Wagonwheels

If Triang pantographs were manufactured in-house perhaps someone could 'spill the beans' as to who was responsible? Looking at Hornby Doublo's AL1 (E3002) and Triang-Hornby's AL1 (E3001) pantographs I have to say they both look very similar, coincidence no doubt. Given the apparent rarity of Triang pantographs, and cost secondhand, I'm surprised nobody has bothered to produce replicas? There are more modern types of similar design available but not like for like replicas. Of course if anyone knows of a source please let me know!

Excellent! Many thanks for your help.

Hello Yesterday I received my first TT120 magazine. No2. I seem to be missing No1, am I the only one? Many Thanks

Many Thanks for your interesting and informed responses. Perhaps as ES was the last completely new BR loco to be built and as this happened at Swindon, that Loco Works should give the 9F a Western look. The name was arrived at as the result of a competition as publicised in the regional BR magazine for the Western Region of which I have a copy. Think it was always agreed that electric traction was the way to go both pre and post WW2. However building and operating steam traction employed an awful lot of people.

Just finished renovating a TH Evening Star that I fished out of the odds n sods box at my model shop. Lovely model as this is, I often wondered why the last steam loco made for BR, to a Riddles (LMS?) design, was given a Western passenger livery (copper topped chimney etc) and name when the earliest locomotives and railways came from the industrial north of England? Perhaps someone can sort my confusion? Many Thanks

Happy Easter! From time to time I find it useful to buy a spare/missing bit for a loco or wagon long since out of production (Triang in particular). However I have a slight concern when apparently serviceable models are pulled apart and their component parts sold separately. This particular whinge is no doubt because I’m a EM2 fan. Not the best of models but great fun operationally…..and apparently they were made in the thousands. Once again Happy Easter! enjoy the sunshine and the railway.

Many Thanks for the response, seems either orientation was used, bit surprising though....

Many Thanks for the response. Having done a 'Spring Clean' of my wagonvans I found a couple of HD ICI Bulk Salt of the 'Presflow' type wagons and lo the coupling flat side is at the top and the reinforcement bits underneath. Anyway thanks again, perhaps enough is enough on this particular topic, however next time you come across HD rolling stock you might have a quint at the coupling?

Hello Thank you for the response. I did think this might be a bit tricky to explain, yes the stalk is always at the bottom, but with the stalk on the bottom should the top of the coupling hook be smooth? i.e. was that how HD made them? I realise it’s a moot point as long as the coupling works, but to me it seems, well, untidy..... Many Thanks

I bought some replica HD plastic coupings some time ago. While servicing these locos (Deltics) I wondered why the spruereinforcement moulding was uppermost and the otherside smooth while the uncoupling stalk was lowermost? Had a look at a HD wagon to check (gunpowder) and the moulded coupling had the smooth side on the top with a pat number (Peco?), sprue, etc moulded into the lower/other side. Have to say the claw part of the my after markets couplings are orientated correctly. Who cares! Unfortunately I am burdened with a well developed eye for detail and would love to know if any HD experts could tell me whether my couplings (which all work) are not as HD would have made them. Many Thanks

Hornby Dublo had a reputation for quality and producing models that were faithful to the prototype? Well that is what I read anyway. So where did they go wrong modelling the Deltic? It is shorter than the prototype and considering (according to my bumper book on HD) in correspondence with English Electric even before the Deltics emerged from the works. Surely the length of the loco is a pretty basic dimension not to get wrong? Is that why apart from Crepello (2232) and St Paddy (3232) they continued to produce an un-named all green version (2234,3234) till the end? Grateful if anyone with a better insight to the HD Deltic/Co-Co models than me could satisfy my curiosity. Blame lockdown but I recently acquired an example of each of the two rail versions so this is not quite idle curiosity. When I compare these locos to the contemporary Triang product I wonder why the HD products were considered so much superior. Growing up (wonder if I ever did) non of my local toy shops sold HD it was all Triang........Many Thanks

Hornby Dublo had a reputation for quality and producing models that were faithful to the prototype? Well that is what I read anyway. So where did they go wrong modelling the Deltic? It is shorter than the prototype and considering (according to my bumper book on HD) in correspondence with English Electric even before the Deltics emerged from the works. Surely the length of the loco is a pretty basic dimension not to get wrong? Is that why apart from Crepello (2232) and St Paddy (3232) they continued to produce an un-named all green version (2234,3234) till the end? Grateful if anyone with a better insight to the HD Deltic/Co-Co models than me could satisfy my curiosity. Blame lockdown but I recently acquired an example of each of the two rail versions so this is not quite idle curiosity. When I compare these locos to the contemporary Triang product I wonder why the HD products were considered so much superior. Growing up (wonder if I ever did) non of my local toy shops sold HD it was all Triang........Many Thanks

Just a quick warning. Belbow are a few personal thoughts of mine about my approach to the hobby. Hopefully it will be of interest. I have come to the conclusion that I am not a true railway modeller, in the sense that I have not the skill nor the enthusiasm to develop the skill that can create accurate models of a railway scene no matter how small a place in space and time. I'm still very much a plug'n play person and it is the operation that I find attractive rather than historical accuracy. I could not imagine a layout where there was not a continuous loop to run a train formation at various speeds with various stock. That is probably why the old Triang system is still an attractive option for me with its simple off the shelf approach and policy of making new versions of track and assessories integrate with previous versions. Admittedly Triang and Triang-Hornby products were aimed at a toy market that diminished during the sixties and seventies and serious railway modelling took over. Great strides have been made since then in the variety and detail of locomotives and rolling stock. Nevertheless Triang were proud of the fact that they used say a particular chassis repeatedly for different locomotives and not including parts that could be easily broken with the aim of keeping costs down and their products accessible to a larger public. Naturally there were compromises made on accuracy to the prototype but those models are still rattling round layouts to this day. Again on a personal note my latest preoccupation is with OH catenary systems. I can't understand why a model of a electric locomotive with pantographs cannot be driven via power through those pantographs. How non prototypical. Many continental manufacturers seem to produce very accurate (and expensive?) OH catenary systems. I assume this reflects its wider use on the railways of Europe than at home. Triang produced a system that could not be considered accurate to any prototype but still recognisable as an OH system and it worked and still does and that works just fine for me. Many Thanks for your attention. Hopefully you found my personal modelling tastes interesting.

I was convinced that if I ever wanted to use my Triang catenary designed for Super 4 I would just have to buy some Super 4 track, which I did. I ignored the strange white catenary masts mixed in with the green ones in the box of bits I bought as I had no idea how to use them and they didn't look half as good as the Triang stuff. Now I have discovered (by chance) how to attach those funny white mast bases (Hornby Railway) to my Series 6 track and the green Triang masts slot happily into thsee bases, result! Well sort of.... Apart from finding more Hornby Railway bases (or Triang Series 6 bases of which I have none) I wondered if anyone would be kind enough to point me in the direction of an instruction leaflet for the Hornby Railway OH system if one exists To expand my knowledge base. I've plenty of information on Triang & Triang-Hornby systems before they ceased production around 1971. Many Thanks

Could someone advise on the best rolling road they have used. The one I have bought doesn't seem to...well... 'roll'! Many Thanks