Rana Temporia

I have noticed the floating back and to armature problem in a couple of X03 motors causing erratic running in one direction which took some time to diagnose. As Eyesgoing found, a simple shim fixed the problem

I thought the only difference for the 2-rail version was the press on plastic bogie side frames as opposed to the original metal screw on ones and of course the coupling. Mine has an incredibly weak motor that I never got to the bottom of as everything checked out OK. It’s in a box somewhere until I can get round to it if I ever do.

My main memory of that visit was just how huge the French and German locos were compared to ‘ours’. Do they ever have open days there or is it permanently closed to the public? I used to like the large three rail layout in the goods shed at Bury Transport Museum before it became the East Lancs Railway.

I was also at Carnforth when Hardwicke was there. I was at Junior school and think I was about 10. I drew a picture on the Monday and then found out my teacher had also been there, even better I found out she was a railway enthusiast and knew quite a lot about trains. We go through Carnforth on a regular basis to go walking around Arnside and Silverdale, and sometimes see engines in steam outside the old Steamtown shed. We don’t usually get a good view though due to the coaches and diesels in the way.

Excellent solution. I have a MK 1 powerbogie with the smooth wheels from a scrap Dock Shunter in it. I retained the original axles with the brass gears though as the plastic ones uses on later models either disintegrate or come loose on the splines on the axles. The smooth ones used to be easy to find but I think everyone is looking for them now, same as the smooth DMU wheels.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I found a bag of Jouef HO metal wheels I bought years ago to improve the running of my Playcraft stock, and the axles are the exact right diameter. On the first motor bogie I changed all the wheels for Jouef ones as there was a 0.3mm discrepancy with the diameter. This left me with two plain wheels without traction tyres which were happily insulated so replaced the ones with traction tyres on a second bogie. I have a few more to do but have plenty of Jouef wheels. These are the Eurostar motor bogie, which I bought several of as they were silly cheap at around £6 a go and I have a few DMU kits to build at some point, these are the correct wheelbase. I think they are £8.99 off Hornby at the moment. I had a short on one and traced it to the contacts from the wheels pressing on the metal body of the motor. The magnets in these motors are something else, they collect all my mini screwdrivers and other tools given half a chance!

Tony, want to make it a self propelled unit which is why I need all 4 wheels to conduct. Just looking at what options I have.

Thanks all, the wheels are on a motor bogie which is why I need to retain the original axles and they are 1.7mm diameter. No-one has replacements without traction tyres and I need to ditch them to fit extra pick-ups so I wondered what else was available with smooth wheels.

Thanks for the info on predicative text. I never had this problem on the old forum for Hornby so it must be the interaction of the new one with my iPad.

This is a Hornby forum…….so why does the predicated spelling change Hornby to Hornsby every time I type it?

I want one of those cups that holds around 2 pints of tea with every Hornby order just like I get with stuff from Sports Direct even when I don’t know it’s them I’ve ordered off.

I am looking to change some wheels but need to retain the original axles. Does anyone know whet the axle diameter is on R8096 12.6mm wheels or X6251 dummy loco wheel class 395?

I have a few of the ex-Electrotren 0-6-0 tanks under the Jouef junior line label that have donated or are waiting to donate their very well made and running chassis to 3D printed UK industrial locos. They have also been released under the Hornsby brand as NCB and other fictitious liveries in a variety of colours. The body is a nice moulding and some of the available versions have very well applied lining and other decoration.

Thanks, I can only see pictures I have posted over the past few months and can’t add anything new as I don’t have a website. I have tried pasting but that doesn’t work either. The world will have to wait for my picture of a restored 1963ish Farish 61xx tank that is older than I am!

Go with T gauge and you could have a OO 8x4 in there! Mind you you’d need pretty good eyesight. In one of the magazines a good few years ago someone made a OO9 live steam layout I think in a briefcase that opened out to have the track oval and storage for the stock in the middle.

My first time posting a photo on the new forum! See how it goes…. Off work today with the Lurgy and felt a bit more like it this afternoon so finally fixed my 1960s Graham Farish Prairie tank using parts from a contemporary pannier chassis. Now runs superbly. Overly crude by today’s standards but weighs a ton and quite powerful. I always wanted one of these as a child and I have had one or two with the plunger pick-ups and rubbishy massive motor that have very quickly gone on to someone else. The motor in this one is similar to the Wrenn R1. How do I post a photo?

Elloloco, like you I have joined a number of other forums but have left down to the outright and blatant nastiness of a minority of the people on there. This forum is moderated properly as it is a commercial forum for a manufacturer. Some of the other forums are readable without a log in and that’s good enough for me most of the time. Getting used to this one now, as we all will. Speaking of some of the people who used to post a lot has anyone heard from Sarahagain or what she changed her name to (sorry I can’t remember, I think it was Thorston or something similar), she used to post some great information on here and had a massive amount of knowledge.

Tony57, I have come across those rivet connectors as well on several old locos including Princesses, Jintys and Nellies. There doesn’t seem to be any particular reasoning or timescale and there is also no guarantee they are original as all the locos were second hand. I think the budd wheels are the same as the hymek/class 31/EM2.

It took some getting used to but it does seem faster. My main problem is that whenever I go back it takes me to the TT posts which aren’t listed on the ones I want quick access to so have to untick all forums and re-check the ones I do want. Annoying but not unduly so.

Didn’t the pilot scheme diesels have hot plates in the cab for cooking on?

I got some direct from Hornby recently intending to use them in a couple of DMU kilts I have but never built…They are the correct wheelbase and I think around £6 from Hornby.

Sorry, also forgot to mention that Jouef produced these sets which contained some ‘scenery’ and an incline. This is from the 1974 catalogue.

Some of the Mainline (Palitoy) train sets came with a cardboard station kit which were also available as separate items and weren’t bad models although the platform was a bit short for the sets they were supplied with. Lots of sets have come with cut-out cardboard tunnels on the back of the box and a number of Tri-ang/Hornby sets had plastic tunnel mouths with a cardboard tunnel structure. Playcraft (Jouef) produced the lakeside set which was a complete layout in a box. Very few survive, it came with a track mat, station, track, goods shed, level crossing etc. and either a passenger or goods train with the HO D6100 loco. The photo is from the 3rd edition of the UK catalogue with extra trains displayed! I have one of these sets, it’s great.

With modern household equipment does the suppressor cap actually achieve anything? I bought a huge bag of them from a radio spares shop years ago for the price of one genuine one from Hornby and until recently would take the time to solder them on to any locos I repaired. I’ve not bothered for some time and haven’t noticed any problems with my computer or telly. There was one in the old type power clips (not sure about modern ones) and having two in parallel doubles the capacitance (opposite of resistors) so not sure it’s work as efficiently anyway if the value is chosen for a certain electrical frequency. I don’t think I have ever had a problem with Lima ringfield motors other than a strong smell of ozone in the room, they are pretty much indestructible.

Bee, info on the backs of them. The paintings are by J Petrie.