Hornby 14XX - Improved running!

[S.A.C Martin]

 

One of my many madcap ideas a few years ago was to improve the running of my father's long suffering 14xx class model by changing the traction tyre set of driving wheels, to a proper set of full depth wheels with flanges. I bought a spare set of driving wheels some years ago, but didn't get around to changing them.

 

...Until now! We had it running round the Copley Hill circuit today, and it was an absolute pig. The traction tyres were gunky, one was disintegrating, and to be perfectly frank the ride quality had never been all that with the traction tyres fitted.

 

I carefully unscrewed the middle screw on bottom plate, and the chimney screw, to lift the keep plate off (without pulling out the wire from the pickup strip), and removed the driving wheels. The rear driving wheels were the traction tyre wheels, the pins were pulled out of these, and the coupling rods removed. I then replaced onto the same axle the replacement, fully flanged wheels (they are, like all the Dapol and Hornby 14xx models, simply a push fit onto the axle), and then repinned the connecting rods, before dropping them back in (with a few drops of oil) into the chassis.

 

 

The result, after a few hours of running in, is a model which is no longer jerky over pointwork, and a much improved runner.

 

Since it is only ever run with either its autocoach, or a few wagons and a toad brake van, the loss of the traction tyres has had minimal impact on its intended working life, and now that it runs better, its prospects for actually being run on occasion have improved substantially!!!

 

[Brinkly]

Glad the loco runs better, there's nothing worse than a poorly running model. Just out of interest what is the maximum weight your 14xx can now handle?

 

Regards,

 

Nick

 

 

[S.A.C Martin]

I'll have a check Nick. Would a short video help? I can whip one up pretty quickly these days.

[Brinkly]

Yeah that would be interesting to see.

 

I've got two, both of which require new chassis as I plan to convert them over to P4, but I am a bit concerned about how much weight I will be able to add to the loco. The cast chassis block does bring the weight up quite a bit.

 

Regards,

[Torn-on-the-platform]

I bought my club's nearly life expired 14xx, mainly because it had trouble with some of the pointwork and was therefore surplus to requirements. It ran well for a while in my ownership but the tyres started disintegrating and making the track and pick-up wheels filthy, having the obvious effect on performance.

 

I decided that rather than replacing the driving wheels, it would be cheaper to replace the tyres. I bought a set of 10 and I expect that I shall need to buy no more. The less intensive use of the loco in its 'retirement' means I hope to not even need to change them again.

 

To change the tyres you have to dismantle pretty much the whole engine, as you must know from changing the wheels, so I took the opportunity to clean up all the metal parts and then oiled where necessary. It is now a faultless runner!

 

I can see that the benefit to your method is that it will be less likely to dirty the tracks and it is, on close inspection, more pleasing to the eye. As you mentioned, its not going to be pulling long trains so it doesn't really need traction tyres, thus removing the negative aspect of removing the tyres!

 

I suppose that all I am trying to say is that you don't NEED to remove the traction tyres to make the 14xx a good runner!

 

Now its a runner, it needs detailing!

[craigwelsh]

I've got two, both of which require new chassis as I plan to convert them over to P4, but I am a bit concerned about how much weight I will be able to add to the loco. The cast chassis block does bring the weight up quite a bit.

 

Regards,

The High Level chassis with a 1624 is quite heavy in its own right but you can fit a lot of lead in the tanks, smokebox and bunker too along with a small DCC chip. Should be able to pull 4 autocoaches on the flat easily enough.

[Brinkly]

The High Level chassis with a 1624 is quite heavy in its own right but you can fit a lot of lead in the tanks, smokebox and bunker too along with a small DCC chip. Should be able to pull 4 autocoaches on the flat easily enough.

 

Oh excellent! That's a lot more than I thought. Cheers Craig.

[Adrian Wintle]

The other interesting thing about the 14xx is that it uses 1/8 axles, so replacing the drivers with Romfords or similar is quite a simple operation.

 

Adrian

[Dad-1]

Sorry to dig this one up again, but I've not been on RMW since August ?

I agree with torn-on-the-platform you don't have to change the rubber tyred driving wheels to get good running. First though you'll need to clean the wheels every running session and have very clean track, also do not allow your tyres to get too old and manky !!

I bought a secondhand Dapol and the first thing apart from a thorough clean was to replace the tyres, then add a decoder as I'm fully DCC.

 

Here is a video done today of my Dapol version pulling 26 wagons and a brake at a scale 9 mph and going around my roundy-roundy layout in the garage which has 3 x Peco Set-track points in the circuit. At a scale 4 mph it did become jerky, partially due to wheel slip (even with rubber tyres).

 

 

I would have bought a new BR version had Hornby not priced it so highly, with a model that still dosen't offer a decoder socket.

 

Dad-1

[D605Eagle]

The 14xx has been my nemesis and I'm on my third one. I have finally managed to make a resonably powerfull, smooth running, and most importantly never stalling 14xx out of two of them (3rd one is an old airfix and its just rubbish!). If anybody remembers the dawlish donkey from many years ago it just showed how powerfull these little tanks were. I have used the driven wheels off the two Hornby models to do away with the traction tyres, this involves quatering, not the easiest thing to do, but as the wheels are just pressfit on the axles without any splines, tweeking is quite easy. The trailing axle is sprung to keep it on the track, however the spring is far too strong. I carefully removed one of the coils to make it shorter and squeezed it up a bit. On both of my Hornby 14xxs the pickup strips wern't touching the trailing wheels properly. You have to set these up very carefully, too much pressure and the wheels wont turn, too little and you get intermittant pickup. Putting the keeper plate with the pickups on back on the model is a major feat too.....

It will now quite easily handle 11 Bachmann 9ft wagons and a guards van, or 4 Mk1s (Lima ones with decent wheels, they are light weight mind you).

Now I guess you dont have a spare 14xx to supply parts, but your in luck.... Because the model is of Airfix heritage it has the same diameter axles as romfords, so you can easily replace the axles and wheels. The only minor headache is getting the coupling rods attached as the hole in them is rather large. Finding the right shouldered screw is what you need. I've got them in the past from shops that supply old Hornby/triang spares. With romfords you don't need to quater as they do it automatically with the squared off axle ends.

Hope this is of help!

Jim