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I have a Lima Class 47, it isn't particularly spectacular or eye catching so I thought I'd have a go at some modest improvements.

 

Class47.jpg.86b44cedb0e0a4fa2433ae19e9fda52c.jpg

 

I've added a DCC decoder and connected the motor to it.845374927_Class47(2).jpg.08fd65a81d9e67757cd6804f97c16d92.jpg

 

Removed the Headcodes and added LEDs.199666689_Class47(3).jpg.f389eb8e17cfd36143107f817c990aa3.jpg

 

Added cab lighting.

 

588845750_Class47(4).jpg.a50d6e326428f0819932cf653e19fe10.jpg 

 

...And also drilled for and prepared fibre optics ready for the rear lights.

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Then there are a couple of other other details such as painting hand rails and wipers. 

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The Lima Brush 4 has only a few areas that really need attention (Save for the usual handrails and radiator fans).

 

The cab windows- a medium job

The angle chassis section behind the buffer beam- a very easy job

Removing the pipework from the second man's side of the bogie frame.

 

Overall I still think it captures the look far better than the other offerings.

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If you can live with the too small bogies, replacing them with Hornby spares with the new motor bogie is a good improvement. IIRC the bogie is the same as used under the 59 and 31. Use motor bogie off either of them with different side frames, and you could even put twin motors under one to improve the haulage.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 22/10/2020 at 12:05, cheesysmith said:

If you can live with the too small bogies, replacing them with Hornby spares with the new motor bogie is a good improvement. IIRC the bogie is the same as used under the 59 and 31. Use motor bogie off either of them with different side frames, and you could even put twin motors under one to improve the haulage.

Iv been doing exactly that with cheap 59 and 66 motor bogies from Lendons, all my old lima stuff has now been redone. The old pancake motor chassis just need a simple box making up with a hole in the top to mount them.20201030_221928.jpg.84487fe1b210018144469d1f68d0609d.jpg

works a treat and so much better than the old whiny motors.

Cheers

James

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On 22/10/2020 at 12:05, cheesysmith said:

If you can live with the too small bogies, replacing them with Hornby spares with the new motor bogie is a good improvement. IIRC the bogie is the same as used under the 59 and 31. Use motor bogie off either of them with different side frames, and you could even put twin motors under one to improve the haulage.

Are the Hornby railroad 59, 31, 47, 92 and 66 essentially the same? So a hormby railroad 31 side frame would fit them? 

 

Cheers

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On 31/10/2020 at 10:50, westernviscount said:

Are the Hornby railroad 59, 31, 47, 92 and 66 essentially the same? So a hormby railroad 31 side frame would fit them? 

 

Cheers

Hi, from what i have found from my upgrades is that the Lima 31 37 47 59 66 and 92 all used the same bogie, just the side frames were different. It seems the same goes for the railroad range. However the fittings for the sideframes unit is different from Lima to Railroad units. What i have been doing is lopping off the sides from old Lima motor bogies and then mounting them onto the rail road unite frames after lopping off the rail road sides. 

20201030_221855.jpg.ee1c5c97b5ba4e38cf98df591f883f24.jpg

Above is a railroad 66 moto bogie with the bogie side frames sliced off and on the left is the ex Lima sideframes for a 47 ready to glue on. We made a simple jig to ensure the sideframes were set at the right height.

20201101_164344.jpg.41c9e49d366c6378be7f9e782f4b862b.jpg

Heres the finished result just awaiting final bogie weathering. The chassis for this 47 conversion to a 48 involved a railroad underframe, 57 trailing bogie (47 really) 66 power bogie and with Lima sideframes transplanted. The chassis bits cost less than 20 quid. Lendons of Cardiff are very useful for stuff like this although i think i bought up all the very cheap 59 power bogies (£6.74 each!) More are due in stock so keep an eye out, very cheap way to improve Lima diesels, we have upgraded all of ours now.

Hope this helps

James

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3 hours ago, jessy1692 said:

Heres the finished result just awaiting final bogie weathering. The chassis for this 47 conversion to a 48 involved a railroad underframe, 57 trailing bogie (47 really) 66 power bogie and with Lima sideframes transplanted. The chassis bits cost less than 20 quid. Lendons of Cardiff are very useful for stuff like this although i think i bought up all the very cheap 59 power bogies (£6.74 each!) More are due in stock so keep an eye out, very cheap way to improve Lima diesels, we have upgraded all of ours now.

Hope this helps

James

 

Thanks Jessy. I took a risk by buying class 59 bits from Lendons already. Have used Lendons before and am amazed by the prices!!! I improved a Hornby 121 with a new motor and replaced the pizza cutter wheels with a cl153 set. Runs as smooth as you like. 

 

I will try to re-purpose the Lima frames and see how I get on. 

 

Thanks again.

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10 minutes ago, westernviscount said:

 

Thanks Jessy. I took a risk by buying class 59 bits from Lendons already. Have used Lendons before and am amazed by the prices!!! I improved a Hornby 121 with a new motor and replaced the pizza cutter wheels with a cl153 set. Runs as smooth as you like. 

 

I will try to re-purpose the Lima frames and see how I get on. 

 

Thanks again.

No probs, Lendons are brilliant, only found them and the cheap 59s earlier this year, cant wait for more stock to arrive so i can experiment with some of the other motor bogies.

 

If i think on ill take a pic of the side frame gluing jig we made up.

 

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Just now, jessy1692 said:

No probs, Lendons are brilliant, only found them and the cheap 59s earlier this year, cant wait for more stock to arrive so i can experiment with some of the other motor bogies.

 

If i think on ill take a pic of the side frame gluing jig we made up.

 

Yes that would be handy thanks. I miss the days of buying an affordable loco, buying some detailing parts and SE finecast flush glaze and really making  unique loco you can feel proud of. I can't knock Bachmann and the likes but it just all seems so far out of reach for the average wallet and frankly tinkering with old stuff is a real joy.  I am confident I can get my lima 31 to run nicely again. 

 

cheers

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17 minutes ago, westernviscount said:

Yes that would be handy thanks. I miss the days of buying an affordable loco, buying some detailing parts and SE finecast flush glaze and really making  unique loco you can feel proud of. I can't knock Bachmann and the likes but it just all seems so far out of reach for the average wallet and frankly tinkering with old stuff is a real joy.  I am confident I can get my lima 31 to run nicely again. 

 

cheers

You and me both, finding the cheap gems at toy fairs and even ebay sometimes was part of the fun but now new things are too good/expensive to tinker with and the old stuff that was cheap is over priced in my eyes. At least remotoring my older stuff brings them up to the running qualities of the modern stuff i have, ill probably end up repainting some as well as they are now good runners.

 

Ill ask my Dad to take a pic and measurements tomorrow, i probably wont be at the bench as Leeds are o.

All the best 

James

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Hi @Jessy1962.

 

what wheels do you use at the non motored end of the class 47s please.

 

I have finescale OO track on my layout so need to replace the deep flanged Lima wheels as well a un de taking the remotoring exercise.

 

Thanks in advance, take care.

 

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I found a detailed one on Ebay a few years ago, paint was seethrough, stripped it, put all the metal in a packet.

 

Resprayed and transfered, refitted handrails, with Laserglaze and MJT wipers it looks really good.

 

Don't bother with SEF use Laserglaze.

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I've had to have a re-read of this thread a few times now and I think I get it in terms of that replacement motor and assocaited bogie. My question is whether the motor can just be replaced with an improved one in the existing bogie with the existing wheels?

 

Thanks 

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Right, so the rear light fibre optics are in now and I'm just fitting the LEDs to them. The optics have been painted red to improve the look when they are not lit. I thought I'd have a quick check to see how they look using a diode tester. Looks reasonable in terms of light bleed into the yellow warning area, but I am conscious that they will be significantly brighter when power is applied. Normally I'd go 10K for rear lights but might go 20K this time. I'll see how they look on test and decide from there.

Class 47 (7).jpg

Class 47 (8).jpg

Class 47 (9).jpg

Class 47 (10).jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think its probably a mistake to use white paint to prevent light bleed, the idea was to prevent the yellow warning ends darkening from black background paint. I can go back over any areas with an issue though, part of the learning experience. I had problems gluing the LEDs onto the back of the fibre's, so I'll probably prefix them next time.

 

Just sizing up the resistors now, I'm probably going to need some 20k resistors as headlight lenses are passing loads of light, much more than the 56s I'd converted earlier this year. 

 

 

Class 47 (11).jpg

Class 47 (12).jpg

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On 02/11/2020 at 11:34, 08221 said:

Hi @Jessy1962.

 

what wheels do you use at the non motored end of the class 47s please.

 

I have finescale OO track on my layout so need to replace the deep flanged Lima wheels as well a un de taking the remotoring exercise.

 

Thanks in advance, take care.

 

Hi, sorry missed this reply, my old Lima ones still have the Lima wheels in, no bother on my code 100. I suppose the best bet would be seeing if you can get the new railroad wheel sets as a spare, should be a straight drop in. A more expensive way would be to buy a railroad 47/57 trailing bogie complete.

Hope this helps

James

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On 02/11/2020 at 16:54, APT Fan said:

I've had to have a re-read of this thread a few times now and I think I get it in terms of that replacement motor and assocaited bogie. My question is whether the motor can just be replaced with an improved one in the existing bogie with the existing wheels?

 

Thanks 

Evening Apt Fan, unfortunately its not quite as simple as just swapping over the side frames annoyingly. Hornby have altered the side frame mounts so they cant be a straight swap over. Hence the cutting off the 47 side frames to attach to the 59 mounts after lopping off the 59 side frames. The current cheap 59/66 bogies are a full self contained unit so have all wheels etc already, just needs the wires connecting to the trailing bogie and away they go.

 

Hope this helps

James

 

Edited by jessy1692
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30 minutes ago, crompton 33 said:

Why not extend the cab to the roof with plastic. Then file the plastic  to get  the shape you need . 

 

Yeah I was thinking along those lines, what is the best material to use? I've seen plastic card being advertised, but I wouldn't know where to start in terms of what to buy. 

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