Hornby 31 what the????

[newbryford]

19 minutes ago, russ p said:

 

It is

 

Not quite sure why they would put a bicolour in a tail light position on a 31.....

But the simple fix will probably be to cover one of the contact tabs with tape. (I don't know which one.)

(Not that you should have to fix it anyway)

 

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by newbryford

[rob D2]

3 hours ago, Gilbert said:

I am yet to try this...

 

 

I think I’ll try painting the backs of the wheels first - insulation tape looks a bit fiddly 

[Pillar]

One other thought regarding changing white LEDs to red: paint over them or the lens with clear red acrylic, such as Tamiya X-27. I use this for my road vehicle tail lights - though admittedly I always use a red LED with it so I can't say for certain whether it would make a white LED appear red or not.

[The Johnster]

The situation is worse with green liveried and pre-1982 dmus or non-Southern Region emus, which invariably have one tail lamp option, two red marker lamps lit.  Only one tail lamp was used prior to 1982, and it was an oil lamp on a bracket, not a marker.  First generation dmus did carry red coloured glass shades to be placed over the white (dull yellow) marker lamps, and the lamp housings had a relief with a rebate in it over the bottom half of the housing to take them, but they were never used before 1982, or after for that matter either as new bulbs were fitted in the markers.  The shades lived in a varnished wooden box on the front of the driver's desk in the cab.

 

Southern emus, demus, and TC sets, as well as diesel-electric, electro-diesel, and 3rd rail electric locomotives, had dispensation by the authority of the General Appendix to show red blinds to the rear in order to indicate to signalmen that the train was complete. 

 

The pre-High Visibility marker lamps and headcode backlights were very dim and RTR model representation of them is always much too bright, and often too blue/white in hue.  They were low wattage filament bulbs, and the best they could do was to vaguely illuminate about 3 sleepers ahead of the train in total darkness, and tail marker lamps were no better.  Oil lamps were brighter, assuming they were correctly trimmed and the lenses were clean; this was very noticeable if you passed a steam positioning move or railtour at night or even in dull daylight.  If you can see that the lamps on a pre-1982 model are lit, including the internal coach lighting, in the layout's normal ambient 'daylight', they are too bright as a general rule.  Same goes for semaphore signal oil lamps. 

 

It was considered that, as railways in the UK are fenced in, there was no need for a powerful lamp to light the track ahead, as a clear route was guaranteed by the signals.  Where there were sections of track that were unfenced, such as the Central Wales line or some of the Scottish lines, locomotives were fitted with headlamps.  The 2-car power twin Class 120 dmus and 37s on the Central Wales were fitted with Lucas car lamps intended for rallying, bought in a car parts dealer close to Landore shed in Swansea.  I was once guard on one of the 120s working the 23.00 Bristol TM to Cardiff Central, and my driver switched the Lucas on in the Severn Tunnel, because he could...  It was very effective, and the amount of water you could clearly see pouring in was alarming!

[pheaton]

17 hours ago, andyman7 said:

Annoying, the spurious white lights particularly daft, but let's not forget that not a single manufacturer (not even Bachmann with their £300+ super deluxe Class 47 or SLW with their 24) will let you display a single red light in the rear for a light engine movement. Apparently they worry that folk will think something's not right 

Bearing in mind  RFD modified their 47s to show twin reds rather than singles.

[russ p]

59 minutes ago, pheaton said:

Bearing in mind  RFD modified their 47s to show twin reds rather than singles.

Most 47s that survived beyond early 90s got them , but it looks wrong on a blue or green one 

[markw]

8 hours ago, The Johnster said:

The situation is worse with green liveried and pre-1982 dmus or non-Southern Region emus, which invariably have one tail lamp option, two red marker lamps lit.  Only one tail lamp was used prior to 1982, and it was an oil lamp on a bracket, not a marker.  First generation dmus did carry red coloured glass shades to be placed over the white (dull yellow) marker lamps, and the lamp housings had a relief with a rebate in it over the bottom half of the housing to take them, but they were never used before 1982, or after for that matter either as new bulbs were fitted in the markers.  The shades lived in a varnished wooden box on the front of the driver's desk in the cab.

The red filters were used on the DMUs when first introduced, here is a photo

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrwg2270a.htm

The centre lamp has a red filter and you can see the bright spot where the bulb filament is lit.

[russ p]

5 minutes ago, markw said:

The red filters were used on the DMUs when first introduced, here is a photo

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrwg2270a.htm

The centre lamp has a red filter and you can see the bright spot where the bulb filament is lit.

 

That's quite a rare picture they weren't used for long 

[adb968008]

3 hours ago, russ p said:

 

That's quite a rare picture they weren't used for long 

The Battery Unit Gemini still has the filters on the centre light, seen here, with the cover over it The centre light filter can be pulled out revealing a clear bulb, but a red filter could be dropped into the socket that the cover is currently in.

 

It also has  two bulbs in each side light, clearly visible, with a 110 for comparison showing its whites.

 

though when it was a Bury it was a bit of a muddle, for instance, the other end didnt have a red light..

Should add the top centre lights has lens cover slots too.. its got the blank in it on both pictures.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by adb968008

[rob D2]

A bit outside the remit of this thread - but I spent several hours today taking the 31 bogie apart. Todays casualties - bufferbeam cowl, and bogie attaching pin.

 

i painted all the wheel backs , Matt black, and I’ve superglued the bogie side frames in place held with tape to push them together ( only on the most troublesome bogie !).

 

i haven’t tried the metal Rod between bogie side frames yet, as it’s going to show, but the net result of all this is the loco will go through 8/9 of my points without shorting now .

 

 

[sulzer71]

On 27/12/2021 at 19:30, russ p said:

Slowly fitting decoders to my fleet, this 31 has completely fictional lighting. It bad enough that companies make green diesels that can only show two red lights but this one swaps the two reds for two whites !!!

If it was a cheap loco I could forgive but it's not. The only option is to put tape over the LEDs

I wish either Hornby would retool the 31 so it has raised bodyside banding or someone else makes a better one .

I'm sure with the amount of variations there has been over the years it would be a good seller 

I recently bought replacement lighting kits for the majority of my loco's from Jason Edmunds (stickswipe on ebay) specifically because I wanted to be able to operate all the red lights individually , although he doesn't list that type of kit on ebay he will make them to your requirements if you ask

Edited January 5, 2022 by sulzer71