Rana Temporia

Sorry, 35v; https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwiKsuH9pOfiAhVFBGMBHRzuCCwQFjAAegQIABAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tmnr.co.uk%2F&usg=AOvVaw0hLymXUcPk5eLwml7QJcbR

What equipment have you got? I presume you are referring to the locos you can ride In? There is a very interesting website devoted entirely to this range which i think worked off 20 or 24v? The one question I have never seen answered definitively is if they built an example of the 040 tank that was supposed to be the next loco in the range.

Sarah, the code is indeed BJ. The contents label is over earlier text that is printed directly on the box The only other Tri-ang box like this one that I have has my blue AIA AIA in it and some yellow foam around the loco which is original and has proved to be stable but the end flaps are long gone. I got that loco for a Birthday in the early 70s and it was second hand then and cheaper than an HO Lima class 33 that was for sale on the same stall at Manchester model railway exibition I think (or it may have been Blackburn?) I have a couple of the lift up boxes you show but with the 3MT tank in them. I have seen a WAB tank in a similar box to the flat one I photographed But that was a while ago. I have one of those Jinties in very good condition apart from some warping of the body and the motor looks as though it has never been used, I got it in a box of ‘junk’ last year and was going to put it in this box once I had a decent scan of it, but now it looks as though it may be historically inaccurate to do so! 😀

Funnily enough I just got these! (Still not tried to fix the flaps on my other boxes). I will be scanning these as soon as I get the opportunity and off to the printers! /media/tinymce_upload/5ab94b5599dce05951c2b9233123aacf.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/35a47c25507ad85aacae42441ffbe6cd.jpg

I presume by tank loco you either have a Tri-ang Jinty or one of the old saddle tanks? The original Jinty body won’t take either the later Tri-ang chassis or the Hornby version as the screw went down the chimney. The later tri-ang one it was under the boiler and the Hornby one is a clip fit. If you are happy with your filing then OK, but otherwise I would suggest that you get a Triang chassi with the better see through wheels on and swap them over. You could probably pick one up for 99p from a swapmeet or off eBay without the motor. The main difficulty is quartering the wheels correctly, there is loads of advice on here about how to do that. If it’s the saddle tank the screw was at the rear of the chassis through the bunker and fitted into a small extension piece, the same as the diesel shunter. It may be easier to swap this one for a complete later chassis, I have never tried?

Like many of the kids on my street I had the Blue Flier set with two coaches and the Yellow version of the Ruston shunter. I used to set it all up with my 00 clockwork in the middle and have it all running ‘til the batteries ran out And I had to wait for some more. From what I remember the plastic fishplates moulded onto the track were the weak point as they used to break. Who made the blue version of the track? I have seen a NOVO set with red track so I don’t think it was Novo but in the 80s the model shop in Bolton must have got a job lot of it from somewhere as they had it hanging up in bags. It was the first time I’d seen this blue track. I didn’t Think the Far East rip-off ever released accessories?

Great! Did you copy the box labels (R157) or are they from a particular font?

81F, The motor in the D6100 is very similar to the one in the Playcraft pacific, and the early version of the 040 tank. The two steam locos have a version of the motor that is single ended with just a bearing at the other end and as you say, you have to learn to drive them as he gearing allows the loco to coast for a couple of meters if running at high speed once you turn off the power. The original version of the pacific has gearing to front and rear axles, a later version has gearing to just one set of wheels and the only one I have had was constantly going out of quartering as there was too much stain on it and the centre of the wheels are a push fit. I ended up replacing the chassis with an earlier one which works perfectly. An even later version is brown, has better scale wheels, a tender drivE and costs a lot more. These early motors are very good and were designed to run with battery power so reach high speed with just a few volts. The later version of their motor which replaced all the big can motors looks similar to an X04 and can be very good but I have had a few poor examples. They are now spare parts!. Later versions of the diesel and electric models also lost all wheel drive and the brass gears were replaced with rubbishy plastic ones, later Jouef mversions having rubber band drive which is rubbish, often slips/breaks and can be a lot of hassle to replace.

I know this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but just got this, I already had the goods set. I really like the artwork on these sets, just as I like the artwork on the Tri-ang/Hornby picture boxes. Quite why they chose Euston as the name for this set I don’t know, i thought the D6100s operated on the Eastern region in London before they were banished to Scotland. I could be wrong, Anyway I didn’t pay very muchfor it. I think the loco is original and in very good condition. However, the loco and coaches are a mish-mash as they have different couplings. I am sure this set with this artwork should have everything with the PECO type couplings. The Lanal type were earlier and the box sets were different. Again, I may be wrong on that but have never seen them in this set range before. The coaches look new, not bad since they are 50+ years old. I have the track parts to make the set complete and hopefully can repair the box. One thing I can’t get across with the pictures is the smell. The Playcraft locos have a very distinct smell about them which must be the lubricants used. It is not unpleasant at all. /media/tinymce_upload/5af1b2a561ef233ad3dfa4f22e9e90d1.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/f05dfbc29f0b34e70df2d7049648dec4.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/79d1892a8326a3a50d734ebcdd3fc408.jpg

BTW thanks very much for posting those pictures of the adaptor rails, I have never seen them before. I thought they would have been shorter.

I had some of these in the last lot of this type of track I acquired as part of a job lot. I think they are suppressor rails before the cap was fitted to locomotives?

I am home now so can post some more pictures. The main obvious difference between this track and all previous Tri-ang track other than the rail section is the fishplate is on the opposite side. Here is a pic showing the difference between the original and a more modern track section. /media/tinymce_upload/cb78f018562f84ff8b356bedccc3fe5f.jpgNote the original one on the left has rail chairs that go much higher up the rails causing the bouncing I referred to yet the rails sections are identical. Also for interest is a comparison with a section of Playcraft 1960s track. It is the one in front. An almost identical rail section. /media/tinymce_upload/c961b10007a6af9718b817af13b9cbfd.jpg

Sarah, If I was to make some boxes they may look a lot like these! 😉 The top one is a scan of a damaged box so has all the marks and discolouration of the original. The ‘Neverwazza’ is a result of the person I use for my printing deciding to ‘tidy the scan up’ by completely re-doing it. He found a near-identical font!. Unfortunately i tore this one when cutting out the window And need to repair it. The picture is from a later Jouef catalogue and I had to put a blue wash around the picture to match the scan of the catalogue. The number is the Jouef catalogue number. None of these are for re-sale or for anyone else, they are only for my use and so hopefully don’t break any copyright laws. /media/tinymce_upload/a6b52389ec54c7e2b2645a11dcb03f9a.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/bf520ef797c454b593e152ab7a9b01f6.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/e8d1796760e3a6951996111063e5622d.jpg

The first picture is definitely the first version of system 6 track with modern rail section and will sort of join to modern track. It used the same geometry as super 4 but with better scale rails which unfortunately were held in very high chairs meaning that the clearance for flanges was very limited unlike the same rail section in PECO code 100. Playcraft (Jouef) had been using the same code of track but with different geometry since the 60s or possibly even the 50s and all my old stock runs well on their track. The oldest is brass, the later is steel. A shame the first Hornby ‘scale’ track was so poorly designed. All main makes of 00 sectional track in the UK are descended from the Super 4 geometry, and now Hornby sell their track in Europe so are their ranges.

Probably true but in this case I don’t care about the value as i can’t see me ever selling them on, they are purely for my collection And how they look. Of course, things may change but I would expect a repaired end flap to be worth as much as one without an end flap at all. At least all the bits are there. The cardboard used on the Playcraft boxes is particularly thin in some cases. i suspect they were never meant to make it past getting the coach or wagon out and adding it to the train collection. I am surprised so many have survived, in some cases in very good condition. Now, if I wanted perfect boxes I could join the Tri-ang society who have had repro boxes made. Who knows, I may make some myself 😀

Sarah is dead right. It is the first reversible track, as she says the original was single ended so each piece could only go one way round and there were no fishplates, just connectors at the ends. The original rails could also be made from brass or steel. The two main differences are the length of the straight rails and the colour of the base. I have had some of the single ended track before but never this particular version and there is still some silvery effect to the track base which doesn’t show up too well in the photos. The straights are longer than those that were released with the standard track as they are the same length as those from the plunger princess set. According to Pat Hammond this track was altered for use as people wanted more to increase their layouts and what became the standard length straight rails hadn’t been manufactured at the time, as a result this particular track was only made in 1952. So, a question that Sarah may be able to answer? This track came in a job lot with amongst other items some empty boxes for the plunger princess and the 6”LMS coaches out of the original Rovex set. I have never seen a plunger princess set with this type of track Before. Does anyone know if Tri-ang released the last of the batch of plunger locos with these rails in the set or did they use up the boxes on the first version of the metal wheeled princess? Maybe it’s just co-incidence they were in the same lot? Anyway, of interest to me as I’d never seen any of this track before and probably never will again!

Thanks for all the advice. I may try a couple of options and see which works best. I’ll post up my findings.

One of the topics that comes up on here regularly is around second hand track. Track is one of the few things I won’t buy secondhand unless I can have a good look at it and it’s in good condition otherwise it is just money down the drain. Due to the heavy rain I have had to abandon my plans for tonight so I sorting through my junk boxes and came across some track which I didn’t enen know I had anymore! This first picture shows the earliest of the system 6 track which led to the current track range. The rails are steel, the end sleepers interlock and the fishplates are short. Also, for anyone with older stock, the rail chairs on the sleepers are too high and anything with large flanges bounces along giving poor running. personally i think this type of track is fit only for recycling or making scenery with. I would never use it! /media/tinymce_upload/a6decc6bc9c804bc8f2285a9e2065a55.jpg This track was replaced by something that most people will recognise and very similar to what is available today, in fact all the major UK manufacturers (and continental names under the Hornby branding) now use this type of track to the same geometry. This piece of track is still steel but otherwise is very similar to current production which is nickel-silver. Most of my old stock runs perfectly well on this type of track and being steel, locos with magnadhesion work well on it. Often says ‘Made in Austria‘ on the underneath. /media/tinymce_upload/4a6eabc8e5daa4d1fe8d618f6c168991.jpg This piece of track is as found and would need a clean before use but otherwise isn’t in that poor a condition and could probably be used in a siding with new fishplates added. Very similar track was made by Peco I believe for Airfix and Palitoy (Mainline). The Airfix track had black sleepers and was fully compatiable while the Mainline track had brown sleepers and a much finer rail section which looked better but you couldn’t run any older stock on it. Later Lima track was to the same geometry but I am unsure if they made their own. Peco Settrack under their own brand was also fully compatiable and had small radius curved points that you could go between first and second radius with. I think the Peco track was nickel silver? It had brown sleepers and I exchanged all my Hornby points for Peco as they were much better! So, if buying second hand track beware and make sure that you are buying something that will work with your rolling stock And is in good enough condition to use otherwise it might just be one stop away from the bin. In this case new is probably better every time!

I have a number of old Tri-ang and Playcraft boxes that the end flaps have come off and would like to know the best way to fix them back on. I know I can use tape on the inside but I have seen one suggestion of using tissue paper and paper glue which i expect would look better but not be very strong. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

I recently bought a job lot of equipment as I wanted some of the parts in it. Amongst the box was this track which at first appears to be normal Tri-ang ‘standard’ track but isn’t really. So a question for people who like to look these things up (I know there are some people on here who will know the answers off the top of their head) 1. why is this track ‘special’? 2. What year was it made 3. Name 2 differences between this and the Tri-ang standard track. A clue, it is not the first track produced and does not have brass rails! /media/tinymce_upload/ce769d5145dd986aa200bb3bdf77b7b1.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/69e26da3225f2775c4062871abef9f8e.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/10a99fdab2bbcc95112de499926181b6.jpg

As stated above, it depends on condition and how much someone is prepared to pay on the day. I have two of these sets, one I paid about £8 for and another one in better condition (virtually mint apart from the cellophane on the lid) I paid 99p plus postage for because no-one else bid on the day for it. I think the version with the green 7321 loco and the picture box cover (great picture by the way!) generally goes for more but if you put items on for auction you may get more than you expected, or need to be prepared to accept a lot less! If you put a fixed price you may get no interest whatsoever. These sets were made in large numbers over a long time with different boxes, different coloured wagons, different coloured locos, proper track, plastic track etc. unless it is a particularly rare version AND someone wants it I suspect you are looking at £5 to £10 at the most.

Home now so can check, Ramsays guide lists the Postman Pat set as T107 and says it was made between 1984 and 1987. For Percy thre are a number of different versions as the link above will show. Pat Hammond’s book, again Sarah refers to it above has the postman Pat loco as R774. Over 21000 of these sets were sold. The book also refers to the clockwork Percy and says it was used in two sets. The orange track was referred to as playtrains track. I have no idea what happened to ours, we had quite a large layout with numerous points and I think a crossing.

You have the remnants of two separate sets there. Firstly the Postman Pat set and secondly the Percy set. One of my sons had one from about this time with the orange plastic track Which was actually quite well designed for clockwork track as you could turn it over and have the curves running either way, and with the points you could have quite an interesting layout. From memory the wagons will not run on normal track as they have flangeless wheels but the locos are Ok, although it looks as if your Percy may have difficulty as one of the flanges is broken. I can’t remember which coloured wagons went with which set but it probably wasn’t consistent anyway, You can probably replace the wheels with something that will run on normal track but I have never tried it, I don’t know if the moulds were altered.

When matching a colour I usually take the model down to my local model shop who have a huge range of colours of several makes. I used to only use Humbrol or Railmatch paints but recently I have been using more of the acrylic paints, no idea what make they are but they come in a small plastic bottle and there is a massive range. The colour chart below them on the stand is very accurate nd I usually hold the model up to that and go for the nearest. Maye surprisingly the hardest colour I have tried to match so far is the yellow used by Tri-ang on their Transcontinental double ended blue diesel. In all the ranges there is nothing that’s ‘close enough’ for me.

I managed to get these which is a Jouef clockwork set, this version I believe from 1970. The loco works perfectly and I know it’s a toy but my favourite train set of my youth was the Jouef/Playcraft clockwork D6100 with two red french coaches, car carrier, large oval of track, level crossing etc. This is the first one I have seen at a sensible price for some time. I have a number of Jouef clockwork locos, all perfectly working and just need the German loco to complete the set. /media/tinymce_upload/fb1049ac3191217c78f1cba96822c046.jpg