Playing with Hornby Dublo 3 rail again

[Wolseley]

Got myself a Co-Bo diesel today.  A somewhat ugly beast - I don't know why Hornby chose to make the thing.  It runs, but I'll have to fit new traction tyres before I do anything much with it.

[sagaguy]

Got myself a Co-Bo diesel today.  A somewhat ugly beast - I don't know why Hornby chose to make the thing.  It runs, but I'll have to fit new traction tyres before I do anything much with it.

Very collectible these days though,i`ve just had this one rewound & serviced by Scalespeed & it runs like a new loco.

 

                           Ray.

[Il Grifone]

Got myself a Co-Bo diesel today.  A somewhat ugly beast - I don't know why Hornby chose to make the thing.  It runs, but I'll have to fit new traction tyres before I do anything much with it.

 

Am I the only one who likes these things? I think it's quite an attractive styling. It presumably was chosen as a model because it could use the existing Deltic bogie and was avant-garde at the time. IIRC it was only afterwards that serious reliability problems raised their ugly heads.

 

They should pull quite well even without the tyres, though there might be wear issues with the track. (Must order some for my Dublo diesels.)

 

EDIT

 

Just ordered some from  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-DUBLO-TRACTION-TYRES-6-OFF-CORRECT-FLAT-PROFILE-/302119312405?hash=item4657b6dc15:m:mW5Y0xugTYQA3Q1rgyUsPZg

 

I've bought things from him before so I have confidence in their quality. I'll report back when they arrive.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Il Grifone

[Wolseley]

Just ordered some from  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-DUBLO-TRACTION-TYRES-6-OFF-CORRECT-FLAT-PROFILE-/302119312405?hash=item4657b6dc15:m:mW5Y0xugTYQA3Q1rgyUsPZg

 

I've bought things from him before so I have confidence in their quality. I'll report back when they arrive.

 

 

I noticed that he doesn't have many left, so I ordered 2 packets of them - I also have a Bo-Bo diesel in transit at the moment and I have a near mint Co-Co body (I'm just waiting for a 3 rail chassis to turn up on eBay but who knows how long that will take) so I'll need more than 6 tyres.

 

As for the styling of the Co-Bo, it is attractive in a brutish sort of way and, of course, it has a period appeal, but you could hardly call it beautiful.  A bit like a Southern Railway Q1 I think.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi David,

 

No you are not the only one who likes this loco, I do too.  I think its possible "ugliness" is what makes it attractive and I have 4 or 5.  I have one where I replaced the tyred wheels with plain steel, not nickel plated etc, and it runs fine.  It also means no issues with the groove and rail getting caught together.  Someone posted a photo of one in distress asking if anyone could replicate it and I was the only one with both Co-Bo and a well turntable to do it, not only that but my repaint was the same number.

 

Also here are 4 of my repaints and a very nice original Tri-ang Hornby one.  This is actually Hornby Dublo but Tri-ang put a sticker on the boxes when trying to sell off surplus Dublo stock.

 

I am looking at doing a TT version if the motor bogie I am waiting for fits inside the cast metal body I have.

 

Garry

[Il Grifone]

I noticed that he doesn't have many left, so I ordered 2 packets of them - I also have a Bo-Bo diesel in transit at the moment and I have a near mint Co-Co body (I'm just waiting for a 3 rail chassis to turn up on eBay but who knows how long that will take) so I'll need more than 6 tyres.

 

As for the styling of the Co-Bo, it is attractive in a brutish sort of way and, of course, it has a period appeal, but you could hardly call it beautiful.  A bit like a Southern Railway Q1 I think.

 

My Co-Co is really 2 rail, but converted to 3 rail. The prices quoted for genuine or replica 3 rail pickups were definitely not Grifone friendly, so I fitted two from a Trix lighted brake van. These invariably suffer from corrosion of the alloy from which they're made and so cost very little - finding pickups that aren't worn is the problem. The locomotive is quite long enough to not need to pick up from both running rails, but a wheelset can always be reversed in each bogie if necessary or spare noninsulated wheels can be found

 

In bulk, the tyres are are cheaper direct from his website - 'm.trains' in search will find it. I can probably manage with six at the moment and wanted to try them anyway.

[Wolseley]

There are, rather unusually, nine Co-Bos on eBay at the moment, but they're all 2 rail.  The 3 rail ones seem to be like hen's teeth - I guess I was lucky to find one at a reasonable price.

[sagaguy]

I fitted one of my 2 rail Co Bo s with a Marklin 7164 skate.

 

                  Ray.

[Il Grifone]

There are, rather unusually, nine Co-Bos on eBay at the moment, but they're all 2 rail.  The 3 rail ones seem to be like hen's teeth - I guess I was lucky to find one at a reasonable price.

 

All the post 2 rail 3 rail models are hard to find and have a premium price (the give away is nickel-plated wheels).

 

At the time we, their buying public, were rather fanatically anti-diesel, but Meccano Ltd. went rather overboard for them. I suspect it was the younger recruits who went for the diesel models and would have the new-fangled Dublo 2 rail (or even Tri-ang) anyway. Tri-ang did not make this error and continued producing new steam models (some are still in the catalogue today). Dublo's last steam model (not counting the starter 0-4-0T) was the rebuilt West Country from 1960 (in the words of our teachers, this model merits "Could have done better!")

Any 'scale' modellers would have gone for the 2 rail version too, of course.

[Sweeps]

I'm trying to find some replacement brushes for the Hornby Dublo 0-6-2 tank but looking on eBay they are nearly £10 a set. Anyone know of a more reasonably priced alternative?

[sagaguy]

I'm trying to find some replacement brushes for the Hornby Dublo 0-6-2 tank but looking on eBay they are nearly £10 a set. Anyone know of a more reasonably priced alternative?

John at Mtrains is your best bet.

 

                 http://mainlytrains.webs.com/PriceList.htm

 

              Ray.

[Il Grifone]

I'm trying to find some replacement brushes for the Hornby Dublo 0-6-2 tank but looking on eBay they are nearly £10 a set. Anyone know of a more reasonably priced alternative?

 

I can recommend John. I have just received 6 of his traction tyres, which work very well and I will be ordering some more.

 

OR

 

These are the Wrenn type for the small commutator but the brushes can easily be shortened if necessary (with care they can be cut in half to make two ). 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WRENN-LONG-USED-BRUSHES-AND-USED-SPRINGS-/391620583078?hash=item5b2e67dea6:g:3TEAAOSwHMJYJcKI

 

IIRC Meccano Ltd. used to charge 6d for the brushes and 1d for the springs!

Edited November 21, 2016 by Il Grifone

[sagaguy]

The bruhes should be around 4mm long & the springs should just protude from the tubes.I must confess that this is the first time i have seen brushes for auction though.

 

                Ray.

[Il Grifone]

I wouldagree about Dublo brushes and springs, but I think the Wrenn springs are a bit softer than the Dublo ones. The brushes need to be a bit longer to reach Wrenn's puny little commutator. If the genuine article is required the same seller has a set and will undoubtedly relist in future.

 

There are usually plenty on eBay at various prices-

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=dublo%20brushes&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=1&_trksid=p2045573.m1684

 

To be pedantic the two armatures listed by Gostude's disciple and stated as suitable for 'Gresley' and 'Atholl' are not as they have the fine worm whereas all pre-nationalisation Dublo locos originally had the coarse worm*. (The fine worm appeared with the 4MT tank in 1954.) It is possible that later repairs resulted in armature and gear replacement of course. (Mine are a good mixture....) The items themselves look like they've had a hard life (just IMHO).

 

*Apart from the worm, Duchess, A4 and 4MT armatures are identical. (Not the horseshoe motors - these have different windings).

Edited November 22, 2016 by Il Grifone

[Wolseley]

The Bo-Bo diesel arrived today - a bit grubby but otherwise excellent - and the paint on the bonnet, hood or whatever you call it is 100% intact which is a rather rare condition for these.

 

And, as regards the Co-Co body (I haven't found a 3 rail chassis yet) it looks almost as good as new and seems never to have been used in any way, but the odd thing about it is that it has no numbers on the cab sides.  Any thoughts?

[Golden Fleece 30]

The Co-Co was never supplied with a number.  It is said that Dublo jumped the gun trying to bring out the Deltic and produced this before BR finalised its two tone colour scheme, right or wrong I don't actually know but it is closer to a Deltic shape than any other class of loco given the scale constraints. Original Deltics had a single central crest without a name but were still numbered and two tone without a yellow panel.

 

You can get Co-Co replica pick-ups from various sources to keep it like a Dublo version, these fit in the trailing bogie.

 

Garry

[sagaguy]

The Bo-Bo diesel arrived today - a bit grubby but otherwise excellent - and the paint on the bonnet, hood or whatever you call it is 100% intact which is a rather rare condition for these.

 

And, as regards the Co-Co body (I haven't found a 3 rail chassis yet) it looks almost as good as new and seems never to have been used in any way, but the odd thing about it is that it has no numbers on the cab sides.  Any thoughts?

Meccano never did supply this loco with a number,To be honest,i don`t know why it was issued.The body was retooled for the Deltic with raised lines in the tooling to aid with painting.Having said that,no collection is complete with out one.

 

                    Ray.

[Golden Fleece 30]

no collection is complete with out one.

 

 

Not right in my case Ray, I only use it to repaint as a Deltic I do not have a plain green one as it means nothing to me but I am not a collector as such just a model railway enthusiast with Dublo based preference.  I do appreciate others as collectors though but we all do our own thing.

 

The body does look better painted as a Deltic as the raised lines spoil the normal Deltic body.  Here are two I have done as Ballymoss and Royal Scots Grey.

 

Garry

Edited November 22, 2016 by Golden Fleece 30

[Il Grifone]

Nice work Garry!

 

I must finish my repaint....  I found that BR's modifications to the design resulted in the two tone finish not lining up properly with the detail on the ends so copied Dublo's finish. It looks like I shall have to start again as the masking tape took a bit of the light green off and I'll never be able to match the mix (Tamiya tape).

 

My Co-Co came with a rather tatty body, which I was able to replace with a better one. The original is now the subject of the above repaint. 

 

Is it just my opinion that she sits too high or is it an optical illusion caused by the model being far too short?

 

I fretted out the webs of my original Bo-Bo (back in the 80s as part of a conversion to EM - since reversed) which improves the appearance a lot. doing it is the proverbial pain however....

 

David

Edited November 22, 2016 by Il Grifone

[Wolseley]

The Co-Co was never supplied with a number. 

 

 

Yes, after checking in Michael Foster's book I can see that this was the case.  It just struck me as rather odd when I looked at the body shell and I didn't think of checking the Dublo "Bible".

 

I'm in no hurry to have it up and running, so I'll wait for a 3 rail chassis to come up on eBay - it will be cheaper than buying bits and pieces.  The body is practically in mint condition (the only thing you could fault it on is a bit of wear on one of the BR logos) so there's no way I'm going to repaint it.

[Il Grifone]

IMHO repainting should be reserved for tatty examples, tempered with rarity. Of course, defining 'tatty' is a matter of personal opinion....

[Wolseley]

My latest purchase took me a bit by surprise.  I put in a bid on eBay on a boxed Dorchester, not expecting to get it, given the prices that Dorchesters go for but I ended up winning it.  The loco went for what was my highest bid which, if it were not for the parlous state of the Pound Sterling, would have been out of my reach.  If someone else had bid 50p more they would have got it.  The numbers and lining on the cabside are rather badly scuffed but that is about all that is wrong with it and the box has seen better days, but I'm not too concerned about whether an item is boxed or not.  Now this was a loco that I always wanted - one of my school friends had a Barnstaple and that was the one thing above all that I really wanted at the time (we're talking 1966 here).

 

It seems that all I need to complete my collection now is a Deltic and an 0-6-0 diesel shunter and I'm in no hurry to get either of them.  Time to get some more coaches I think......

[Wolseley]

This is an eBay picture of the Dorchester.  The lining on the cylinders obviously needs a bit of attention as well, but that won't be too difficult.

 

[Il Grifone]

She's in really good condition and one of those cases where it's difficult to decide whether to touch up or leave well alone. In comparison my Barnstable is really tatty having lost all her lining and lettering (She had been badly repainted (not by me this time) and removing the overpaint took off the transfers too, though most of the original green remains; I'll have to do something about that and probably I'll  rename her Bodmin or Padstow at the same time.)

 

This class is one of the rare examples, where the return crank points backwards with the crank at the bottom of the wheel. Dublo of course got this right unlike their main competitor who could never make their mind up (always one side right and one side wrong).

Edited November 22, 2016 by Il Grifone

[Wolseley]

She's in really good condition and one of those cases where it's difficult to decide whether to touch up or leave well alone.

 

 

Viewing the photos now, I find that the condition is better than I thought (I'll know for sure when it arrives) so I might just touch up the few bits where the paint has been chipped and redo the lining on the cylinders and leave it at that.

 

In comparison my Barnstable is really tatty having lost all her lining and lettering (She had been badly repainted (not by me this time) and removing the overpaint took off the transfers too, though most of the original green remains

 

The same thing happened with my 8F which had been coated with some sort of lumpy varnish.  It was relatively easy to get the varnish off and leave the paint intact, but the transfers came off with the varnish....