Hacksworth_Sidings

eBay is your best bet, one seller has a few for £45 a pop in “spares” condition. Unsure if he’s a good seller (though I’ve bought a GraFar 8100 from him, so I’ll soon find out how his customer service is) but he uses AI descriptions for his listings… Link below if you’re curious. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?sid=atmodels18&_pgn=1&isRefine=true&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l49496 If yours doesn’t run for one reason or another, attached is a photograph of a GraFar 2 pole motor service sheet. Goes through the basics of ensuring the commutators are working correctly and transmitting power, they’re a lot more reliable than a people make them out to be, with some decent inertia to help them get over dead zones like insul frogs on points. Best of luck with your search.

GraFar tender motor, 2 pole motor in the tender with a driveshaft going through to the loco, plunger pickups on the tender, standard GraFar design for their OO tender locos. Was used on the 5MT, King, Merchant, and the NYC Hudson, the only tender loco not to use it was the Formo 0-6-0, unsure if the OO 8F they allegedly announced would use it.

Having another look at his account and the listings... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364869810156 "This Graham Farish OO Gauge steam locomotive... ...is a ready-to-go model that comes pre-built and is powered by a DC system." "...has a 4-6-2 wheel configuration..." Doesn't look "ready-to-go" to me... Or "pre-built"... Sadly a victim of zinc pest, and he's asking £150...

Not in a rush, no, but I did have a look in the antique store… They did have the 2MT, but it lacked a tender and they wanted thirty quid, so I passed, bought a GraFar 8100 from eBay instead (shared in eBay madness) since I’ve been looking into expanding that part of my collection.

Out of curiosity (and generally just wanting the 8100 to further build my GraFar OO collection), I bought one of the 8100s, he’s got loads listed, bought one of the plunger prairies though. BIN was £50, plus about £4 postage, but he sent an offer for £43. I countered with £40 and he accepted, either he just has too many and needs them gone, or there’s something seriously wrong with it… Will provide updates once it arrives…

Good thing I like un-b*gg*ring b*gg*red models…

I’ve found all three seem to like Triang S3 track just fine, coupling incompatibility is easily sorted with converter wagons, drill out the rivet on one end holding the coupler in, bolt in a different coupler (for example, tension lock on one end, Simplex on the other), a bit more of a challenge to get what you wanted since railway modelling in OO was very much finding its footing in the 50s, so of course not everything was compatible yet, everyone was trying to figure out what did and didn’t work. Unsure what couplers the GraFar locos used, but from what I’ve seen they’re just a more primitive version of small sized tension locks? Either way, mine’s now fitted with a TL on the rear, the front seems to work just fine with Triang TLs.

Vintage model collector, have been for about 2 years now? Last time I got a new model was 2022, a Hornby 0-4-0 which burnt out after a few months! Of course, I was born well after these models ceased production, but given how expensive the hobby’s becoming, I find it fun to step back to when railway modelling was simpler, not to mention it’s something I (personally) don’t see being talked about too often. Another thing I like about older manufacturers is the lack of a need to make rival models, often you’ll see plenty of manufacturers making models of the same locomotives (or in Hornby’s case, outright stealing other manufacturers’ ideas), saturating the market with different options of varying qualities, prices and features old manufacturers? They worked in tandem, a few examples: Dublo produced the Castle, GraFar made the King, Triang introduced the Hall, all as ready to run options, likewise Triang made an unrebuilt light pacific (WC/BoB), Dublo did the rebuilt variant of the same loco, and GraFar made the Merchant. Every manufacturer would win, and there was no need to saturate the market with duplicate models, so it’s fun to try and build up a fleet using those different models, giving you a good taste of all the different manufacturers, and, in a way, forcing you to look at other alternatives if you wished to model a particular region. Right, rambling over, back to coursework :)

Okay, had a deeper look at his account… He uses AI descriptions, one of his listings for a GraFar King lists it as a 4-6-2 in the description!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?sid=atmodels18&_pgn=1&isRefine=true&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l49496 Been looking at GraFar OO stuff, and I think I found out why it’s so hard to get a hold of… This guy seemingly has most of the supply*! Saw a good 16 listings for 8100s… Some of his prices seem half decent… £45-£55 for Prairies, an early plunger prairie for £50 (plastic wheels, screwed onto their axles in similar fashion to a Keyser model, plungers between the rear and middle drivers), I’m honestly tempted to purchase one as 8100s are models I hardly see being sold… Then there’s things like Merchant Navies going for almost three hundred quid! Are the BR blue ones really worth that much!? *Well, him and that guy with the room full of GraFar stuff selling for £10k…

Indeed, hence the inspiration to make a sawn-off 2MT, on the hunt for an old Hornby one now, friend offered me one for twenty quid… I’ll be having a look in a local antique store tomorrow, with any luck they might have one for a good price, if not I’ll take the twenty quid one and butcher that… :)

From the same seller, for the same price… An oil fired Hall? Was this a real prototype or is this the work of fiction?

Searching the ‘bay, and I found this… Cant link the listing, college must have some filters in place since I can’t actually view threads on their computers, but I found this modified Hornby King, tender driven, lovely conversion, I’m honestly tempted by this…

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235542795262 This here is… Interesting to say the least. Remember the Conrail Pacific that was shared here a while ago? Well here’s a little something that might be of interest to people who liked that… Shipping from the US, so if you for whatever reason want it then shipping will be through the roof. Conrail Berkshire, made from Lionel’s HO “polar express” model (specifically the later variant used in some awful Christmas train set, totally unrelated to the polar express). There’s a build log made by the guy who made the model, which I’ll link below. https://youtu.be/An97VVyUAZg?si=jKc3pNzDEOE8dEdf

I remember seeing a listing ages ago, for just the “Murdoch” model alone being sold for that ludicrous price… Knowing the Thomas & friends community, one person will think that’s an amazing deal for both models and end up buying them (even then, old tender drive 9Fs & A4s can be found in the £50 range in decent nick, cheaper if you’re lucky, so why not just make one if you want the talking trains so badly? (Even then, why ruin perfectly good models by slapping faces on them?)).

Been looking back through the thread, and that conversion to the Hall reminded me of a photo edit I saw in 2022 of a BR 2MT, sawn down to a 2-4-0 config… Unsure who actually knocked it together, if this is your work or you know who made it then do let me know… But has anyone got a spare Hornby 2MT (the old one from the 70s(?)*), a hacksaw, and some paint thinner? (Absolutely going to use for thinning paint, yup, definitely…) *I’m very much aware that the old 2MT model is an LMS design, not a BR.

Still debating names for the Castle, and since I bought up 7029… Clun(ky) Castle, anyone? Hardly going to be to scale once it’s done!

Finally back on the 4-8-4 project, and I think this will be of interest… The pilot/cowcatcher is glued directly to the front bogie, taken from the same Big Boy kit I modified the rear bogie from, the tender bogies are modified from Triang 6” carriages, and the bodies for the tender and loco are being primarily made from a Tyco 2-8-0 (a Chattanooga 2-8-0 if anyone’s interested as to what it was beforehand). Need to extend the boiler and footplate, rolls of microporous tape come on plastic rolls so I’ll see if I can get some of those to build up the boiler with…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315314989138 For any TT collectors… A bit on the steep side, but a lovely conversion nonetheless.

It is only the starting price for the bid, and with how sought after the Dublo Bulleids are I can easily see it going up, maybe it was a case of “I have the body but no chassis, but I have the parts to make a new chassis, it’ll be a fun project to see what I can toss together”.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116153948886 This here’s interesting… Hornby Dublo West Country body, but it seems to have a heavily modified Triang chassis, the main drive wheels seem to be from the later Hornby release of the BoB, modified with extended crank pins on the centre driver, fitted to a B12/Scotsman chassis block. Front bogie wheels seem to have been externally sourced, but a very nice conversion and a testament to the skill of the modeller who made it regardless! Certainly not a “Britannia” as the listing states though…

I do have an Airfix Prairie, hardly run it though, I should check how well that handles my Triang layout now I’ve got everything pinned down and wiring sorted, my experience with Airfix’s RTR locos is iffy though, they often just tag along to the club with me since they’re some of the few I own which will actually run there! Really need to rewheel some Triang locos for club running…

I would, but I model primarily with stuff from the 1930s (if we’re talking Hornby Dublo’s original toolings, of course I own no prewar Dublo stock) up until the 1990s, a good chunk of newer models don’t much like my Triang track, newest model I have that takes it decently is an old Hornby Toby, but that has the chunky, unrealistic, standard 0-4-0 wheels, I know Dublo models are alright with series 3 track (and my dodgy trackwork), hence why I’d like a Dublo N2.

Slowly getting there… Need to source new steam pipes for the outside cylinders, glue the cab to the body (I currently have it sitting on the drawbar with blu tack holding it in place for photos), do all the necessary filling, then add the detail parts… I actually went and shaved off all the moulded details on the left side before I cut the body, so I’ll likely go through a few rounds of sanding, filling & priming to get the blemishes smooth, before I replicate those details on the correct side, alongside the fitting of things like the safety valve bonnet, steam pipes, etc. Having a professionally manufactured Castle model helps a lot, been using my recently acquired Wrenn castle a lot for reference as I have no access to my book of F. J. Roche’s drawings at the moment, they seem to be of similar length (though I won’t be surprised if mine ends up either too long or too short), the Hall cab seems to be a good stand-in for a Castle’s too, quite possibly the wrong shape and size though, I need to make the chimney taller so any recommendations for that will be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been meaning to get an N2 for a good while now… If R1 wheels are of similar or same diameter, I might use one of the two I’m buying from you for converting a 3 railer to 2…. The only drawback with the N2 chassis for the Prairie I can see is the gigantic motor, then again, the 6100s are rather large, still something to be mindful of.