Wolseley

The Essar and Trix TTR lot went for only US $30.00. Seems rather cheap....

On the subject of removing and replacing wheels on Dublo 3 rail locos, I have just removed the wheels and axles from a scrap 0-6-2T chassis, with the intention of using them on the construction of a chassis for a DJH kit. I am at the moment undecided as to whether to start with a Caledonian 34 class 2-6-0 or a Highland Jones Goods but, regardless of which one I end up doing first, I have one stumbling block to overcome. When I match up the wheels and crankpins (or coupling rod pins if you prefer) the Dublo crankpin won't fit through the hole in the DJH rod. There is also not enough metal around the holes to enable me to safely turn them into something that will accept the Dublo pins. I cannot use the original Dublo coupling rods, as the wheel spacing is quite different and I don't really want to make new ones if it can be avoided so, would the best solution be to cut off the bits with the holes on the Dublo rods so that I have, in effect, six small washers with Dublo rivet sized holes in them, solder them over the holes in the DJH rods, and then open up the hole in the DJH rod until it is Dublo sized? Or is there some sort of crankpin out there that will fit into the Dublo wheels but presents a shaft (if that be the right word) for attachment to the coupling rods that is almost half the width of the Dublo rivets?

I just checked my copy of H J C Cornwell's The Caledonian Railway 'Jumbos' and it seems that I must have been thinking of some other locomotives for, although 25 Jumbos were sent overseas, they all returned. There were 12 Drummond locomotives, four Smellie locomotives and 9 Lambie ones. Interestingly, the St Rollox Locomotive Register recorded them as 'Sold to Government. Broken up 31/12/17' and this was used by Pickersgill as justification for authorising the building of 25 of his 300 class 0-6-0s.....

The NSW 1 class locomotives have been mentioned earlier in this thread, and their LNWR lineage commented on. Also worthy of mention are the not greatly dissimilar engines of the M36 class. Four members of the M36 class 0-4-2 locomotives were placed in service around 1871 (built locally by the railway workshops at Eveleigh). In 1874 the NSW railways received replacement frames from Robert Stephenson & Co for the rebuilding of locomotives 1-4 but it was decided to use the replacement frames to construct four new M36 class rather than rebuilding the worn out 1 class locomotives. The tenders from the 1 class locomotives were rebuilt for use with the new locomotives. M78 survived scrapping by being sold in 1896 to a contractor for railway construction work. By the late 1920s, it found itself mounted on a plinth outside the railway offices at Enfield. Here's a photo I took of it in 1969 - interesting to see it finished in black lined with red and light grey (or at least it looks like light grey - it's so badly weathered you can hardly tell): And, on a different note, I may have missed it, as the thread is 10 pages long, but I don't think anyone has mentioned the Caledonian "Jumbos" that went to France in WWI some of which, if I recall correctly, were lost at sea.

I used to model the NSW railways in H0 back in the late 1970s when practically all the rolling stock available were crude resin cast kits, rather than the excellent models available today. I was intending to construct a model of a Sydney suburban station complete with overhead wiring, but didn't get any further than building rolling stock, including a few suburban electric trains (although I never got around to fitting the running gear). With what was available at the time, the whole process was rather disheartening and I eventually threw the assembled kits in the bin and sold my brass locos (although I still have a Berg's Brass C30 in a box in the garage somewhere). These days I run vintage Hornby Dublo three rail, but that's another story.... I still think that a Sydney suburban station could make a good model, now that we have the excellent (but not cheap) productions from Minimodels https://www.bergshobbies.com.au/products/17 You could have your station (fictitious or otherwise) on one of the main lines, which would allow you to operate a wide variety of locomotives and rolling stock, or you could place it on the North Shore line (Chatswood or Lindfield before they lost their sidings would be good, relatively compact prototypes) and you wouldn't need any more than two electric trains, one parcel car and a C30 or 48 class with a few odds and ends of goods stock.

My package arrived last week - about a week to get from the UK to Australia, which is pretty quick. The paperwork with the items I ordered (two Ivatt Coronation trailing trucks and one gearbox) also showed the GBP21 "flat rate" postage charge, but crossed out by hand and the actual postage cost of GBP10.55 substituted. My MasterCard account, by coincidence, arrived today, and I was charged the lesser amount.

Humbrol "Authentic" LMS red, with a dash of black added to it is a near perfect match for the colour used on the Duchess of Atholl. Dublo locomotives may have been fairly consistent in their colours, but the platforms and station buildings are a bit variable. Here's a photo of my layout (still under construction - nothing's fixed down yet). The platforms and buildings are still in their original finish, but there are five different shades of stone and three of orange......

I think, with Wrenn, recommendations as to what has worked with one locomotive may not work with another for, as was pointed out in the previous post, their colours do vary quite a bit. I have seen two versions of the "GWR" 2-6-4T, one was a slightly darker version of the Coronation above, and the other was a dull shade of Brunswick green.

You'll be pleased to know that my Albert Hall will now live on as a Hall, rather than be altered into something else. In the 10 months since I bought it, it has been quietly sitting in a shoebox, awaiting its fate, as I have a number of other modelling projects that were a higher priority. The reason for my change of plans is that I put in a bid for an assembled GEM Cardean Caledonian 903 class 4-6-0 on eBay, not expecting to win it, as the ones I have seen (and there aren't many of them) usually end up selling for around £150, but I ended up being the successful bidder at just under £50. Given that the 903 and 60 class are not greatly dissimilar (the main differences being the raised footplate and outside cylinders of the 60 class and its 6 wheel tender in place of the 903's bogie tender) I have shelved the idea of acquiring a 60 class for the moment. I swapped the Tri-ang/Hornby tender base for a Dublo one from a Castle, rerouted some of the wiring and now it is running happily on 3 rail track. However, as I bought it cheaply with the intention of converting it into a 60 class, I didn't bother too much about its appearance at the time, but that has now assumed a bit more importance. It is going to need a bit of work. It was originally in GWR livery but has been rather poorly repainted as a BR engine, the wheels and motion have been "weathered" by splashing matt black paint all over them and its identity has been changed to Bryngwyn Hall. I will refinish it as a BR engine and rename it (the nameplates and numberplates that the previous owner fitted have a few bends and glue splashes on them). I was looking at the listing of Hall names and was somewhat disappointed that there wasn't one called Henry hall, as that would fit in well with my other hobby of collecting 78rpm records, but I did find one called Wolseley Hall...... Here it is:

Me too. I have a green one (they were also available in black). I should have qualified my earlier statement to say that I was referring to Trix TTR AC locomotives. I also have a Trix Britannia, but that's another story......

I was just having a browse on eBay and came across a listing for two Trix Twin locomotives and a carriage and some wagons of unstated make. The tender locomotive is obviously a Trix Twin one, but the other locomotive appears to be something else. It purports to be a GWR 0-6-0T (and as far as I am aware, Trix never produced anything GWR) but doesn't look very GWR - it looks more like an LMS Jinty with a GWR safety valve cover. I have no intention of bidding for it, but I am curious. Does anyone know what it is? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Trix-Twin-TTR-British-GWR-121-and-6200-LMS-Locomotives-and-Cars-similar-Hornby/293144705130?hash=item4440c9386a:g:z9IAAOSwss1dIfXr

I’ve just been looking to see how many Coronations (or Duchesses if you prefer) I have accumulated, and it seems that I have quite a few more than I originally intended. I also seem to have been getting them faster than I can finish them. The streamliners are all early Tri-ang/Hornby ones that are being converted to three rail (without the benefits of Magnadhesion they’re pretty gutless things, so I’ll have to do something about that) with the remainder being mostly Dublo, with a couple of Wrenn thrown in. Here’s the tally so far: 6220 (S): Coronation (LMS crimson lake to be finished with bell and headlight - not started yet) 6221 (S): Queen Elizabeth (LMS blue - not started yet) 6227 (S): Duchess of Devonshire (shop grey - not started yet) 46230: Duchess of Buccleuch (BR blue with LNWR style lining - not started yet) 6231: Duchess of Atholl (LMS crimson lake - standard Dublo finish) 46232: Duchess of Montrose (BR lined green - standard Dublo finish) 46232: Duchess of Montrose (BR lined green - gloss Dublo finish) 6233: Duchess of Sutherland (LMS crimson lake - partly done) 6234: Duchess of Abercorn (LMS blue-grey - finished) 46236: City of Bradford (LMS lined black with BR number and British Railways on tender - almost finished) 6241 (S): City of Edinburgh (LMS crimson lake - almost finished) 46241: City of Edinburgh (BR lined green - finished) 46242: City of Glasgow (BR blue - three-railed Wrenn - finished) 46243 (S): City of Lancaster (BR black - not started) 6244 (S): King George VI (LMS black - not started) 46245: City of London (BR red - standard Dublo finished - originally two-rail Dublo, three railed) 46251: City of Nottingham (BR lined black - finished) 6252: City of Leicester (LMS wartime black - finished) 6256: Sir William A. Stanier, F.R.S. (LMS lined black - not started - I have a Wrenn City of Glasgow minus a tender that I’ll probably use for this one) Canadian Pacific Dublo replica (finished)

Which is how I made myself a Dublo GWR 0-6-2T. I wanted one in good condition and there's no way I was paying the sort of money that the real thing attracts. Here it is:

I haven't finished the City of Bradford yet - somehow the City of Nottingham jumped the queue. One of the second batch of non-streamlined Duchesses, it was painted in BR black with LNWR style lining before BR decided to paint the class blue. Here it is:

I have encountered flat rate postage before and was wary of trying Wizard Models after seeing that and the amount quoted (I recently was going to order one small item - not model railway related - from a supplier just outside Melbourne - who charged a flat rate of $10 which, when I queried it, was told that they charge $10 regardless of size or weight of the order). I decided not to bother order from Wizard Models at this stage, as I had too many projects on the go as it was. However, following the helpful comments from MikeCW, Buhar and 45568 (I won't include cctransuk, as you couldn't describe what he posted as helpful), I decided to place an order, just in case the item isn't available in the future. After I paid, the final screen showed me being charged £21.00 for postage, and the initial charge against my credit card reflected that although, given the earlier comments on this page, I am expecting that this be adjusted later. I will let you know how this ends up.....

No. It's a flat rate for postage to Australia. I originally got a bit carried away and placed a number of whitemetal wagon kits in my basket and thought it was something like that, so I deleted the wagon kits, recalculated the invoice and there was no change to the postal charge. Then I deleted everything from my basket, selected one small brass fret kit for a ground signal and they still wanted £21.00 for postage. I'm not going to waste my time emailing these people and I'm certainly never going to order anything from them.

Well, I might have to find some other way of doing the conversion. The only supplier I can find for Comet Models kits is Wizard Models Ltd (Peter's Spares do have some Comet Models items, but not this one). I was going to order one from Wizard Models Ltd but, when I got to the checkout page, they wanted £21.00 for postage. Another firm crossed off the list of people I want to deal with......

Hi Ray Looking at you Sir William Stanier FRS has got me thinking of doing such a conversion myself, although the last thing I need at the moment is yet another Duchess.. Can I ask you where you got the casting for the trailing truck? Jim

All right then, the roof is worse than it looks in the photos so I have to do something about it. It's dented, crazed, discoloured and beginning to rust. One of the LNER coaches has a passably good roof (but that one's also chipped around the edges), so maybe I could swap them over (assuming I'm remembering its condition correctly - I can't check at the moment, as it's wrapped up in tissue paper in the bottom of a trunk) but the LMS ones have grey roofs so, regardless of condition they're not going to be any help. And I have to straighten out both ends but, as for the rest, it should come good with a bit of cleaning. I knew the Southern coach wasn't as common as the LMS and LNER ones, but I hadn't expected it to be described as "very rare", especially as I got the five coaches for £12 (sorry, but my ignorance of early Trix is showing here). Can I ask, how rare is "very rare"? We're not talking about the Trix equivalent of the Dublo track cleaning wagon are we? I was going to fix the roof and ends, clean it up, change the wheels and couplings and run it behind my Dublo Southern 0-6-2T (no, it's a repaint of a BR one, not an original Dublo Southern tank, in case you're wondering) together with a van or milk tank, but now you've got me thinking I should clean it up and park it in a siding instead.

I would agree with you if the coach were in better condition but, there are three large dents in the roof (not evident in the photo), only about 90% of the paint on the roof, which is badly crazed and discoloured) is present and then there's the condition of the ends (the other one isin similar condition, but not quite so bad). Even if I confine myself to correcting these defects, the end result will not be completely original. I see what you mean about the wheels - the massive flanges disguise the actual size of the wheel itself. If I were to replace them, I would probably need 10mm diameter wheels rather than standard Dublo ones. I don't see how you can couple these types of couplings to Dublo, but they can, as you say, be coupled to the Dublo-like couplings of post-war Trix stock, by dropping the wire hook over the spike on the top of the Trix version. What Trix stock I have, would not be suitable for coupling to this coach though. In any case, auto coupling would be out of the question.

And, as we were talking about Dorchesters earlier, here's mine. Not mint, but in above average condition, and a very good runner. And also, just to show that I have a few items that are not Dublo, here's a Trix Twin coach I acquired last year on eBay. It was a lot of five coaches, two LMS, two LNER and one Southern, all rather sad and battered, but with all the paintwork on the sides in very good condition, and all with coarse wheels and pre-war couplings. I put in a bid at the starting price (£12 I think it was) and, surprise, surprise, mine was the only bid. The cost of postage was surprisingly low too (I can't remember the exact amount) considering that the package came from the UK and weighed a fair bit. The Southern coach was missing the underfloor detail (what there is of it!) but I managed to pick up a set a while later from another eBay vendor for a minimal cost. Obviously I'll have to change the wheels and couplings before I can run it on Dublo track, but that should be a pretty straightforward job. One of those restoration projects I'm going to get around to some time or other...... Looking at that photo just now, after it uploaded, I realised that the coach is parked in front of my breakdown crane - how's that for a coincidence?

The problem I have found with running the breakdown crane is that, if you have any TPO apparatus set up (and I have two, one on the outer circuit and one on the inner), the crane handle on one side (I think it's the right side when looking forward) must be in the down position otherwise it hits the hook for the mailbag. It also looks quite unrealistic when it's going around standard curves although, that said, it's a very impressive beast when it's just sitting in a siding.

Hornby, according to Michael Foster's book, did consider using the Hornby Acho Bo-Bo chassis instead of their own, but nothing came of it. They decided to drop the 2 rail version from their range instead. The Co-Bo and Deltic had die-cast metal bodies. The other plastic bodied locomotives in the Dublo range were the diesel shunter, R1 0-6-0T and E3002 (AL1) as well as the two "starter set" locos.

The problem with the 2 rail version that led to its early deletion from the catalogue was poor current collection, mainly due to the use of traction tyres and the non-conductive characteristics of rubber.....

Here are a couple of my Duchesses that aren't quite as Meccano Ltd intended. The first one is a bit of a mixture, cobbled together from bits I have accumulated. The City of Leicester, one of the non-streamlined locomotives built during the war and fitted with streamlined tenders (the story goes that the tenders were built first and then the decision was made not to streamline the locomotives). The body is a repainted Duchess of Atholl, locomotive and tender chassis are from a Duchess of Montrose, and the tender body is from a Tri-ang/Hornby streamlined Coronation. The second one is a bit more straightforward. A City of London, three-railed and refinished in green as the City of Edinburgh.