Tri-ang Railways, Tri-ang Hornby and Hornby Railways "Smoking" Locos.

[brianusa]

The smoke units were fun but unrealistic. Just as well really as a realistic quantity of smoke would have us coughing and spluttering while we make a hasty exit from the model railway room to get some fresh air.

 

 

Edit; Oops similar point already made above.

All very true and in O it gets worse. If you run more than one steamer, the smoke gets obnoxious even with a window open. Most of mine remain switched out. If you must have smoke, there are scents that can be added to the oil to make the smell more appealing, that's if you don't mind scented smoke.

 

Brian.

[Ruffnut Thorston]

That is interesting Robin as the screw through the chimney version obviously did not have the hole and slot for the unit and holding clip.  Fitting the screw on top of the buffer beam is how all later Britannia and Princess's were made, I wonder if they just swapped the chassis?

 

Garry

 

I seem to remember that the Service Dealers were provided with instructions for fitting Seuthe type units to Pre-1961 Plate Frame Chassis Models. (I think I actually have a copy in store!)

 

It involved drilling a hole in the front weight block to fit the unit, and another 8BA tapped hole in the chassis and a clearence hole in the front footplate for the body fixing screw (4-6-2) or in the side of the weight block/ body for the Jinty....like the Tri-ang Post 1961 side fitting.

 

OR, swap out the chassis....

[Golden Fleece 30]

I would be surprised if many dealers had the facilities to drill a mazak block and keep it centrally vertical, and also drill and tap for the front screw. Kings x model shop could have but the local model shops here in York I doubt could.

[Robin Brasher]

I would be surprised if many dealers had the facilities to drill a mazak block and keep it centrally vertical, and also drill and tap for the front screw. Kings x model shop could have but the local model shops here in York I doubt could.

They drilled a hole to fit the smoke unit in.

[Il Grifone]

I would be surprised if many dealers had the facilities to drill a mazak block and keep it centrally vertical, and also drill and tap for the front screw. Kings x model shop could have but the local model shops here in York I doubt could.

 

Without a pillar drill stand - not cheap in the sixties* - this is a two man job (one to drill and the other to check that the bit is vertical - tricky by eye), but possible as 100% accuracy is not essential.

 

* I had an attachment for a Black and Decker drill in the seventies (around a fiver IIRC - quite expensive as was the drill). Accuracy was not its forte as it was a bit sloppy.

[andyman7]

I seem to remember that the Service Dealers were provided with instructions for fitting Seuthe type units to Pre-1961 Plate Frame Chassis Models. (I think I actually have a copy in store!)

 

It involved drilling a hole in the front weight block to fit the unit, and another 8BA tapped hole in the chassis and a clearence hole in the front footplate for the body fixing screw (4-6-2) or in the side of the weight block/ body for the Jinty....like the Tri-ang Post 1961 side fitting.

 

OR, swap out the chassis....

I have a set of these instructions, they form part of the original Service Sheet sequence. It's quite an involved operation which nowadays would be pretty pointless given the option of recovering a suitable chassis from a later loco - but I guess in 1961 if you didn't want to replace your fleet it was a choice some might make.

[Il Grifone]

In the sixties, the option of completely replacing the chassis did not really exist. The bodies were quite cheap (I bought a saddle tank body for 4/10d), so the chassis cost nearly the price of a new model (of the order of £3). Fitting a smoke unit would have been the cost of the unit (about £1) plus fitting charge.

 

I suppose you could have swopped motors etc. and saved perhaps another pound (an X.04 was 12/10d IIRC), but whether it was worth the hassle I don't know. It would also depend on the availability of a rolling chassis - I couldn't get one for a 2-6-2T and had to get the complete item, including the wretched smoke unit which I didn't want.

[Il Grifone]

Smoke unit instructions:-

 

http://www.hornbyguide.com/service_sheet_details.asp?sheetid=176

 

http://www.hornbyguide.com/service_sheet_details.asp?sheetid=177

 

http://www.hornbyguide.com/service_sheet_details.asp?sheetid=178

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Yes, those are the ones!

 

Hornbyguide has done it again!

 

A really useful resource.

[Golden Fleece 30]

That is a lot of work to fit the smoke units to older locos.  I have never heard of it or seen the service sheets before.  I wonder how many were successful as I know how easy it is to break a drill or a tap in Mazak, especially so small.  Once broken usually impossible to remove.  It certainly was not for the likes of me aged 9 at the time and my father had no idea of any engineering and that includes drilling a hole.  Even now it can still happen to me but very rarely thankfully.

 

I would be surprised the 2-6-2 was easy as stopping the drill short of going through would not be easy with your hand held Black and Decker.

 

How many cylinder blocks would have survived as they were quite brittle?

 

Garry

[Il Grifone]

Hi Garry,

 

Yes the cylinder units break very easily, but glue* works wonders!   (I can speak about breaking drills in mazak too!)

 

Seriously, drill slowly by hand with a new bit, but a dealer would have had spares, possibly even the new type. I doubt many were done in any case. This is the first time I've heard of any fitting service; it certainly wasn't advertised very much. Perhaps, always considering it a waste of time, I didn't look....

 

* Actually they are made of a glue resistant plastic - I would melt some wire into the plastic with a soldering iron - a bodge but it works.

 

David

[Ruffnut Thorston]

The problem with the post 1961 R.59 BR 3MT 2-6-2 Cylinder Blocks is the big hole in the middle to clear the Seuthe type smoke unit!

 

That this hole was not blocked up in the tooling after the introduction of Synchrosmoke units in 1964  (BUT not in the R.59!) is a shame....as it does really weaken the moulding considerably!

Edited January 25, 2018 by Sarahagain

[rockershovel]

On 05/12/2016 at 19:53, brianusa said:

All very true and in O it gets worse. If you run more than one steamer, the smoke gets obnoxious even with a window open. Most of mine remain switched out. If you must have smoke, there are scents that can be added to the oil to make the smell more appealing, that's if you don't mind scented smoke.

 

Brian.

 

Funny you should say that >koff < >koff< .... the smoke unit on my Lionel 4-4-2 just appears to have conked out, which is a bit of a mercy. The other two locos with smoke units have switches to turn them off, the best thing about them in my view. 

Edited November 15, 2019 by rockershovel

[roythebus]

I used to use Triang lubricating oil in the smoke units. 

 

But does anyone remember the adverts on the Railway Modeller where it had the words PUFF PUFF arranged in an inverted triangle coming ou of the chimney of a loco?

[CKPR]

On 05/12/2016 at 19:53, brianusa said:

All very true and in O it gets worse. If you run more than one steamer, the smoke gets obnoxious even with a window open. Most of mine remain switched out. If you must have smoke, there are scents that can be added to the oil to make the smell more appealing, that's if you don't mind scented smoke.

 

Brian.

https://www.petersspares.com/mega-steam-smoke-oil-with-grandpas-pipe-smoke-smell-60ml-dropper-bottle.ir

 

My abiding memory of the Harrogate model exhibition in the mid-1970s was the overwhelming smell of pipe smoke and arcing open-frame motors !

Edited November 24, 2019 by CKPR

[Nearholmer]

Hmmm, the London model shop smell was a thick aroma of old fag smoke, BO, mouldering cardboard etc.

 

it might be nostalgia-inducing to have a smoke oil scented accordingly. Or, it might not.

[rockershovel]

On 23/11/2019 at 18:49, Nearholmer said:

Hmmm, the London model shop smell was a thick aroma of old fag smoke, BO, mouldering cardboard etc.

 

it might be nostalgia-inducing to have a smoke oil scented accordingly. Or, it might not.

 

I think you are confusing “recollections” with “fond memories” ....

[Wolseley]

On 24/11/2019 at 05:49, Nearholmer said:

Hmmm, the London model shop smell was a thick aroma of old fag smoke, BO, mouldering cardboard etc.

 

it might be nostalgia-inducing to have a smoke oil scented accordingly. Or, it might not.

 

There was a (long since gone) shop in Pitt Street, Sydney called J Searle & Sons, that pretty much fitted the same description.  As well as model railways, they also sold models of planes, ships and so on.  I remember it as being the first shop where I saw, in the window, the then brand new Matchbox Toy of the red E Type Jaguar, complete with imitation wire wheels with cast spokes, which was something not seen before in small toys back then.  In spite of the appearance of the shop, the man who ran it was always impeccably dressed.  I invariably visited the place with my father (until I was old enough to venture into the city by myself, that is) as my mother refused to go into the shop, saying that it was too dusty.

 

Oh, and this post does have something to do with Tri-ang/Seuthe smoke units.  It was at Searle's that Dad bought me a Lord of the Isles complete with smoke unit and two clerestory coaches.....

[5050]

On 23/11/2019 at 00:51, CKPR said:

https://www.petersspares.com/mega-steam-smoke-oil-with-grandpas-pipe-smoke-smell-60ml-dropper-bottle.ir

 

My abiding memory of the Harrogate model exhibition in the mid-1970s was the overwhelming smell of pipe smoke and arcing open-frame motors !

Not to mention some other 'naturally induced' aromas which I am sure resulted from the imbibing of the ozone from those motors!  Doesn't seem to happen quite so much these days since the more prevalent use of can motors etc. - or is it just that my nose ain't working so well?!