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The longest non-stop running of a Hornby model train.


Brightstar

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A Hornby Dublo Castle class Loco, Cardiff Castle 4-6-0, pulling six standard class corridor coaches traveled for a total of 153 actual miles over a four day period without stop, in 1960. It stared it's jpounet at 11:00 am on September 2 and completed it's

run at 11:00 am on September. It could have travelled further, but the trial was stopped after exactly four days. This endurance test was equivalent to travelling 11,600 scale miles at an average scale speed of 133.9 mph.

The distance record was latter

beaten in October 1973, when a Hornby Triang Black 5 Class 5 4-6-0 ran for a total of 273 actual miles, but it had to stop to have the worn brushes replaced.

So the 10 miles run by James May's loco pales into insignificence in comparison..
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A trial batch of Triang Princesses were made in 1973 with tender-powered motors. One of these LMS liveried locos ran unattended in Mevagissy for 8 days, 2 hours and 27 mins covering 273.84 real miles and an incline was in the layout so it did around 11

miles vertically !!
This was beaten in 1990 by a standard 1984 mould Lady Patricia which did 867 nhours in Bournemouth.
I dont knoe what the current record is.
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My 1951 Triang princess with plunger pick ups, is still on it's original brushes and motorm it runs every day on display in the shop, must have covered a thousand miles plus in it's lifetime without any major replacement parts. Just needs regular lubrication

and cleaning, the cylinder block is original, wheels and frames are original too, the early models had a frame style affair as per the prototype and the wheels were acetate. The old girl just keeps running!

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Although I cannot come anywhere close to SOT, I am still using a number of R50 and R52 mechanisms some of which date from 1953. Cleaning and sparing lubrication are essential. The fact that East Kent can no longer supply brushes for X04s is somewhat of

a worry, however I am informed it is possible to canabalise vacuum cleaner brush carbon and solder it on to the brass arms. (Is anyone doing this? If so can they post some advice, please?). This will also soon become an issue for a large number of motor bogies

I am using.
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I wouldn't have chosen the Tri-ang-Hornby A3 with all it's valve gear and sound sandpaper clip rubbing on the back tender axle. I personally would have picked an old Tri-ang Princess with the simplified valve gear and without tender sound, much less to

go wrong or an early Tri-ang 0-6-0 like a Jinty 3f without the smoke unit.
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A while back i pondered a similar question and came up with the Triang 0-6-0 chassis. No valve gear to slow it down, no extra bogies to complicate running and no tender to use up power by pulling what is basically another piece of rolling stock. Some may

say about other 0-6-0 and even 0-4-0 chassis but these are lighter and less powerful - and unservicable so disposable.

Hence the Triang 0-6-0 is now my standard in the garden.
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Yep I totally agree Paul, a standard Tri-ang 0-6-0 is the optimum loco for such a run. A Tri-ang princess would also be ok, the simplified valve gear with the two valve gear screws held in with locknut and the like, the tenders are generally good at staying

on the track if you go for one without the sound option and bogie and pony are good at track holding.
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As far as James May's run is concern, I don't think he meant the longest model train run, but the journey of a loco on the longest train track - he didn't mean the distance covered by the train as such, more the distance of the track that a train covered...

I that makes sense.
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