What to do with old Tri-ang Princesses....

[Hacksworth_Sidings]

I did get an A4 body off TinTracks… More tempted to shorten it and put it on an unmodified Princess chassis though, similar to 33C’s conversion on that static Coronation model. Likewise, I have a new-old stock Hornby coronation body, unpainted, also from Rich…

 

[Hacksworth_Sidings]

Right, so I’ve just had an idea relating back to the conversion for a 4-4-2 Princess chassis…

 

I’m not the biggest fan of the PRR T1s, but having found out they’re rigid frame locos, I’m tempted to, oh I don’t know… Shorten two Princess chassis’s to 4WD, blind, flangeless wheel on the rear with a flanged driver in front (in a similar fashion to the 8WD conversion, alternating between flanged and blind drivers), glue together to create a rigid frame Duplex chassis… Maybe have dual motors too? I’ll be driving back home soon, can get a few photos better describing what I’m on about doing in a bit…

[33C]

12 minutes ago, Hacksworth_Sidings said:

Right, so I’ve just had an idea relating back to the conversion for a 4-4-2 Princess chassis…

 

I’m not the biggest fan of the PRR T1s, but having found out they’re rigid frame locos, I’m tempted to, oh I don’t know… Shorten two Princess chassis’s to 4WD, blind, flangeless wheel on the rear with a flanged driver in front (in a similar fashion to the 8WD conversion, alternating between flanged and blind drivers), glue together to create a rigid frame Duplex chassis… Maybe have dual motors too? I’ll be driving back home soon, can get a few photos better describing what I’m on about doing in a bit…

I put Princess wheels on a "Desmond" chassis for my Metropolitan no.1, 4 4.0.

Had to grind a couple of notches in the motor housing to clear the flanges but they worked well and because the wheels are solid you can use the original pick-ups without modification!

[Hacksworth_Sidings]

2 minutes ago, 33C said:

I put Princess wheels on a "Desmond" chassis for my Metropolitan no.1, 4 4.0.

Had to grind a couple of notches in the motor housing to clear the flanges but they worked well and because the wheels are solid you can use the original pick-ups without modification!

Same chassis geometry used under “Nellie”, I feel like the spacing would be too far apart, as the T1s had their drivers rather close together, hence why I’d rather use a Princess, I have spare blocks and wheels to hand, would just need valve gear, another motor, and a bit of super glue…

[Hacksworth_Sidings]

Right, back home, and I’ve quickly knocked this together to better describe what I’m on about… (Ignore the car holding it up!)

 

 

Two of these modded Princess chassis’s (no front driver, centre is flanged, rear is blind), cut to an appropriate length for mounting cylinders, and also just generally keeping it at an appropriate length, glued together, and possibly wired to run with dual motors.

[Hacksworth_Sidings]

Random 11PM Brainwave… Has anyone ever considered a combination of the “scale length” conversion and the Turbomotive conversion? Or is that just an idea only being thought up now? Just curious…

 

Birthday soon, I might buy some junked Princesses and give that a stab…

[BernardTPM]

One in the second post on the first page of this thread, not to mention the article in the Railway Modeller, April 1970.

Edited March 28 by BernardTPM

[Hacksworth_Sidings]

2 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

One in the second post on the first page of this thread, not to mention the article in the Railway Modeller, April 1970.

I don’t think 33C’s was extended to scale length? Either that or my eyes are deceiving me, I was just unsure if anyone had done or thought of a combination of the “scale length” conversion and the “Turbomotive” conversion (I.E. do the necessary body extensions required for the conversion to a scale length Triang Princess first, then do the body modifications for the Turbomotive on the extended body).

[33C]

My first post was a scale length model but the Turbo was not. Made the Jubilee "Windward Isles" at the same time as these were the locomotives involved in the Harrow collision. Playing devils advocate, what about a 4-2-2 "Princess"?! With long stroke con rods, it would be very Steampunk!

[BernardTPM]

Ah, well not the first post, just the one in the Railway Modeller article then.

[Hacksworth_Sidings]

Been sleeping on the thought of the 8WD Princess chassis for a while… I reckon, for smoother running, you could possibly fit brass bearings from a Hornby 0-6-0 (or other loco with suitably sized bearings) to the wood block for better running, just a thought but, if I ever attempt another, I might do that to see if the performance improves, or if the model’s longevity increases…

Edited April 12 by Hacksworth_Sidings
Woof block? I must be losing my marbles!

[relaxinghobby]

Some notes on rewheeling old chassis.

I think these are old Tri-ang and early Tri-ang Hornby products ?

 

 

Looking for an old chassis to re-wheel re-motor and modernise.

Here's an early Nellie with Romford wheels, bearings and axles.

The gear box is a folder job and the motor is something salvage from a computer CD player.

 

These old chassis where later replaced by solid cast ones. These older ones had steel sides and solid spacers at the ends. This 0-4-0 is riveted together but even older ones where held together with brass screws across the width which makes them even easier to work on.

 

I've tried soldered up etched chassis but have a very low success rate. I can manage a four coupled chassis, just. Finding an old Triang job means it will automatically be straight and true.

 

Like the bigger one here a 4-6-2 chassis I think the trucks are long gone. The axle hole spacing is 26 + 26 mm is this a Princess chassis.

 

 

A piece of copper clad Vero board from the electronics shop used for soldering on the wire pickup wipers.

 

 

You can see the heads of the fixing screws.

This chassis has been knocked about a bit and some extra wobbly holes drilled through it, but they do not effect the axle holes.

 

 

If I cut off the front and rear overhangs it would make a short 0-6-0 chassis for an industrial type loco.

The fixing screw on the far right  would have to be relocated nearer the axle hole, Can I drill straight and at right angles to the chassis side ?

 

 

You can see work done on Nellie's body. A round bottom to the boiler and a floor in the cab.

 

 

Body needs some cab steps. The problem with train jumble finds, bits can be missing but that makes them cheaper.

 

Lots of wobbly holes at the front of the big chassis.

There is always potential in those boxes under the second hand jumble tables.

 

Edited April 14 by relaxinghobby
typos & editing

[RosiesBoss]

Yet another use for a Tri-ang Princess chassis:

Details are here:

Regards,

Rob

[Hacksworth_Sidings]

Had this project in the works for a good while now, finally got some hacksaw blades and I’m far enough along to show off what I’ve been doing…

 

I’ve mentioned this before on another thread, but I’ve always wondered what Triang’s “TT3” exclusive locos (Castle, Merchant, the two continental locos, Prairie) would look like if they made them for the OO range as well, obviously they didn’t have to do those models for OO (GraFar did a Prairie and a Merchant, Dublo produced a Castle), but I’ve always wondered what they’d look like if they were produced with the more toy like aesthetic Triang offered.

 

With that out the way, I’ve begun a Princess to Castle conversion!

 

 

Waiting for poly cement and Milliput to dry, but I’m utilising the boiler, smokebox, firebox and steam chest from the Princess, with the buffer beam, cab and tender from the Hall (a Lord Westwood in my case, which was in poor condition when I got it, so I’m on the hunt for another in good nick).

 

I’ve split the Princess body into three segments (a shortened boiler & smokebox, firebox is the original length), pushed the front dip in the frames (and the two inside cylinders) further back so the smokebox overhangs the dip slightly, using the Hall’s buffer beam to extend the front (filling in with Milliput and strengthening with super glue), cab is from the Hall as well, correct length and size? Probably not, but you’ve gotta make do with what you have to hand, chassis is modified from a B12, bought it as just a chassis for a tenner, added cylinders and rods from a Princess.

 

Still got plenty of work I need to do before she’s ready for paint, debating which Castle I actually label her as once she’s done… Do I go for one of the models Triang offered? Tintagel? Windsor? Or do I go for a preserved Castle? Thinking 7029 if I go for a preserved loco…

[Hacksworth_Sidings]

 

Slowly getting there… Need to source new steam pipes for the outside cylinders, glue the cab to the body (I currently have it sitting on the drawbar with blu tack holding it in place for photos), do all the necessary filling, then add the detail parts… I actually went and shaved off all the moulded details on the left side before I cut the body, so I’ll likely go through a few rounds of sanding, filling & priming to get the blemishes smooth, before I replicate those details on the correct side, alongside the fitting of things like the safety valve bonnet, steam pipes, etc.

 

 

Having a professionally manufactured Castle model helps a lot, been using my recently acquired Wrenn castle a lot for reference as I have no access to my book of F. J. Roche’s drawings at the moment, they seem to be of similar length (though I won’t be surprised if mine ends up either too long or too short), the Hall cab seems to be a good stand-in for a Castle’s too, quite possibly the wrong shape and size though, I need to make the chimney taller so any recommendations for that will be greatly appreciated.