Rana Temporia

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

At one time there was someone selling cds with the Dublo and Tri-ang catalogues with service sheets on a famous online auction site. They may also have done the later Hornby ones you are after or may even still do. I’m not sure about any copyright rights they had Or have???????? I might check later.

Just repaired a Playcraft D6100 diesel that I had bought as a totally dead non runner to strip for spares as it had the early Lanal Tri-ang type couplings and all my Playcraft stock has the Dublo type. When I tested the motor it worked perfectly so I stripped the chassis down and cleaned every contact and wheel, 15 mins later it was working as well as when it was new. Not bad for something from the early 60s with the original motor! I doubt we'll be saying that about the current Hornby motors in 55 years. For those who don't know these locos were HO and had a large can motor in the body which drove to all axles through brass gears but pick up was only from one bogie. They had a moulded plastic body and Playcraft had gone to the trouble of (incorrectly) moulding different grille styles on each side. One side had the original style while the other had the later modified type. This was available in BR Green or Blue. Later versions had the original brass gearing replaced by plastic and even later versions had drive to just one bogie using Jouef's X04 type motor, although the motors are fine, this version is usually a very poor performer as the pick up arrangement was not great And requires constant cleaning. It was re-introduced by Jouef with changes to the body moulding to have all the original printed BR logos and numbers replaced by raised detail. Drive was now using a single axle and the running of this version is usually atrocious. This body was also used in a 4 wheel clockwork version. There is a lot of suggestion which is probably true that they forced Tri-ang and Hornby to produce cheaper starter sets as Playcraft produced extremely cheap sets which were available in the high street in stores such as Woolworths. Just imagine if they had produced the models in 00, the history of UK model railways may have been totally different!

After posting in another thread that it would be impossible to get a rear bogie for a Tri-ang Baltic tank............I got one and at a very reasonable price too! I also got some parts to repair a Tri-ang EM2 motor bogie so won't have to cannibalise one of my Hymeks. Great when things work out, Col

I have no idea why it has put multiples of their post. Does anyone know how to delete them all?

I just got a big box of early Tri-ang chassis parts (no motors unfortunately) for very little money which will enable me to repair a plunger princess and the next version with the mk2 motor. There are also some other parts which may be Grafar or Hornby Dublo, mainly pony trucks but it will be a week or so before I have time to fully go through everything. That will keep me busy for a while! Almost as good as the box of 20+ Tri-ang power bogies I got once from a car boot sale. I have never seen anything like that before or since.