TRAILRAGE

That would certainly make an interesting shelf project!

97406 Its just clicked on which Loco this is. Awesome Job. I only came across a Pic on Flickr of this one earlier this year as until then I hadn't seen any evidence of and InterCity 87 carrying the AEI Pantograph. Lovely Job. This is the only Pic I've come across so far. Cheers Trailrage

Interesting modification done to the Pantograph base and head which has also been painted, by Kier Hardy for his Hornsey Broadway Layout. Amazing how much difference it makes. Scroll down for the images http://www.emgauge70s.co.uk/model_omwb180.html Cheers Trailrage

Yep. Although the Holes on the Bachman 85 and 1st Gen Heljan 86 are slightly different as I had to add two very thin strips of Plastic to make up the difference. Cheers Trailrage

The Grey pump is indeed for the Pantograph at least the Faively AMBR. Cheers Trailrage

Hello John. I have every intention of finishing it as 82008 with Domino Headcode Panel, but I've been saying that since I bought it as that was the reason I got it (another onecof those roundtoit jobs!). I don't have a Layout with any OHL on it but never say never! My Main Issue will be finding the best way to do the side window Frames and Bodyside Grilles. Underframe Details and I can most likely make but I haven't decided on how I will Mount the Motor Bogie yet. Whether I will keep the original setup which would leave me with only half relief detail on the underframe or go the whole hog and make a false floor to mount the Trailing bogie on using nut and Bolt to hold in place and making a separate mount for the Motor Bogie . Maybe using the Old School Method of Press Studs ( Poppers for Trouser Flies!) . This isn't going t be a "Scale Model for the Rivet Counter" so to speak but more of a representation, but as long as I can make as good a go as possible with the Confinements of what I have to work with then so be it. After all the Relief on the Bogie sides are very shallow. I did look originally at getting some Apple Green Castings which although the correct scale 10' Wheelbase were not very good castings. another option was to tray and obtain a second Trailing bogie but A they go for almost as much as I paid for the Loco and, B are to short in the Wheelbase around 9'6". I did wonder if a Hymek Bogie frame could be modified but making it taller would be difficult but the Heljan Model is a Scale 10'6" whereas the Triang ones are also to short at 9'6". I could move the weight up on the Chassis but then it wouldn't be removable if a fully detailed Underframe is done. I would like to remove the Half Relief Class 81 Underframe Details as it would give me something to use as a Guide for my two Lilliput/Dapol Bodies. Decisions Decisions! Something to ponder over. Cheers Trailrage

86005 slowly getting there. Need to do some Touching up around the Yellow/Blue Border and Transfers and Double Arrows (I have some nice Etched Stainless Steel ones I will Paint Aluminium for this) to be fitted, I have painted the inside of the cabs and most of the Cab Interior Rail Grey. The Black Patch on the Cast Cabs are just to give feel of it a little bit of depth. Just need to get some Navy Blue for the Control Desks now. Painted the Roof Insulators Precision Paints Matt Freight Maroon (1964). Gloss would have better bit with weathering you wouldn't really notice it. Bus bars painter Rail Red. Ideally I really need to fill in the Bodyside mounting lugs. Think I'll try trimming the chassis lugs back and filling with some Plasticard I will then fill in with correction Fluid and sanding back. Think I will leave the hole in the Roof for the old sliding switch and fit a Micro sliding switch. This way I can just isolate wherever I want and adds more play value for my little boy. Speaking of which he painted his first Loco this week (Used Railmatch Acrylic Paint just to be safe). This was an old Non Working Jouef 40 that I got for £12 back when that's all that was available. I removed the Motor and Cast Weight (meant to be Cab Interiors) I will try and get some spare Bachmann Class 37 Cab interiors to glue in as replacements. I had to do a little Touching up around the nose but Were both really please how well its come out. considering he's only 7! I fitted the Transfers for him as 40088 which I got to see at Crewe Works open day in 87 so it may get a little fading as well. Also fitted 1st Generation Heljan 86205 with a Bachmann,/Sommerfeldt hybrid Pantograph. These Come in 3 separate pieces. The Main Pantograph and the sides with the Insulators attached to them. First I Glued the base in place making sure they were level. The Pantograph itself has two small lugs which are glued in holes in the Roof. To do get it in the correct position I put some paint on the mounting lugs which marked the point on the roof where the holes will need drilling. Still didn't get it right first time!. A little fettling if the holes and that's when you realise the base mounting points are slightly wider! No problem just filled the gaps in with some thin Plasticard strip glued to the base. Overall I'm very happy as it looks so much better for it. Only issue now is trying to locate some more of the Sommerfeldt Bike frames/Stabilising frames from their 968 Pantographs. Found some on EBay but it works out about £20 per pair! Looks Like there only available in the US. Cheers Trailrage

Hello Esmedune. I've used two Hornby smaller weights glued to the new floor using gorilla glue. I then painted them Matt Black which help seal it in. Added to the cast Metal Cab interiors, weight isn't an issue. Hello 97406 yo are of course correct. I was thinking of cutting back the body clips and gluing some small strips of Plasticard in place to fill the hole. I tend not to use filler on small stuff like that but will overfill with correction Fluid the use padded Nail buffers to finish off. I have left the hole in the roof for the sliding switch for now as I may fit a micro sliding switch so it can be isolated. It adds extra play value for my little boy. He loves being able to do that on his Anglia 86 and Lima 87's. Still need to find some Navy Blue paint for the Control Desks. 97406 Your lovely looking fleet of AC Electrics are gorgeous by the way! Cheers Trailrage

Fell in Love with these beauties at an early age after getting up close and personal with the 9-car set at the 1981 Old Oak Common Depot open day . Luckily with the help of Commoner and Stovepipe I have the complete numbers for that set. Me and My older Brother. I'm looking Pleased as Punch being stood next to this and he's just trying to look Cool! DTS-48107, TS-48201, TRSB-48406, TU-48303, TF-48503, TBF-48607, NDM-49002, TBF-48601, DTS-48101. Thanks to Commoner and Stovepipe on here for confirming the Numbers, and The Stationmaster not only for starting that thread but for helping organise something that shaped my world. The Stationmaster mentions that it that it had been used for various trials and came straight from doing this. amazing effort to get it there from all. Never got to see one working but did manage to see some stored at the back Derby works from I seem to remember a Footbridge and at Crewe electric. from the old embankment at the Works. Think that was the 87 open day. 40 years later! Revived my old 6-car Hornby APT for a run recently as my Littleman hadn't seen it running before. had to completely strip and rebuild the Motor Bogie as it sounded like a screaming Banshee and went slower than a sleeping snail! Magic runs as I good as I have ever seen it run. He cant get enough of it now and keeps saying he would love an APT. I guess I now know how my Dad must have felt! As I said it runs well enough and at some point the original wheels have been replaced with Bachmann Split Axle12mm Disc Brake wheels but it needs some rectification work. A couple of Body clips have broken but I'm not sure what the best way to do this. Running wise I'm amazed it still works as I bought it at the Bournemouth Depot open day back in 1996 for £56 as a battered up Model with a Broken Bogie Pivot which had been badly glued. I still have the original Pantograph but I fitted it with a Sommerfeldt 968 and although not 100% correct looks way better for it. Just need another one now! Waited 16 years to get one of these so couldn't pass it up. Purchased in separate parts a second NDM for about £25 in total and I wired it up to the Power car to provide extra pick ups but these for some reason have been removed. Contemplating fitting the extensions under the Body to get the correct depth and fitting some 10.5mm Wheels if I can get some at a decent enough Price. Then giving it a coat of the correct shade of Intercity Beige. Both TBF's need fixing as they have both suffered with broken body clips. Both NDM.s need the HT cable redoing and definitely need another Pantograph for this one! Cheers Trailrage

Some lovely looking Models on here. I'm doing an 86/0 conversion at the moment. Didn't know about the 3d Parts (they look very good by the way) so rebuilt the underframe with some bits, bobs, Plastic and Brass. Got a Bachmann AMBR to fit as well. Used some Craftsman WhiteMetal Bogie Brackets but they seem a bit big. Still pretty pleased with how it's me out so far.

Not much done today other than chase Fence Panels around the Garden!. Managed to fit a new floor above the new Chassis details for the weights to be glued to. This was made from a spare floor from a Parkside wagon kit which I had to narrow down and shorten but come out alright. Bonus is its already Black so painting will be easier. It also gives me a nice flat surface to attach the weights to

Few more shots. Whilst looking for some round Rod to use to beef up the back of the compressors I came across a pack of Intercity Models CDA Airbrake Compressors that look almost identical. I may try one of these on the next 86! Also fitted a Sommerfeldt Bikeframe/Stabiliser to the Faiveley AMBR Pantograph on a Bachmann 85 to see what it looked like. Cheers Trailrage

Well got to say Im pretty pleased with the result. Taken the best part of a day too do as I was waiting for me care package. As its the original 3 Pole Motor I needed to sort some weight out. I'll reuse the original Cast Metal Cab mouldings , put a false floor in and glue a couple of small Hornby Weights in place. To do this you need to cutvout the yo vertical Ribs inside the Body. Also wanted to try something out so I took a spare Sommerfeldt Bike Pan / stabiliser bars (off a 968 Pantograph) and ptvitvon a Bachmann 85 Patograph. I rekon its only about 1- 1.5mm to short but I think it looks pretty good. Was gonna use the one from my first generation Heljan 86 but it snaped when removing it. Might have to see if I can find someone selling these as a spare part. Not needed for my 86005 as it carried the Open Frame AMBR. Enough for tonight as I want to let the glue set completely before Painting. Cheers Trailrage

Wifey told me today to "live for the Moment" and just get on with cutting open the rest if the Hornby 86 Chassis!. Now I'm not one to argue with her so I did. Must be mad! Built up the Box on one end and opened up the tray for the 3 Airtanks adding a top and end to it. Used some 5mm round plastic rod (very soapy plastic that didnt want to be cut with a Razor Saw but a Knife went through like it was Butter) to build up the back of the two tanks with a box attached (really have no idea what they are), as we'll as the main Compressor. Then came the fiddly bit. Making up the tray for the Compressor Housing. Using. 5mm x 1mm plastic Rod. Might be a tad on the big side but it's all I have left. Phone about to die, so I'll get some pics soon. Cheers Trailrage

Care package turned up today courtesy of Rainbow Railways. Chose Royal Mail. Sent by overnight courier! Thank you loads for excellent service.

Sorry for some reason YouTube won't allow embedding of the video!

Bump Time! Hello Forest. Hope you've all been safe and well. Did you ever get round to finishing this little beauty off? Cheers Trailrage

Came across these on You Tube. never seen them before but some great footage here, APT Test trains around Lancaster Area - YouTube APT-P - BR's Advanced Passenger Train - YouTube The APT the Advanced Passenger Train - YouTube Cheers Trailrage

Some shots of the Modified Bogies and the underframe from a first generation Heljan 86205 picked up from Howes Models Second Hand for £50 a few years ago. Wish I bought the other 2 they had at the time now. This is what I've been using for reference. I've since fitted some Buffers to the Chassis. Cheers Trailrage

I had to cut the weight down to fit in the Chassis on the other side so for now will leave we alone.

Made a start on my 86/0 conversion. The being from Hornby's original Class 86 release 86219 Phoenix. This is another one of those "Round to it" Jobs that seem to get stashed away and forgotten. Used an old Craftsman conversion kit for this. Even comes with Door Handles as Hornby forgot to fit these on the early Models!. Have to admit I haven't done those yet. Body Modes were easy enough. There's a small lip where the Flex coil Springs sit. smoothed and filled with a strip of Plasticard. While I was at it I replaced the lifting eyes with some Plastic Strip but I've already managed to break one! Flex coils removed from the chassis but keep the Dampers from the Moulding as you need those later. Cut the spring planks of the Bogie sides and level out the Frames. At this point I made a u shape piece of plastic but cut the lower outer corner so instead of 90 degree it's 45 degree glue this on the Inside of the Bogies frame. Now this is where the spare Dampers come in. These need to glued inboard off the inner Axle box springs (see photo). At this point I gave up trying to find a way of fixing the Triangular Bogie Brackets (these I think are a tad on the big side) to the Body or Sole bar so I glued them to the Bogie side frames but you have to cut small amount of the the side support of the Bogie to get it to sit in roughly the correct position. Pretty happy how it looks so far. While the bogies were off I made a start on the underframe. First cut off the outboard Compressor Moulding (but don't dispose of it keep as a spare), then cut inwards up to half way to open up the box. There's a flat white metal casting that has the ends of 2 Airtanks on it. In reality there should be 3. Wasn't really happy with the way it looked so chose not to use it. Instead I found some plastic Tanks which look like they have come from an old Ian Kirk or Mail coach kit. These are 6.5mm in Diameter once smoothed off. Measuring the Heljan Tanks they a 7.5mm but only 10.3mm in length. So I cut these slightly longer at 13mm (gain see pic). I Used Mek to glue the Tanks and Cross Beams (2 × 1.5mm Plastic rod) in. Gonna give it about 24hrs worth if Curing time then the base coat of thinned down Matt black will go on. I've given the ends a thin coat of Warning Railmatch Warning Panel yellow pre 84 and liquid glazed the Head code Panel, although I .May still cut a Piece of thin Clear Plastic. No Pantograph yet as I'm waiting on stupidly expensive order for parts. But as SWMBO said to me at least I can save Money on the new stuff which to be Honest is now way out of my Price Range and get some older stock up and Running. Plus I get to Loose my Sanity while doing it. Bonus! More to come yet. Cheers Trailrage

Some amazing work going on here. Has there been any more progress? Cheers Trailrage

Having real trouble finding decent Roof shots of Class 81 and 82.if anybody has any thereor know where it can find some that would be great. Cheers Trailrage

Next up is my old Triang Class 81. Another 25 yr old Project! This one really is a long term job as it requires the most amount of work as the Body is detailed as a Class 81 although the length is almost spot on for the Class 82. Bogies are also detailed as Class 82 although there fitted with Class 81 Bogie Brackets! My Father removed the original Serated Wheels and using a brass sleeve fitted the original Axle Sprockets onto some Hornby 4 hole 14.6mm Wheels. Ok the correct size is I think 16mm but it falls well within Tyre wear margins. Also fitted them into the Trailing Bogie and used Romford 2mm Tophat Bearings as well as adding extra pickups. Considering its age it runs remarkably well. Top speed isn't that high but its ideal for freight,Parcels & Releif Passenger Trains. Stripped the body down which is when I discovered that the yellow end were Stickers! One end had been glued on causing some damage to the plastic front but shouldn't be to much hassle to rectify. The fronts going to be smoothed off to give the slightly more rounded look to the cabs anyway. Cab Roof Rainstrip will be removed as will the Lowered section Between Cabs as it sits a tad to high. Not sure if I'm just going to straight out replace it and make details or removed the moulded details on it an stick it back in.

Talking to my little boy about AC Locos he asked to see what I had stashed away in the loft. I have a fair amount of AC Loco's as I've always had a fascination with them. They have really suffered while in storage. Several broken pantographs, and details but I will get them sorted with a bit of time. First up my old Lilliput Class 81. Hasn't been used for a fair few years. Picked this up for I think £45 must be 25 years ago. Quite pleased as I thought it was to far gone as the motor sounded horrendous and there's a ton of play in the Sprockets between the Wheels. Cleaned the Pickups, Lubed it up and Luckily she's a runner but most of the Roof details and one bogie side frame had broken off. It was badly painted and coated in gloss Varnish. I had given it a coat of Matt Varnish years ago and the South-eastern flush glazed kit has gone yellow, and the Nickle Silver Etched Double Arrows had come off. Re- fitted the modified Somerfeldt 968 Pantograph. Soldered some Square Brass tube to the legs to form a reasonable looking base and soldered it to the Brass Insulators on the roof. I also did my normal mod of filling down the ends of the pantograph head before bending into loops. Tidied up the Roof using some spare insulators and Air Blast Circulator ((think they came off a Lima 87 that had a Vice drop on it!!) and made up a new HT Cable run. What ever Marker lights I fitted in the Head code Panel all those years ago have long gone! I have some Shaw plan English Etched Brass Light surrounds (I think for Refurbsihed 37's) that I will fit . Years ago when Dapol had the remaining stock I purchased two of the EX Trix / Lilliput class 81 Bodies and also picked two packs of Class 81 Roof details from DC Kits. There were only a few usable bits from these. One day I will get round to fitting better Roof Air Tanks. Varnish has gone real patchy in places but makes the model look heavily weather beaten. May give it a fresh coat of Matt Varnish when I can get some more.