Advice requested about different coupling types on old rolling stock.

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Metal wagons?

 

Possibly Hornby Dublo.

 

These have a "knuckle" coupling, rather than the tension lock hook and loop coupling.

 

Be aware that Hornby Dublo wagons and coaches with metal wheels may well be for 3-rail track.

 

This has a centre rail for the power feed.

 

The problem is that these wagons will cause a short circuit on modern two rail track systems, tripping out the controller.

[Rana Temporia]

The different couplings are probably Hornby Dublo type. Other ranges used these including Playcraft and Trix and they were Sold by PECO. You would need a Hornby Dublo 2 rail loco to pull them as they are quite heavy. You may have two problems. 

 

The metal wagons may have been for 3 rail track and the wheels may be uninsulated. Assuming the rest of your stock is 2 rail and you want to run it all on the same track any 3 rail stock would cause a short circuit. You may need to change the wheels. 

 

Many modern controllers won't supply enough current to run Hornby Dublo locos as the motors need the high current to run. Having said that IMO they are far superior to the modern locos that would struggle to pull a decent train of the old stock. You can still get decent controllers, do a search on here for some recommendations. 

[81F]

 I was once told the Hornby Dublo couplings were actually invented by a Mr Pritchard (who went on to form the  Pritchard Patent Product Co. Ltd, aka PECO). The story goes that he went up to Liverpool with his coupling but was told they were "too busy" so he and waited until someone would see him. Apparently they were so impressed with the coupling that they made a deal. However he did not sell Hornby the design but sold them a License to produce the coupling. The income from which I was told helped buid PECO.

 

In answer to your problem might be to build a converter wagon if you do not mind a bit of DIY. The easiest way is look oin eBay or similar for a Wrenn wagon (The one I sourced had a loose wide Hornby/Triang coupling and was not perfect so no risk of devaluing a coillectors piece). Tou will then need ane of the accessory packs which used to be provided by Wrenn with their locomotives which contains a  Dublo/PECO coupling, a self tapping screw and a brass shouldered washer. This I also obtained from ebay.

 

Next I removed the loose coupling, drilled out a small hole in the chassis  in the PECO coupling mounting block and fillted the self tapping screw and washer. The only problem I had was the wrenn chassis had been designed to use one of the push on Hornby dublo coupling so I ended up fitting one of those.

 

Alternatively you could buy the push-on coupling and a rivit separately but you would need to be confident about riviting.

Hope this helps 

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Even simpler, Tri-ang Hornby made two converter wagons.

 

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One is an open wagon, the other is a Horsebox (The "passenger converter vehicle"...)

 

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Both have a Hornby Dublo coupling on one end, and a Tension lock (Tri-ang  MK3) on the other end.

 

 

Yes, Meccano Ltd had a licence to use the Peco Coupling for "toy" use. Peco retained the "model" market.

 

Later, Trix started using a similar coupling. After "discussions" they also had to obtain a licence from Peco...

 

l'm not sure about Plycraft Railways use of the Peco type couplings....but I suspect that some fee was involved?

[Wagonwheels]

Hi

Once you can establish the manufacturer of the wagon/rolling stock identification of the couplings and vintage ought to be ...erm....straight forward. The flanges on the wheels might cause some problem if used on modern fine scale track. I have bought HD 3 rail wagons and swapped out the all metal wheels/axles for plastic replacements without too much fuss. I bought a converter wagon when new for 2/6 in 1965? Much cheaper than the equivalent item from Triang. I believe the retailer was supposed to sell one converter wagon per customer to avoid canny school boys (like me) making up a rake of cheap wagons by placing them back to back!  😀

[96RAF]

Hello everyone. I have recently bought a job lot of trains, track, buildings etc and am in the process of building a layout. I'm new to this and while going through the wagons I've noticed that the couplings are different on some of the older metal ones. Rather than try to modify them i am thinking of looking for an engine that will pull them. My question is "What are the correct names for these different types of couplings?" so that I can research them. Thanks for your help.

[LCDR]

Some Wrenn wagons were modified to take the Triang tension lock coupling but retained the necessary mouldings for the Hornby Dublo / Peco knuckle coupling as well. I have adapted a Wrenn CCT  with tension lock at one end and Peco knuckle at the other so I can use by Hornby Dublo "Barnstaple" to haul modern carriages.