Metropolitan Bo-Bo EP sample

[PhilJ W]

If anyone is interested, here are a couple of photos of No. 8, Sherlock Holmes, on  a rake of five repainted Graham Farish coaches. All of these coaches have had only one coat of paint so far, and I have experimented with different shades of brown. The Brake ends are in a correct LT brown but look a bit dark to me, whereas the intermediate shade looks more like I think it should, especially once I can weather it.

 

These coaches are by no means accurate: in fact, they are distinctly 'generic'  and represent almost no real coach designs at all! However, they do seem to capture the general character of the Dreadnought coaches, at least at normal viewing distances. I have improved them all by fitting metal 14mm wheels.

 

 

The brake ends were laterly painted red, the same red as the normal Underground stock. A distinctive feature of almost all Metropolitan (and District) compartment stock was the curved door tops. Has anyone tried to replicate this by fixing plasticard semicircles to the tops of the doors?

[SRman]

Yes, those curved door tops were featured on the Dreadnoughts, T Stock (MV/MW Stock) and Ashbury Stock that I know of, and probably others as well.

I have painted the outer ends of the brake coaches in red, with black painted on lookout windows. Later on I may drill out those windows and add some at the sides, and add the pipework on the ends and shoe beams on the end bogies. I think that may be the limit of the work I'll do on them, as no matter how much I do to them, they will still be generic representations only.

While I think they look the part, almost every single detail is wrong!

[SRman]

There are no tail lights on these models.

 

I seem to recall that my 'Sherlock Holmes' also has the two wires going nowhere, although it is some time since I opened it up to fit the decoder.

 

On my example, the little PCBs over the cab were assembled upside down, so the cab lights were on with the lower two marker lights, and the top marker light came on if the cab light function was selected! It was very easy to flip the boards over and clip them back in.

 

Reviving this thread, I purchased a Metropolitan (preserved) liveried locomotive, No 12 Sarah Siddons from Hatton's at their current greatly reduced prices. On running in on the rolling road on DC, she seemed a little tight at first, but soon loosened up nicely. All lights were working on DC.

 

I fitted a TCS EU621 decoder, as I had done to Sherlock Holmes previously. On testing the lighting, I found that the cab light/top marker light PCB at No 1 end was upside down, as originally found on Sherlock Holmes at both ends, so Heljan are still not checking things properly on assembly, although it is easy enough to fix.

 

I had one other issue, not of Heljan's or TCS's making, though: when I tested the running after fitting the decoder, it ran perfectly on address 3, but when I assigned short address 12 and long address 112, I found it completely dead. Resetting the decoder to 3 worked fine. It took me several minutes and several resets to finally realise that, as far as the NCE Power Cab was concerned address 12 and 112 were both short addresses and were locking each other up. Once the light bulb lit up above my head, I put 112 as the short address, and 0112 as the long address, but only activated the short address. All was well, then.

 

Just in case anyone is wondering, I chose 112 as the running address because my Industrial Sentinel diesel shunter is set as No 12, so I needed to avoid a clash of addresses.

[Roy P]

LTM Shop. Winter sale.

Sarah Siddons (two versions)

£35 (thirty five) a pop.

RP

[SRman]

LTM Shop. Winter sale.

Sarah Siddons (two versions)

£35 (thirty five) a pop.

RP

 

LT version isn't in stock, but the Met one still is. Unfortunately, I already own the Met version and wouldn't mind the other one if it comes back in at that price. Brilliant value!

[298]

LT version isn't in stock, but the Met one still is. Unfortunately, I already own the Met version and wouldn't mind the other one if it comes back in at that price. Brilliant value!

No longer in stock (and no it wasn't me):

 

https://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/models/trams-trains/Heljan-metroploitan-bo-bo-electric-12-sarah-siddons-in-metropolitan-livery-2016-model#selection=style:9008__39308

[PhilJ W]

LT version isn't in stock, but the Met one still is. Unfortunately, I already own the Met version and wouldn't mind the other one if it comes back in at that price. Brilliant value!

 

 

No longer in stock (and no it wasn't me):

 

https://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/models/trams-trains/Heljan-metroploitan-bo-bo-electric-12-sarah-siddons-in-metropolitan-livery-2016-model#selection=style:9008__39308

Out of stock last night. Doubt very much if they will have any more, certainly not at that price.

[G-BOAF]

Out of stock last night. Doubt very much if they will have any more, certainly not at that price.

ouch! Pleased I didn't click on the email last night and see that bargain, not after I'd purchased one for £69 from Hattons a few weeks ago.

Looks like a few people got a bargain. I wonder how many will be on ebay/retailers, as at £35 I'm guessing that is way below normal cost price (although I suppose the TFL might have got a deal due to permission/access to the prototype and trademarks).

I have yet to run mine... looking forward to it

[PhilJ W]

Hatton's has No. 1 in wartime grey at £64. As for the LT museum ones it looks as if some are on E-bay already, same trader with low start price. I've bid for one but no more than £35, it stands at £20 at the moment. The trader is still adding them on so I might put in a few low bids and I might get one for less than £34.

[298]

Hatton's has No. 1 in wartime grey at £64. As for the LT museum ones it looks as if some are on E-bay already, same trader with low start price. I've bid for one but no more than £35, it stands at £20 at the moment. The trader is still adding them on so I might put in a few low bids and I might get one for less than £34.

Isn't it against eBay rules to list items that you not actually have? The ones starting at £100 are cheeky enough to use Hatton's photos and may be being brought to order, although the seller won't take £60 for what would be secondhand to me....

[Bishdurham]

Just waiting for my 2nd replacement from a well known retailer in the NW.  Probably stuck in the snow bank that is called Nova Scotia.

 

First model a John Milton worked fine on DC then when I put a decoder in nothing.  Took the decoder out and nothing on DC.   Returned under warranty.  Requesting they fix.  Got a refund as they had sold out of JM.

 

Ordered a No.19, same problem, requested that they check it wasn't the decoder and tried it in the loco.  Also requested that the shipping was given as a credit note rather than returned to my card.  In due course got an email saying the shipping had been refunded to my card ( although they were aware this would cause me a loss due to currency exchange) and a "new" 19 was being sent and they had checked the decoder on the bench but not in the loco.

 

The decoder is from retailer, so I don't understand why they would supply something that doesn't work in the loco?  Why does it not work in DC when the blanking plate is replaced?

 

All I am sure of is I will shop elsewhere in future.

[PaulRhB]

They don’t like certain decoders! I tried gaugemaster and ESU lokpilots and got strange results but Lenz and Bachmann work fine. Not sure why it’s failed to run on dc unless it’s the wrong way round?

[sem34090]

Just taken delivery of No. 1 in LT Grey, courtesy of Hattons. I would have preferred a Met lake example, for modelling purposes, but I actually really like the grey! I shall give it a test run this evening when I get indoors.

[G-BOAF]

Finally unboxed and run my Met Bo Bo Siddons.

Really magnificent model and has real presence.

BUT mine runs horribly jerkily, and I sense it needs some oil probably on the drive train or bearings. I can oil the motor and wheel bearings, but how do I get access to the worms and gears?

 

Any advice please.

Really really pleased with the look and detail of this model!

Edited March 26, 2020 by G-BOAF

[SRman]

I haven't tried this with my two Met Bo-Bo locos, but it applies to several other Heljan models I have done maintenance on: the top plastic cap on the motor bogie tower should unclip by releasing the loops at the sides from the projecting tabs on the lower mouldings. You can then access the worm and bearings easily before snapping the top cap back on.

Likewise, I haven't checked the Met locos, but Heljan motor bogies are usually of one of two patterns. The first type has separate sideframes that just pull out, allowing the base plate to be removed in similar fashion to the top caps (as I referred to them). The second pattern has the side frames moulded as part of the base plate, but removal is still by levering the side loops away from the bogie chassis to release the baseplate complete with the sideframes.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by SRman
typo fixed

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

12 hours ago, G-BOAF said:

... I can oil the motor ...

That's quite literally the last place to oil. Almost certainly, the trouble will be in the gear towers, start there.

[G-BOAF]

57 minutes ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

That's quite literally the last place to oil. Almost certainly, the trouble will be in the gear towers, start there.

I mean motor bearings not the actual motor..

 

I think the bogie baseplate unclips. I will investigate in due course.

Also at one end the buffers are pointing a little skywards. I think the buffer beam is skewed. Is it clipped in or is there glue that needs breaking off?

And do Howes have spares in case I mess it up!?

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

1 minute ago, G-BOAF said:

I mean motor bearings not the actual motor...

Understood that, but seriously, not even those, typically a self lubricating bronze formulation. (I have seventy can motored models running and operate at least a couple of hours daily. One motor only has required bearing lubrication after fifteen years service. Against that I have lost count of how many can motors I have seen over the years wrecked by oil getting inside and thus onto the brushes.)

 

Don't know the specifics of this model. It's no longer Howes but Gaugemaster who are the Heljan spares agent.

[PhilJ W]

55 minutes ago, G-BOAF said:

I mean motor bearings not the actual motor..

 

I think the bogie baseplate unclips. I will investigate in due course.

Also at one end the buffers are pointing a little skywards. I think the buffer beam is skewed. Is it clipped in or is there glue that needs breaking off?

And do Howes have spares in case I mess it up!?

Could that be the problem? Some distortion in the frame.

[G-BOAF]

5 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Could that be the problem? Some distortion in the frame.

No, the buffer beam is a seperate plastic part that fits onto the metal chassis block. I suspec there is some flash or improper seating prior to glueing.

Chassis itself looks true and straight and stable

[SRman]

One of mine shed its buffer beam at one stage. Easily cleaned up and re-glued.

[Opelsi]

On 01/06/2018 at 13:02, SRman said:

 

I had one other issue, not of Heljan's or TCS's making, though: when I tested the running after fitting the decoder, it ran perfectly on address 3, but when I assigned short address 12 and long address 112, I found it completely dead. Resetting the decoder to 3 worked fine. It took me several minutes and several resets to finally realise that, as far as the NCE Power Cab was concerned address 12 and 112 were both short addresses and were locking each other up. Once the light bulb lit up above my head, I put 112 as the short address, and 0112 as the long address, but only activated the short address. All was well, then.

 

Just in case anyone is wondering, I chose 112 as the running address because my Industrial Sentinel diesel shunter is set as No 12, so I needed to avoid a clash of addresses.

 

That is very interesting.

 

I use 4 digit addresses for my loco roster taking for steam the first and last wo digits of the loco number and for diesel and electric using the first two digits as the class number and the last two of the loco number as the individual identifier. Therefore Co-Bo D5705 = 2805 for example

 

When I recently received 'ROCKET' that left me in a quandary as my Stirling Single has already taken 0001 so (after the fiddly change to an ESU micro Next 18 decoder) I went with 1829 for ROCKET.

 

I wonder if I could have used the 2 digit address of 01 for ROCKET and my ESU ECoS would not have confused that with the 0001 of the Stirling Single? Not easy to just go and try at the moment!

 

Many thanks!

Simon

[Monkey28]

I’ve had my number 12 Sarah siddons locomotive running for the first time in a few years 

 

I think my lighting may be wrong can anyone tell me how they should work on DCC ?
 

i have the bottom front and cab coming on with F0 

toplight with F1 and rear top light on F2

[PaulRhB]

8 minutes ago, Monkey28 said:

I’ve had my number 12 Sarah siddons locomotive running for the first time in a few years 

 

I think my lighting may be wrong can anyone tell me how they should work on DCC ?
 

i have the bottom front and cab coming on with F0 

toplight with F1 and rear top light on F2

What decoder did you use? They do strange things with some decoders. I had that with a lokpilot, DCCconcepts and another I can’t remember what it was but found Lenz or Bachmann ones worked fine! Cheltenham Models suggested the two alternatives as fine with Heljan so I suspect more had found the issue. 

[Monkey28]

40 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

What decoder did you use? They do strange things with some decoders. I had that with a lokpilot, DCCconcepts and another I can’t remember what it was but found Lenz or Bachmann ones worked fine! Cheltenham Models suggested the two alternatives as fine with Heljan so I suspect more had found the issue. 

It’s a lais DCC 21pin .

 

I seen to remember when the locos first came out something about the PCBs boards being upside down or something.not sure if that effects my loco or not