GeraldH

The line's flagship locomotive was created over 30 years ago . It began as a Wrenn Class 20 and has two Wrenn Class 08 cabs on the ends. Extra weight was added by casting lead extensions on to the bogies and it was fitted with extra pickups. The cab sides had to be adjusted so that the doors on both sides were on the inward ends of the cabs. It runs with a bit of a wobble and the sideframes could be improved. The handrails got bent during installation and workshop staff have been unable to straighten them out completely. Perhaps there is a way of straightening handrails once they get bent?

Workshop staff have been improving their techniques for repairing and upgrading bogies and associated couplings. It was noticed that one of the Hornby Speedink wagons, which brings in freight from the mainland, was behaving erratically. It turned out the the moulded spring which centres one of the bogies had snapped off. Staff managed to drill into the end of the assembly and glue in some sprung wire to make the bogie self-centre. When re-fitting the wheelset, one of the securing clips snapped off creating another job. After some head scratching, it was decided the fill the hole in the chassis with Milliput and attach the bogie using a self-tapping screw. The tightness of the screw turns out to be critical, too lose and the coupling flops up and down, too tight and the bogie will not rotate. A wide washer just below the screw head also helps to reduce unwanted movement. Work has also been going on upgrading the bogies on one of the line's shortest Triang coaches. The old wheels were removed and replaced with metal 10mm ones from Peter's Spares. Bearings for old axle boxes were made from recycled timber (matchsticks). The old Mark 2 couplings were removed by making a vertical cut either side and the resulting gap filled with Milliput. Some additional material was then glued onto the outer edge of each bogie to provide a base for the newer Hornby couplings. Once trials are complete, the bogies will be off to the paint shop.

This very informative webpage illustrates the potential uses of Settrack curved points, as well as regular Settrack points. https://jonscaife.com/model-rail/track-geometries-for-00-gauge-Hornby-setrack/

I just use Hornby flexi track which has pin holes provided. A bit of ballasting mostly covers up any holes that weren't used.

As mentioned earlier, cleaning the axles as well as the axle bearing surfaces may well help. Using graphite powder, rather than oil, to lubricate the axles will help with conductivity.

My two Heljan class 16s have been getting progressively slower and require ever more power to get them to move. It reached the point where nearly full power was required from my Gaugemaster Model D to coax them into life and I was concerned for the motors. Stripping one of them down completely has revealed that the grease has turned sticky, creating significant resistance. Cleaning out all the grease and replacing it with a suitable oil seems to have resolved the issue. Be warned though, dismantling the bogies to access the gears is not for the feint hearted!

The line has two Heljan Class 16 locos which were very nice runners, but the situation has gradually deteriorated. Both locos have been getting sluggish with more and more power needing to be applied to get them to move. The same thing happened to the line's class 15 a few years ago which resulted in some of the electronic components going up in smoke. Rumours have been circulating about the factory applied lubricant becoming stiff on the class 16s over time and so further investigation took place. Initially workshop staff added some thin oil to the motor bearings. The gears were also accessed and oiled by removing the bogies baseplates. This unfortunately didn't make much difference. Eventually it was decided the remove the bogies, completely strip them down and investigate. Trying to remove and dismantle the bogies is not for the feint hearted. It's like some form of very fragile Rubik's Cube. Once dismantled, a very sticky lubricant was found throughout the gear train and so it was hardly surprising that the loco was struggling to move. The gunk was removed with electrical contact cleaner and paper towels. The bogies were then reassembled and oiled. Trying to get the bogies back in and connecting them to the motor via the cardan shafts took a considerable time. in fact workshop staff very nearly abandoned the project at this point . The line's Class 23 also appears to be getting a little sticky in operation, but the works don't fancy tackling any more Heljan bogies any time soon! Management have therefore decided that in future motive power will be sourced from other manufacturers and the Hornby Class 29 has been reprieved .

Will the new Class 33s have the NEM pockets at the correct height and if so would spare pockets be available as spares to correct older models?

Sorting items by price does not seem to be working for me. Sort pull down displays "New Item Price..." even if only second hand items are listed. The old website sorted fine on the same browser/OS combination. I'm using latest Palemoon browser 28.7.1 on Linux Mint 18.3.

You may find that the original wheels are made from a very hard material that is difficult to grind down. Ultrascale do drop in replacements which do not require modifications to pickups. I have fitted these to mine and they work well.

Heavy Bank Holiday traffic and slippery rails caused by oil deposited on the track from recently serviced locos, meant that double heading was called for. BNR No's 2 & 8 work very well together and can take 6 coaches up the steep gradient on the mainline without slipping. The only other steam option was the Ivatt 2-6-2 or the 9F.

I managed to improve things significantly by cutting away the excess metal and then replacing the tender wheels with a set that were insulated on one side only. I then only had to add pickups to the outer two wheels on one side only. I used long pickups, so that they were not pressing too hard on the wheels. Haulage improved dramatically and it ran well.

In an attempt to resolve a rotten chassis issue with the Mainline 43XX, workshop staff have been picking up poorly Airfix and Mainline 61XXs as potential chassis donors. As always with the loco department, things have got slightly out of hand and a barely used Mainline model was picked up at a good price. Despite the loco being noisy enough to wake the dead, the operating department quite liked the loco's power and mechanical simplicity. They therefore persuaded management to keep it as is. Two more damaged 61XXs were acquired along with a more attractive black Hornby body. The body was missing buffers, buffer beam hooks and had a loose tank vent. Workshop staff fixed these issues with parts they had in the depot, they also managed to restore a barely used non-running chassis and have created a second 61XX. The only remaining problem is a very common one with these locos and that is the floppy rear couplings on the trailing truck. This is caused by the failure of a small piece of plastic to hold the top and bottom of the truck together to grip the couplings. Workshop staff cut off the protruding bit of plastic and drilled a hole right through the rear truck. A self tapping screw was then inserted into the lower hole which pulls the assembly tight together. The black Prairie is also pretty noisy, but runs well and is able to take even the heaviest trains up the steep gradients on the line. The remaining parts will be kept for spares and possibly used to reinstate the 43XX.

It's a fairly easy repair. Remove the wheelset, pull the wheels out of the cracked plastic axle, then remove all traces of grease/oil. Now put some epoxy glue (e.g. JB Weld) inside the ends of the axle, push the wheels back in correctly quartered and leave overnight. You may need to clamp the cracked axle together with a clothes peg until it dries. Be careful not to get the epoxy on the metal collars of the wheels, or it will block electrical pickup. I've repaired numerous axles on split chassis locos in this way and they're still going strong years later.

Two of the BNR's diesels are based on the Lima Plymouth superstructure. Here is No 3 not quite finished.

It's a Triang Top Tank fitted onto one of the modern Hornby 0-4-0 plastic chassis. It has a few added extras including wire handrails, tank vents and a safety valve cover. It's going back into the works soon for some glazing and a cab floor to make it a bit more comfortable for the crew .

Thank you. Here is a picture of the four wheelers passing the line's workshops.

There has been some discussion recently, among other operators, concerning the lack of readily available 4 wheel brake coaches. The BNR's workshops have now made made two attempts at producing a suitable coach. The first was a shortened Ratio coach body on a Hornby chassis, but the workmanship was not great and it did not match the line's Hornby 4 wheelers very well. A second attempt has spliced the sides of a Ratio brake coach into a Hornby body. This is a better match, but it was a bit of a rush job due to the high demand for parcels on the branch, so the quality of the finish is not great. Still it looks OK from a distance :) .

It's a shame that Hornby didn't make a matching 4 wheel brake coach.

The BNR are planning an extension to the line and recently purchased some second hand signals. Unfortunately the stop, which prevents the upper quadrant arm from falling below horizontal, had been snapped off on one of them. Workshop staff drilled out the post where the stop had been and turned down a piece of plastic rod with a file to create a new stop. The signal is now ready for installation.

I have managed to rejig the fairly poor Hornby 4 wheel cleaning coach with a hardboard sled. The hardboard is fixed to the bottom with bluetac so that it can be easily replaced. I have now painted the edge of the sled black so it hardly shows. It seems to work OK and doesn't require a massively powerful loco, so it can be attached to a normal trains and run regularly. I have also used the sled from the 4 wheel coach to improve the effectiveness of the old Triang track cleaning car. I sometimes run the two wagons together if I want a really deep clean. At some point I'm thinking of putting a more appropriate body on the Triang vehicle, but it would need a removable roof for maintenance.

Recently received a Mainline BR Black 43XX with one side of the split chassis showing distortion and cracks.

BNR No 11 has now re-entered service after a visit to the paintshop. The rear wheelset has been slightly sprung which has removed its tendency to stall on the points. It is now one of the best runners on the line and operating staff are pleased to have it back.

After months of delays the BNR's rebuilt No 3 and modified No 9 have been released from the paint shop and entered service. Depot staff got a bit carried away and put No 9 on the mainline passenger service this evening where it nearly got stuck on the bank. No 3 had an easier job on the night mail to Ivygale.

Every now and then rolling stock gets damaged in shunting accidents. It sometimes seems difficult carry out a repair when bits get broken off, but the BNR's workshop staff have developed a fairly successful technique. Milliput was initially tried, but it did not form a strong enough bond with the remaining parts for small repairs. JB Weld and possibly other Epoxy glues do however seem to provide a solution. In this case part of a Lowmac's buffer head had sheared off. Initially a blob of JB Weld was placed over the missing area, after a few hours it partially sets and can be cut back with a sharp knife. When completely dry, it can be filed down to match the original item. The repair is nearly as strong as the original and once painted is hard to spot.