Railroad Black 5 (looking for tender pick-ups)

[countryman]

Hello good people. Can spares be bought for Railroad version of a Black 5.

In this case tender contacts. I have been told I have no chance. Any comments or advice appreciated. Thankyou

Moderator’s Note: Title amended to aid future search as recommended by forum member Fishy.

[Chrissaf]

It is unusual for a poster to go three hours without a single reply. I suspect it because it is not 100% clear as to what parts you are querying for what exact variant of the Black 5 loco.

It would help immensely if you could state the model R number. Or an approximate age. Is it a pure DC loco or DCC Ready with a socket etc. The more information you provide to identify the Black 5 version of your model, the easier it will be for members to attempt an answer.

When you say 'tender contacts' could you be a bit more explicit as to what you mean. Do you mean the 'draw bar assembly' with electrical contacts between tender and loco or perhaps wheel pickups on the tender if they have them.

Personally, I don't know the answer. I am just trying to make it easier for someone who does know the answer to be clearer on what the question is.

[new lad on block]

To help others who may be able to advise you of spares etc.

I think only two versions of a Railroad black 5 have been produced, R2881 & R3494. This may be why spares could be a problem. As the model dates back to 1987 some second hand spares may be available, but note the railroad versions are loco drive, unlike earlier versions which are tender drive.It may be possible to acquire Henry from the Thomas range as a donor but only the latest version which was also loco drive.

[Going Spare]

I had assumed the need to be wheel pick-ups: the X8806 pack is no longer available at any of the parts suppliers I checked online, nor any of the similar packs that might have acted as an alternative. I therefore did not respond as I was unable to offer any assistance.

[81F]

Do you really need the pickups on the tender? The wires from one of mine became dethatched and I hardly notice the difference providing my track is clean.

[atom3624]

Generally, if all is clean and working well on the locomotive, possibly not, but when moving slowly out of a station, and typically over 'express points', with longer frogs, there is a risk of power loss.

Most bachmann locomotives have done without tender pickups and work fine.

Al.

[Fishmanoz]

There are lots of threads on the forums and I don’t read all of them. It will depend on the title whether I look in a thread. For this thread, the title told me almost nothing but I looked anyway, others may not.

If the title was “Source for Black 5 Tender Pickups”, which describes exactly what you are after, I wouldn’t have looked as I can’t help with that. However, others like SoT who is in the spares game, would be more likely to reply.

Moderator’s Note: Title amended as recommended.

[81F]

@ atom,

I must admit I do try to keep my track very clean and as I use PECO points my frogs are much smaller than Hornby's which also migth explain the lack of a problem

[ColinB]

I don't have a Railroad Black 5 so I can only offer general advice. I am assuming either you broke the tender pickups or it never had them. Looking at the service sheets it looks like the tender uses the Ringfield motor based tender with the motor removed. So if I am right you want the pickups that screw on each end of what was the motor housing. If you desperately want them, the easiest way is to buy a Henry drive off Peters Spares https://www.petersspares.com/hornby-x9105-henry-motor-drive-unit-green-wheels-extra-pickups.ir which will cost you £19.99. Rob the pickups and then sell the rest of it on EBay.

You will probably get £15.00 for the armature alone.

If your tender is the more conventional type, then look up spares for the normal Black 5. I think they also used that same tender on the Scot, Duchess and Princess locos, but you would need to check. If so then lookup spare parts for them to see if any are what you are looking for.