SteveyDee68 Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 Can anyone help? Purchased a dinky little diesel off eBay at a silly low price. No name anywhere on the body or chassis. Looks like a continental hook at one end, old Hornby Dublo coupling at can end (removed as it fouls points). There is an engine number "D2705" mounded into the cab side (which suggests it was produced for the UK market). The drive to the wheels is similar to a Jouef loco I've seen on eBay, which is why I suspect it is HO rather than OO. Photos (sorry, iPad) show side view, front view, underside and motor/mechanism, plus a comparison with a Bachmann 04 and a standard van. Having cleaned the wheels and oiled it thoroughly, it can zip around like an angry wasp, running slower it doesn't need a sound chip as it has an authentic diesel growl, but struggles with a 40g wagon on anything but straight track! Suggestions to improve performance welcome! Purchased because it looked small and industrial and I fancied having a go at "pugbashing" (you know what I mean!) Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 Whoops! Apologies for the font size - I thought I was zoomed in. Won't let me select all the text and resize. At least no reading glasses are required! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 Previous thread on it here. Playcraft. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/21948-not-that-old-not-all-that-collectible/ Jason 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 It's one of the Playcraft range, marketed by Mettoy (Corgi etc) and manufactured by Jouef. They had a small range of 'British' models, mainly sold via Woolworth's; another loco was the NBL Type 2 diesel-electric. There were also coaches and wagons, to HO 'scale'; some based on UK prototypes, others simply re-badged versions of items in the Jouef range. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) Wow - ask and ye shall be answered! Thank you for the information. Suspected it was HO because it is not tall enough! Now the interesting bit of turning it into something useful/interesting! Any tips or hints gratefully received! Thanks again Steve Edited May 16, 2019 by SteveyDee68 Spell check altered meaning of my sentence! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 Lot of space at the front for a sound chip and speaker if you fancy getting out a soldering iron 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said: Previous thread on it here. Playcraft. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/21948-not-that-old-not-all-that-collectible/ Jason Thanks Jason - reading through this thread gave me the history of this model, the actual original loco upon which it was based and correct 4mm scale dimensions! Building a replacement chassis is slightly outside my skills set at the moment, but perhaps a brass overlay to the footplate and buffer beams might add some much needed weight. Steve 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnofwessex Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 Fascinating, my brother had one when I was a child (ie mid 70's) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted May 15, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 15, 2019 I got one of those, in a bit of a state now. Mine was five pence in a jumble sale circa 1985 and had a clockwork mechanism. I subsequently did it up with a Hornby 0-4-0 chassis shoved underneath. 5 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted May 16, 2019 Author Share Posted May 16, 2019 Wow! That looks great, John. Was it a straight swap for the Hornby chassis, or was there lots of metal work involved? I am guessing so because it looks better (IMHO) than the 06 (?) that Hornby does with their 0-4-0 chassis. Great inspiration, thanks. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted May 16, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 16, 2019 A touch of North British there. Very nice indeed. Is it missing a jackshaft? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted May 16, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 16, 2019 If I recall correctly (this was about twenty years ago!) the clockwork mechanism eventually gave up and so I heavily hacked up a Hornby Class 06 chassis to fit but with the motor secured to the chassis with sellotape! The body had the keyhole filled, the moulded cabside numbers filed flat then the repaint you see above complete with etched NB plates! The motor and it's ad-hoc attachment arrangements have since fallen apart so it is an unpowered display model now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted May 16, 2019 Author Share Posted May 16, 2019 John, thanks for the details. Took it along to Jim at The Locoshed in Whitefield to give it a good run on his test track and Paul who works there immediately identified it! Discovered the pickups were wired up to the motor back to front, so Jim kindly soldered then on the right way around so it now runs where you point the controller! Having cleaned the wheels and pickups, I was pleased to find it could handle three Lima bogie tankers around a No 2 radius curve at a sensible speed, and also a (heavy die cast) Wrenn Presflo wagon and three TTA tankers. The more it runs, the better it seems to perform. So definitely going to have a go at “improving” it like yourself (maybe even with a “Polly” chassis!). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveyDee68 Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 On 16/05/2019 at 08:28, John M Upton said: If I recall correctly (this was about twenty years ago!) the clockwork mechanism eventually gave up and so I heavily hacked up a Hornby Class 06 chassis to fit but with the motor secured to the chassis with sellotape! John - I have acquired a Hornby 06 for its chassis. Did you use the wheels and wheelbase as supplied, or did you shorten the spacing between axles and/or change the wheels? Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Its a nice little toy but with only about 4:1 gear ratio and one axle drive it is never going to run very well. At least it has decent pickups. I had one years ago and it was great fun, hardly a serious model though. I suppose you could fit spur gears between the axles and a reduction gear between the motor and the drive pinion which would probably make a nice power unit as it is spur gear driven not worm, and yet it is an awful lot of work. The Triang chassis is not a great fit either. DCC and a speaker sounds like the best solution. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
25901 Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 And there's still a real one still waiting to be saved 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted June 20, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 20, 2019 That's the one at snailwell, suprised it's not been preserved. I do think that was a BR one though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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