Re-wheeling old Hornby/Triang wagons

[James37308]

Hiya

I have quite a few of the different types of the Hornby / Triang Operating Ore wagons,  and I am looking at re-wheeling them all with top hat bearings and new wheelsets, as I am building a sort of MGR circuit with an automatic loader on one side of the layout and an unloader,  using the unloader bridge that came in the set, on the other side of my layout.  I have noticed that the holes that the axles sit in are not completely round to differing degrees even on the same wagon.

 

I am wondering if anyone has successfully re-wheeled these wagons or any of the Hornby / Triang wagons of this type without doing too much (if anything) to the actual holes themselves 

[BR60103]

I started on my CKD Pacific. I used the plain bearings and pushed them into the holes from the outside, then a drop of glue. (Rocket card glue is my current favourite.) The wheelset was inserted first.

I've no idea if it worked as the drivers are still in original condition.

[RosiesBoss]

Hello,

 

This is a common challenge. My club's web page has a step-by-step method. Just scroll down to the list of pdfs.

https://stlukeschurch.com.au/st-lukes-railway-modellers-club/

 

I hope this helps.

 

Regards,

 

Rob

[GoingUnderground]

14 hours ago, James37308 said:

Hiya

I have quite a few of the different types of the Hornby / Triang Operating Ore wagons,  and I am looking at re-wheeling them all with top hat bearings and new wheelsets, as I am building a sort of MGR circuit with an automatic loader on one side of the layout and an unloader,  using the unloader bridge that came in the set, on the other side of my layout.  I have noticed that the holes that the axles sit in are not completely round to differing degrees even on the same wagon.......

Some of these wagons could be up to 65 years old, the first ones going on sale in 1956. The steel axle ran unlubricated both in the diecast bogie for the Transcontinental versions and in the diecast chassis for the UK/BR wagons. So some degree of wear to the chassis or bogie where the axle sits must be inevitable in wagons of this age.

[DCB]

There are/ were special pin point bearings which go in from the outside of the axleboxes and have a tag which can be bent over on the inside to hold them.   Obviously you can add a dollop of superglue and a cover for the open axlebox end.

Ylou can't use top hat earings on mazak bogies as any attempt to spread the bogie frame apart will snap it off.  You can use top hat bearings in the pastic type but drilling the holes out is quite a challenge in itself.

I want a set of Triang bogie hoppers fro my entirely fictitious Isle of Skye themed layout.

[Halvarras]

Would Peco 'Hardlon' bearings be a solution? I assume it's short for 'hard nylon' but they have no collar so could be inserted from the outside, but if the axle holes are varying sizes presumably they'd have to be glued in. I had to check they're still available - yep, ref. R-15, around £2.25 for 20. A certain Cornish retailer still has them knockin' around. Worth a look?

[Il Grifone]

The Peco bearings will do or pin-point brass bearings  are available without the 'tophat' flange. These will just push in and can then be fixed with glue. Worn axleboxes will need care centring the new bearings.

 

The original wheels can be pushed out with a suitable tool. One is loose on the axle. Push from this side and the splined axle will drop out releasing the wheels. They will come out the other way but the splines have to pushed right through both axle stubs.

[trustytrev]

Hello,

        You may find this link useful.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vyl-Z9VC2c

I have done a few old Triang wagon types with good results.

trustytrev.

[alastairq]

A while ago, I had a spate of re-wheeling the old [mazac] Tri-ang bogies, using modern Hornby spoked wheelsets, with pinpoints.

I  Used both plain, and top-hat bearings [Peco??] with reasonable success.

The axel boxes didn't need to be spread, as the Hornby pinpoint axles only just fitted inside the axle box holes.

I used Milliput to secure the bearings, with the axles pre-inserted.

The milliput was squeezed into the  axle box holes to grab the bearings.

Once the bearings were squeezed by the milliput, onto the axle ends [not too tightly] and the wheelsets checked for centering, the whole caboodle was left to set.

Once set, the surplus Milliput was sliced from the outer  ends of each axle box.

Thus far they have survived well.

Repairs are easy, merely involving fresh Milliput and squeezing.

 

Worked fine without further modification to the  diamond frame bogies, but the plateframe -type bogies needed a section of the top lip [inside] removing to clear Hornby wheelsets, which were slightly larger in diameter than the original Tri-ang wheelsets.

This was easily done with a fine file.

I have found one or two diamond frame bogies to be fragile, and once snapped, are basically unrepairable [or, not worth bothering with?]!

I also removed the coupler boxes as 'unwanted' as I use body mounted couplers on bogie vehicels anyway.

[GeraldH]

You can also use matchsticks to create a bearing.  Drilling a small hole in the centre of the inward end of the matchstick ensures that the axle sits in the centre of the wooden bearing.  I've got stock that's been running on these bearings for years without issues.  There's a bit more info on my BNR layout thread.

 

[Il Grifone]

My (four) 50T Brick wagons run on Ratio diamond frame bogies.  This solves the problems of the fragile (and awful) originals and the buffer height problem in one go. I repainted a Tri-ang bogie bolster as a GWR MACAW C, which I thought was OK until the Mainline/Bachmann model was released. I found it in a box recently (never throw anything away!) less the plate frame bogies which were used for a Dublo WELTROL MV. They are not quite correct (they shouldn't have the lightening holes), but will do for now. (This was one of the early Dublo models with diamond frame bogies (the later ones have the correct bogies). Mine from new, so I an loathe to dispose of it!

The Tri-ang bogies have 10mm diameter* wheels which doesn't help at all, when replaced with the correct size, especially if the excellent metal Hornby wheels are used which are 12.6mm diameter. Once upon a time, Peco made nylon replacement wheels for Tri-ang available in both small (10mm) and large (12mm) sizes. There was also a nylon replacement coupling to convert to the Peco/HD type.

 

*approximately

[Halvarras]

7 hours ago, Il Grifone said:

Once upon a time, Peco made nylon replacement wheels for Tri-ang available in both small (10mm) and large (12mm) sizes. There was also a nylon replacement coupling to convert to the Peco/HD type.

 

Ah yes, Peco Wonderful Wheels (there's nothing like blowing your own trumpet!)  Actually they were commendable concentric for one-piece mouldings, nearly 40 years ago when I fashioned an Inspection Saloon from a shortened Hornby Class 110 centre car (it was definitely freelance!) and mounted it on Lima B1 bogies I discovered a set of Peco WW 12mm items fitted and ran really well - I still have the vehicle and they're still fitted to it. I seem to recall that they also did split sleeved  wheels as direct but finer replacements for older Tri-ang stock, I'm sure I had some a long time ago and used them to create nylon axle washers sliced off with a Stanley knife.