decals which have been in store for several years. Several of Ballybongle's recently arrived citizens jumped aboard the new push-pull coach during the photocall. At some point they might realise that the coach isn't going anywhere at the moment 🤔 . The Class 21 has also visited the paint shop. It looks quite smart with it's black window frames. The buffers and handrails will be fitted after the decals and a coat of matt varnish.

I wonder if a Relco was involved... I have had some success using a rotating felt attachment in my Dremel clone with some mild abrasive paste.

Designed to hold hair in place, but very handy for holding modelling materials together while gluing/soldering. They can also be bent into various shapes, cost me £2.99 for 12 from that auction place, although Etsy also has them at that price.