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Hornby: A Model World


Phil Parker
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3 hours ago, Chris Chewter said:

Yep, you’re right, the yellow loco is the RMweb limited edition. It’s by far the kids favourite loco too, especially with a train load of minions in tow. I’ve always wanted to weather it, but the kids have told me it must stay as it is.

 Just like here we have princesses riding in open wagons being pulled by 6201 (my daughter's favourite). Great fun 

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Thank you for the comment about princesses riding in open wagons presumably pulled by Princess Elizabeth.

 

Returning to Scalextric I think that the motor cycle combination had a Tri-ang TT gauge motor and it went very fast. I think that the 00 gauge Rocket used the same motor.

 

I bought a clapped out Winston Churchill for £2 when I was at college on a small grant and replaced the motor with an Airfix 5 pole motor.  The Battle of Britain locomotive is still running very smoothly.  It shows how closely the slot car World was related to Tri-ang Railways in those days.

 

Slightly off topic I thought I was on a low income at college with a grant reduced from £12 per week to £6 per week as my father was on a good income and he paid me the other £6 . I did not realise how lucky I was compared with present day students with student loans.

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13 hours ago, Legend said:

 

Scalextric was very interesting . I never had one (awe!) being more of a Minic man because it had buses ,lorries and was more compatible with trains. Interesting to see inside of the car . Looked like the 60s one had something that resembled an X04 powering it . The new formula E car looked stunning .  I can imagine racing becoming addictive , for a time , but I always thought slot car racing had limited potential compared to the multi dimensional aspects of model railways . 

 

 

10 hours ago, johnlambert said:

Almost certainly an X04 motor (I had a nearly identical Scalextric car), I think Hornby used the same open frame and can motors across railways and Scalextric; my 0-4-0 Desmond "pug" had a very similar can motor to that in some Scalextric cars I had at the time.  The biggest difference was whether there was a pinion or worm gear attached to the output shaft.  And we all know that the old 0-4-0 pugs would go like racing cars!

 

 

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

There were slot car versions of both the X04 and the TT equivalent.

Airfic (MRRC) also did their 5 pole X04 replacement motor for trains and cars

The car ones had two fixing holes because they were fitted horizontally and hinged on a pin as part of rudimentary suspension.

 

The Scalextric open frame motor was the 'RX', the equivalent to the X04 with angled front mounting slots and armatures wound for higher rotational speeds than the railway version. They were used on all the saloon/coupe/vintage cars and the 'premium' racing cars. From the late 60s the factory began to use can motors bought in from the far east, the last RX motors were fitted in around 1973/74 so the use of this motor type ended for slot cars more than a decade earlier than for the model railway side (the reissued M7 and Golden Arrow B-O-B in the late 80s being the final models to get the rail version). 

The RX was also used by the Spanish Scalextric factory, run by Exin. As a result of ownership changes, the Spanish side of Scalextric became a completely separate entity by the mid-1990s; indeed Hornby slot car products marketed in Spain and certain other territories are boxed as 'Superslot' models whilst the Spanish owned range (nowadays inevitably actually made in China) is marketed in the UK and other places where Hornby have the trademark rights as 'SCX'. SCX/Scalextric have for around 25 years reissued one vintage model from the early range every year. Initially these used can motors with adapters to fit the RX mounts but a few years back amazingly enough they began to have them made using brand new replica RX motors made in China. So a little bit of the old Zenith/Rovex/Minimodels DNA survives to this day.

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24 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

 

 

The Scalextric open frame motor was the 'RX', the equivalent to the X04 with angled front mounting slots and armatures wound for higher rotational speeds than the railway version.

What was the TT scale motor called? It looked almost the same but ¾ size, my 80 set had cars with that motor.

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3 hours ago, Miss Prism said:

 

XT60

xt60-motor.jpg.8dd12abc7a5e58ae67722bdab13fe853.jpg

 

The '80' set from the 60s had the Scalextric 'Sledge' motor, which hared some components with the XT.60 but wasn't an XT.60 motor. As in my previous post, the torque/speed requirements of a slot car are quite different from a model railway engine so both ranges had dedicated mechanisms that shared common components

Edited by andyman7
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Thanks for that. I was sceptical about the XT60 being used in cars, and was only trying to answer Melmerby's question. I know little about the car motors, but I agree their speed characteristics need to be rather different to railways.

 

The XT60 was a fabulous little motor.

 

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35 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

The '80' set from the 60s had the Scalextric 'Sledge' motor, which hared some components with the XT.60 but wasn't an XT.60 motor. As in my previous post, the torque/speed requirements of a slot car are quite different from a model railway engine so both ranges had dedicated mechanisms that shared common components

 

Here are a couple of the power sledge cars that used to belong to my dad, before and after restoration this year:

 

scal8.jpg

 

 

scal9.jpg

 

These were from the GP 50 set I think.

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On 15/12/2021 at 08:46, Miss Prism said:

 

XT60

xt60-motor.jpg.8dd12abc7a5e58ae67722bdab13fe853.jpg

 

 

On 15/12/2021 at 12:04, andyman7 said:

The '80' set from the 60s had the Scalextric 'Sledge' motor, which hared some components with the XT.60 but wasn't an XT.60 motor. As in my previous post, the torque/speed requirements of a slot car are quite different from a model railway engine so both ranges had dedicated mechanisms that shared common components

The ones in the 80 set looked a bit like a ¾ version of the 00 train motor, it didn't have the offset magnet, IIRC the crown wheel, pinion & axle were in a plastic extension.

My recollection of TT trains bits is vague so I assumed incorrectly that the slot car motor was an adapted version of one. It ceratainly didn't look like an XT60.

 

Edit

It was one of these but it says formula junior only!

It was definitely an 80 set and the motor was these.

 

image.png.99edfbfc5b2cfd8c3ce013ea02904348.png

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51 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

There were also "race-tuned" motors which (according to Scalextric's marketing) needed to be run with a special throttle, but I've never understood exactly what that was all about.

 

 

They use more current as they are wound for speed.

The standard throttle was only good for low current motors.

I had to get some Airfix throttles as the originals used to smell of burning with decent motors!

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The standard throttle got hot with low current motors as well.

 

Does anyone remember Circuit 24.  This was produced by Jouef based on the Le Mans 24 hour race and was very popular in France.  Meccano marketed it in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1964 but I don't think it ever caught on.

 

I remember going round the department stores in Croydon in December 1962, They had all sold out of Scalextric but they had some Circuit 24 sets.

 

I should have waited until after Christmas because Scalextric replaced their rubber track with metal clips with some better quality track.

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Late 1970's there was the HO (more like 1/64) Aurora system imported in the UK. (similar to Micro Scaletrix).

 

Aurora - History

 

Worked for 3 months for the UK distributor.

 

They sacked you after 3 months to stop you getting employment rights , and they went bust shortly after I left, forgetting to pay my NI contributions.

Edited by 2E Sub Shed
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The Sept 1964 Meccano magazine  that I've still got has a "raceways and model cars" supplement.  It lists the following "raceways on the market". 

Wrenn Formula 152 (1/52nd scale), as metr0land  said,   Minic Roadways, (oo ish) , Faller Motor Sport (1/87th), a slot racing system, not the later scenic accessory type, Scale Raceway Models (SRM) 1/40th scale, (not much bigger scale than corgi, etc. so you could use your diecast vehicles as background),  Airfix (1/32nd),  Victory Industries (VIP) 1/32nd but with a metal track for current pickup, Model Motor Racing which supplied parts and of course Scalextric. 

Obviously had become very popular (rather like increased car ownership in the 60s taking over from train usage).  The more popular one system became, the better chance you could take your car and race it on your mates track.

 

Scalextric did well to have its following today.

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On 16/12/2021 at 08:59, Metr0Land said:

Also the Wrenn 152 was another competitor in the marketplace.

 

Wrenn 152 was regularly advertised in the Railway Modellers of the period. Unlike Minic and Scalextric, each lane had multiple sets of pickup strips, and there were lane changing pieces, so several cars could race independently on the same lane and pass each other - a feature which didn't become possible again until Scalextric went digital.

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I had the later VIP raceway with track that was similar to Scalextric. The VIP cars worked well on Scalextric track but Scalextric weren’t so good on VIP track. My favourite was the Lotus Indianapolis 500 club special car. This was fast and went round bends faster than Scalextric. I wish I hadn’t thrown it away along with all the other stuff many years ago.

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On 16/12/2021 at 07:39, Robin Brasher said:

The standard throttle got hot with low current motors as well.

 

Does anyone remember Circuit 24.  This was produced by Jouef based on the Le Mans 24 hour race and was very popular in France.  Meccano marketed it in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1964 but I don't think it ever caught on.

 

I remember going round the department stores in Croydon in December 1962, They had all sold out of Scalextric but they had some Circuit 24 sets.

 

I should have waited until after Christmas because Scalextric replaced their rubber track with metal clips with some better quality track.

I had one of the sets: curious motor system that vibrated rather than rotated. Mine ended its days as a concrete vibrator when I built a concrete viaduct for my garden railway.

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On 09/12/2021 at 11:30, GWR8700 said:

 

15 hour shifts sound very unsafe for driving on the road.

 

"Even 45 hours is part time for truck drivers. All paid at one flat hourly rate. And people wonder why no one wants the job."

Those two things are related aren't they?  If lorry drivers were to reduce the amount of hours they worked then their labour would become more valuable wouldn't it and subsequently they could demand pay increases.

 

Limiting the supply of labour can lead to an increase in wages, especially if productivity increases (studies have shown a 32 hour work week would see productivity rise).

Sorry to go off topic, but I hope Hornby will not continue with such work practices in future.

"Studies have shown". Must be true then.

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On 16/12/2021 at 14:35, railroadbill said:

The Sept 1964 Meccano magazine  that I've still got has a "raceways and model cars" supplement.  It lists the following "raceways on the market". 

Wrenn Formula 152 (1/52nd scale), as metr0land  said,   Minic Roadways, (oo ish) , Faller Motor Sport (1/87th), a slot racing system, not the later scenic accessory type, Scale Raceway Models (SRM) 1/40th scale, (not much bigger scale than corgi, etc. so you could use your diecast vehicles as background),  Airfix (1/32nd),  Victory Industries (VIP) 1/32nd but with a metal track for current pickup, Model Motor Racing which supplied parts and of course Scalextric. 

Obviously had become very popular (rather like increased car ownership in the 60s taking over from train usage).  The more popular one system became, the better chance you could take your car and race it on your mates track.

 

Scalextric did well to have its following today.

I had a metal-tracked VIP set. Despite being metal, the track wasn't very robust and bent if trodden on! The plastic combs that held the track together were also rather fragile... The controllers were odd too, a sort of press button affair.

 

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On 15/12/2021 at 13:00, Barry Ten said:

There were also "race-tuned" motors which (according to Scalextric's marketing) needed to be run with a special throttle, but I've never understood exactly what that was all about.

 

 

 

Probably needed a variac like Sam's Trains........

 

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9 hours ago, blueeighties said:

"Studies have shown". Must be true then.

Well to be honest I will take their peer reviewed papers and the experience of businesses which have trialled (and subsequently moved to a shorter working week because of productivity and employee well being improvements) a 4 day week over your abject dismissal any day.

Edited by GWR8700
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1 hour ago, GWR8700 said:

Well to be honest I will take their peer reviewed papers and the experience of businesses which have trialled (and subsequently moved to a shorter working week because of productivity and employee well being improvements) a 4 day week over your abject dismissal any day.

Though quite how one would increase productivity among lorry drivers, other than by letting them drive faster, might be a good question. 

 

Ultimately, supply and demand will decide, and the prices of what is carried will increase to cover the cost.

 

I am old enough to remember friends with Class I HGV licences doing very nicely and having enough time off to enjoy it. EU membership with "Freedom of Movement" put an end to that in general haulage. Now that's over, persuading UK nationals to replace the cheap incomers will not only require better wages but better working conditions and shorter hours too. 

 

Of course, I'm joking, whatever the politicians say, they will devise ways to keep wages down....  

 

 John

Edited by Dunsignalling
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1 hour ago, GWR8700 said:

Well to be honest I will take their peer reviewed papers and the experience of businesses which have trialled (and subsequently moved to a shorter working week because of productivity and employee well being improvements) a 4 day week over your abject dismissal any day.

What branch of industry or office work did the studies pertain to?

Only because simple maths says that in transport, halving the average hours from 60-plus to 32 is going to halve the distance that can be travelled/goods can be moved. Hardly "improving productivity", is it?

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34 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

What branch of industry or office work did the studies pertain to?

Only because simple maths says that in transport, halving the average hours from 60-plus to 32 is going to halve the distance that can be travelled/goods can be moved. Hardly "improving productivity", is it?

As a thought, might better conditions/shorter hours help with retention? I understand that several road haulage firms have had concerns about the number of drivers leaving the industry.

 

Of course, there are also political/philosophical considerations which could be used to advocate a shorter working week (do we believe that people have a right to a decent quality of life, both in terms of having enough (food, shelter, etc.) to survive and sufficient time to persue personal goals (education, hobbies, sports, social interaction, etc.) which make survival worthwhile. These are getting even further away from the scope of the thread though...

 

To return to topic, I have enjoyed the programme, and in particular I'm glad about how diverse the material was. A brilliant demonstration that there is something for everyone in this hobby, and hopefully it will get a few people involved.

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