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ddoherty958
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I am lucky enough to have in my possession a Hornby dublo BR goods train, a single coach, a turntable, a loop of track including a power track AND a vintage controller. All of them are about 1950’s. What does everyone else have?

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Too much to list, "played with" regularly.

 

Terry

No better way for a faithful set to live it’s days. My dublo train is honestly the most reliable train I have ever owned. I guess things were better quality in the 50’s Edited by ddoherty958
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Apart from Zinc Pest, which afflicted some makes, they were all built to last*. At school we rather looked down on Tri-ang, because it was plastic. Dublo then showed us what could be done. startingf with the SD6 grain wagon,  for which I parted with 6/9d to acquire shortly after its release.

 

My list of Dublo now runs to several pages so I won't even start.... Likewise Trix and Tri-ang etc.

 

SWMBO says I have too much....  :scratchhead: :scratchhead: :scratchhead:  :O 

 

* I read somewhere recently that General Motors invented 'planned obsolescence' in the late fifties. Other car manufactures were not slow to copy and the practice has infected almost everything else since.

 

A word of caution!

The vintage controllers should be OK as the voltage is low. but the matching transformers should only be kept for show due to insukation break down. PVC mains leads should be OK*, but the cotton covered rubber leads are well past their 'use by' date (25 years). If in any doubt, either don't use it or get it checked by a competent electrican.

 

* I have a 'Marshall' transformer variable transformer/controller. Though fitted with a PVC mains lead, there was rubber insulated wire inside. It was on the low voltage side and not actually touching anything, but I replaced it anyway. They were assembled with rivets to avoid tampering. I repiaced these with nuts and bolts to show that the unit has been modified. Originally is not a problem. as the power units are worth very little.

Edited by Il Grifone
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Apart from Zinc Pest, which afflicted some makes, they were all built to last*. At school we rather looked down on Tri-ang, because it was plastic. Dublo then showed us what could be done. startingf with the SD6 grain wagon,  for which I parted with 6/9d to acquire shortly after its release.

 

My list of Dublo now runs to several pages so I won't even start.... Likewise Trix and Tri-ang etc.

 

SWMBO says I have too much....  :scratchhead: :scratchhead: :scratchhead:  :O

 

* I read somewhere recently that General Motors invented 'planned obsolescence' in the late fifties. Other car manufactures were not slow to copy and the practice has infected almost everything else since.

 

A word of caution!

The vintage controllers should be OK as the voltage is low. but the matching transformers should only be kept for show due to insukation break down. PVC mains leads should be OK*, but the cotton covered rubber leads are well past their 'use by' date (25 years). If in any doubt, either don't use it or get it checked by a competent electrican.

 

* I have a 'Marshall' transformer variable transformer/controller. Though fitted with a PVC mains lead, there was rubber insulated wire inside. It was on the low voltage side and not actually touching anything, but I replaced it anyway. They were assembled with rivets to avoid tampering. I repiaced these with nuts and bolts to show that the unit has been modified. Originally is not a problem. as the power units are worth very little.

 

Good advice about the electronics. I ditched mine many years ago when I realised they'd become potentially lethal.

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Good advice about the electronics. I ditched mine many years ago when I realised they'd become potentially lethal.

I’ll keep mine purely for show. I’ll probably sell it 30-40 years later to some collecter for a bit of cash.

Edited by ddoherty958
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I have a large (rated 3A) Trix transformer that probably powered the model railway on Noah's Ark.  Really its only use is as a door stop....

Edited by Il Grifone
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What does everyone else have?

 

 

Dublo:

0-6-2T (10)

A4 (3)

Duchess (4)

City (3)

2-6-4T

Bristol castle

2-8-0 8F

Rebuilt West Country (Dorchester)

Bo-Bo

C0-Co

Deltic

Diesel Shunter

Co-Bo

 

Trix:

0-6-2T

Britannia

Warship

 

I also have a Tri-ang Lord of the Isles and a Caley single that I mean to convert to 3 rail but haven't done yet.....

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I have a large (rated 3A) Trix transformer that probably powered the model railway on Noah's Ark.  Really its only use is as a door stop....

 

Noah's Ark?  Only one?  What happened to the other one?

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I am lucky enough to have in my possession a Hornby dublo BR goods train, a single coach, a turntable, a loop of track including a power track AND a vintage controller. All of them are about 1950’s. What does everyone else have?

 

 

As regards my earlier reply to your question, please don't think that I'm trying to show off by saying I have so many locomotives (I suspect, in any case, that two or three other forum members at least would look upon my collection as small).  If anything, I suppose you could take it as a warning as to where all this could lead - in my case it all started with the purchase of a Bristol Castle and six coaches around two years ago.....

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Noah's Ark?  Only one?  What happened to the other one?

 

:jester:

 

It was designed to power two trains! There are no common return loop problems with Trix A.C., so a single transformer will do.

 

3A is sufficient even for current hungry Trix locomotives with enough to spare for lighting and other accessories.

 

Re size of collection:  Nearly seventy years of buying trains results in lots and lots of boxes. Downsizing meant no room for a layout and so even more rolling stock....

 

My Dublo layout (now ten years ago)  http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/28222-dublo-layout/?hl=%2Bdublo+%2Blayout

 

It isn't all Dublo. There are a few items of Trix and other makes. No prizes for spotting them!

 

Memo. Must finish restoring my Rebuilt W.C.

The Castle now has a green tender, but still lacks 'G.J.Churchward' plates. (in homage to the great man and to the number of times I saw the real locomotive.

 

P.S. The signal setting is for the branch through the tunnel, not the siding.

Edited by Il Grifone
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Not a lot, but it was all bought new.

 

Duchess of Atholl + 2 LMS coaches

LMS 0-6-2T (the goods set)

Bristol Castle (which I regret I converted to 2-rail) + 2 WR coaches

1 BR suburban coach

LMS wagons / brake van which came with the 0-6-2T as a set, plus track

A few other pre-nationalisation wagons.

Quite a few BR wagons including some SD stock (again to my regret I converted a couple to 3 link couplings)

A double track oval and an extra circle, plus some extra straights, plus the short straights for return loops

1 turntable + the very short curves used with it

3 uncoupling tracks - think 1 is broken

5 boxed LH/RH points (was 6 but I lent them to somebody for an exhibition, and he disappeared with one of the points)

1 boxed electrically operated point

Some buffer stops

1 home, 1 distant and 1 junction signal, plus 2 electrically operated signals

1 island platform; 1 signal box; 1 level crossing

Switches for sections and operating electrical stuff (think some of the solenoids don't work properly)

 

Non-dublo:

A few Peco wonderful wagons, 1 wooden wagon maybe Ratio

Did have some balsa and brick-paper based buildings, a station and a goods shed, maybe Anbrico or Ratio, not sure, but they fell apart. They'd have been bought around 1949/50 and assembled by my father.

 

History: the original non-BR stuff was bought for my brother, I was about 6 at the time, it was probably around 1949, but he never seemed that interested in it, and my father's interest withered away as a consequence. I was dead keen, got to use it, and after a battle with my parents it was handed over to me. However, pocket money wasn't great so took a long time to add stuff to it. Started getting interested in 2 rail  after a few Railway Modellers came my way, hence the conversions.

 

Keep meaning to get it out to try it again, but at the moment my place is undergoing serious re-organisation and it's a bit of a hassle getting stuff out. Have been tempted to try the second hand market though; always fancied the 2-6-4T. At the moment I'm snowed under with 3mm/ft projects so anything bought would have to work, no real time for renovations.

 

P.S Any thoughts as to what the balsa buildings might have been?

Edited by NCB
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Not a lot, but it was all bought new.

 

Duchess of Atholl + 2 LMS coaches

LMS 0-6-2T (the goods set)

Bristol Castle (which I regret I converted to 2-rail) + 2 WR coaches

1 BR suburban coach

LMS wagons / brake van which came with the 0-6-2T as a set, plus track

A few other pre-nationalisation wagons.

Quite a few BR wagons including some SD stock (again to my regret I converted a couple to 3 link couplings)

A double track oval and an extra circle, plus some extra straights, plus the short straights for return loops

1 turntable + the very short curves used with it

3 uncoupling tracks - think 1 is broken

5 boxed LH/RH points (was 6 but I lent them to somebody for an exhibition, and he disappeared with one of the points)

1 boxed electrically operated point

Some buffer stops

1 island platform; 1 signal box

1 home, 1 distant and 1 junction signal, plus 2 electrically operated signals

1 island platform; 1 signal box; 1 level crossing

Switches for sections and operating electrical stuff (think some of the solenoids don't work properly)

 

Non-dublo:

A few Peco wonderful wagons, 1 wooden wagon maybe Ratio

Did have some balsa and brick-paper based buildings, a station and a goods shed, maybe Anbrico or Ratio, not sure, but they fell apart.

 

History: the original non-BR stuff was bought for my brother, I was about 6 at the time, it was probably around 1949, but he never seemed that interested in it, and my father's interest withered away as a consequence. I was dead keen, got to use it, and after a battle with my parents it was handed over to me. However, pocket money wasn't great so took a long time to add stuff to it. Started getting interested in 2 rail  after a few Railway Modellers came my way, hence the conversions.

 

Keep meaning to get it out to try it again, but at the moment my place is undergoing serious re-organisation and it's a bit of a hassle. Have been tempted to try the second hand market though; always fancied the 2-6-4T.

 

Sorry. Did you say not a lot?!?

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I haven't got very far with building my layout yet, so, for the moment, it is operated as Dublo was originally meant to - on the dining room table.  Most of the bits that are not in use currently live in here:

 

post-30099-0-09737800-1532999842_thumb.jpg

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I regularly use A2 and A3 controllers from the middle 1950's. Just keep an eye on the mains cables/have them insulation tested. (part of the dreaded PAT test)

 

Terry

 

IIRC these can have rubber insulation. Has it been replaced?

 

I like the only 52/6d in the adverisement here. That was a lot of money back then and was about the price of the N2 tank.

 

I wonder what our Canadian friends think about the description of the CPR Pacific!

 

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/collections/sc/Hornby-dublo/5z0w1wvBkuhGJwNhfE27ES

 

I won't comment on the prices being asked for all this junk, beyond that I paid £5 or thereabouts for a complete boxed Marshall III!

Edited by Il Grifone
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IIRC these can have rubber insulation. Has it been replaced?

 

I like the only 52/6d in the adverisement here. That was a lot of money back then and was about the price of the N2 tank.

 

I wonder what our Canadian friends think about the description of the CPR Pacific!

 

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/collections/sc/Hornby-dublo/5z0w1wvBkuhGJwNhfE27ES

 

I won't comment on the prices being asked for all this junk, beyond that I paid £5 or thereabouts for a complete boxed Marshall III!

There are many grossly overpriced bits and pieces for sale on the internet, not just model railway related, and the rarer they are, the more likely it is that greed is dictating the price. Fpr example, my wife has a book that is now out of print on a particular genus of plant. That book cost less than £50 new a few years ago, but there's currently a copy for sale via Amazon by a US bookseller for over £1,000. There are other copies for sale, but even the cheapest is over £100
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I have a couple of hundred Hornby Dublo wagons running both at home and on a friend's layout, almost all weathered, some with newer Bachmann or Mainline

bodies on old chassis, lots of yellow wagons repainted grey as they are my standard wagon. They reverse over points in long rakes of 20 or so wagons

which more modern wagons seem unable to manage. I don't have a Hornby Dublo loco in original condition. My 3 rsil Duchess is now 2 rail with Romford

wheels and repainted and renamed, likewise the 2-6-4T and my 0-6-2T. The 8F has a Mainline Tender body, the 08 has 60:1 gearing, and several Panniers.

Gaiety, Farish and Triang /Hornby run on the R1 chassis. A 2251 runs on an R1 chassis and is awaiting surgery to move the font axle forward away from

the centre one

A butchered Triang std 3 2-6-2T runs on a 2-6-4T chassis with R1 wheels and a Triang King Arthur is now an S15 again with the R1 chassis but Duchess valve gear.

Several more chassis await bodies and further butchery. Several Triang Locos have H/D wheels, Halls and a Grange and a couple of 0-6-0ts.

Several Coaches run on H/D bogies with Lima wheels which give electrical pick up, Mainline and Triang mainly. All my H/D coaches were scrapped except one

Full brake.

Edit. I have many H/D sprung buffer stops in use, great for running wagons in to and seeing them spring back, and also water cranes and the little platform

tractor and trailer which I have owned since I was 7. End Edit

 

I have 3 or 4 Hornby Marshall controllers. All work, none have any wiring problems, I have had the bottom off every one before plugging them in.

1 was dropped and broke its ceramic insulator for the rheostat so was relegated to supplying auxiliary power.

 

Its not the Hornby Dublo Contoller which are lethal but the later 1970s and 80s units with plastic insulation. Rule of thumb, if you can't get the

bottom off and check the wires don't use it. And don't think PAT testing is worth the paper its written on. A bare wire could be millimeters away from the

metal case just waiting for a knock to make the case live.

Don't trust "Qualified " electricians any more than a DIYer. A "Prestigeous" local firm "Qualified" electrician left the securing screws in our Pre

school room connected to a live feed instead of earth and my son got an electric shock.

Edited by DavidCBroad
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My still very small Dublo collection comprises a BR black 0-6-2T (restored from a very sad example with the help of self adhesive livery labels off Ebay), a BR green Duchess (which I must get round to cleaning up), a Silver King (mechanically sorted but cosmetically a little worn), three maroon suburban coaches (transparent window variety) and a box of assorted track. The locos and stock are intended for a far distant, possibly fantastic, outdoor 3-rail project. One day they'll be joined by a Castle, an 8F and a 2-6-4T, along with examples of the diesels. I don't think a 3-rail West Country will ever be within my price range, and the 08 also seems to go for daft money, although I know the whereabouts of a sensibly priced 2-rail (maybe Wrenn) example. Obviously I'll be needing suitable stock for them to haul as well. Proper Dublo 3-rail stock has the advantage of being all metal, so the entire train forms the current return path, which is handy if you're too lazy to clean track :).

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Conversion of 2 rail items to 3 rail is not difficult though genuine 3 rail pickups tend to be pricey, A Märklin skate is an alternative or contacts on a piece of phosphor -bronze strip soldered to a PCB insulating plate are easily made up. I prefer domed brass upholstery nails, but other alternatives are available. The insulation of the wheels needs to be shorted out or the loco will stop on pointwork - the closure rail is dead to avoid shorts as a centre rail pickup passes over. I find a strip of phosphor bronze from chassis to rub on the back of one of the driving wheels is sufficient. There are plenty of suitable fixing points on the chassis but at worst it can be drilled and tapped for a screw. 8 BA would be appropriate, but nobody would know if a metric screw were to be used.  :secret:

 

I've done a diesel shunter, a West Country and a 4MT tank this way. An alternative is pickups in the tender and short the 2 rail pickup to chassis. I usually do Tri-ang Locos this way.

Replacing the Tri-ang wheels with Dublo ones improve them no end, especially the solid type.

 

Wrenn diesel shunters are easy to identify by their weird colours. Even the green is an odd shade, which is far too light and blue. I have a body with the 3 rail number (D3763 IIRC) but the colour is too far out. The Wrenn body is their own manufacture, as Dubl b****red up the mould to make the pointless starter set diesel shunter. This quite rare as understandably hardly anyone bought it. 'Nellie' was far more attractive than Dublo's last ditch efforts in this line.

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This is how i short out the insulated wheel sets on converting 2 rail locos to 3 rail.

 

 

 

              post-4249-0-23696100-1533343987.jpg

 

 

The 3 rail collector on top.

 

                   post-4249-0-74688600-1533344042_thumb.jpg

 

Dealing with the EMU.

 

              post-4249-0-73426500-1533344203_thumb.jpg

 

An Airfix Royal Scot,this one really does work.

 

             post-4249-0-49488800-1533344368_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

            

post-4249-0-23696100-1533343987.jpg

post-4249-0-74688600-1533344042_thumb.jpg

post-4249-0-73426500-1533344203_thumb.jpg

post-4249-0-49488800-1533344368_thumb.jpg

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