locomad2

Common for toy fairs, model railway fairs etc to offer premium prices before general public can enter say £10 per person for a hour or so, myself I don't bother as find traders just put prices up in this "premium period". Yes before lockdown a lot of "dead man's" collections for sale, whole collections, unfinished projects, layouts sold by widows or family of deceased,

I recognise the motor and they did one in the 0-6-0 chassis as well Your right it runs quite well low amp consumption, the plastic gears work well as well little noise. The actual motor itself I've seen in some small locos OOn9 etc, I purchased some about 30 years back just the motor no gear, very thin axle, I'am not quite sure but think they were supplied in some in K's kits years ago

Interesting I find too the dust is very fine, myself I use a vacuum to clear the cabinet but still the garage air looks very dusty so plan to place another outlet hose from the vacuum cleaner outside. I work dry, I do use a wet outside, brilliant for cleaning tougher jobs like land rover wheels, it also cleans drives lot quicker than just water. Dry grit about 200 is what I use, more a car repair one, my hoze pickup about 1/2 inch, I do find grit needs to be very dry, even leaving grit in the cabinet can get damp it just won't pick up. Notice your model is brass, when I blast mazak do find I have to rub down lightly after to avoid "muddle" effect, I use dry steel wool lightly, then blow dry using compressed air, accepts primer brilliantly and models done years ago don't chip. Next will be this

One of my next projects, I've a deltic 2 rail, reasonable condition however it does look too short, but like a baby deltic. Also compared to other Hornby dublo models it's a bit too high, perhaps lower it a bit. I've also a kitmaster plastic kit someone else made it and I got it very cheap, it's not badly painted but found once I started stripping it a bit it fell apart was considering Hornby chassis but thing Lima one fits better too much choice

Prehaps start a new thread "swoping bodies and chassis" 2-6-4T HD body will fit on a 2-6-2T looks quite good too, small amount of chassis cut off front. Other way round works too again some chassis chip off at front and remove the inner coal box. However best swop is a Fowler class 4 on a 2-6-4T, Wills did a kit but the Hornby one fits well and looks good too, remove the cab inner bits, and small amount on front chassis. Popular conversation with those into grouping period looks nice in LMS colours, wrenn did one using BR class 4 body Also it fits on a 2-6-2T, need to remove the smoke unit again good looking locomotive. I've seen such swoops at toy fairs and also on Ebay either sellers don't know what they have, or just trying to pass off fakes. There seems to be surplus of bodies with chassis stripped for spares, quiet often the armature or X04 motor missing buyer beware

Here's my modifyed Polly, did it about 30 years ago, lowered body, wheels pulled out, bit of wire on the front. I know the C14 is a lot shorter prehaps another project. It runs very well, trusted X04 motor which they got in very well at the front leaving cab clear

Nearly all my traction tyre fleet uses this method, Aldi & Lidi sell different sizes in those handy plastic case things. Trick is to practice, I often do the tyres in situ, slice about the size, put on, apply some heat, solder iron, lighter whatever, it doesn't need to be strong heat. Just like real thing, they last longer, cheaper more ready available. Sometimes you have to double up on deep grooves. Been doing about 10 years now haven't yet found one come off, you lose a little traction but I reckon you get better running, less stalls etc. Handy things in wiring, rare to solder 2 low volt wires together, I just twist wire and use the heat shrink to keep the wires together

Simple small shot blast gun with a bottle to hold the grit, and extra rubber hose on nozzle to clean small areas. Remove the grit holder and replace with hose and stick other end on a container of grit which must be kept dry. I place a shelf of wire mesh (chicken wire) in an old dish washer case with holes blanked off. Whole point is to try and recycle as much of the the grit as possible its horrible stuff flying around. The rubber hose is brilliant in cleaning rusted bolts with excess thread just stick the whole thing over the bolt and press the button. I've used it to clean off small areas of damaged locomotive roofs etc without damaging rest of model, in the car repair industry used to clean metal for spot welding ie just a 1 inch diameter clean spot. I've used professional blast cabinets at work, this why 30 odd years ago realised just how quick, cheap and easy once equipment set up. Professional ones have air extraction fitted, you can use a bagged hover at home, reason to remove fine dust, within seconds you wont see a thing if you don't do this. I've used chemicals great for a one off, but very time consuming, very messy, costly, not easy to get the right stuff, when something has been painted a few times with thick hard enamel paint I found differcult to get paint off with even the most powerful paint stripper. I often find some bodies have had 5 or more "lives" as the paint comes off

For last 30 years I've always shotblasted model locomotives and stock for repainting, its quick, fun and certainly gets all the paint rust etc off for repainting. Even plastic using lighter shot blast materials, "crushed walnut shells" can be cleaned for repainting. With the price of shot blast guns been sold as little as £10 and decent compressor for less than £100. You can do it outdoors just make sure you wear suitable PPI or use a suitable cabinet (mine is old dish washer case). With a cabinet this saves shotblast material, can be done in a garage Grit, sand etc. I don't recommend inside the house the grit gets everywhere even with a cabinet. Great advantage is models can be cleaned for repaint to a better standard, what I've got left in the scrap bin is those "harder" ones, thick car paint often several layers that require more air pressure, course grit. Here's a typical example old Hornby Dublo body, no I didn't spray it came off a car boot. Few minutes later getting there Anyone else do this ?

I've read this somewhere, triang bible, zenith motors ?, certainly similar motors for sale in late 40's model mag war surplus. I've also the Guy Williams book he rated the motor highly and recommended it to be standard at Pendon. Myself I tend to agree I've a fair number, they are bomb proof, like anything mechanism needs looking after, oil frequently good controller, and remember loco performance depends on other factors, weight, balance, pickups, track. With the right conditions they are powerful, one in an airfix kit 9F scratch built chassis pulled 100 Hornby dublo wagons round a 50 ft level track as yet nothing else has matched that

Ruffnut Thornston thanks for posting comparison with Bachmann version, dispite stretched a bit it still looks like a British Standard locomotive and not out of place compared to other locos. As for damage yes the cylinder block is weak, on mine looks like I've repaired it in the past solid block of glue in the centre, also the rear bogie wheel split, recently a common problem with both Hornby Dublo and Triang, Wrenn ones the tyre often falls off. Spotted this Jinty last night, again lowered repaired, painted, done about 30 years ago, more modern triang-Hornby wheels, metal gear X04 motor, popular running model, well worn no vices.

Thanks that's interesting as mentioned I have a few trackmaster chassis which have the correct buffer height. One reason why trackmaster chassis have survived is they are split making replacement wheels and bearing easy, my original were metal 3 rail version with tag coupling. Interesting the body plastic must be 70 years old and still no sign of bending

Reading some old model railway mags came across article in lowering the height of traing locomotives. As most will be aware Triang buffer height and subsequently the body are often a good 2mm too high, not really noticable until you mix the stock with Hornby dublo, trix, peco wonderful wagons airfix kits etc Good example is the Triang class 3 2-6-2T quite a favourite of mine especially as still has the smoke unit which works, however it looks out of place, clearly too high. So lot of fileing, cutting etc lowering a bit about 1.6mm in this case Looks a lot better, might adjust the cylinder block up a bit and cut away that support. Did however manage to crack the block common fault on old locos, superglue does work but added a support piece on top to strengthen According to the Triang "bible" 2mm was result of trying to match trackmaster into the range, yet I've a few trackmaster wagons with original wheels, clearly same buffer height, also read to enable the tension lock to work, again works well at correct height.

Absolutely stunning that Q1 97xx, however I did dig out an unfinished Q1 from 45 years ago, the chassis has long gone think 2 left sides defeated us, the motor never really worked and stuck on Brown Firth? wheels fell off. What was left was a heavy lump of white metal body and a tender with no wheels. So I've dumped it on a triang 0-6-0 chassis with a X04 motor, idea been I will work on it, perhaps build a new chassis, or mess with existing one add proper wheels etc. What I have is an excellent working locomotive, the extra weight makes all the difference, quite capable of pulling 60 Hornby Dublo wagons, it runs beautifully smoothly no rocking, stalling etc, paint job next

Having started making boxes some 50 years ago, I can understand why they had so many different boxes, I myself made all kinds of specific boxes mainly to reduce waste space and save cardboard. Meccano had after the war had to deal with austerity, everything was in short supply including paper to make cardboard, so you made the smallest box as possible. Make a standard 5 inch long box then you waste quite a few square inches putting in 4 inch stock, ok doesn't sound much and ok for small collections but as collection grows space becomes an issue. Manufacturers boxes started to change in the early 70's, the box also became a display case in the cabinet at model shops plus using foam I assume easier to pack, protect more detailed models etc etc, and the boxes became bigger. I myself hate them some are very differcult to get the model out without breaking, foam degrades, plastic inners crack and they take more space. In an 1/2 cubic foot box I can get 45 Hornby dublo standard 4 inch wagons Van's etc, more if they are coal or low side, in the box. I'am lucky to get 20 mainline wagons from the 70's in same size box

I've certainly come across smaller Wrenn models in large boxes, I just assumed standardization of boxes, I've seen class 08 in a City box and common to find 2-6-4 again in City boxes. I've a few Wrenn boxes and notice last longer and are tougher than Hornby Dublo boxes

Quite understand those worried by foam, my worst experience was with the infamous PECO foam underlay which not only meant ripping up a much favoured layout but also damage done to locos, coaches and wagons left on the layout. Hornby Dublo 2 rail wheels suffered the most it just seem to eat them away causing woddle, derailments, HD SD coach bogie wheels suffered the most. Locos picked up the foam, once sticky then gritty which ended up into the mechanics. Axles clogged up on wagons. I'am still finding stock suffering now after I banned PECO foam 30 years ago. I find there is 2 main types of foam, polyethylene seems so far ok as been used for some 35 years, however I have used alternatives, box on the left has a fold built into the flap, early 3 rail Hornby dublo used this method, more fiddly to make, specific to stock and more chance the end flap opens. The other on the right is a simple cardboard strip stapled to the flap, only issue with both methods I find it harder now to buy the smaller staples with the decline of shops on high street Myself I find care taken to protect ends quite important, coupling are easily damaged plus brake pipe, peco metal are the worst just a slight knock and once the angle of the hook is out it just won't work.

Yes after Meccano went bust retailers were desperate to get rid of any Hornby Dublo stock, if you wanted a 3 rail body no problem , often on the shop counter the body swapped onto a 2 rail chassis and via verse as 3 rail modellers wanted the 2 rail body, as a result boxes got mixed up

Yes I discovered that too, in trying to make a "standard" box found I needed to put all my little boxes into a bigger box and such only works well if all the boxes are the same size. That the Hornby dublo SD fruit van and SD SR utility van, roughly the same size, yet one of the boxes is 1/4 inch longer. Here's one I packed years ago Outer box itself once contained computer paper that came from a factory locally called the "automatic", next door was Meccano factory at Binnes Road which became a B&Q. To take any "waste" out we had to explain why and get a chit, explaining once to a manager why, he replied you will get 9 across and 5 down 45 boxes in all. Turned out he once "packed" for Meccano. Amazinging for now he went on to tell that a repair shop on site stored Telephone exchange parts in old Hornby Dublo boxes obtained somehow and the codes for the parts related to the number on the boxes. I did visit before I left many years ago and saw a whole large metal cabinet full of Hornby Dublo boxes full of spares parts

Yes I've come across them, some had quite complex folds which meant one of the flaps was larger than the other with extra folds and cardboard which folded correctly and protected the coupling. I tried to copy and found it just too long to cut out and fold. Other method was round cardboard which fitted over the buffers, for years I used loo roll inners cut up. However opening say 10 to 20 wagon boxes per session found spent too much time picking them off the floor! hence the foam or bits of thick cardboard, it also forces you to pack the wagon the correct way up. Yes I've had the staple damage a roof or leave rust on a nice white van roof. The whole process, evolution etc started with airfix kits over 50 years ago, fragile well made airfix kits needed boxes as I moved house, stored stuff in attics, etc. Gone are the days of "wrapped up in newspaper" thrown in a box, sure way to lose, break, forget stuff

I often leave the flat boxes until needed, to finish assemble using staples To avoid damage rusting these will become the bottom I add bit of Polyethylene foam to protect coupling , you could use anything card etc but stick it to the flap saves getting lost on opening etc, add a label any will do I find masking tape is best as I use it up as find it goes off That's it few minutes work saves time hassle etc

It's been done before but threads get lost etc, quick method to store stock without boxes. First make a template or jig, use thin card and an accurate cutting board, use a steel ruler to get accurate right angles, the more accurate you get at this stage easier the finished box will be. This example is for common Hornby Dublo stock, 100mm x 37mm x 55mm, about only standard is width 37mm for nearly all OO gauge, Should only take about a 5 minutes about the longest process, now make the boxes Place on just about any cereal box draw round template Now score the fold lines I do this in situ Remove template cut using scissors fold back folds your box should look like this Last few steps generally takes use about 2 minutes

Interesting myself I've been making DIY stock boxes for over 40 years and learnt from bitter experience pitfalls, damage, frustration, from poor packing. Firstly manufacturers own boxes are the worse performers, not only taking up twice the space but often cause more damage to stock than just left in newspaper, worse are those left in Polystyrene foam, and clear plastic which goes brittle cracks or turns yellow etc. Nearly all my stock is now in DIY boxes made from FREE cardboard packing based on original Hornby Dublo boxes made in the 50's and 60's. These have lasted over 70 years in some cases, caused no damage to stock, take up little space and easy to store. My own boxes are easy to make, have caused no problems, and take minimum space. From experience about only "plastic" which doesn't seem to cause any damage is Polyethylene foam, often found in packing cheap, light, easy to obtain. Here some examples Small bit stuck on back of flap to protect coupling on stock For locos tend to use thicker card, this came from "Beer" packing DIY loco cradle Best of all 2mm sheet cut into strips for ballast it does accept water paints with a bit of pva added, this example is about 25 years old and has outlasted Peco foam. I've some triang type foam from about 1967, again in perfect condition.

While on subject of Airfix kits anyone still use the airfix coupling supplied with the kits like these ? Too be honest not the best coupling although 2 advantages, one they came with supplied with the kit and in the 60's at 2/- per kit doubled in price if you fitted peco, whose coupling was 2/- per pair. Other is very close coupling at about 13mm between wagons, compared to most others which is about 20mm, hence very realistic train formations. Disadvantages well known, ok pulling but expect derailments if pushing, elastic band essential for operation rotted quickly, never found a automatic uncoupling ramp, and pins holding coupling easily broke. Dispite what some model magazines at the time said, I did find they couple to plastic type Hornby dublo but you still needed "hand of God to uncouple"

Interesting I found that the Hornby Dublo EPC coupling will actually couple to the Airfix coupling but not the metal type or the peco type unless modification made. Coupling is achieved by a bit of "Raming", plus the airfix wagon needs a bit of weight. Pulling is fine, pushing is ok on curves over 3ft radius but prehaps a bit stronger elastic band. I also noticed closer coupling which looks quite realistic, it's one advantage of the airfix type. Course you have to watch buffer height as locking might occur Uncoupling automatically I need to experiment a bit, still not worked out how the 2 airfix type works. The Hornby dublo hand ramp works to an extent but tends to lift the airfix wagon if pushed over to far.