Peter749

I decided to treat myself to a Class 68 body as the new versions are £40 and I intend to remove the Roof Fans and fit a Pantograph I will also look at the rest of the body but I doubt if I will fill in the current grills as I would not be up to painting the loco afterwards It is not correct but it will do until something else comes along Peter

Has anything become of this project?

It will depend on which DCC System you are trying to program the 4-TC I programmed the 4-TC with a Bachmann Dynamis unit with just the TBSK and a Driving trailer. Peter

To answer my own question I purchased a Hornby R4643 off Ebay and the body is a good fit to the Chassis but the step boards don't line up the same way. It might be a way of rebuilding my 4-Vep Peter

Last bit first, yes the 73 is the Dapol model not Heljan - my bad. The Emus on the Southern in the classes 2-Bil and 2-Hal are quite old by comparison with the EPB range An the older sets had low level air pipes, screw couplings and high level MU Connectors I did a railtour a number of years back with a 2-Bil & a 4-Sub - both of Southern Railway design and the various connections can be seen Pictures below Because of different control systems you can not run these types on units with the newer ones that have the Buckeye coupling and high level pipes. You could run the 4-Cep with the 2-Hap as both sets in real life had a similar power/weight ratio, or with a 2-Epb. "Probably a subject for another discussion elsewhere." Yes Peter

The 2-Hap was a high density unit with doors at each seating area for quick loading and unloading. As you can see from the lack of gangways between the two coaches you had to be in the correct half to use the toilet. The were more of an all stops regional unit rather than an express train. The 4-Bep/Cep were the fast train units of the South Eastern division, the 4-Big/Cig, which we don't have a model of, were the fast units of the Brighton Mainline and the Portsmouth line. https://www.bloodandcustard.com/br-2hap.html Peter

I have a couple of Heljan 73s but they have a number of faults. First the lights do not work properly on DCC - it is something that Heljan know about but they have not bothered fixing. Secondly the pickups are poor and the locos do not run very well on DCC. Peter

I programmed my 4-TC by placing the TBSK with the chip and the Driving trailer coupled on the track. Give the 4-TC a different number to anything else - I made mine 404 the set number You might pull it with the 4-Hap - however strange that is - and switch the train lights and head/tail lights on/off separately from what is pulling it. In real life the 4-TC only ran coupled to a 33/1, 73 or 74 loco or a 4-Rep emu Peter

I don't wish to convert it as such. I was thinking of using different chassis for my Hornby 4-Vep where the body comes off in one piece I have a powered Chassis for the MBS but need something for the DTS & TS The previous Hornby Mk1s were not suitable because of the Coach ends - hence my question. Peter

I was looking on the Hornby website for details about the construction of their Mk1s about how the coach is formed. And I found a pdf showing the newer Mk1s with lights have full body shell with the ends. So does this construction apply to other Hornby Mk1s without lights I was looking at the R4350 which seems to be a newer coach - is the body and ends a one piece construction? I had looked at a Bachmann Mk1 but the sides/roof are separate from the chassis/ends and not suitable for what I want Thanks Peter

You mean we have an Announcement for a class 93 Don't see them building it anytime before the real Class 93 because of the errors that might bring Peter

I would disagree with that statement Unlike the people in the coach who are in the tunnel and only see the outside as you come out the driver can see the exit approaching and can see a signal that might be just outside the exit In this picture a Colour Light can be see protecting the entrance on the Up and the back of the signal on the Down. As someone else said you don't find signals protecting tunnels but as the block section was 3+ miles long they kept it as short as possible The same applied before Totley Tunnel at Grindleford on a route I used to drive over Peter

I was pleased to fit a Dapol Imperium 6 function Decoder and I programmed the 4-TC by just having the TBSK and the DTSO coupled on the program track. The end lights on the DTSO responded to fwd/rev by changing the Route Indicator Lights and the train lights came on with Fn 3 I used my Bachmann Dynamis to program the unit. Thanks for the info Gents Peter

Thanks but I would still have to work out where to start as there is not a hole in the 4-Vep side frames Peter

It appears having the 4-TC and the 33 as the same number is not a good idea as the functions for the 33 are different to the 4-TC And as the 4-TC is just a set of coaches you don't have to run it in Multiple with the 33 Just received a Dapol Imperium Decoder to fit in the TBSK Peter

I got a spare wheel/axle and cut off the pin points but the plan did not work as the wheels have a thinner axle and drop back out of the Hornby bogie I will have to re think this problem Peter

Sat in Storage boxes for 6 years might have dried bearings out. I did try some replacement Bachmann Axles but they did not make much difference Step one will be the Pencil method

Thanks Neil, I will give that a go. Peter

Are you sure this is Doncaster? The bridge over the track does look the one going to the works but road bridge is too close to the platform ends to be correct. Most of the pictures you see of Doncaster do not show any signs of these canopies https://davidheyscollection.myshopblocks.com/pages/david-heys-steam-diesel-photo-collection-07-railway-centre-doncaster Peter

Why do you think this is Coach 9708? And why does it have Guard Irons? Peter

This picture I took is at Stockport station with 304.042 arriving and 5451 + one other returning from Horwich to the Southern region. A diesel brought the train to Stockport and an electric too the train forward to Willesden Peter

Thank you Peter

The Hornby wheels seem to have deeper flanges than most other stock I have tried in the past to drill simple stuff but my eyesight is not what it used to be Looked at swapping the bogies with other Hornby B4s but the channel to guide the coupling is a problem I have some replacement sets with pinpoint axles so I might try modifying a set to see if that works and how it runs. Thanks for the idea Peter

When they were released over 6 years ago I purchased 8 of Bachmann 38-425 Bulk Grain Bogie Hopper Wagon - VTG Weathered Now I have a layout to run these wagons they are all poor runners - they won't run away on a down gradient I have checked three of them and the wheels seem to be in gauge and when held upside down to spin the wheels they don't spin too freely I don't know what is causing the problem - axles too tight? Anyone else had this problem with this model or one of the similar ones? Thanks Peter

I want to replace the horrible wheels that Hornby fitted to the 4 Vep And I started by reading thru this thread from 2013 - My skills are not up to drilling out axle boxes to fit pin point axles. Can somebody recommend 12mm diameter wheels that are flush ended I looked thru the Alan Gibson catalogue but they all seem to be pin points Thank you Peter