Raising doubt of the motors of the latest generation locomotives

[VESPA]

Hornby don't make motors, well not of late, so I suspect they are using "off the shelf" ones. So somewhere in China someone is making them, that is how come Sam found one. Trouble is I suspect once there is no demand for thousands of them the Chinese stop making them. I hate to say it but if Hornby were to go bust, then you would probably find some firm in the UK making them. Sadly at the moment if they did it, they would get into trouble with Hornby.

 

 

I think that would be a good idea. Peters Spares are forging ahead with own branded items for hard to get spares such as traction tyres, buffers etc. The one thing about China made items is the detail that falls off and the part supply when it does. Surely motors should be available for all models. Imagine buying a Bentley and they no longer make the engines two months later. That would go down well. As locos are now reaching the dizzy prices of over £220 surely spares should be available.

[threelink]

I have just had stunning proof of the durability of older technology. Some time ago I bought a "barn find" lot of 1950s and 60s Triang locos and rollling stock on ebay. Barn find was an apt description - everything was bright rust red inside and out, stuffed with mud and rust and stank of cow. The loco chassis were seized up blocks of corrosion products with the motors buried deep inside. Everything had obviously been in water (or worse) for years. I have just finished restoring the last loco, a Triang Steeple Cab. Apart from an extensive and time consuming clean, the application of brute force to free the seized armature and axles, and a lot of oiling, only one replacement brush and a new insulating sleeve were needed for it to run perfectly. The remains of the overhead collector dissolved in my rust remover so it had to be replaced with a look-alike. The body cleaned up like new. The loco is as quiet as a mouse, pulls like an elephant and is controllable down to a crawl. It will outlast me. It cost £9.87 including the replacement parts. There's lots of scope for detailing and improvement at minimal cost. Show me a modern loco that will tolerate such abuse and still work so well (or even at all) and I will eat my hat. Why spend huge sums on modern stuff that won't last?

[Rana Temporia]

Threelink, been there, done that! It’s a great feeling when something that might have been written off starts to move again, and does so as well as it did when new. We’re they over engineered or was it that they were built to last AND be repairable?

[Tony57]

Hi Threelink

Well done getting all your barn find up and running, its a great feeling to get things going again

Hi Rana in answer to you question its both they were over engineered so they would last a life time and made to be home repairable if something went wrong.

I may have posted this before I have 3 Transcontinental F7 class locos all with the MK1 motor bogie in my collection all working, date of manufacture 1955-56.

How many of todays makes will be around in 30 years time let alone 60 years time?

[threelink]

Hi RT.

A bit of both, I think. Triang mechs strike me as being of near military specification in the sense that they are simple, easily repaired and tough enough to tolerate a lot of abuse before failing. I recently read that the X03/4 were originally designed as camera motors for WW2 photo recce planes - I do not know whether there is any truth in this but it seems plausible enough. Personally I consider their like to be the finest source of power for any loco, especially the later 5 pole versions from firms like Airfix.

I wholeheartedly agree with you about the sheer joy of rescuing something that, at first sight, seems too far gone to be salvable. Apart from the Steeple Cab, I also rescusitated a Triang Brit in the same lamentable condition. The port side valve gear had rotted through so had to be replaced and the starboard side collapsed after a while so was likewise replaced but nothing else needed renewal except, again, the insulating sleeve. There were also a Jinty and a Princess. Both chassis and one of the motors proved salvable but the bodies were celluloid and had warped themselves to destruction. I shall re-wheel the chassis (I don't like the old mazak wheels) and put them under kit bodies.

With toy and train fairs now reopening (HURRAH) I shall look for more suitable cases for treatment and sell off some of my surplus - stall already booked!

[threelink]

Hi Tony 57.

Snap, but I have only 2 F7s. The power bogies are indestructible, aren't they? I also have a Stuart Reidpath 0-6-0 mech which must be 80 years old if it is a day yet still runs, albeit rather noisily now.

[Rana Temporia]

I can’t compete with the Stuart Reidpath one but I do have two Tri-ang plunger princesses that I don’t run very often because I did have three…..Once the front of the motor disintegrates I haven’t found a way to fix them. I think the board absorbs water over time and gets soft/brittle and gives up when under pressure. It probably has asbestos in it as well. No spares after 70 years or so…disgraceful. TBH if I really wanted spares I could probably find them.

I did fix one early princess with a MK2 motor which fits between the frames like the original Zenith one but it was a real pain and you can’t tell once it’s re-assembled. I put an X04 armature in when the original burned out and it was a straight swap.

I do have a Gaiety pannier which runs like new with its long motor and a Trix tank with their version of an X04 type motor in it which again runs very well although it’s closer to HO than OO.

[Potterton]

@threelink

" Triang mechs strike me as being of near military specification in the sense that they are simple, easily repaired and tough enough to tolerate a lot of abuse before failing."

You've just described my Lada! stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye

[threelink]

@Potterton

Nothing wrong with Ladas that 3 layers of carpet and a big radio won't put right. I ran about in Ladas for years and they never failed me.

@Rana Temporia

An impressive collection of oldies but goodies and equally impressive ingenuity in repair techniques. In the "disgraceful" absence of spare parts I rely on old boxes of rubbish bought at train fairs. It's astonishing what one finds in the fluff, mummified sandwich crusts, wire and dead spiders in the bottom of such boxes.

[Potterton]

@threelink "I ran about in Ladas for years and they never failed me."

Me too. Since 1979 I've had a total of ten, including a period of a few years when I had four on the go at once. One I had decked out as a Russian police car and took to shows all over the country. It's now in a museum in Florida! (Should not have sold it. sleepy) The best one was a Riva I bought new. Did over 180,000 miles and never let me down. My current one is a Niva 4x4.

Sorry, I digress. Back to the trains! yum