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81F

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Posts posted by 81F

  1. Off the back of several other threads and both the Hornby and Rapido Titfield Thunderbolt packs, can anyone think of films or TV programmes that might inspire a Train Pack, Layout or even just a running session and what models might be available.

    Given that I have both the above train packs and have just bought the PECO Monkton Coombe station building Kit (together with a Wills Ground Level Signal box), you can probably guess what I might try to fit in that spare 8'x1' area above my hidden sidings.

  2. The problem with the GPO film Night mail is that it is LMS. As a result it is quite easy to make up a passable formation using either Hornby or Bachmann LMS BGs.

    I also have a BR blue/grey set which have some Mk1 BGs to complete the train.

    However, the GWR one is a problem due to the lack of GWR BGs. The only rtr one I know of is the Hakesworth full break but the GWR livery is slightly ore modern than that on the Night Mail coach.

    As an aside, I can find no reference to a GWR "Night Mail" and I am sure the GWR mail trains carried "Royal Mail" or "Ocean Mails" can anyone confirm.

  3. My favorite Grafar coaches were the paneled GWR versions. I acquired two rakes (suburban and mainline) to run behind my Hornby Dean singles.

    Although it is possible to chop the old couplings off and turn the bogies round to rivet a wide Triang coupling onto it, I 3D printed new bogies for them. These were based on a GWR fish-belly bogie and to add variety the GWR American type.

  4. Try Googling "alex oxfordshire Ironstone", and look up images. This should get you an image of a similar looking loco (a Hunslet rather than a Kitson) made by another manufacturer. It looks similar and is the right colour.

    Regarding a suitable model coach, I don't think there is anything rtr that would be accurate but from the photo a 00 Gauge Graham Farrish LNER suburban brake coach would be a reasonable likeness. However, these have,'t been made since the 1960s and have a slightly unusual square tension lock coupling. Again Google the description and look at the images to find the one you need.

    A couple of cautionary notes if buying on line, be careful not to order the more common n gauge version (they look identical but half size!). Also there is a corridor version that has large windows between the doors on one side.

    The roof on these is also very prone to chipping on the corners so look out for this defect. In addition the roof is white but can easily be removed for respraying.

    I have posted a photo of my Hunslet and a Grafar coach below if the moderator lets it through (sorry it is so blurry).

    Hope this is useful

  5. I think the Minitrains ones are H0e rather than 009, I certainly have a few of the Jouef versions dating back to the 1970s if not earlier.

    If you are not aware 009 is the same scale as OO (4mm/ft) but represents narrow gauge railways with a track gauge of around 2ft. To do this the model used 9mm gauge track (same as n gauge) rather than the 16.5mm of 00 standard gauge.

    In the same way H0e represents narrow gauge railways in HO scale (3.5mm/ft) by using 9mm gauge track to represent 750mm gauge railways or thereabouts.

    Hope this helps.

  6. I think the van may have been done as a key ring once. If it is anything like a VW beetle key ring I have with number 53 on it it might be to HO scale.

    As an aside, Reliant Robins were Fiberglass so in reality the body would not rust. However, I have seen the real one used for the series which was painted to look dirty and rusty - A very good example of 304.8mm/ft scale weathering!

  7. I have a mechanism "kit" like this waiting to go into a Dapol Rail bus - I wonder how noisy that will be!

    However, I am toying with the idea of using "rubber band" drive similar to that used in a rtr Piko starter locomotive but reducing it in size and possibly using a large traction tyre, but have not got round to experimenting with it yet.

  8. Regarding the 3 hole type drawbar I have ended up mixing and matching them between locos, particularly my Scotsman, P2 and Tornado to get thge best looking result which will still traverse my curves. Unfortunately I have lost track as to what is running with what!

    You might therefore like to try buying spare drawbars, intended for other types of loco, to see which suits your operating conditions.

    I should also say I have had similar experiences with some of my Bachmann locos, but have not tried any drawbar switches between these.

    However, I should add that I have nothing tighter than a PECO medium point on my mainline and goods loops. My Colliery branch is another matter with its setrack points, but as this is supposed to have a yellow weight limit, the large tender locos are rarely sent up there.

  9. Hi Bee,


    According to the Rapido instruction manual for the Lions and Thunderbolt "...Also on the tender is a hook that's designed to be compatible with Liverpool and Manchester Railway Coaches produced by another manufacturer...". However to use it Rapido's tension lock needs to be removed.

    This Hook looks the same as the Hooks on my Hornby L&M 3rd class coaches but there doesn't appear to be any chain.

    On the front of the loco there is a fine representative of the real coupling and no NEM pocket or dovetail.

    Hope this is helpful


  10. Just one thing to note with Triang wagons is that early ones did not have pinpoint axles. These can generally be spotted by the open ended axle boxes. Consequently it will be necessary to buy and fit brass bearings as described in other threads on this site.

    However, fitting new Hornby wheels to the latter Triang models with pinpoint axles is just a straight swap. The vast majority taking the Hornby 12.6mm wheels (Dapol metal wheels will also fit).

    A word of warning, while the new Hornby Mk1 coaches use 14.1mm diameter wheels the original Hornby/Triang Mk1s were designed to use the smaller 12.6mm wheel sets. So if you accidentally use the larger wheels on one of the the older coaches it will ride approximately 1mm too high which might cause problems when coupling to other stock.

    Also, as Hornby make a wider range of 12.6mm wheel than Triang ever did, I would take the opportunity to do a bit of research and use the correct type for the wagon/coach you are converting (i.e. plain disc, 3 hole disc spoked etc.).


  11. I hope this might be a useful tip.

    It was with some annoyance that I discovered that the narrow tension lock couplings fitted to the other makes Lion.

    To get round this I have taken a standard NEM pocket (either Hornby or Bachmann from my spares box) and shortened pocket quite drastically at the point where the parallel sides start to taper outwards.

    Next I cut the parallel shank on the coupling (Hornby Medium NEM tension lock), leaving just enough for it to locate into the remains of the socket.

    I then glued thew coupling into the pocket using superglue.

    I also did the same for the coach in the Rapido Titfield Thunderbolt pack.

    In addition I am also using the same technique to shortening the excessively over-scale gap between Rapedo's 16XX pannier and whatever it couples up to, although these do not need shortening quite so much.

  12. The Snow plough is held in place using two lugs that push into two holes in the buffer beam where the front buffers would normally go. When fitting the ploughs on the real locos the GWR actually removed the front buffers so this is fairly prototypical.

    My loco also came with a set of front buffers ao it is just a simple matter of pulling off the plough and inserting the replacement buffers.

  13. Many thanks for all the help.


    Sadly with my DC 009 layout, I think I will just have to clean it in small sections as it is only the track cleaner that causes the problem and I have just found that a KATO steeple cab will take it much further than my Farrish pannier did.


    Regarding the Wrenn loco, the magnet could well be weak so will try a Neo on it. Given that the bearings on the old Wrenn motors look significantly more robust than even the X04s I will chance the extra wear as this loco is only used for the occasional "Heritage" train of tinplate stock only very occasionally.

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