Playing with Hornby Dublo 3 rail again

[sagaguy]

I like the odd challenge,having used all my HD collectorshoe assys.I have a small number of Marklin 7164 skates.Having a Montrose which i cannabilised for the pick up assembly,i thought i`d see if i could fit a Marklin skate,having a lathe, made making the long stud that goes through the pick up pretty easy.This does work,anyway here`s some pics. of the chassis.

 

 

                    Ray.

 

 

[sagaguy]

Got this in the post today at a very good price.

 

                         Ray.

[Il Grifone]

 

I like the odd challenge,having used all my HD collectorshoe assys.I have a small number of Marklin 7164 skates.Having a Montrose which i cannabilised for the pick up assembly,i thought i`d see if i could fit a Marklin skate,having a lathe, made making the long stud that goes through the pick up pretty easy.This does work,anyway here`s some pics. of the chassis.

 

 

                    Ray.

 

 

 

I fitted a Märklin skate to a Dublo A4 many years ago. She had been converted to 2 rail in the sixties and I wanted to convert her back. Having thrown out the original pickup at the time (I wasn't going to need it again!), I was forced to use something else (no eBay back then to supply the correct part) and tried a skate (the shorter type) with complete success. Not having a lathe, I used a long screw to secure it in place. New skates cost rather less than used or replica Dublo pickups these days.

 

If only they'd made the SD6 coaches the right length I think sales would have been rather better. They did have stiff competition from Kitmaster and Tri-ang on price, but would have been better than either and worth the extra expense (IMHO).

[sagaguy]

The Marklin 7164 skate is about £3.55 from Gaugemaster.Iv`e used all my HD collectors & having a few of these in my spares,i thought i`d give it a try.I`ve got a Hornby R3288 9f railroad loco powered to convert to 3 rail.I have a HD 8f tender chassis with p/ups but the guys on facebook Hornby Dublo Enthusiasts group have given me lots of ideas.

 

 

    Ray.

[Il Grifone]

I usually convert tender locomotives with pickups under the tender. Dublo style plungers are prbably best, but I find a carefully bent strip of phosphor bronze with two shoes attached (made from upholstery nails (Wilko have these) or paper fasteners) works well. Extra weight is usually required in the tender - Dublo tenders were die-cast for a reason I think.

 

My tender drive Hornby 9F presents a problem....

Edited September 2, 2016 by Il Grifone

[sagaguy]

Some pics of the conversion to 3 rail of my Hornby 9f.After a lot of thought,i decided i could fit a Marklin skate under the tender being a loco drive model with a bit of modification.The HD 8f tender chassis lives another day for another project.This loco is very smooth.I have some Wrenn wagons fitted with HD couplings & tension lock at the other as converter wagons.What we need now is some HD couplings to fit NEM pockets.

 

 

                       Ray.

 

[sagaguy]

 I will post a video once i sort out the front bogie from derailing on certain points.I think it is a back to back issue.

 

 

                    Ray.

[cctransuk]

 

What we need now is some HD couplings to fit NEM pockets.

 

It's quite easy, really.

 

I take a Peco R2 coupling hook and cut through the shank immediately on the pivot side of the vertical tail, using tin-snips.

 

I then scrape off the blackening from the underside of the remaining shank immediately behind the 'buffing bar', and tin the exposed steel with a hot iron.

 

Taking some square brass strip that is a loose sliding fit into the NEM pocket, I bend it at a sharp right-angle; (annealing the brass will make this easier if required).

 

I cut off the vertical leg of the brass approximately 1.5mm. above the upper surface of the main brass strip; ie. so that I have a horizontal L with a 1.5mm. vertical leg.

 

Having tinned the end of the 1.5mm. leg, I solder it to the shank of the coupler tight up against the back of the 'buffing bar'.

 

You should now have a coupler with a shank which is offset below the head.

 

Cut the new brass shank to length so that the coupler projects from the NEM pocket by the required distance.

 

Drill the NEM pocket 0.5mm. centrally, right through both upper and lower faces; with Bachmann pockets this will be in the middle of the moulded letter.

 

Place the coupler shank in the pocket and lightly turn the 0.5mm. drill in the hole in the NEM pocket until it marks the brass shank.

 

Remove the coupler / shank from the pocket and drill the shank centrally 0.6mm., at the point where it has been marked.

 

Place the coupler / shank in the NEM pocket and press a length of 0.5mm. brass wire through the pocket, through the shank, and back into the pocket; it will be a friction grip in the pocket.

 

Cut off the wire 3mm. or so below the underside of the pocket, and bend the projecting wire flush with the underside of the pocket.

 

Result? One freely pivotting Peco (Hornby Dublo) coupling, which can be removed and replaced with a tension-lock coupling simply be pulling out the brass wire.

 

All this sounds horrendously long-winded, but it can be done in a couple of minutes once you get the knack; I'll post a couple of photos when I get the chance.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[andy2308]

Hornby-Dublo Castle locomotive with a rake of Royal Mail vans on "I 'ad That" layout last weekend at Harmans Cross Village Hall. There were several Castles on that layout which had been repainted and relined with names from a Dorset theme like Dorchester Castle and Lulworth Castle.

Just caught up with this post!

 

The Castles were Dorchester Castle, Lulworth Castle & Corfe Castle (and Hogwarts Castle was there somewhere) Lulworth & Corfe were made with that show in mind.

 

And there was me thinking that no one had spotted them!

 

Cheers,

 

Andy.

[BR60103]

One of our importers had a customer and his wife up to his apartment (that he ran his business from). The wife was looking at a string of Wrenn locos on display and saying "I knew her" and "I knew her". Turned out she'd been in hospital volunteer work and the assorted Duchesses were on the committees as well.

[cctransuk]

It's quite easy, really.

 

.......................................

 

All this sounds horrendously long-winded, but it can be done in a couple of minutes once you get the knack; I'll post a couple of photos when I get the chance.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

 

Photos as promised - not the easiest thing to photograph !!

 

Note that the pivot hole is larger than is usually necessary - but it does allow more side-to-side movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[sagaguy]

Pics of my restored City of London,I finished this in Railmatch BR Crimson,you can see the difference in the pics.One thing i did discover was that C of B was sprayed with Rover Damask red Acrylic which was a gloss finish which didn`t show the carrier film of the cabside numbers & being finished with Railmatch satin varnish.City of London was painted using Railmatch BR Crimson,being a satin finish,in certain lights,the carrier film shows through,Moral,a coat of gloss varnish first affix decals then a coat of satin varnish.The City of London etched nameplates came from Modelmaster who supply plates of the correct size for HD Duchesses.

 

 

                                        Ray.

 

[Brit70053]

Resuming from Post #226, we had a get together yesterday, not at the home of the 3 rail layout, but at the other extreme, chez another of our number who has an extensive DCC Sound layout and very impressive it is. Run purely for enjoyment, no rivets are counted.

The 3 rail owner brought along his Dublo mail coach, plus a selection of 3 rail track pieces including 2 spare electric points to arrange into a makeshift test track.

I managed to successfully undo all the metal tabs around the base of the coach (there are lots of them and not all obvious) and remove the coach body to expose the internal 'gubbins' to which the problematic actuation arm is attached in the un modified state.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the big bolt which secures the arm and spring was secured, not by a nut as described by Il Grifone, but by a simple slot headed screw, which was easily undone, enabling the arm to be removed from its designed position and secured back on the bolt within the coach mechanism for safe keeping should the process ever need to be reversed.

The fun part was re fitting the coach body back onto the base/ chassis, the tin plate sides having sprung outwards when removed, the thinner sections around the collection bin being particularly awkward. I eventually managed to re locate all the tabs back into their slots. None broke, but some of the paint on the tabs was unavoidably scratched in the process.   

Once complete, the coach was free wheeled over the makeshift track layout, no obstacle being presented by the point motors positioned on either side of the track to be negotiated.

The owner is now happy to have a further coach he can run with existing stock and has no need to alter his layout.

Once again, thanks to everyone for their suggestions, information and helpful photographs. 

 

Regards,

                John

 

Edit to correct credit for information.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Brit70053

[Wolseley]

I too have recently started "playing with Hornby Dublo 3 rail".  The excuse I am using is that it entertains my 16 month old grandson when he comes over to our house.  I have a growing collection of locomotives, rolling stock and track but, for the moment at any rate, it just comes out now and again and gets laid out on the dining room table.  Maybe something more permanent will appear soon.

 

 

[sagaguy]

This treads been a bit quiet of late so here are my latest refinished HD 3 rail locos & a short video of my 3 railed Hornby 9F.

 

 

                 

 

  Ray.

[sagaguy]

I`ve just answered a post on the well known collectors forum about a HD City of Liverpool that suddenly stopped & the armature won`t rotate unless it`s prodded.This would appear to be a common fault with a soldered connection to the commutator,probably a dry joint.I`ve  just repaired a Wrenn City chassis with this fault,the only problem is that you really have to remove the magnet & pole pieces to easily get asoldering iron in.I`ve just got a remagnetiser which is worth it`s weight in gold.

 

                        Ray.

[Wolseley]

The latest addition to my collection of Hornby Dublo 3 rail arrived today - a Stanier 8F 2-8-0.  It's in good condition generally and runs, but a previous owner has painted over the entire loco body and tender with a thick varnish, so a bit of restoration work is called for....

[sagaguy]

One of my Trix EM1s.

 

                   

 

                 Ray.

[sagaguy]

The problem was that the centre rail collector shoe would catch on the wing rails of HD 3rail points as HD collectors are more spoon shaped so i took the decision to fit a Marklin skate as i like to see my locos run rather than sit in my display cabinet.I do have a quantity of Trix catenary so it would be interesting to see if i could get two trains to run on the same tract ala TTR style but thats for the future.

 

                Ray.

Edited October 30, 2016 by sagaguy

[Robin Brasher]

Deltic hauling a Pullman train and LMS maroon 0-6-2T hauling a suburban train on the ' I Ad That' layout at Weymouth Model Railway Association's layout at the Wey Valley School on Sunday 30th October. The layout is a pleasing mix of modified Hornby Dublo buildings and rolling stock and EFE vehicles with just the right amount of scenery.

[andy2308]

Did you spot the motorised turntable Robin?

 

Here's another couple of pics of the Deltic:

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Andy.

[Golden Fleece 30]

4 x Silver Fox

Here we have 4 different scales of Silver Fox starting at the bottom with my N gauge version. This was a Mallard with the last two digits and names altered but with hand painted Silver Foxes. Next is my recent TT version, this is a plastic LNER Mallard that has been repainted in BR green, lined with Kemco 00 waterslide transfers, 00 nameplates and numbers and again hand painted Silver Foxes (these look better than my N ones from 20 years ago) and wire handrails replacing the moulded ones. The third one is my Dublo version with Dublo style varnish fix transfers for lining, name, numbers and foxes, I wish I had used etched plates for this. The top one is a scratchbuilt 0 gauge model from about 25 years ago. This shows the Gresley "hump" far better than the N and TT models, the Dublo one does not have it which is its only let down. This is one of over 250 0 gauge A4 bodies I made of which a handful made Australia, South Africa, Canada and USA. I also did 4 gauge 1 versions of the A4 but they were all sold and I did not have space for one myself which is a pity now.

 

My TT version needs the rear Cartazzi frames looking at as they look out of position on the M/N pony truck, the Britannia one was too far back. At the moment it is a nice little runner and looks reasonable. The single view is to show the hand painted foxes.

 

[sagaguy]

Two of my EM1s,the Trix EM1 has been fitted with a Marklin skate to get over the problem of the centre rail pick up catching on HD points.

 

                         Ray.

[sagaguy]

A link to a video of my EM1s

 

               Ray.

 

                

[Wolseley]

Just received my latest eBay purchase in the mail today: a TPO set, boxed and complete with switch and mailbags.  It looks like it's hardly been used.

Edited November 14, 2016 by Wolseley