Hornby Fowler 2-6-4T

[ColinB]

I recently aquired one of these locos, the newer type without the X04 motor, but when I ran it, the motor ran but no drive. Took it apart to find that the drive pinion on the loco wheels was split. Spares for these are impossible to get or I would have just bought a new set of wheels. I then wondered if Hornby do what a lot of Motor Manufactures do and use use a lot of standard parts. Fortunately the drive pinion for a West Country ( I had a set of wheels as the only way to get second hand valve gear was to buy the valve gear plus wheels) is exactly the same, so I gently levered it of and replaced it in the Fowler. Perfect, it now works. It was an awful lot cheaper and I think even if you had to buy the complete wheel set the West Country is cheaper that the Fowler, that is if you can buy them (Fowler is out of stock). I surprised Peters Spares or someone else isn't 3D printing them.