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Lynton & Barnstaple OO9 Loco from Heljan


Mike Bellamy
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Good god I just noticed an O gauge L&B loco on rails!! 

 

https://www.railsofsheffield.com/search/search-results.aspx?searchTerm=lynton

 

apologies if it is elsewhere on the forum!!

 

Looks like an error on Rails' behalf. Other stockists are listing this as OO9. If memory serves, that code was part of the second batch announced not that long ago.

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I hope it is O scale not O gauge - there is a considerable difference!

Another of my pet hates is descrbing non-rolling stock items as such-and-such gauge. An 0 gauge building? An 00 gauge car? (Oxford’s forthcoming Land Rover is an obvious exception. :))

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For  info  some  of  the  locos  are  also  being  distributed   via PECO,  and  are  starting  to   arrive in some  retailers already,  the  quantities are  quite  low.

 

I  look forward  to  the  postman  next week!! :locomotive: 

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The postie arrived a short while back...

 

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A tiny bit of a wobble on the lining above the cab side on the right, but a lovely little loco - and I only noticed it when I looked at the photos.

 

It's had a few shuttles up and down the loop, I'm assuming it's my track at the moment but the rear pony truck seems to have an affinity for the ballast, I'll check the B2B to see if that's out a little but it runs well straight out of the box.

 

Martin

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The postie arrived a short while back...

 

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A tiny bit of a wobble on the lining above the cab side on the right, but a lovely little loco - and I only noticed it when I looked at the photos.

 

It's had a few shuttles up and down the loop, I'm assuming it's my track at the moment but the rear pony truck seems to have an affinity for the ballast, I'll check the B2B to see if that's out a little but it runs well straight out of the box.

 

Martin

 

Looks  good,

 

Memo to  myself  arrange  urgent  recruitment  of  footplate  staff!!

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Manning Wardle No 760 'Exe' just arrived from Denmark via Parcel Force about twenty minutes ago!  Absolutely lovely - but I do have a few tweeks in mind for her though.  I confidently await the anouncement of a model of 'Lyn' - it is such an onvious follow on that it has to happen.

 

Gerry

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Manning Wardle No 760 'Exe' just arrived from Denmark via Parcel Force about twenty minutes ago!  Absolutely lovely - but I do have a few tweeks in mind for her though.  I confidently await the anouncement of a model of 'Lyn' - it is such an onvious follow on that it has to happen.

 

Gerry

 

Not  so   sure  about  LYN  I  would   buy one  if   it  was  ever  produced,  but   LYN  was  a  ONE OFF  so  the  number  of  variants in L&B form  is limited,  ( whereas  the  2-6-2T  has  many  variants  thus  the  potential  for  sales  for  Heljan)  I am  buying  3  of  the  2-6-2s  but  I would  only  buy  1  LYN

 

The only possible chance   for LYN  may be  that  the   loco  was  a USA production  and  as  such  there  is  the possibility  of sales   to be  gained  from  Black liveried  variants,  just  as  Bachmann  did  with  their G  scale  LYN.

 

Personally  I  would  like to  see a NG  UK  loco  from  another  railway,  I often  wonder  how  far  ROCO  got  with  their  proposed  Double  Fairlie?  they abandoned  the  project as  there  was  not  enough  interest  shown,  perhaps  Heljan  may be interested in  doing  a  deal  with  Roco's  holding  company!! 

 

Maybe  Fourdees  will have  a  look  at  LYN,  snag  there  of  course  is  there the  fact  there  is  no  2-4-2  9mm gauge  chassis available ( as  far as  I  am  aware)

Edited by Stevelewis
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A man from PECO suggested that the next locos Heljan might do would be from the VoR. There is a certain logic to this, they are of a similar size and design to the L&B locos, there are three of them and they have carried several liveries. Lets hope all the L&B locos sell out, encouraging Heljan to proceed with another one.

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I'd buy 'Lyn' (don't forget that there are TWO British variants that can be done, L&B Original and Southern 762) which may make it a tad more viable. I'm also hoping that 'Lew/Lyd' will hit the shelves at some point - I have an ambition to get the whole L&B fleet in SR livery

 

Not sure about the VoR lcoos, I'd have thought a FR Fairlie could well be the next step, but that is my own reckoning and is based on nothing more than what I want.

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Not sure about the VoR lcoos, I'd have thought a FR Fairlie could well be the next step, but that is my own reckoning and is based on nothing more than what I want.

 

Same here, I would have thought FR style locos would be more useful for most 009 layouts....but then I'm not a 009 modeller so I don't really know. :D

Give me an RTR Double Fairlie and I will happily part with my cash! ;)

 

In regards to the L&B locos, one of the people who purchased them from the shop on Saturday has tested them and reported his run excellently. So well done Heljan. (did I really just say that?) :P

Alex

 

Edit: I officially retract my "Well done Heljan" comment. :D

Edited by Midland Mole
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If you ask for a poll of models wanted by OO9 modellers you'll get a list as long as your arm!

 

Bearing in mind the success of the Bachmann US "Rev Awdrey" narrow gauge models over here in the UK I'd suggest that they'd be better looking at some smaller prototypes first as they will have much wider appeal and oust those HOe 760mm locos masquerading as OO9 locos! ;)

Edited by Hobby
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The problem with FR Fairlies is that while a quick glance suggests they are similar, once you get to know them they are all very different, length, height, bogie centres, superstructures etc.  

 

The two most alike are actually the two that on the face of it are poles apart, Merddin Emrys & Earl of Merioneth (1979 built Square, not the renamed Livingston Thompson), as these were both built/rebuilt around the 1960s Hunslet boilers.   

 

Which ones would you pick for RTR?  The current locos are significantly larger than the Victorian locos, but none of them were ever the same in the way that the L&B or VofR locos were.

 

I think that's where Roco got cold feet, they were probably looking at a generic loco and if you are going to charge £200+ each that may well rule out a lot of people, the same way I decided not to buy a Minitrains 2-6-2T as it's not 4mm scale and will look wrong alongside a Bachmann Baldwin.

 

If you are interested in FR Fairlies I thoroughly recommend 'Fairlie Locomotives of North Wales' http://www.festrail.co.uk/content/publish/news/516.shtml - 310 pages primarily covering the design changes and differences in a small fleet of locomotives.

 

Martin

Edited by mcowgill
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Guest Midland Mole

Oh I agree that a RTR double Fairlie is unlikely, just a dream I have had since I went on the Ffestiniog as a young lad. :)

Also, that book looks marvellous. Might have to pick one of those up sometime.

Alex

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Oh I agree that a RTR double Fairlie is unlikely, just a dream I have had since I went on the Ffestiniog as a young lad. :)

Also, that book looks marvellous. Might have to pick one of those up sometime.

Alex

Dreaming ... articulated steamer ... Heljan ... you might wake up screaming in the middle of the night!

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post-10539-0-58232600-1497355137.jpgpost-10539-0-53402200-1497355154.jpgpost-10539-0-96765400-1497355170.jpgYeo  &  Exe  arrived  this  morning  from  Arcadia  Models  in  Shaw.

 

So here  is  a  short  first  impressions  report:

 

I was immediately impressed  by  the  weight  of  the  unopened  boxes! Locos  well packed  and  when unpacked  they  are  quite  heavy  around  180 gm ( A  Minitrains 0-8-0 weighs  74gm)

They  have   a definite  solid  feel to  them a good  proportion  of  the  body appears  to  be  metal  not  plastic,  2 of the  3  powered  axles  are  gear  driven and power  is  collected  from EVERY  wheel   (Drivers  & Ponies)

 

I tested Exe  first Analogue control  ( no decoders fitted  yet!)  Loco  was  initially  hesitant needed  a  little  poking to  initially start  but  then  ran  fairly  smoothly ,but  not  as  smoothly as a Minitrains loco!,  and  occasionially would  not  start without  help  when it  had  been  stopped.

 I experienced  derailments of  the  rear pony  truck a few  times  which is  a  bit  concerning  more on  this  later.

 

Tested Yeo which  was  a  lot  more  hesitant  than  Exe  needed  several pokes  to  restart  it  it   showed  the  same  pony truck derailments  AND would not  run in reverse over Peco 18" radius  points  ( However  this  was  found  to  be  due  to  the  rear  cowcatcher being  incorrectly  positioned, this  was  rectified  ( BUT be  careful  they  are  fragile!)

 

I have  a  theory  re  the  pony  derailments:  the power is collected from  the  wheels  by spring brass strips pressing in  the  top of  the  wheel tread  I  think  this  is  inhibiting   the  ability of  the pony truck  to swing ( ie follow  the  track)  and  thus  derail,  I could  be  wrong but  I will continue  to look at  this  problem

 

I would  add here  that the  layout  I am using  regularly has Minitrains  2-6-2  & 0-8-0 locos  and  Roco H0e locos  which run  perfectly so the track appears to be  OK

 

I  shall  try  to  give  the  locos   some  running  in  time ASAP  and  see how  they  go,  I sincerely  hope they  improve  otherwise   TAW  may  get  cancelled!!

 

Incidentally  I  found  a  small  slotted  head black screw  loose  in  the  box  which Yeo  came  in,  I cannot  see any screws missing from loco  (yet)

Edited by Stevelewis
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Don't  Panic!

 

Just  picked  up  Exe  off the  track  and  one  of  the  valve  gear  covers  fell off!!

 

These  appear  to  be  just  a  push on  fit with  a  couple  of  little  lugs into corresponding  holes!

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I had an opportunity to see one of these run a few days ago and my initial impression was that it was a little stiff and and noisy, certainly nothing like the silent silkiness of a modern Bachmann N mechanism. Perhaps they just need some good running-in.

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I had an opportunity to see one of these run a few days ago and my initial impression was that it was a little stiff and and noisy, certainly nothing like the silent silkiness of a modern Bachmann N mechanism. Perhaps they just need some good running-in.

 

You  have  hit  the  nail  on  the  head,  I  was ' playing ' with  some  brand  new  Farish  N  Gauge  locos  the  other  day,  actually  fitting  some  decoders,  but  I never fail to be amazed as to  how  good  the  running  qualities are on  these  straight  out  of  the  box..  The  L&B locos I have  are definitely  stiff  and  a  little  noisy  in  fact  much  more  so  than Minitrains locos,  we  shall see what  running  in  does  for  them.

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For  those  interested  I  have  added  a  couple  of  pics  to  compare  the  size  of  an  L&B  loco  with   a Minitrains  0-8-0 Brigadelok.  obviously  there  are  2  different  scales here, but  I thought  it  may be  of  interest  to  Freelance  00-9 ers!!

 

By the  way  the  actual  weight  of  the  L&B loco   is  139 gms  ( not  180gms as  I stated  earlier) 

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I have carried  out  some  additional  testing  of   the  2  locos,  and  I am still experiencing derailments  caused by the  pony trucks  leaving  the  rails ( mostly  the  rear one)  I am becoming  more convinced  that  the power pickup arrangement for  the  ponies is  contributing to the  problem,  I cannot  recall ever  seeing  the  arrangement used  with locos  ie  fixed brass springy pickups  bearing  on  the top of   an UNPOWERED wheel set  which has horizontal movement.

 

I have  had  locos  with power collecting bogies/ponies in the  past   but  the  arrangement has been to fix  the  collecting strip to  the  actual frame  of the pony so it  moves  with it.

 

I think the Heljan arrangement is inhibiting   the pony  from moving horizontally when travelling  from  a  curved  section  to a straight section of track and  thus  causing  to to derail.

 

In order to check this  out  I will later today  remove  the   ponies on 1 loco to see what  happens.** see edit

 

Just  to  recap  the  fault  occurs  with  both my   locos,  Other locos  ( Roco & Mintrains) run  fine on the  layout  and  I  have  tested  the running  of  a  Farish N Gauge  2-6-4T  and  a  4-6-2 ( At  breakneck  speeds occasionally)  to  make  sure  that  their ponies  etc  do not  derail.

 

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EDIT..**......I have  now tested one  loco  YEO  removed  the  pony trucks,  it  ran  smoothly,  no  derailments  no  problems  with  power pickup at  low speeds or when passing over  pointwork,  so I reckon  the loco would  perform  fine  without the additional pony pickups  I am  not  taking  this  any  further though at  the  moment  until  more  feedback  and others  experiences  are posted.

 

Incidentally  the  wheel base  of  the  L&B locos   is around 4mm longer  tham  the Minitrains 0-8-0.  Should  have  noted  by wheel base  I am  referring  to  the  driving wheel base  not  the  overall wheel base!!

Edited by Stevelewis
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For  those  interested  I  have  added  a  couple  of  pics  to  compare  the  size  of  an  L&B  loco  with   a Minitrains  0-8-0 Brigadelok.  obviously  there  are  2  different  scales here, but  I thought  it  may be  of  interest  to  Freelance  00-9 ers!!

 

By the  way  the  actual  weight  of  the  L&B loco   is  139 gms  ( not  180gms as  I stated  earlier) 

 

From what I remember when it was discussed on NGRM the Brigadelok was found to be much closer to OO scale than HO and that photo rather confirms it!

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