Hornby Caledonian Single - how to make more realistic

[Compound2632]

I recollect reading a remark by, I think, P.D. Hancock (of Craig & Mertonford fame) along the lines of "so that's where the missing millimetres from the Triang Princess went". 

[33C]

1 hour ago, ardbealach said:

Here are a few more detail pictures of  CR 123 dating from 10 October 1964 on an afternoon excursion with the two Caley coaches from Glasgow Buchanan Street Station to Callander.  The blue colour variation is all down to the slide film. 

 

I have certainly enjoyed this interesting thread on this great little engine.  [Alisdair]

Looks like the Westo pump has been sticking a lot.....

[Ruffnut Thorston]

On 06/05/2022 at 23:37, 33C said:

Here's an example of what i mean. Triang B12 converted to Caly 908 class. The fillet between the first splasher and boiler filed away, and the fillet between the first and second splashers (no point cutting this out as it hides the motor) painted satin black. Makes the boiler look better as an independent object in the frame, i think? 🤓

 

The problem with 123, is that the motor is in the boiler, and that fillet is covering the motor, the magnet end of the original motor....and the newer motor and wiring is in there too...

 

Painting the fillet black is an option...but it has to be done carefully. 

Easier on the old models.

The decoration is better on the more recent models...more lining, number on the buffer beam, etc...

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Ruffnut Thorston
Typo

[33C]

1 hour ago, Ruffnut Thorston said:

 

The problem with 123, is that the motor is in the boiler, and that fillet is covering the motor, the magnet end of the original motor....and the newer motor and wiring is in there too...

 

Painting the fillet black is an option...but it has to be done carefully. 

Easier on the old models.

The decoration is better on the more recent models...more lining, number on the buffer beam, etc...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder if a piece of chrome tape, cut to fit both sides, would give the illusion of daylight under.....?

[rockershovel]

Those "front splashers" are really effective. Add lamps, brake hose and a 3 link front coupling and you will be pretty much "there" I think... 

[tomparryharry]

We have the same problem with the venerable Dean Single. One remedy was to use an Airfix CoT front bogie, and position it at the bottom centre of the smokebox. The slot in the CoT bogie allows sideways movement when negotiating smaller radii. I put lead weight into it, and a light spring  (ballpoint pen, I think) to exert some downward pressure. 

[drt7uk]

6 minutes ago, tomparryharry said:

We have the same problem with the venerable Dean Single. One remedy was to use an Airfix CoT front bogie, and position it at the bottom centre of the smokebox. The slot in the CoT bogie allows sideways movement when negotiating smaller radii. I put lead weight into it, and a light spring  (ballpoint pen, I think) to exert some downward pressure. 

Nice! Do you have any pictures of that? I might be tempted to modify my Dean Single...

[tomparryharry]

59 minutes ago, drt7uk said:

Nice! Do you have any pictures of that? I might be tempted to modify my Dean Single...

 

Oh dear! I did that about 50 years ago, and I stupidly sold them on. One advantage of the setup is that you can revert to original, if it doesn't meet your expectations. I do remember that one improvement I considered was to make the bogie self-centring by making a slight incline left & right of the centre pivot. The idea being that the CoT bogie slides across the slot, and as it does, the proposed incline slightly compresses the spring, and encourages the bogie to re-centre. It had to be a very soft compression rate of the spring. Possibly, no, actually, try having a look at the characteristics of the Dean Centreless bogie on the real one. 

 

Ah, youth! It was a time of cars, women & beer. The rest, I just wasted.....

 

 

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, tomparryharry said:

I do remember that one improvement I considered was to make the bogie self-centring by making a slight incline left & right of the centre pivot. The idea being that the CoT bogie slides across the slot, and as it does, the proposed incline slightly compresses the spring, and encourages the bogie to re-centre. It had to be a very soft compression rate of the spring. Possibly, no, actually, try having a look at the characteristics of the Dean Centreless bogie on the real one. 

 

That is, as I understand it, how the Drummond bogie worked, so an appropriate approach for No. 123 if not, as you say, of the Dean bogie. D.L. Smith in his Tales of the G&SW describes how the wedges would sometimes stick and then come free, causing the engine to lurch into the curve, and his theory based on this that it was a contributory factor in the Salisbury cash of 1906.