Jump to content
 

34040

Members
  • Posts

    73
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by 34040

  1. Great to read in the latest Model Rail that Dave has completed the CAD work and we might expect our models in the third quarter of 2018. Thanks, Dave, for persevering with this project. Dave R
  2. I have not been following this thread recently, thinking that the project was dead, so it was a nice surprise to find that this is not so. There are some drawings of the locomotive on page 38 of British Rail Main Line Electric Locomotives by Colin J. Marsden & Graham B. Fenn (Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 0 86093 559 0). Dave
  3. It looks great but shouldn't the numbers be in sunshine yellow on this particular loco?
  4. I have also received my 30182 today and although I mentioned earlier (allegedly in the wrong place) the problems encountered by Model Rail when reviewing this model in their current issue, mine works very well straight from the box and although there is a slight reduction in speed on second radius curves (mine are Hornby System 6, by the way) it has not derailed in any section of my layout. Possibly the wider flangeway in Hornby track allows the wheels more freedom to adjust to pointwork. Dave
  5. In the early seventies, there was a shortage of FGAs and many of the sets ran as tens. However, these were quickly converted to fives as soon as FGAs became available, due to their flexibility.
  6. This was the best news from the Bachmann announcement, as far as I was concerned. Hattons are showing the FFAs as packs of two, rather than singly as Andy suggests. Having singles or packs of three is a far more sensible idea, given that most of the wagons were in 5 sets but I can sense the words "gift","horse" and "mouth" forming in members' minds so I will admit that having to put up with buying pairs of FFAs is a minor irritation compared with the chance to replace the old Triang wagons for those of us modelling BR circa 1970. Maybe, if these sell well, we can look forward to a decent model of a Morris crane to replace the Triang toy one. I know that this is available as a downloadable card kit but something more solid would be preferable. Have just noticed that there will be a suitable crane added to the Scenecraft range. My cup runneth over.
  7. Kernow's web-site has indicated that the Hampshire Units were likely to be released during this year. I have just contacted them (so that my Visa card can be ready for the shock to come) and Chris has replied that they are not expected until the end of the year at the earliest A bit of a disappointment - for me, if not for my card!
  8. As I already have 7 of the Heljan models and have learned to live with their shortcomings, I am unlikely to trade these in for new improved ones. What might persuade me to part with some shekels is if the revised body was made available to fit to the existing chassis. As Heljan are good at charging for replacement parts to cover for their own mistakes (remember the wheels), then they may hit on this idea, once they have completed the Rail Exclusive order. Dave
  9. The leaflet which came with my model suggests that you contact Hattons directly for spares, quoting the catalogue number and the part number shown by each item. In case you did not have this information with yours, the part number for the steps is 37. It should not be too difficult to drill out the bits left behind in the slots and glue in the new part. Dave
  10. My Blue Circle one arrived yesterday. I also broke off one of the sets of cab steps, whilst I was fiddling about fitting the brake shoes but luckily it was not flung across the room (either by the con. rods or my frustration)and I was able to stick it back on. The one the other side did not appear to be glued into the frame (just pressed in), so I fixed that at the same time. I am going to have to be careful: it is too easy to pick the loco up by the cab and have your fingers wrap around underneath and there go the steps. The weathering is OK (no bare patches on the wheels) and the model runs well. My loco was delivered without any headcode numbers but I am not too bothered as I was not intending to use them anyway. From what I have seen, the headcodes on the privately owned examples were allowed to rot away to nothing, so not fitting any seems prototypical. Dave
  11. Happy to help. If you go ahead, you will end up with sore thumbs but save about £7.00 per loco.
  12. Sorry, mate: been off line for a few days. Luckily, I still have some spare wheels left over from the Pullman bogie upgrade but www.Hornbyspares.com advertise a set of four Pullman w/lights wheelsets as Part no. X9096 at £1.79.
  13. Thanks, Peter. When you said that you were going to "have a go" with the Bachmann wheels, I thought that you might have done as I did and lay in a stock before trying a test fixing. Your decision to go for the Hornby Pullman wheels might prove to be inspired as I have just discovered a problem with the Bachmann wheels. When coupling to a vehicle with the old full size tension-lock couplings and taking a second radius curve, the lower height buffer of the Class 47 will foul the hook on the wagon and may derail it. This should not be a problem with the 35 (oval buffers) or 33 (shorter wheelbase) but may result in me retro-fitting my 47s with Hornby wheels, although careful train-building might be able to keep the situation from occurring. Dave
  14. Thanks, Peter. If you are considering the Hornby wheels, then I should point out that the ones to which I was referring were the Pullman "with lights" wheels which I had left over after upgrading my coaches to take NEM couplings. I do not know whether ordinary coach wheels will do the job. Hornby do make the Pullman wheels available as a spare part at about £2.00 for a set of four (the Bachmann ones are about £6.00 for a pack of ten sets- not twelve, as you might imagine). Thinking about it, a wheel that is one millimetre smaller in diameter will only give a ride-height half a millimetre lower, so the Bachmann ones would be fine, except where the track clearance is marginal. I did undertake some tests before adopting the Bachmann wheels and found that a loco. so fitted would double-head with a loco. with the original wheels quite happily. The difference is very small. Incidentally, I did not bother to replace the centre drivers on six wheel bogies as they are not involved in current collection and not very visible. Again, the mix of the two sizes did not cause any problems. Dave
  15. Not John, Peter but I found the same when I started replacing the wheels on my locos. It is not a major problem with the 33s and 35s, except that the Heljan couplings are already known for being a bit droopy and the lower bogie position emphasises this. I cut about 1 mm off the dangly bit of the tension-lock coupling so that it will not foul point blades and all seems well (coupling up not affected). The only problem that I had was with a Class 47. The fuel tanks are already low-slung and when I re-wheeled the first of mine, it "beached" itself at a couple of placed on my layout. I cut the bottom out of the fuel tanks and filed back the ends and it is now OK. Strangely, the rest of the fleet did not need doing, so I can only assume that the chassis had a small bulge that caused the problem. However, if I was doing the job again, I would use the Hornby coach wheels as they are the same size as Heljan use. Dave
  16. All done at zero cost. Purists should look away now. The most difficult part was removing the base plate. Heljan have mounted the contact strips low down on the Class 52 in order to hide them behind the spring beam but this means that they cover the release clips. Contact strips did get a little mangled during the operation but you have the opportunity to straighten them out before reassembly. Needless to say, locos (I did two of them in about an hour) run much better now. Dave
  17. According to Howes' website, the six-axle packs are designed for the Westerns as well. Perhaps the inserts will be made available separately as I cannot see how they are fitted and if they can be removed without causing them damage. I'm having a look at using Hornby Pullman wheels, with the pointed axles filed back. I have several sets after replacing with the NEM compatable version, the wheels are the right diameter and have the four holes. The holes are a bit larger but I am hoping to disguise this with paint.
  18. Good point (no pun intended). Might not have to get the file out after all, just my wallet (eventually). Dave
  19. Have just realised that I shall have to get Heljan replacements for my Class 52s. It was only Boudica'a chariot that had pointed axles! Dave
  20. Thanks, John: I will give it a go. I am very grateful to you for your detailed reply. Dave
  21. Thanks, John. I had seen that tip about using Bachmann coach wheels before but I thought that I just had to transfer the wheels to the Heljan axle. When I did this, the wheels were too loose. Now I see where I went wrong. With the difference in axle diameters, do the gears have to be opened out to fit, or can they just be forced on? This would be a much cheaper way to improve the Heljan diesels: it would cost me about £150 to do it the "official" way. Dave
  22. I've just received my pack from Mega Model Shop (ordered on Tuesday). Very impressed. Dave
  23. Thanks, Garry. That photo answers my question about the headcode, also. Leaving it to rot was obviously the preferred option.
  24. I have really enjoyed reading through this thread, particularly the faults found with the model and the ingenious remedies. I am now confident that I can deal with any problems and have taken the plunge and ordered the Blue Circle model for my cement works. None of the Class 14s worked in my area (either in BR or private service) so I don't know too much about them. As I have chosed a private-owner example, I was wondering what the private companies did with the headcode box. Did they have new blinds made that could display information useful for the company's operation; did they fix the headcode to display 0O00 or a line of dots, or did they leave the headcode as displayed when the loco arrived until it rotted away? Any help would be welcomed, particularly if it applied to D9526 (the one that went to APCM). Dave
  25. I did post some quite detailed instructions on the old site but cannot find them now. Basically, the cab moulding will come out. It has to be levered away from the cab roof with a flat-bladed screwdriver and then gently prised up (taking care that it does not begin to tilt forward once the tab is freed from the slot in the roof - otherwise it will scratch the door window glass). It is useful to remove the perspex strip which carries the side lights as well. It might be possible to avoid this process and push the headcode glass out by inserting the paperclip through the open cab window but I have not tried this.
×
×
  • Create New...