Rana Temporia

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!

Maybe a simpler solution would be to standardise on a single motor type for ease of availability and someone (Hornby, Peter’s spares, SOT?) create motor mounts for each type of loco Chassis. Hornby did this when they first introduced a can motor into the Nellie 040 chassis. With 3D scanning and printing this should be an easy task without the need to produce a moulded plastic version. The lack of availability of spares and unreliability of new models is one of the reasons I have stopped buying them. They are supposed to work, why would I pay £100 plus for an ornament?

GNR Gordon, apparently there were only 34 made according to the latest Ramsays guide. The full wording should say Hornby USM Debut December 1986 and they were given away at a share launch debut In 1986 So will be a made in Britain model. In Good condition it would be valued at around £400 but I got it at the normal price for one of these 040 locos. I have never seen one before and that is what made be buy it as I’m familiar with most of these locos. I have no idea how or where the seller got it from? The condition isn’t as bad as it looks in the photo, it looked OK on my iPad before I posted it, perhaps some compression of the photo has taken place. The hooks are missing if there ever were any and there is a small chip out of the front of the cab. The transfers are worn but intact. I’m not sure what to do with it, whether to keep it or sell it on. Most of my rarer items whigh are mainly for display but kept in running order are much older than this. IF it is the correct valuation AND I can get someone to pay somewhere near it I could have a maroon WAB tank and an electric blue EM2 for that which would be more in keeping with the rest of my stock. For the moment it’s on display. If I could find one of these a month I’d be happy!

I bet not many people have one of these. I got it at a bargain price as well, probably the rarest 040 made by Hornby. /media/tinymce_upload/0796ab2f91ff4e7fc1ad3c5250bd2264.jpg

They had one of these at the East Lancs Railway last time I visited which wasn’t that long ago.

What is the make of track depicted on the front of the Triang fifth edition catalogue? It is definitely not series 3 as it’s too fine a profile. It looks to have clips to the track base every few sleepers.

After seeing on one of these forums that the replacement 040 motors were only £2.99 from Hornby as opposed to silly prices elsewhere I bought a few. Having several broken ones I decided to open one up that would run if started manually but not start on its own. There is still plenty of carbon on the brushes but there is a loose brass ring which appears to have come off from behind the commutator.I am not going to fix the motor but thought people might like to see one of these in a dismantled state. The plastic bit at the front hold the front bearing and the brushes. The metal bit at the back holds the magnets And back bearing. The armature looks clean and in good condition. Such a shame that with a bit more design these could be made repairable, instead they are an unsustainable throwaway item. /media/tinymce_upload/472188264b64ee185d3a4f3bdbbb9f8a.jpg