beeman

Unlike the car industry that relies on service/spares perhaps more than the profit generated from sales, I would suggest Bachman Hornby decline from spares as far as they can knowing if you can obtain, it may preclude you from buying new items.Many items these days come with a 'if broke chuck it' type of warranty, not economic to repair.Seems to me there is not much difference between the 'looks' of the projected models and the old Replica, check out their site, original bodies are still available along with parts. I have just obtained a set of wheels, no traction tyres or axle gear from them to fit to a motorless Replica B,1, this was removed because of the awful gear drive, and now pushed round by a Lima tender drive, with the Bi tender top fitted/.chipped. At last now runs well.The weight distribution on the Replica was better than the previous Bachman version. This with the larger physical size motor took away much of the rear end weight, the motor should/could have been fitted the opposite way about, amidships. This would have evened the weight either side of the centre drivers.This was the advice that used to be given in the mags of the 70.s when more self building was evident than the R.to.R purchases of today. Lets hope both the Big 2 produce better chassis than the previous models. Beeman

Could not agree more Chris but unfortunately in this C untry, [ not sure a letter is needed, ] when we proceed down a given path we always go too far, usually when some 'Crats' decide that there could be MONEY to be made. One only has to ask how much the nonsensical/overambitious Electrical Testing has cost our industries,and certainly if it had been implemented in the time scheduling originally proposed.many companies have to employ Eiectrical staff just to implement, subsequently the product produced becomes more expensive, Job creation/Extra taxable incomes comes to mind. In my latter working years I asked a visiting German Engineer how they conducted their 'testing', he shook his head in amazement. Beeman

What happens when and IF you/someone sells your house in 20 years time, are you keeping all the bits of paper /certificates to show that some now deceased tradesman with the appropriate bit of paper installed your equipment, or will your perhaps beneficiary not be able to sell until another regulation created jobsworth has checked and approved. Thank god I have been retired for a number of years having been an Electrical and maintenance engineer working for a company with one main premise and 5 satellite units, Electrical, Gas LPHW, Gas Hot Air, Gas Dehumidifiers, Water chillers, Electric Forktrucks/Hydraulics, Automatic Packaging machines, Data Cabling, and the list goes on, My Papers are some 50 ish years old now, and If I want to do any 'update/repair addition' to my home including fitting a new gas boiler a couple of years back, I will do it myself. When checking up with the H &S brigade some years back when employed , if I needed to be a Registered Gas Fitter, was told ,' If the Company considered I was competent, then NO', this is another instance of state madness, again the consumer shouldering the cost. Recommendations of tradesman are still perhaps the best insurance of a good job. I remember an old tradesman/neighbour telling me, when a customer asked, ' what am I paying for ? '. as it was a relatively simple problem he corrected, To which he replied , ' A LIFTIMES EXPERIENCE', Beeman

This is a very belated reply but could be relevant.I had noticed some condensation on the rafters in my bungalow roof structure and thought it was from moisture getting in at the ridge.This was only prevalent at the roof end nearest the tank.I even treated the ridge tiles externally with a waterproofer, with no success. I then covered the header tank in the attic, which had a glass fibre insulated loose fitting top to it, with a plastic sheet and tied it securely around the tank to 'close off' the tank top,putting the insulation covered lid on the top. Problem gone. Apparently evaporation from the tank water which condensed on the underside of the roofing felt. Just a thought worth contemplating,.Beeman.

I put my christmas desire for an A2 to Santa, aka SWIMBO, prior, and low and behold I received an A1 and A2 come the morn.I moved all the locos off the DCC layout to give them a run on DC. The A2 initially derailing loco only.This was found to be the rear pony wheels being a little wide, simply adjusted. The tender was ok, and pleased with the free running when coupled. I was wary as Bachman suggest no R1 curves, which I have. The A1 engine ran smoothly but the tender did not like the curves. Out came the vernier to check the back to back dimensions. These were too wide. I removed the tender wheels and found the actual axle was superbly machined with no burrs or sharp edges on the steps, assume ground, for the wheel journals. 10X mag glass. When the wheels were individually tried on the track there was virtually no sideways play at all. I decided that I would reduce the shoulder distances having a lathe. This was done to achieve a b to b of 14.28 approx which I find is OK having some of the older Hornby points with the die cast blades.I should add when I can I fit Tender pickups. These points dont give me connection problems strange to say, assume its the high frequency of DCC. Anyone with this problem without a lathe could correct by removing one wheel on each set. and file almost off the flange of the insulating bush, but be careful not to dislodge the bush when refitting. An interesting comparison is, I have recently fitted coach lighting to 5 Hornby Gresley 57ft. I replaced those horrible wheels with the square axles,with Bachman replacements, with no running problems. As many others ask 'where is their quality control ?', Oh,and one of the front buffers had dropped off the A1 in the packaging. Beeman. Further to this post, I was still getting running probs with the tender. On removing each axle set I found on holding one wheel with the inside of the flange pressed against the check rail of a point , then lowering the other wheel onto the frog I could feel the flange on the top of the rail. I finished up cutting off the flange of the insulating bush to narrow, and OK. Am I correct in noticing Bach have increased the radius at the flange root.?..

Is this webcam out of action, tried to access but no good, or is it now pay to watch. Beeman.

responding to all the junk mail offering potency potions hey , or like me rather watch the 8.15 coming in.

Thought i should update this post for info after modding the 3 to 5 pole. Redgate Models were correct in stating that the armature shaft sizes were different. The 3 pole has a shaft dia. of nominally 2.37mm, so a bearing bore of 2.4 would suffice. The 5 pole has a shaft of 1.97mm so a 2mm is reqd.Rather than make new bearings at this stage I decided to bore a piece of 2.4mm brass tube, lathe reqd for this, and sleeve each bearing. What an improvement though to the slow speed running. The 1976/77 Hornby black 5 I had a go at now turns its drivers 1 rev taking 5 secs instead of 1 sec/1rev. and smoother.But still not as responsive as the old Scotsman of similar age replacing the XO4 with a Mashima, now as good as you could expect.10 secs/rev. Not sure how long the plain brass will last against a pukka sintered bronze bearing, at least it proved worth doing. Its possible that the Black 5 magnet has lost its strength over the years so now to see if I can replace. Its strange how in this model the magnet was a solid ferrite material and yet in the B17 it was "rubber' fridge door seal type,!!!.Also the Black 5 bearing was a separate pressed in item in the brush housing motor plate, but in the later B17 no bearing existed, just a hole the appropriate size. What Hornby did to save a few pence !!.Beeman

Thanks for your response, I had found a supplier of 5 pole armatures and wondered if they were compatible knowing how Hornby often used similar parts.I think I will take a risk and send for a couple and see if I can fit or adapt them. along with the 'rubber' magnet. I have been converting my fleet to DCC and its strange how the same types of motor require different settings. Most of the old Xo3's were rubbish on DCC yet a couple run ok, albeit not nearly as responsive as my Mashima re motored ones.I am critical to obtain slow speed results, usually requiring extra pickups, tender and/or pony trucks, this making all the difference. I judge the performance on how many seconds for 1 Rev of the driving wheels,steam of course,usually between 5-15, dissatisfied if I can not get above 5. Thanks again to responders, Beeman

Sound like this was another victim of the metrication changeover. may be possible to fill bearing with hard solder and re-drill, have done this before to restore stuffed bearing, thanks beeman

Do you happen to know if the 5 pole is of larger dia. If it is then the bearings can be opened up perhaps thanks Beeman

I find some of my older Hornby locos have the 3 pole ringfield motors, so slow speed performance is not as good as it could be when converting to DCC. Has any member any info on changing the 3 pole {x8438} t0 5 pole {x9024} are the diameters the same?. There appears to be a different set of tender wheelsets for the 5 pole ?. On taking the motor apart find that the magnet is a magnetised rubber item. On checking on spares I find there is a 'proper' magnet unit for certain ringfields x8088, has anyone converted to these ?.Also a 44 tooth gearset is available, can this be fitted in place of the norm which I think is a 40 tooth set, or are the motor castings/gear centers different ?, This would better slow speed performance.Anyone experience updating these older motors please. Anyone found alternatives for the Airfix tender traction tyres which seem now unavailable. Can I suggest due to the lack, it appears, of Hornby models parts diagrams prior to 2000, a new section on the site could be created for members who may have copies of these that they upload them for help to source parts, sure this could be beneficial. In this day of computers I find it pathetic that Hornby cannot still have these on their site, even if they no longer can supply the parts, to me Customer Service is sadly lacking!How far do Bachman go back also ? any comments on this suggestion please.Beeman

A few months back I posted an article on my own turntable with some hints /tips along with a circuit diagram. I am quite surprise that on typing 'turntable' in the search box it did not pick up the article I posted . MODERATORS WHY NOT ? If a member is looking for advice then the simpleist way should be to type your query into the search box, or am I missing something here?. I have said for over a period of some 25 odd years that it has been difficult to obtain a commercial t/t that works without indexing round or sounding like a screaming banshee when it operates.My article was to help others who want to achieve a working unit, with advice and 'how to' the post was titled 'Table a la carte.' Beeman.

Thanks for your comment, I thought you were going to reprimand me for getting the title of the song wrong, should have been 'South of the Border' the lyric continued 'down mexico way' , think Ambrose was aroun in my childhood years cheers Beeman

The original was built some 20ish years ago, this was an Airfix kit [now Dapol]but built to the well type structure. It only rotated thro 180' being on a single track.This has been recently updated after spending many years boxed in the attic.It now has 6 usable outlets, this could be 12 but due to its location 6 are buffer stops.It was built using chipboard to profile the shape[see cross section dwg.]and 'let in' to the baseboard from the underside so should it be nescessary it can be removed.I gather many modellers aspire for a turntable, but be under no illusion that you can buy a proprietry built kit and simply motorise it to work. The worm gear drive sold by certain outles would rotate it but no stopping accuracy would be achieved. My finding are that a robustly engineered mechanism is nescessary with no 'backlash' is needed. I found after modifying mine a website 'Turntable at Malfunction Junction on the Teton Short Line',My link this was very similar in the way I contructed, but their electrics are over complicated and can cause it to 'hunt. when stopping. I have attached pics and dwg's to illustrate.The drive is from a discarded VCR cassette loading motor and worm unit supplied from a wall wart dc supply of 6 v.the drive to the plywood 'gear' is by a toothed belt from a pc printer.The drive gear on the worm from the same printer stepper motor. To operate it is only nescessary to choose the outlet on the rotary switch you wish to go to , choose the direction, clock/anti, press the 'Start' button and leave it to it. The stopping accuracy is less than half a mm. I must stress that there is no 'backlash' in the setup at all. The electrical circuit also slows themotor prior to stopping by using the two oposite 20mm targets operating the appropriate position micro switch. The final stop by the slot opto switch. Full rotation of 360 takes around 1.5 minutes so quite realistic. After numerous circuit ideas and alterations it really does work as it should. some further details on the build are on the attachments Beeman

Why an indexing turntable, why not one whch goes to where you tell it. Im almost there with my 6 outlet version.This was an Airfix kit initially built some 25 odd years ago,part of that time being 'in store' for many years after house move. This worked OK but turned thro 180 only. The original kit was inverted to produce a well type unit. I am now remotorising and installing using a canibalised VCR cassette loading motor/worm drive. super can motor,not sure of type,no feel of magnets when rotating by hand but runs superb at reduced volts with plenty of power. Motor to worm is small belt drive, and using a PC inkjet printer toothed belt drive for rotational movement,this required making a 'gear' for the belt some 200 mm in diameter, the tooth gear from the printer stepper motor being fitted to worm wheel shaft. It all works on paper, somewhat involved getting the track geometry and 'Stop' positions along with the actual installation in the baseboard spot on, more later when finished, so far going well, Beeman.