Rana Temporia

While i was trying to sort my computer out I thought I’d have a look at this Playcraft D6100 I got in a box of junk ages ago. No use to me as all my other Playcraft stock has the Peco type couplings. This is a very early version from the beginning of the 60s although I don’t think the body is original. It is a metallic blue and the only ones made early on were green, just like BR as Rail Blue didn’t exist then. How do I know the chassis is early? It has brass gears and drive to all axles As well as the Tri-ang type Lanal couplings. Later versions had plastic gears and then later only drive to one bogie. Stil, there didn’t seem much wrong with it so decided to give it 5 mins. originally it didn’t work but power applied to the motor made it run, the usual problem with these locos is oxidation or dirt on the pick-ups or wheels. They have a system where the wheels have stub axles and brass rods rub on these, held down by brass springs on top of the bogies and brass contacts rub on these from the main chassis to transfer power. Sounds complicated but it isn’t. To access the bits you need to remove a nut from the top of the bogie pivot, usually held in place with wahat appears to be blue nail varnish. The bogie then drops out and all the brass contacts can be cleaned. The nut, washer below it and the brass rods are very easy to lose, I always work on a tray. Well, 5 mins has it running as new, no idea what i will do with it now! /media/tinymce_upload/9d49b365f84664f783c6e9d07d44309f.jpg The chassis showing the large motor fitted to these early locos. /media/tinymce_upload/9ee56eedc311c842011850cb896bd89e.jpg And the bogies showing the cleaNed stub axles and wheels on the pick-up bogie. /media/tinymce_upload/e897d1a3e34c63eb84e125800e5a10b1.jpg Brass springs on top of the bogie /media/tinymce_upload/999d6f706875f61983670fa1ead251e5.jpg

I know when I was at school in the 1970s our local model shop had some card wagon body kits (probably NOS) which were basically a printed piece of card that you had to cut out the parts, mount them on some suitable medium and then stick them together. I think they were made for PECO wagon underframes. I made a couple by sticking them to balsa wood and adding them to Tri-ang chassis but they got damaged very easily. I did see some at one point with them mounted on thick card which looked better than mine. They may have been PECO? PECO certainly made cardboard interior kits for the Kitmaster coaches. There have been a number of articles in the model press over the years on making cardboard rolling stock, usually with the cardboard mounted on a more stable medium such as Perspex, although not always. I have considered creating new card sides to add to rolling stock as I use CAD at work and to create a drawing is not difficult, as long as I have a good scale drawing to start with.

Now back home so can add some detail to my earlier post. I’m still not sure about copyright around posting pictures from books so I am just going to give the links unless one of the moderators says it’s OK to go ahead. First book is Steam Locomotives in Industry by The Industrial Locomotive Society published by David and Charles in 1967 but available in libraries and second hand. Plate no 87 on page 78 shows a Peckett inside cylindered 040 side tank loco numbered 27 which looks very much like the Tri-ang Nellie. Originally working for the Workington iron and Steel Company, moved to Harrington pits at Lowca. Same book, plates 139 and 140 on pages 113 and 114 show two industrial versions of the same type of loco as the Hornby ‘Smoky Joe’, The first built by Neilson and the second by North British to the same design. Both went through multiple owners, only real difference to the Hornby model is the shape of the chimney/funnel/smokestack and the lack of the caledonian star on the smokebox door. Both would be a very simple conversion. Of more interest to someone wanting to adapt a Smoky Joe to a real industrial engine could check out the photo on pages 40/41 of “Industrial Steam in the ‘50s and ‘60s” by Eric Sawford Published by Sutton Publishing Ltd. in 2004. This has a picture of one of the Caledonian locos which became LMS 16037 and which was sold to Stewart & Lloyds Colliery. Given the number 27 In the photo it is in a similar state to many Hornby locos with the chimney broken off. One conversion I started but have never finished for various reasons is the altering of a Hornby Holden tank to resemble the Dubs Crane tank 4101 which is preserved in working order. It’s 90% there but is currently in a box stored away. Once it resurfaces I will have to get it finished. Most industrial locomotive books have a picture of it in them. There are many more industrial locomotive albums but the ones above have pictures related to this thread.

The top tank and the original version of the continental tank both used the normal 040 chassis, the continental tank was a cheap source of spare X04 motors a while ago but the supply sems to have dried up. The same loco with the same chassis but a can motor in a plastic cradle was also easy to find but again seems to have disappeared from junk boxes recently. More the shame since I bought a job lot of the can motors very cheaply. Later the continental tank and a re-bodged version of the NB diesel shunter that resembeled a Barclay shunter, along with the Swedish diesel had a fold up plastic chassis with a large and cheap can motor in it. There was also a continental tank MK2 which was available in green, black and red but also in other colours with names such as ‘Bulldog‘. The Caledonian tank as stated was in some cases sold to industry, and some were made to the same basic design for industrial use. I don’t have access to my books at the moment but may be able to post some more details up at the weekend. One book also has a picture of an industrial loco which looks more like ‘Nellie’ than anything the Southern ever had and carries the number 27, I wonder if the green version was based on that loco!.

The mainline wheel standards were above most other makes, I have a Royal Scot set with an oval of track with a siding and none of my other stock will run on the track, it must be code 80 or finer but was made by PECO just like the Airfix track available at the time which was fine. However, if you do buy a loco expect to have to buy a replacement chassis or get into some very heavy repairs, you may need two locos to make one good and then it might not last long. As well as the split chassis/breaking axle problem I have had a few with the wiring on the armature break where it goes to the commutator. Add to that that the wheels don’t seem that great on picking up current once they have been used for a while and that is with Keeping them clean. The only two Mainline locos I use now are both peaks with extra pick-ups fitted to the motor bogie as without them they were useless. I have an 03 with a replacement Bachman’s chassis but got rid of all the steam locos apart from the royal Scot set. I know someone who replaced the 4MT chassis with a Tri-ang Britannia chassis sawn off behind the motor. It is probably still running! After Mainline I think some were made by Replica and Dapol before Bachmann, and Hornby have some now as well. The history is quite complicated And has been explained many times in the model railway press. If you are looking at these locos online look closely and you will often see that the wheels/con rods are out of line but the seller will say things like “small repair needed’ or ‘untested, probably works’ when they know full well It’s serious. So, they look good but have a very limited appeal unless you are into fitting new chassis or heavy repairs. Buyer beware!

I just managed to get this for not very much at all! I suspect some people will wonder what the shapeless casting is. It is a Gaiety Pannier tank from the 1950s, probably 10 years or so older than I am and it works perfectly without me having done enything to it. I would expect it to be running long after 90%+ of the locos on sale today have given up and although it doesn’t have th modern detail refinements it will fit in better with the rest of my stock! It must be one of the heavist locos I own. I need to tidy up the paintwork and add some couplings but that is about it. /media/tinymce_upload/4a1432546f58b21d26e214f44650a9a4.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/81a3bf3139f6a523e06d671f1382cfa3.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/dcf20af7e5ba7000109e10bd21f4480e.jpg

Sorry, forgot to mention, you shouldn’t need a powerful controller for these locos. The controller that came with them took D cells from memory and I think it was 3 of them, giving 4.5v of battery power. They were supposed to be able to run on 12v and mine do now but I think that’s what killed my original one off by putting too many wagons on it and running it on a standard controller. They were cheap and basic locos with a motor designed to function on batteries. Any controller should work on these.

MR, please can you post a picture of the rear pony truck? I have one of these locos with one missing and a tender for it. The standard princess type rear pony doesn’t connect to the flying Scotsman tender and I want to ‘bodge’ something that’s near enough!

OK, here are two locos that share the same chassis That should be easier to find than another Swedish shunter. The first is the ‘Barclay’ shunter which needs a repair as one of the pick-ups fell off and i can’t find it, the other is one of the blue primary series locos. I have another of these with a black chassis and there was also a black version with a number on the tanks but I can’t remember the number. This loco was also produced in various other colours with different types of chassis both clockwork and electric so you need this particular version. Note how the chassis clips into small square holes in the bottom of the bodies and the particular shape. Also the small dumb buffers on the diesel and lack of any on the steam loco. Good luck finding a replacement if the oil doesn’t work! If you look at one of the photos you can see the bearing at the top of the motor, a small drop got one of these chassis working perfectly. /media/tinymce_upload/26ffadf6c186aee81def7190aa3f7342.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/fcbbeeec38cd1ef190070941b8e1761d.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/2e90962af2d32b0afced007d55c5f6ef.jpg

I don’t think you can get spares for this mechanism as it was designed as a cheap throw away toy. However, you may be able to find a donor loco as the chassis was used under a couple of other locos. Look out for the blue ‘barclay’ model (not the modern version) with a red plastic chassis, itself quite rare, or a blue version of the continental tank loco with a red or black plastic chassis, usually described as a primary engine. This was also available in black with a black plastic chassis that would fit but you’d need to know what you were looking for. You can try lubricating the bearing at the top of the motor with model railway oil. Don’t use 3 in 1. I had one of the blue locos when they were still available and the plastic gears broke on it and there were no spares available then. I’ll try and post some photos tonight.

Some good points on here and I must admit I have considered a side business and doing swapmeets but having spoken to some other people who have been doing it for years have stuck with eBay and the like as a number of traders I have spoken to have abandoned their shops as they are makingso much more on line they can’t justify opening for the few people that come through the door. I think the main problem with the type of business MR wants to run is that most people want something that works and when it doesn’t they get something else and if it’s modern it’s probably not repairable anyway. I used to use Model Spares (Burnley), Eask Kent Models and Blackwells of Hawkwell for my Tri-ang and Hornby spare parts. I could get anything I wanted for a reasonable price from people who knew about the items. As the job I had then often took me to sites around Burnley the chap who ran modelspares was extremely helpful and let me go round to see him while he magnetised some of my locos and let me choose some spares. I know he is still trading on eBay and have bought off him but he has a much lower profile now. As referred to by others above, I have got used to purchasing non-runners and partially complete locos for parts and now have a large selection. I often dispose of the unwanted bits at a silly low price just to prevent build up. Just look on eBay at the number of Tri-ang Princess rolling chassis for salE from pennies to silly prices. No-one wants them, they want the rods, pistons, pick-ups, screws etc. Parts that get lost or break. The chassis and wheels are virtually indestructible apart from the plastic insulators. If I want for example a piston block and individually it’s £10 or more due to rarity but I can get a non-runner chassis for £5, take the piston block off it and get £5 for the rest it has only cost me to get into a swap meet or for postage. Of course, this doesn’t cover my knowledge or time but as it’s for me I don’t mind. If I had to think about my time it wouldn’t make any business sense. I would really like to see MR’s business succeed as it’s needed but don’t know how it will fit in with the changes in the model railway community. I would suggest advertising in the main magazines but that’s an expense with the risk you won’t get the money back. There is already the advantage that you are well known and respected. I suppose it’s up to you and what you want to do?

I just got these. I suspect most people will be wondering so what! These are two Jouef coaches that were contained in a set with a clockwork D6100 diesel, a tierwag car carrier, large oval of track, fencing, level crossing etc. The set was a UK version of a French set, the only difference being the loco which in the French version was either a diesel or electric clockwork locomotive. I had one of the UK sets and it was one of my favourites when growing up. The loco worked much better than any of the Tri-ang/Hornby ones I had and seemed to go on forever. I now have a couple of the locos and one of the French electric ones as well. They don’t run as well as I remember but are very similar to the hornby ones I have. I swapped the set for some mainline wagons in my teens and have recently been after some of the coaches. Apart from some very overpriced full sets, these are the only ones I have seen that are all intact for years, most have had the bogies broken off and re-attached with bolts. They are cheap and nasty, in a non-prototypical colour and of a continental prototype. Add to that they are HO rather than OO. However, they run very well and they make me happy, need I say more? /media/tinymce_upload/986d46fb2f76d3f5e1b91f3bf7ee1a9e.jpg

I have not been able to log on for a week or so but other people have so must be my wi-fi! I could view but not post. I visited the swap meet in Bolton on Sunday and managed to get a badly painted but perfectly working Tri-ang Hymek for not very much money, all I wanted was the top of the motor bogie to repair an EM2, done now so I have 70% of a Hymek to get rid of. Much cheaper than buying the parts separately! Also got two Grafar coaches cheap, I just wanted the bogies to repair some I already had so again two bodies now to get rid of. I just received my latest shipment of parts from Hornby, well packaged and everything I ordered. Full marks again! They will keep me busy for a while so I don’t think I’ll be buying anything in the near future..........famous last words! 😛

/media/tinymce_upload/94e77349f4cf7933525eaca1d8a09e76.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/913c3c9565f1acf0ea55d1e0f87d703a.jpg I just got this one. I already have a couple but this is in much better condition so it looks like the others will be off as soon as I get round to it! Not sure if the BR transfers are original, I thought these had the unicycling ferret on them but then it has mk3 couplings and the chassis seems original. There is also no crack around the screw hole which most of these locos have.

Some time ago I asked a question about replacement chassis to allow me to run Dublo Tanker bodies with my. Tri-ang collection. I can’t now find that post but cheap n nasty Lima wagon chassis are the right size! I Got this from a Lima Homepride wagon, I just had to make a new sub-frame from a rectangle of black plasticard, cut 4 slots to take the Dublo tabs and then glue it together using the original Lima weight stuck in place. metal wheels and runs great for an item out of a junk box! I need some more now. Not as exciting as a loco on the workbench but still useful! It looks tattier on the photo than it actually is. /media/tinymce_upload/e8ad4f2247df52cd3313e460711715f8.jpg

The reason there are two motors is that each car picks up off both wheels on one side and only one on the other. This means that at some point the only pick-up wheel will be on dirt/plastic frog/other blockage to current flow. The original idea of Hornby was that the other car would pull/push the other one so that it woudln’t stall, hence the two motors. The only way to improve performance is to electrically connect the two cars with some VERY flexible wire. Once this has been done some people have removed one of the motors and had a good experience but if you do it with the electrical circuit as it is the unit will stall constantly. If you are Ok with soldering you can araldite a bit of circuit board near the ‘dead’ wheel and install a pick up to it, passing a wire up through the floor to the existing motor and solder it to that, you have one more pick-up per coach then. As for appearance i think these are good for when they were designed and once they are running OK I am happy with them. I have one blue and one orange,unit. Unfortunately the real units are still in use in the Bolton/Wigan area but we will miss them when they’ve gone.

This rather grotty Tri-ang Princess has just ‘donated’ chassis parts to the other two locos Which are now complete and running fantastically. I just need to add the front bogie on the 262 and tidy the lining up. Try doing that with modern locos! There is a lot to be said for common parts! /media/tinymce_upload/20483bf059a75615283773bb080a3110.jpg

I know this isn’t my usual type of model but I couldn’t resist these two from a famous auction site. They are 3D printedfrom France, a steam tram loco and a petrol loco which would be fine for your micro layout. The printing is the best I have seen and needed very little preparation. Just spayed in undercoat at the moment. KATO chassis just clips in and plenty of room for liquid gravity so great performers!/media/tinymce_upload/9458d3ea9024a3796a1e000277490c89.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c5bb7fc5a3a84df90c4f7baf9e1cae0d.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/fbba69ef5ee8c95229f130805c8a56f1.jpg

Latest ‘box of railway junk’ included the Tri-ang locos as seeN, all non runners when first tested. Princess Elizabeth, now running almost silently, superb motor. Very old Jinty, exactly the same. Battlespace jinty runs well but not as well as the other 2 and Nellie has a worn out chassis with the axles loose in the frames but very good motor so stripped for parts. An enjoyable hour spent fixing them. Mostly just cleaning and lubrication but there were also several track pins inside these locos. Look forward to the next lot!/media/tinymce_upload/f799f205ff49d17aecb7be056929a076.jpg

A Job lot of old catalogues, I already had the Playcraft one but this is in better condition. Never seen the Master Models one before but I have seen some of their products. /media/tinymce_upload/d4a84d8f8327ae5167fcc40573b3c962.jpg

You can get lazer printed refurb kits off a well known auction site for both these locos. i have used them and although they are not perfect, for just over a fiver they make a huge difference and are simpler than using water slide decals. Basically you cut them out and stick them on, then paint the edges of the paper to match the loco and varnish. I have covered some very poor examples of the R59 and triang princesses with these and they are good enough for me. I’d be tempted to spray the loco bodies black (or green? For the R59) so you get an even finish.

RAF96 must have been posting at the same time!/media/tinymce_upload/9dbf767514db0fcaca2807c409e96804.png

The real one doesn’t look anything like the Hornby one! I just googled Hornby APT Pantograph and loads of pictures came up. I have just tried to post a screen grab as I’m using my tablet so can’t save the photos but every time I try the forum locks up. I will try again later.

The metal parts were the same as the original class 86 one. many of the APTsI have seen still have the base on top of the power bogie and you can swap the metal parts over if you are careful (I have done it). However, the class 86 pantos are also going for silly money but that would probably be an easier place to start. My APT is in storage so I won’t be accessing it any time soon sorry. Have you done a search on the internet for photos as old auction site photos. Often come up.

I got these off eBay on a cd years ago. They are no longer available so this is a great offer of resource. They have been very useful to me as I can usually sort a triang loco without reference to the service sheet but Dublo/wrenn is another story!