Playing with Hornby Dublo 3 rail again

[cctransuk]

Going back a bit, shouldn't the lining on the BR locos be more yellowy?  I don't remember it being so orange.  Perhaps I never saw a clean one!

 

Brian.

 

It was orange, but much, much thinner.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Edited April 14, 2016 by cctransuk

[Il Grifone]

1/8" orange, 1/2" green, 1" black, 1/2" green, 1/8" orange IIRC. Theoretically the orange should be invisible on a 4mm model, but the brightness of the colour upsets the theory.

 

It's true clean locos were not very common, but they did exist and the lining was definitely a vivid orange.

 

David

Edited April 13, 2016 by Il Grifone

[Golden Fleece 30]

As David and John says, it really was a bright orange.  I think it may have been called Chrome orange which is supposed to show up even more than normal orange.  For me even the dirty A4's. A3's, A2's and A1's etc probably all showed the lining up clearly.  Maybe these locos were not as dirty as imagined although I have seen photos (and so maybe in real life) of ones where it was "invisible".  All I can say is York station and sheds had lots of green/orange/black coloured locos.

 

The ones that did seem more grubby with lining missing were the mixed traffic ones that had grey/cream/red lining.

 

Garry

Edited April 14, 2016 by Golden Fleece 30

[sagaguy]

It`s amazing what turns up now & again,a stack of boxed large & standard radius curves arrived today all seemingly brand new.

 

 

                        Ray.

[brianusa]

Don't know if this is the same with Dublo, but Hornby O gauge tinplate curves are more plentiful than straights which I suppose stems from the fact that there was more to the train set ovals.

 

Brian.

[Il Grifone]

There's no shortage of Dublo curved rails, undoubtedly due to them being in sets, but there's still plenty of all the track still around. For some reason the short and quarter rails have a premium price though.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi David, that set has the very old tin coaches in, mine has the newer plastic ones. Looking at the compartments in the Vectis set it looks like they should have been the longer plastic ones too. I would guess my set has had its brake lost and the owner had a buffet to hand. Mine also has track (fibre base) and a controller but no catenary.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Brian, John,

 

The reason my County etc has wide orange lines is due to using Dublo replica transfers to try to keep within the Dublo tradition. I could have gone for a more scale version from Fox but I only use them as a last resort. For one of my Dublo A3's I had to use 3 sets of the 0-6-2 O/B/O lining to give it the Dublo looks. Castle and Duchess cab lining was out of the question due to their lower front corners being a different radius.

 

It won't be long before I end up having to use waterslide transfers as varnish fix ones are no longer made and the only place in the UK that still has the paper for them won't do anymore.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here is a repainted Dublo 08 shunter. She is pulling the cross York Rowntrees and Foss Islands freight which was a regular run in the old days trainspotting. The wagons were taken too and from the main Rowntrees factory on one side of York to a rail served depot on the other. After the factory the single line branch went on first past York City General Hospital and maybe unloaded a coal wagon or two then to Dodsworth Avenue laundry where all the BR hotel sheets etc were washed, then to Foss Islands for unloading coal, cattle and oil, sometimes leaving a wagon or two for the gas works. Modellers license is used here as I don't think the oil and cattle and coal were included in the same train. In my early days this was a B1, Standard 4, Black 5 or similar turn as well as 08's.

 

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here we have 8F 48208 on an empty hopper train from Grassington Quarry to Shildon for wagon repairs on the down line, the first 10 hoppers are Wrenn with the others being Dublo. Passing on the up line is our last BR steam loco built, 92220 Evening Star, on an empty passenger/parcels train on its way to Doncaster. This model is the Hornby loco drive version with an 8F tender base used for the plunger pick-ups. The SR parcels is only as a coupling converter for now.

 

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here is another video I decided to do while packing stock away ready to start layout work again. This time it is the two A3's with Dublo/Wrenn A4 chassis's (I do have Tri-ang and Hornby ones ).

This is what York station was like when I used to stand on the main platforms which were 8, 9 and 14. It was rare, and I don't really remember A4's on 14 whereas A1's, 2's, 3,s etc used all 3 main stopping platforms. Platforms 15 and 16 were not used by express trains often, not while I was there anyway.

 

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here is a K's Jubilee and Hornby Patriot.  Both loco bodies are mounted onto Dublo Castle chassis's fitted with Duchess valve gear.

 

[Golden Fleece 30]

Two These are two Stanier locos never made by Hornby Dublo. The 2-6-0 utilises the R1 chassis with 2-6-4 valve gear and a straight forward 8F body. The tender is an 8F chassis with a modern Hornby body. The Black 5 has modern China made Hornby bodies on a Castle loco chassis with City valve gear and again the 8F tender base. Unfortunately this is too light and what is behind her is the maximum she will pull at the moment so either a lot of weight needed, or, re wheeling with plain mazak ones. At least she looks the part and runs at the moment.

 

[Golden Fleece 30]

Here is another Black 5, 45305, which is an old Margate loco body on a Castle chassis fitted with Dublo's City valve gear. The tender is a standard 8F one as this was far better than the Margate version. This loco has been weighted slightly and does pull a lot better than the previous Black 5. It was painted like it is 30 years ago and still looks fine so a decision was made not to repaint it when it was swapped from a Hornby chassis to a Dublo one.

The motorised GUV's are etched brass sides and new underframes fitted to S/D ends and roof. The ends have had a drivers window cut into each of them on one side. The green one has an etched underframe with the maroon one waiting for one to be fitted. These coaches are mounted on 3-rail Dublo Bo-Bo bogies set at a further distance apart. There is also a Blood and Custard livery version awaiting some bogies.

 

[amdaley]

I like those Guv's.

Don't know why but always had a soft spot for anything like that.

[Golden Fleece 30]

Hi Tony, I still have a few sets of 5 etches for the GUV if you are interested in shaping one up for yourself?  Underframe base, underframe battery boxes, sides/top (all one piece) and 2 sets of window bars.

 

Garry

[amdaley]

Hi Tony, I still have a few sets of 5 etches for the GUV if you are interested in shaping one up for yourself? Underframe base, underframe battery boxes, sides/top (all one piece) and 2 sets of window bars.

 

Garry

Sorry Garry don't have the time. No point in taking one just to have it sit there in a box for ever.

[Golden Fleece 30]

For anyone interested here is a video showing the modern Hornby loco driven 9F running on Dublo 3-rail track.  This loco as in real life has 4 sets of flanged wheels.  The tender has had an 8F tender chassis suitably modified to fit the tender top.  It is not quite the correct style but easy to use with the plunger pick-ups.

 

[Golden Fleece 30]

My bit of pure Dublo here.  All these wagons are boxed and mint or new bought in the last 3 years very cheaply at car boots and toyfairs.  Info on the YouTube clip.

 

 

I do not often have this much unmodified stock running at once so it is a rare occurrence.

 

 

[Golden Fleece 30]

I have been told the LNER loco has a Wrenn number. There are various reasons why 1) a Dublo number was not available from Dennis Williams at the time I did the repaint, 2) I took a guess at a number from what was available, 3) the previous owner had done this number and I just copied it without thinking.

 

At least it was an original LNER 0-6-2.

[amdaley]

I have been told the LNER loco has a Wrenn number. There are various reasons why 1) a Dublo number was not available from Dennis Williams at the time I did the repaint, 2) I took a guess at a number from what was available, 3) the previous owner had done this number and I just copied it without thinking.

 

At least it was an original LNER 0-6-2.

 

Hi Garry.

 

The Wrenn catalog no was W2217 & the Loco no was 9522.

It was also available in LMS Black livery as catalog no W2215 with Loco no 2385.

It later became available in 1977 as catalog no W2216 in BR livery with loco no 69550.

Also as catalog no W2214 in LMS red/maroon with loco no 2274.

and as catalog no W2217A in LNER Black with loco no 2690 in 1985.

 

Regards.

Tony.

Edited April 26, 2016 by amdaley

[Golden Fleece 30]

Thanks Tony.

 

At least I can say the loco is pure Dublo and not Wrenn as the Wrenn ones were fitted with the R1 chassis modified. The chassis had a plate screwed on to it and a slot in the bunker base for the plate to attach.  This means also the guard irons on a Dublo loco protect the pony wheels but on the Wrenn they are only protecting the driving wheels which is another giveaway..

[Il Grifone]

The other Wrenn giveaway is the large base to the safety valves. This appeared on the last Dublo production to give space for the large top bearing. Wrenn carried on with the casting (only altering the name underneath), but changed the chassis. Real N2s only have a very small base.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNR_Class_N2#/media/File:1744_at_Loughborough.jpg    (6)9523

 

Wrenn presumably choose 9522 as she was the only N2 in green*. (Not 9520 as I suggested before - memory )

 

2690 (Dublo pre-1946 number) and 9596 are one and the same.

 

The less said about the GWR, LMS and SR versions the better; the first two are nothing like their prototype (apart from being 0-6-2Ts) while the SR one (an LBSCR E5x) bears a passing resemblance and some serious work with a file could possibly make a better likeness.

 

* H.C. Casserley in 'Steam Locomotives of British Railways' states "one of the few ... in green" - there are pictures of both 9522 and 69596 detail differences are apparent (apart from condensing pipes) e.g. different heights of chimney and 69596 had Ramsbottom valves, 9522 Ross pop. (Neither had a large screw under the smokebox door    )

 

EDIT

 

The N2 class is rather a minefield, there being four variations. The Dublo model is suitable for an N2/2 with condensing pipes removed or an N2/3. From the Ian Allan abc 57/58, these are n2/2 69501/2/5/7-11/15/16/18/19/50-55/60/61 and N2/3 69563-67/94-6. N2/3s were built with large chimney, but some were later fitted with the small chimney. There is an addendum that "Condensing apparatus has been removed from or added to certain locos. transferred from or to the London area. As always, reference to photographs is advised. (Rule 1 can always be applied, of course! )

Edited April 30, 2016 by Il Grifone

[Golden Fleece 30]

The N2 class is rather a minefield, there being four variations. The Dublo model is suitable for an N2/2 with condensing pipes removed or an N2/3. From the Ian Allan abc 57/58, these are n2/2 69501/2/5/7-11/15/16/18/19/50-55/60/61 and N2/3 69563-67/94-6. N2/3s were built with large chimney, but some were later fitted with the small chimney. There is an addendum that "Condensing apparatus has been removed from or added to certain locos. transferred from or to the London area. As always, reference to photographs is advised. (Rule 1 can always be applied, of course!

 

This might be why Dublo never classed the loco as an N2, it was always referred to as an 0-6-2.  Because of its similarity in looks enthusiasts all called it an N2 and I am guilty of that too

 

Garry

[Brit70053]

An appeal for help or advice please.

Over the last couple of years a group of friends has been working on the restoration of the Dublo 3 rail layout and stock collection belonging to one of our number.

A recent acquisition has been a Std. Class 4 tank  which was in reasonable condition and runs quite well, but, it derails (particularly the leading pony truck) on a particular point/ turnout on the layout.

I took a close look at the loco (off site) a while ago and it seemed that the pivot hole in the pony truck casting was rather over size, allowing what seems to me to be excessive play/ slop on the whole assembly.

    I tried fitting a washer and a short piece of coiled spring (snipped from a Bachmann B1 Bogie assembly) to restrict the play, but ensure downward force on the pony truck.

   After returning the loco to my friend, he has tested it on the layout and says it seems to run better over the layout as a whole, but still derails at the same 'facing point'.

 He has tried to observe it closely, despite imperfect vision and says that the 3 rail skate pick up appears to be riding up on the frog of the point, resulting in the pony and (perhaps) leading driving wheel set also missing the frog rail and derailment.

I've asked him to try exchanging the point, but there has been no improvement in the running of this loco. None of his other locos has this problem, Duchesses, A4s, 8F, Castle and N2s all negotiate this point with no particular problem, though we accept there will always be spasmodic derailments with this venerable kit.

We are intending to have another of our periodic 'sessions' with the layout in the coming weeks and I'd like to have some ideas in mind to try on the Std. 4.

Any ideas or relevant experiences would be appreciated.

With my thanks in advance,

 

Regards,

                  John

 

Edit syntax

Edited April 30, 2016 by Brit70053