Hornby 25-the old one

[rodent279]

Morning.

 

I'd like to replace the rather crude wheels on my 2 Hornby rodents. What would you guys recommend?

 

(Apart from buy a Bachmann rat)

 

Cheers N

[leopardml2341]

Try Ultrascale - think they do simple 'drop-in' replacements for example.

 

https://www.ultrascale.com/eshop/products/view/CAT007/354

 

I've not used them (yet) to buy new, but I understand from other members that there is often a long wait.

[Neil]

First of all congratulations for having the good taste to stick with the Hornby model. Several years ago I cobbled together a set of EM gauge wheels for the Hornby 25 mechanism. I combined a set of Romford/Jackson wheels and axles with the gear from the Hornby wheel set. I filled in the recess in the Hornby gear with Araldite and waited for it to set firm before trimming off the boss on the gear. A further smear of Araldite on the rear face of the appropriate Romford wheel helped hold the gear firm and maintain concentricity.

 

It was a bit of a faff, but a cheap conversion. A little later I got hold of a Bachmann 25 that had been dropped, chucked the body into the parts box and married up the best bits of both, Hornby body and the Bachmann mechanism; but if you already have a sweet running 25 there should be no need of this further expense.

[MJI]

What is wrong with the Bachmann 25

 

I have the 24 and a Hornby 25

[SRman]

I have one each of Bachmann's 24 and 25, plus a Hornby 25 and another Hornby converted to a 24. The Bachmann chassis are lovely runners but the 'face' of the 24/25 is not right, particularly the curvature of the roof 'brow' and angle of the cab windows (both too shallow).

 

I haven't been able to do anything to the Bachhy 25 (yet!) but with the 24 I shaved off the gutter at the front and added a new, higher arched version out of microstrip. While still not correct, it does look a bit better.

 

As for the Hornby 25, I have been fitting the body to a Bachmann class 25 chassis, getting the best of both worlds!