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I still have my Trix double tendered Flying Scotsman, A4 Silver Link and A2 A H Peppercorn, along with a Trix blue Western class diesel.

 

The A2 runs OK (ish) and has traction tyres on the drivers, she merrily bounces along pulling anything behind her. The other two run just about OK, the Western, well she is not well at all. I bought them around my 21'st birthday back in 1973 from a sports equipment shop in Pemberton near Wigan. I remember asking the lady "How much is that Western Hydraulic in the window" (the one with the wobbly wheel) !! - she shouted upstairs "How much is that westernised relic" - Laughter all round, happy days !!!!!!!!!

 

I keep them for sentimental reasons. I think Silver Link in LNER light grey is the nicest one, though not a patch on todays expensive stuff. Remember they are early 70's RTR.

 

image.png.debaebb1f4ebfbe6269dac76bd474a06.png

 

Brit15

Edited by APOLLO
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48 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Sandra,

 

Thanks for the shots of CLUMBER in your previous post. 

 

I think you'll find that the Arts & Crafts shop was in the arcade off Bridge Street in Chester, at the same level as The Rows (the two tiers of shops, unique to the city). It was run by Mr Hutchinson, whose son (Mike) I went to art school with. Mike eventually took over the business from his father. The model railway shop has long gone (as have all the others), though a model shop exists now in Bridge Street Row, not far away.

 

A friend and I bought Trix A3s and A2s (though, strangely, no A4s) from the Arts & Crafts (the model railway stuff was downstairs). The A3s' running was diabolical and we were advised to take them to Thernglade Industrial Estate, in Wrexham (not far away), where they'd been assembled. Despite sets of new drivers and new motors, nothing could persuade those ghastly A3s to run properly (I believe my friend still has his) and I'm told eventually that tender-drive was substituted. I eventually acquired a Trix A4 from City Models in Liverpool, which ran just as badly. The A2s ran superbly and would pull anything, but what a dreadful model it was in appearance; a German chassis with out-of-gauge cylinders, a banjo dome and a 1928-style corridor tender! That same tender which was fitted to the Trix BR A3 60103, completed with all-black rear (and with the loco sporting a banjo dome - which FLYING SCOTSMAN never carried in any of its manifestations). These models weren't cheap (far more expensive than Tri-ang/Hornby) yet were really poor, both in appearance and performance. None of the faults I've mentioned was noted in any reviews of the time (over 50 years ago now). Imagine the case today! 

 

Finally, do you remember Trickett's in Garden Lane (half a mile from where I lived in Chester)? He would order whatever one wanted, including Wills kits to go on top of Tri-ang chassis. He had an A2 he'd made from the combination in the window one day. I was hooked! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

I had a Trix A3 which I repainted with proper lining. I seem to recollect that the running was improved by removing the traction tyre and filling the void with solder!

 

Tim

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11 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

Silver Link in LNER light grey is the nicest one

 

 I'd agree and it's a loco which brings back many happy childhood memories.  Sadly for me when I tried to run it a few years ago it limped along a few feet and then stopped.   When examined, the driving wheels all crumbled to dust - Mazak rot as bad as I've ever seen it.   I've never found the time to try to resurrect it onto a new set of wheels.

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1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Sandra,

 

Thanks for the shots of CLUMBER in your previous post. 

 

I think you'll find that the Arts & Crafts shop was in the arcade off Bridge Street in Chester, at the same level as The Rows (the two tiers of shops, unique to the city). It was run by Mr Hutchinson, whose son (Mike) I went to art school with. Mike eventually took over the business from his father. The model railway shop has long gone (as have all the others), though a model shop exists now in Bridge Street Row, not far away.

 

A friend and I bought Trix A3s and A2s (though, strangely, no A4s) from the Arts & Crafts (the model railway stuff was downstairs). The A3s' running was diabolical and we were advised to take them to Thernglade Industrial Estate, in Wrexham (not far away), where they'd been assembled. Despite sets of new drivers and new motors, nothing could persuade those ghastly A3s to run properly (I believe my friend still has his) and I'm told eventually that tender-drive was substituted. I eventually acquired a Trix A4 from City Models in Liverpool, which ran just as badly. The A2s ran superbly and would pull anything, but what a dreadful model it was in appearance; a German chassis with out-of-gauge cylinders, a banjo dome and a 1928-style corridor tender! That same tender which was fitted to the Trix BR A3 60103, completed with all-black rear (and with the loco sporting a banjo dome - which FLYING SCOTSMAN never carried in any of its manifestations). These models weren't cheap (far more expensive than Tri-ang/Hornby) yet were really poor, both in appearance and performance. None of the faults I've mentioned was noted in any reviews of the time (over 50 years ago now). Imagine the case today! 

 

Finally, do you remember Trickett's in Garden Lane (half a mile from where I lived in Chester)? He would order whatever one wanted, including Wills kits to go on top of Tri-ang chassis. He had an A2 he'd made from the combination in the window one day. I was hooked! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Hello Tony,

 

Arts and Crafts was of course in St Michael’s Arcade off Bridge Street. Brook street is the road leading to General Station, I got confused, it’s a long time since I’ve been to Chester. In Chester I only ever went to Arts and Crafts or the shop in White Friars, I don’t recall Trickett’s, I don’t think I ever went there. As I went to school in Northwich I went to the model shop there, I think it was called Eaches but I may be wrong.

 

I never had any of the Trix pacifics, the only Trix locomotive I had was a Western which didn’t look much like a Western and ran really badly. No matter how much I fiddled with it the wretched thing would not run well but I do still have it on the basis that nobody else would want it. It did haul a set of Trix Mk1s in chocolate and cream which were nice coaches but inexplicably made to the wrong scale of 3.8mm to the ft. and fitted with Commonwealth bogies. I seem to remember the coaches were sold as kits and you had to build them.

 

Sandra

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13 minutes ago, sandra said:

Trix Mk1s in chocolate and cream which were nice coaches but inexplicably made to the wrong scale of 3.8mm to the ft. and fitted with Commonwealth bogies. I seem to remember the coaches were sold as kits and you had to build them.

I had a few of those and yes, they came either RTR or as kits ("Coachbuilder"). If you put 14mm wheels in them and a Meccano washer between the bogie and body they were about the right height so looked much better. They were of course still a bit short but as long as you didn't mix them with other makes you could get away with it. Sometimes the shortness was an advantage in getting more coaches into a given length.

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1 hour ago, APOLLO said:

I still have my Trix double tendered Flying Scotsman, A4 Silver Link and A2 A H Peppercorn, along with a Trix blue Western class diesel.

 

The A2 runs OK (ish) and has traction tyres on the drivers, she merrily bounces along pulling anything behind her. The other two run just about OK, the Western, well she is not well at all. I bought them around my 21'st birthday back in 1973 from a sports equipment shop in Pemberton near Wigan. I remember asking the lady "How much is that Western Hydraulic in the window" (the one with the wobbly wheel) !! - she shouted upstairs "How much is that westernised relic" - Laughter all round, happy days !!!!!!!!!

 

I keep them for sentimental reasons. I think Silver Link in LNER light grey is the nicest one, though not a patch on todays expensive stuff. Remember they are early 70's RTR.

 

image.png.debaebb1f4ebfbe6269dac76bd474a06.png

 

Brit15

Thanks for the picture of SILVER LINK.

 

It's an interesting muddle of a model. 2509 never ran in service with a nameplate, not with the parabolic curve at the front, anyway. It had its name painted/printed in the middle of the casing (one of Gresley's daughters thought it looked better that way). It has a double chimney (incorrect) and the 'wedge' in the firebox casing is in the wrong place. As for the tender, it's entirely inappropriate; it should be a 1935 streamlined corridor type, not a 1928 sort. Imagine the 'outcry' if Hornby was to produce such a model today, yet I couldn't find a mention of these inaccuracies in the model press of the time when these locos were reviewed. 

 

Interestingly, this original Trix A4 formed the basis of the later Bachmann one, though with modifications. The firebox was altered and it certainly had a different chassis, but the weird tender (a non-corridor type was produced by merely removing the corridor connector at the rear) remained. 

 

Also interestingly, I have a couple of links with that original Trix A4 running on Little Bytham. 

 

60002.jpg.3479d8d5f55f32a165028dc72ac4744c.jpg

 

This has a much-modified Bachmann A4 body on top of an even-more-modified Bachmann chassis, towing a Crownline streamlined non-corridor tender (complete with strip at the base of the tank). The painting is by Ian Rathbone.

 

341690768_A460034Bachmann01.jpg.236c54d18721d1ef6dbc7c7b9088d1db.jpg

 

This one has the same Bachmann body-modifications, but it has a South Eastern Finecast chassis. The tender is also from SEF, modified to represent one of the trio with the back end cut-down in order that the A4s could take water on the SR and LMR in the '48 Exchanges. Again, the painting is Ian Rathbone's work.

 

My goodness me, this shot was taken quite some time ago! 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks again Sandra,

 

I'm glad 61620 continues to do what she was (eventually) built to do.

 

 The beautifully-natural painting/weathering is the work of Geoff Haynes.

 

I still can't find the picture I took of her complete on Retford, but here she is before I erected the valve gear.

 

909288749_Retford2342104CLUMBER.jpg.cec26e7fe42ebc1e1b95f5a546176e7f.jpg

 

During my late-'50s 'spotting days at Retford, CLUMBER was by far the most-common B17 on the boat train, sometimes rostered for a whole week's work on the service. GAYTON HALL was also common, though I never saw any B17 with the larger tender.

 

1793925456_61641small.jpg.c70c7d42948b913996e1e4bb0db56355.jpg

 

Did I say I'd make Retford's telegraph poles?!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

58768480_Retford63768.jpg.0581d5abc1e3132d92d90bb92653d6cd.jpg

 

Another classic flat crossing scene, to be replicated now you've got an O4/8? 

 

I also murmured something about point rodding................

 

What a delicious amount of clutter.

 

Please (all) observe copyright restrictions on the protototype shots.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

Tony,

 

Thanks for the photos, I have found a few photos of B17s with the larger tender but the small GE tender was by far the most common. The loco for the boat train was usually supplied by March and the only large tender B17 they had was Doncaster Rovers so I intend to model that.

 

Whilst the telegraph poles will be nice and there were some huge ones at Retford, I think the most important job at the moment is to build the permanent platforms as the present ones and the station buildings are just mock ups. I’ve been discussing this with Andrew and we think we do know how to proceed although they will take time to build.

 

Isn’t he bottom picture an O1 not an O4/8. Retford already has a kit built O1 but until recently no O4/8. The O4/8 is not quite finished but once it is I will post a photo of it.

 

Sandra

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5 hours ago, sandra said:

Isn’t he bottom picture an O1 not an O4/8. Retford already has a kit built O1 but until recently no O4/8. The O4/8 is not quite finished but once it is I will post a photo of it.

 

I was just going to point that out!

I do like both of these locomotives, and thanks to Hornby and some swapping/chopping up/refitting of Bachmann parts am happy to have models of both!

Probably not to Retford standards, but I like them on my railway.

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Bit worried to hear of JW's story of Mazak rot - I've just gifted my Trix Flying Scotsman to my great-grandson as the start of his railway.It was running OK when handed over and no sign of problems but don't want a tearful  small boy on the phone!i

 

I did stupidly buy a late so-called "A2" on a German chassis  from somewhere in Wales  - complete cr*p unfortunately. Never tried their coaches - HD tinplate ones instead.

 

Happy days in ignorance,

 

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In my 'past glories' toy box I have a Trix A4, Mallard, with that awfully noisy but massively powerful tender drive.  Somewhere along the line it has lost its front buffer beam, if anyone has a body (any colour, my loco is repainted anyway) or bufferbeam lying about I would be very grateful to come to an agreement for it.  Nostalgia....

 

I do recall seeing both A2 and A3 repainted models on our old club layout back in the 70's, but oddly recall them as good quiet runners (loco drive) - I wonder why they were so different to the memories above.  We thought they were quite good at the time....oh how times change.

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1 hour ago, RAYTHEROCK said:

Bit worried to hear of JW's story of Mazak rot - I've just gifted my Trix Flying Scotsman to my great-grandson as the start of his railway.It was running OK when handed over and no sign of problems but don't want a tearful  small boy on the phone!i

 

I did stupidly buy a late so-called "A2" on a German chassis  from somewhere in Wales  - complete cr*p unfortunately. Never tried their coaches - HD tinplate ones instead.

 

Happy days in ignorance,

 

I'd have thought that anything that old would have "gone" already if it was ever going to.

 

The motor cradles on my Hornby T9s are falling apart within five years.

 

John

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9 hours ago, sandra said:

Tony,

 

Thanks for the photos, I have found a few photos of B17s with the larger tender but the small GE tender was by far the most common. The loco for the boat train was usually supplied by March and the only large tender B17 they had was Doncaster Rovers so I intend to model that.

 

Whilst the telegraph poles will be nice and there were some huge ones at Retford, I think the most important job at the moment is to build the permanent platforms as the present ones and the station buildings are just mock ups. I’ve been discussing this with Andrew and we think we do know how to proceed although they will take time to build.

 

Isn’t he bottom picture an O1 not an O4/8. Retford already has a kit built O1 but until recently no O4/8. The O4/8 is not quite finished but once it is I will post a photo of it.

 

Sandra

Thanks Sandra,

 

Of course it's an O1.

 

Yet, I've only had new glasses a couple of months ago! 

 

I'll find a suitable O4/8 picture.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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10 hours ago, sandra said:

Hello Tony,

 

Arts and Crafts was of course in St Michael’s Arcade off Bridge Street. Brook street is the road leading to General Station, I got confused, it’s a long time since I’ve been to Chester. In Chester I only ever went to Arts and Crafts or the shop in White Friars, I don’t recall Trickett’s, I don’t think I ever went there. As I went to school in Northwich I went to the model shop there, I think it was called Eaches but I may be wrong.

 

I never had any of the Trix pacifics, the only Trix locomotive I had was a Western which didn’t look much like a Western and ran really badly. No matter how much I fiddled with it the wretched thing would not run well but I do still have it on the basis that nobody else would want it. It did haul a set of Trix Mk1s in chocolate and cream which were nice coaches but inexplicably made to the wrong scale of 3.8mm to the ft. and fitted with Commonwealth bogies. I seem to remember the coaches were sold as kits and you had to build them.

 

Sandra

Good evening Sandra,

 

Yes Brook Street. Home to 'The Majestic', which only showed films which were at least two years old. One went there and often came back with unwanted guests! 

 

There was a kind of toy shop in Brook Street, called 'The Lollipop', owned by a lady called Zena Games. Though my memory is far from clear (I can't tell an O4/8 from an O1!), she might have sold some model railway stuff. If so, it could well have been the lower-end stuff, such as Playcraft. I never had any of that.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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10 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

 

Yes Brook Street. Home to 'The Majestic', which only showed films which were at least two years old. One went there and often came back with unwanted guests

 

AKA "Ye Olde Scratch & Bite"! I'm sure that many of us can relate to that...

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1 minute ago, MarkC said:

AKA "Ye Olde Scratch & Bite"! I'm sure that many of us can relate to that...

Wow! When I used to go to the pictures in my youth the best I could hope for was a kiss and a cuddle...

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3 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Wow! When I used to go to the pictures in my youth the best I could hope for was a kiss and a cuddle...

Ah, now that's a completely different ball game...

 

(Perhaps not the most polite/appropriate analogy either... :P )

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13 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Sandra,

 

Yes Brook Street. Home to 'The Majestic', which only showed films which were at least two years old. One went there and often came back with unwanted guests! 

 

There was a kind of toy shop in Brook Street, called 'The Lollipop', owned by a lady called Zena Games. Though my memory is far from clear (I can't tell an O4/8 from an O1!), she might have sold some model railway stuff. If so, it could well have been the lower-end stuff, such as Playcraft. I never had any of that.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

My old father in law told me tales of the cinema in Bawtry, pre war. It had wooden bench seats and in the quiet bits of the old cowboy films they could hear the rats scuffling about under the seats, picking up any dropped sweets.

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2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Just to prove that I do know what an O4/8 looks like..............

 

1239198221_63688Retford4.4_58.jpg.f0029fbebc49a12ca5f1c185469d83f0.jpg

 

63688 on Retford GC shed in March 1958. It looks ex-works, so for Retford's period (1957) a model of it would probably have the older BR device (and be dirty). 

 

597059366_1963RetfordGCShedUnbelievablyfull.jpg.4dd875c719f32f6a2fb0fcb9e4aef209.jpg

 

There are at least two O4/8s in this picture of Retford shed on a Sunday morning in the early '60s. Fortunately, for the model of Retford, this is east of Thrumpton crossing (which is the eastward extent of Retford). Just think how much bigger the model would have to be to incorporate this scene! 

 

I think this is the site of a housing estate today.

 

My own O4/8.........

 

1908795230_J6O48.jpg.3e1e570815705ee6f52f58097e6e03a9.jpg

 

1591487101_O48.jpg.c284bb66e93d53f35c1ba99d92c2b967.jpg

 

634100477_O4863738.jpg.831d8574fdb0be9a46c56a11512d0b8a.jpg

 

40+ years old now and still going strong. It has K's frames, footplate and tender from the firm's O4, on to which I've scratch-built a boiler and cab. The fittings are Jamieson. 

 

Seriously-flawed, it suits as a layout loco; just! 

 

With CLUMBER being mentioned earlier.........

 

1101948423_61620MarchApril1958.jpg.8f36ac87af6a16ef40058c07e2c6ad8c.jpg

 

Here's a shot of her at home (March) in the spring of 1958; the year in which I saw her the most. 

 

One mistake I made on my model was to not add the extra washout plugs to make her into a B17/6; something catered for in Hornby's RTR range.

 

Please observe copyright restrictions on the prototype pictures.  

 

 

 

I trust that yours has the (unauthorised) RH facing late crest? ;)

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

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2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Just to prove that I do know what an O4/8 looks like..............

 

1239198221_63688Retford4.4_58.jpg.f0029fbebc49a12ca5f1c185469d83f0.jpg

 

63688 on Retford GC shed in March 1958. It looks ex-works, so for Retford's period (1957) a model of it would probably have the older BR device (and be dirty). 

 

597059366_1963RetfordGCShedUnbelievablyfull.jpg.4dd875c719f32f6a2fb0fcb9e4aef209.jpg

 

There are at least two O4/8s in this picture of Retford shed on a Sunday morning in the early '60s. Fortunately, for the model of Retford, this is east of Thrumpton crossing (which is the eastward extent of Retford). Just think how much bigger the model would have to be to incorporate this scene! 

 

I think this is the site of a housing estate today.

 

My own O4/8.........

 

1908795230_J6O48.jpg.3e1e570815705ee6f52f58097e6e03a9.jpg

 

1591487101_O48.jpg.c284bb66e93d53f35c1ba99d92c2b967.jpg

 

634100477_O4863738.jpg.831d8574fdb0be9a46c56a11512d0b8a.jpg

 

40+ years old now and still going strong. It has K's frames, footplate and tender from the firm's O4, on to which I've scratch-built a boiler and cab. The fittings are Jamieson. 

 

Seriously-flawed, it suits as a layout loco; just! 

 

With CLUMBER being mentioned earlier.........

 

1101948423_61620MarchApril1958.jpg.8f36ac87af6a16ef40058c07e2c6ad8c.jpg

 

Here's a shot of her at home (March) in the spring of 1958; the year in which I saw her the most. 

 

One mistake I made on my model was to not add the extra washout plugs to make her into a B17/6; something catered for in Hornby's RTR range.

 

Please observe copyright restrictions on the prototype pictures.  

 

 

Thanks Tony,

 

A strange fact about the O4/8s is that the last ones were not converted until 1958. As Retford is set in 1957 I will have to be careful to make sure my one has a suitable number.

 

Roy had a collection of photos taken in and around Retford and the class which appears most often on the GC section is the O4/8 so I absolutely had to have one. However it does seem strange that conversions of such an elderly design were still being done as late as 1958.

 

Sandra

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Slide1166.jpg.fc6ee1e74862c1df355b1b6d63257c5b.jpg

 

I also bought a Trix A4 (second hand) , Tender drive with traction tyres. As remarked above it would pull anything I could find to put behind it. Trouble  was the loco wheels had a tendency to lock. It was quite as sight to see it at high speed without the the wheels turning.

 

I gave it a respray  as "Capercaillie" it was the only Gateshead A4 built with double chimney. 

 

ArrthurK

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16 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

I'd have thought that anything that old would have "gone" already if it was ever going to.

 

The motor cradles on my Hornby T9s are falling apart within five years.

 

John

 

if it's of interest, Peter's Spares were selling cast replacement motor cradles for the T9s. I bought one and it worked very well. I think I may even have bought a second one as an insurance against future failure.

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1 hour ago, sandra said:

Thanks Tony,

 

A strange fact about the O4/8s is that the last ones were not converted until 1958. As Retford is set in 1957 I will have to be careful to make sure my one has a suitable number.

 

Roy had a collection of photos taken in and around Retford and the class which appears most often on the GC section is the O4/8 so I absolutely had to have one. However it does seem strange that conversions of such an elderly design were still being done as late as 1958.

 

Sandra

 

Good afternoon Sandra,


not such a strange fact, the dia. 100a boiler was the standard for all class O4's from the 1940s onwards. No new boilers were constructed for earlier iterations of the class. It was the LNERs practice that when new boilers were required, an individual loco would be rebuilt as O4/8. If the cylinders were also worn out, a full rebuild to class O1 would be carried out. The LNER converted 51 locomotives prior to nationalisation and a further 7 were dealt with before BR canceled any further rebuilds to O1 in 1949. The reboilering of O4 to class O4/8, continued for as long as the locomotives were needed. Eventually 99 locomotives were so treated, becoming the most common type in service..


 The O4 was an old design, though not necessarily old in material. For the majority of there lifetime, heavy freight locomotives had advanced little. More importantly, freight workings had advanced even less! Due to the slow evolution of freight workings in this country, the O4s were quite capable of handling the vast majority of workings up until the end of steam.
 

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27 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

 

if it's of interest, Peter's Spares were selling cast replacement motor cradles for the T9s. I bought one and it worked very well. I think I may even have bought a second one as an insurance against future failure.

They still are. I bought one about a month ago.

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