Silver Sidelines

Hello Kelly, I don't want to be critical of a British Company but I have overseas friends who are not happy about the astronomical prices and the rather indifferent quality of Hornby products. I feel sorry for the retailers who have to pick up the pieces (literally). Regards Ray

Kelly, yes - I did think of posting a picture of my Bachmann A2 for comparison.

Following from my earlier Blog I have been asked by a friend whether I have had any problems with the front bogie of the latest Hornby Super Detail Castles. In short the answer is 'no'. Seemingly there is a recent review in the model railway press that says that on first removal from the box, the front bogie was detached. I have included a few pictures here of the bogie on my Castle highlighting what I would describe as Hornby's cheap and cheerful means of attachment. Underside of Castle Bogie Disassembled The Pivot Pin with Retaining Collar When the engine is lifted from the track Hornby have provided a tiny plastic collar glued to the top of the bogie pivot pin to stop the bogie dropping off. I guess the success of this system relies heavily on the amount of glue originally used. However I would say that the design is easily repairable. For example if the plastic collar is missing, all that is required is a piece of plastic insulation say from off the conductor of some relatively heavy copper cable (ring main). The use of plastic insulation brings to mind another Hornby 'success' story - Speedo Cables: Upgraded Speedo Cable In my opinion the nylon Speedo Cable as supplied by Hornby is rather too rough and ready! As well as lacking a credible appearance it seems to me to be not fit for purpose, being brittle and likely to break whilst at the same time being too rigid and affecting the smooth running of the locomotive. After replacing the cable on my Super Detail Princess Royal for the second time I decided to look at cheaper and I think visually better alternatives. Why not use very thin plastic insulation? I don't think I even needed any glue, simply poking the broken ends of the Hornby Speedo Cable into the hollow plastic tube left after stripping the wire. I guess any suitable fine wire will do. If it means anything to anyone, the label on my reel of wire was as follows:

Mikkel, I thank you for the encouragement. I seem to be working on a broader canvas so to speak than yourself. I think the quality of detail that you achieve is something that I should aspire to, but there are only so many hours in each day (even when the sun doesn't shine). Regards Ray

Glad you liked the post, I look forward to hearing how you get on. Regards Ray

I do like the rolling stock to be close coupled. This Blog entry is about close coupling ex GWR Siphons of the Airfix / Mainline / Dapol / Hornby varieties. I like to keep the rolling stock in as near 'mint' condition as possible. I am against cutting and gluing. For close coupling rolling stock of Airfix origins my usual procedure is to fit Bachmann Mini Couplings (Long). This solution is totally reversible should the rolling stock need to be sold on. It also enables trains to negotiate curves down to Peco Medium Radius. In the past I have successfully employed this technique for 'B' Set coaches and 14xx / autocoach combinations. The view above compares the original Mainline plug in type couplings with the original Airfix style and the replacement Bachmann Mini Couplings (Long). The picture also shows how the wings on the Bachmann couplings have to be cut off to allow the coupling to be placed in the 'plug in' coupling pocket. As well as removing the 'wings' it is also necessary to open out the post hole. The couplings are soft nylon and this can easily be achieved, rotating by hand a suitably sized twist drill in the existing hole. I have been using an elderly imperial drill bit 7/64 which translates into 2.778mm! Having prepared the replacement Bachmann coupling the original Airfix / Mainline / Dapol / Hornby coupling can be lifted out. I find a tiny screw driver most useful for prizing off the tiny nylon keeper plate. The modified Bachmann coupling can then be dropped into the coupling pocket and the keeper plate pushed back in place. I am happy with the looks of the finished product but does it work? Unfortunately - not yet. On reversing the rake of wagons through a set of Peco Medium Radius points the buffers locked and the wagons derailed. On closer inspection the problems appeared to be related to the Siphon H wagons without corridor connectors. In contrast the corridor connectors on the Siphon G wagons would rub together and keep the buffers sufficiently apart to prevent them locking. This suggested a solution. For my Siphon H wagon in the middle I substituted the slightly longer 'original' Airfix couplings. If you had more Siphon H wagons I guess you would need to treat alternate wagons. Does it work - yes now it works very well: http://youtu.be/GDIAPJQrI00

RThompson "In this case the underframe is the old Dapol version without cutouts but the bogies are Hornby." Perhaps I should have made it more clear but yes I bought a separate Dapol underframe without cut outs. Regards Ray

Mick As yet no, but I don't do weathering and most of the rail is unpainted. Blue poppy seed are naturally very variable and give a good colour range straight from the bag. My first four bags were all from the same batch and contained a good amount of dark seed. I bought another couple of bags some months later with a different batch number and these contained a higher proportion of light colour seed. (The same problem as with buying balls of wool). When I saw how light the colour of the latter seed was I mixed it with the remains of the blacker seed. I have just posted a picture to Flickr to give you a better idea Regards Ray

There was some discussion this week on one of the forums relating to the ex Dapol / Hornby twelve wheel restaurant cars. I have lowered the ride height of mine to run with Bachmann stock: In order to get the buffers of the Hornby Restaurant Car to match the height of my adjacent Bachmann Mk1s it was necessary to lower the underframe on the bogies. First it is best to take the whole coach apart. This can be done by sliding ones finger nail between the coach side and the underframe and levering the underframe down and out. There are six plastic lugs to free, two at either end and two in the middle. It is best to 'free' one side at a time. With the coach completely disassembled the bogies can be removed by squeezing the top of the plastic holding pegs and pushing down and out. With the bogies out of the way a metal file can be used to remove 1mm or more of plastic from the bogie support pillars on the underframe. In this case the underframe is the old Dapol version without cutouts but the bogies are Hornby. Having removed this plastic I suspected that the original plastic pegs used to hold the bogies in position no longer function and I have substituted brass bolts which I had spare from some earlier work on a Hornby Mk1 Sleeping Car. I then had to file the heads of the bolts to ensure that there was some clearance between the bolt head and the middle axle. Similarly it was necessary to counter sink the top side of the underframe so that the 'nut' end of the bolt did not interfere too much with the seating. I substituted Bachmann 14mm metal wheels in place of the original plastic Hornby wheels. Also I have used Hornby R8220 type couplings to fit within my close coupled rake of Bachmann Mk1s. As pictured the finished rake of coaches will run happily through Peco Medium Radius curved points. Addenda April 2015 Just added a view of Dapol's original 1988 packaging to show how the box came with two chassis. This was an item of 'new' old stock uncovered in 2014. 2014 New Old Stock

Thank you for those kind words. Yes, presenting the information can take almost as much time as the 'doing'. I wonder what next! Regards Ray

After praising Airfix Castles in this 'Blog', I have to now admit to purchasing one of Hornby's new Castle Class locomotives, Ince Castle. Historically I had one of Dapol's engine driven castles, Dorchester Castle. More recently I tried out Cadbury Castle, the Hornby version. Neither could cope with seven coaches and the grades on the layout, quite a disappointment. Ince Castle seems to be a different proposition. It has quite the longest 'can' motor that I have seen. However straight out of the box it seems to me to be rather light weight and when placed on my 1 in 56 gradient with seven coaches it just sat there with wheels spinning. There seems to me to be lots of spare space inside the body for extra ballast and I have been able to get the locomotive weight up to almost 400 gram. This appears to be just the right weight for the layout. For those of you who can bear to watch trains going round and round there is a YouTube video showing the capabilities of the newly ballasted engine: http://youtu.be/ud-nhB0FL60 For those of you wishing to follow suit I have attached a few pictures below. First I cut and shaped some pieces of lead from 2.5mm thick sheet. These were then attached inside the bodyshell using double sided tape. There is also some space inside the cylinders. With the engine turned upside down these voids were filled with lead shot. Finally the lead shot was sealed in place with black cartridge paper held in place with PVA. The result I think, is a very powerful and potentially useful model engine.

I have long admired the ex LMS rebuilt Royal Scots. This little note details some improvements that I have found necessary for some of my Bachmann models. First a couple of views of the prototype from the 1960s, 46132 at Carlisle Citadel (04/08/62) and 46154 at Lime Street maybe in 1962. No surprise then that when I returned to the hobby that my first purchase was a Mainline Royal Scot. This came from the Morpeth Model Shop in August 1980 and cost £19.00. This was followed in November 1983 by Scots Guardsman from Kings X Models. This came with thinner profile wheels and a semi gloss paint coat for a cost of £27.64. However it still had a Mainline chassis, probably more than one if I remember rightly. I have included below a scanned image of Scots Guardsman taken when new. Fast forward now to 2008, Scots Guardsman lives on and is now fitted with a replacement Bachmann chassis. The original Mainline Royal Scot has been replaced by the Bachmann train set of the same name. I am generally very supportive of Bachmann products but Royal Scot was not a happy engine and when first taken out of the box it limped around the track. However on closer inspection it soon became apparent that on one side of the engine the coupling rods were hitting the bottom of the plastic motion bracket. This was not too difficult to remedy and I now have a lovely smooth running model. The boxed set was purchased new from one the major UK retailers, and this was followed by a couple of 'mint' un-boxed Royal Scot locomotives from off the 'net'. All three engines had the same problem and all were duly modified to produce smooth running models. Those of you that have been following this blog will know that for the last few months I have been rather occupied by poppy seeds. Well Christmas was spent playing trains. More specifically time was spent examining purchases from the previous six months. One of my most recent acquisitions was a 'new' Bachmann 'The Ranger'. Should I be surprised - but this had a distinct limp where the connecting rods were hitting the plastic motion bracket. This was the same motion bracket as on the Royal Scots, the one on the right when viewing the locomotive upside down. I suspect that the hole in the metal casting for attaching the plastic motion bracket has been misplaced during production and that my engines will not be the only such afflicted. The remedy is straight forward. Turn the engine upside down. To make the job easier, unscrew the bottom plate and lift out the front pair of driving wheels. This should then allow access for a craft knife to shave away some of the offending plastic motion bracket: Whilst the plastic body was 'off' the engine I took the opportunity to add some lead weights: I hope some of you out there might have found this of interest. Now back to playing trains:

Time to reminisce? Well done to Hattons celebrating their 65th Anniversary. Most of us will at some time have bought from Hattons. Two of my earliest purchases which still live on are a Hornby Dublo 8F and an Airfix Castle: The 2 rail Hornby Dublo 8F was advertised by Hattons in the early 1960s in the Railway Modeller. There was to be a family visit to Chester from the north of England and my father was prevailed upon to drive back through the Mersey Tunnel so that I could visit Smithdown Road and make a purchase, I am guessing for probably £4/19/11. At the end of my school days the model was boxed up and carted round the country until the 1980s when I had the time and resources to rediscover railway modelling. I was amazed at the fine detail on the 'new' plastic models from Palitoy (Mainline) and Airfix. However the performance of the newer models was lacking and the Hornby 8F lived on. After all the Dublo model comes with a heavy cast metal body and a lump of lead ballast inside as standard. At the time I was a regular visitor to Swindon and a toy shop called 'Trents' not far from the Station. One day they were selling off an unboxed Mainline Scot with a damaged body. I could use a replacement Mainline Chassis and the spare handrail and tender were given to the Dublo 8F. In due course the engine was repainted and given the number 48474, a Shrewsbury engine. About the same time it also received front steps, larger size metal rimmed wheels for the pony truck and some cut down Kitmaster glazing for the cab windows. Yes it should have all flanged driving wheels and finer valve gear would be nice. However the model still performs well and I think captures the image. Now to the second model from the past. March 1983 and Hattons were selling Airfix Castles for £12.45 - I bought two. Yes the tender drive was noisy but it was powerful. At the time I already had a Hornby Dublo Castle but the finer detail of the Airfix model with its larger driving wheels gave it a much superior appearance. April 1994 and Dapol produced their engine driven Castle. Again Hattons obliged and I purchased Dorchester Castle with Hawksworth tender for the immense sum of £44.95. Not such a good investment as the Airfix Castles. In fact the Dapol Castle turned out to be a bit of a lame duck. After a few years of use it became apparent that the main drive gear had cracked where it had been forced onto the driving axle. By that time I had acquired a lot of Airfix Castle spares. The solution for me was to convert the Dapol model to tender drive. The empty space above the motor was covered with fine bubble wrap painted black to look like coal while the Hawksworth underframe was butchered and fitted to the Airfix underfame with Loctite. The engine was renamed 7037 Swindon. This was the last Castle to be built at Swindon and complements my Bachmann model of Evening Star, the last ever BR steam engine to be built, again at Swindon. http://www.flickr.co...eds/5022120741/ However the Dapol body shell was twisted and to cut a long story short the 'Swindon' identity was transferred to one of my original Airfix Castles suitably varnished and fitted with engraved plates, sprung buffers and lamp irons. The very latest Hornby Castles do look tempting. However for the moment 7037 is more than presentable and its performance with seven Bachmann Mark Ones compares favourably with the performance of much newer Bachmann Warships and Heljan Westerns.

Frank, thanks for the encouraging comments. We are expecting a double helping of sunshine this next year to make up for this last year and we need to get some gardening done! Yes I have mild concerns regards shiny track and perhaps bright ballast. However in the way of things a lot of bare baseboard needs covering first and we need to investigate some back scenes. The more you do the more seems needing to be done - great! Ray

The last Blog entry dealt with adding the electrics for the new siding. With the electrics completed. I have returned to ballasting and have now completed the 'corner': It is a start and having added the ballast it highlights just how much more scenic work needs to be done. The picture below is an update of the earlier unballasted view. The poppy seeds form a relatively thick layer and hide the cast metal base of the old Tri-ang water column. Finally another view of the station from the uphill approach. The coaching stock on the right is 'parked' at the top of the reversing loop. I need to make a removable cover to hide this - I have in mind retaining walls with banks and fields on top!!!

Thank you for those kind comments. I hope the pictures will offer you encouragement, the materials used are relatively cheap. Regards Ray

Thank you, it is good to get positive encouragement,

Following on from extending the board and laying the extra siding it has been necessary to add a couple of additional switches to the control panel - bottom right: The panels are made from 3mm thick high density fibre board, hardboard as I used to know it. After drawing the line of the new siding on the front of the panel the next task was to drill two pilot holes where the new switches were to be located. These initial pilot holes were gradually opened out using ever bigger sizes of drill bit, up to 7mm as required for the push button switches. Having positioned the switches it was then necessary to work on the underside of the panel and to connect up the AC supply to each switch: I used to be a civil engineer not an electronics engineer. I do like things to be tidy. All my panels are constructed around three feeds made from the copper conductors stripped out of 30amp (2.5mm) power cable used for ring mains. I then use small diameter wire with a single core so that it can be bent to shape to fit between the main conductor and the switch. I use the brown and blue conductors to supply the two feeds to single pole double throw centre off Section Switches for 'cab control'. I use the uninsulated copper earth to feed the push button switches for the point motors. This is perhaps seen more clearly in the view below which shows the underside of the completed panel with the two new switches at the top right finally connected up to the blue and white wires at the top of the picture that go off to feed the point motor. This panel is 'special' because it incorporates the Section Switches for one of the reversing loops. These switches have to be double pole double throw type switches and as well as feeds from the two cabs, there has to be a feed from the 'common return' which I have sheathed here in red. Just to add to the confusion one of the 'cabs' for the reversing loops comes from another panel - hence the black covered copper connector.

As originally envisaged the top right corner was just an empty space: However whilst playing trains it soon became apparent that a passing loop would be useful for the branch line - and if this could be combined with some sort of 'halt' / station for the autotrain, then it would be doubly useful. The wood work was changed and some track layed: However - why did I cut off the piece of board into the corner? Maybe the corner of the room was not square? It certainly wouldn't be! Now two years later the piece of board has been found, reattached and a goods siding laid. At last I have space for Bachmann's Scenecraft Goods Shed. As with so many of the resin models, I find them deceptively big. Now that the track has been modified 'let ballasting commence' and then perhaps a backscene. In the longer term I will have to devise a cut and cover tunnel (removable) to hide some of the tracks for the reversing loops and hidden sidings in the foreground.

Back in August when I started this Blog I made a back of envelope calculation based on a test length of 150mm which indicated a requirement for circa 3.5 kg of ballast. Four 1kg bags of poppy seeds were purchased. and I set off ballasting. Now some four months later all four bags have been used up and the work is not yet complete. Not a bad calculation given that I have increased the spread of ballast for parallel sidings and some open spaces around goods and engine sheds. My back of envelope calculation also suggested that the work might be complete by Christmas. That seems still a possibility - but did I know that we would not be seeing the sun here in the west of Scotland from August right thought to November? The views above show the south end of the main station with Peco Inspection Pits for the 'new' diesels. The other view shows the carriage sidings awaiting ballasting with a row of Skaledale houses waiting to be elevated onto a retaining wall which hopefully will hide the entry to the reversing loop. Two more views of 'progress', below showing the south end of the main station with some Bachmann favourites reminding me of a misspent youth collecting numbers on Newcastle Station. The second view below shows the Scenecraft Brewery - another 'work still in progress' (Chris Nevard has a lot to answer for).

Not a new embankment but the same paper and paste techniques used to replace the coving and cover the opening for the old Central Heating flue! The last fortnight has been dominated by swapping out the oil fired boiler for a heat pump, and making good the plaster and paintwork. Crawling around in the eaves makes a change from ballasting. Not sure which I most prefer! Since my last post, ballasting of the mid-level single track junction has been completed. It is maybe reminiscent of central Wales with an ex LNWR connection to an essentially ex GWR line. The LNWR had running rights to the junction - but not the branch terminus. The shed to the side of the junction is supposedly of GWR origin, the view below was obviously taken on a Sunday.

This week has been dominated by the removal of our oil fired central heating - so not much railway modelling. The single track junction is now ballasted: I think the track was laid before the rest of the layout was completed and access to the ends of the sidings now requires great physical stamina and not a little patience! Hence the Blog title 'A stretch in time!. As usual I have provided card bases for the Goods Shed and Engine Shed: A picture with work in progress and then another showing the buildings in position. There is a coaling facility planned for the siding to the right of the engine shed but that will have to wait for another day (year) The junction is supposed to represent somewhere in mid Wales where a single track ex GWR line meets up with another single track ex LNWR line. This allows the use of a range of Bachmann / Mainline BR (WR and LMR) rolling stock:

Thank you for those kind words. There are similarities with your own layout, 'L girders' for example. However I have used soft wood and fibre board which I think is far kinder to handle than plywood (or chipboard).

Time to inspect progress at the main station. All the ballasting is complete, just need to get on with some Station canopies. That will be a job for next summer! This is a view of the 'bay' platforms with a Bachmann 22xx on a branch train. As originally conceived this was The Terminus for an 'out and back' layout. In fact an 'out and back' double track mainline and a single track branch line accessed from both The Terminus and a junction on the mainline : The layout was constrained by the flue from the Aga and I long coveted the space beyond to form a continuous run. After much negotiation a plan was drawn up and approved and the main terminus platforms were swung to the left using 5 ft (1.5m) radius curves to allow the lines to just skirt the chimney breast, much in the same way that Brunel's original Temple Meads station was extended westwards. Interestingly as soon as the woodwork and track laying for the extension was completed, the Aga was converted from oil to electricity and hence the necessity for a Class 1 flue disappeared. Life is too short so don't even think about suggesting doing away with the chimney breast.

Andy - Addendum - a comparison of a 'good' Hornby chassis and my bouncy chassis showed that the coil spring over the rear axle was shorter on the bouncy chassis. I have stretched the shorter spring with good results. Ray