Puffed Out

Good to hear you sorted it out. 😆

No they are not. One end is connected to an articulated coach bogie, that joins the coaches. The other is the bogie I am referring to. But it will be worth checking them all.

As far as I am aware there is no tilting mechanism, at least not on my 2. The draw bar linkage has a pin that sits in a slot under the bogie(which is visable), whilst the rest of the linkage is on a cam system that sits on the pivot hole of the bogie. Remove bogie and check for free movement, and make sure there are no plastic moulding flashes. Bogie just pulls off quite easily. Power, and Dummy car are entirely different. I have had no problem with mine.

Having weak magnets, will trash the motor. The Re- Magnetised was so good, I bought one from Ronald Dodd. So I have done my own. 😆

Thanks @Going Spare. Retainers arrived this morning. Job done. 😆

I use hand wash liquid soap, (+ soft, well used tooth brush), as washing up detergent has elements of petro-chemical elements in it. I might be wrong, but my poor old brain cell thinks it is.!

Just about a put girder road bridge over a double track, on a curve. Got the height right, about 60mm from the rail to the the underside of the bridge. 125 HST clears by about 9mm. . I have measured a few Locos, and they all seem the same height, which is understandable. . Now my question is.!......Is that enough clearance for all 00 scale rolling stock. +/- a couple of mm.?

Taking the weights out has a negative affect on the coaches. They need the ballast to stop them from derailing, in my opionion. They lower the centre of gravity The coaches are so light, you could blow them along the track.. No problem pulling 6 coaches(plus the dummy) with the ballast weights. But don't stop the train to quickly though,the powered bogie wil lift off the track and then derail itself and the coach behind, and possibly another. his also depends on the configuration of the traction tyres. This may not apply to DCC converted power Locos.

I believe there are 2 per coach. 2 screws holes, with a slot in the middle. The ballast weights are approx 65mm long. I also believe they are used in the Dummy car as well. This info is from memory. Check out a well known auction site for Ballast weights.

Oh yes I get that. I guess the couplings could have been designed much better and easier to fit, but the lack of spares is really annoying. It's sad enough when I buy a Pendolino just for spares, but choices are limited for spares. Even those are hard to find now for a sensible price. It's a case of a 'ship being ruined for the sake of a lick of tar'. The Bachmann EMU Class 350, I have needs 2 parts, the 'draw bar' and the socket on each coach. The sockets are an even bigger pain to fit in my opinion. 'Draw bar' is done in seconds.

As for the couplings breaking, it depends how much abuse the Pendolino gets. I can assume that because it goes so fast, there are those who go to the max, it derails and that's when they break. I have bought several pre-used Pendolinos and only had one that was broke. So after looking at the possible problems that came up, it was mostly the couplings, so I bought 10 of each expecting the worse. And so far I have only used one, and that was broken already. If one is careful about joining the coaches up, which where I guess, it is also possible to break them, because it is still a bit fiddly to connect them up. Patience is a virtue, but the the youth(and some adults) who wants instant 'get up and go', will more than likely consign the set to the back of the cupboard. I have tested a pretty much damaged (pre-used) Pendolino at full speed, and soon enough it did going flying off the track. But the couplings never broke. I guess I'm just lucky. I can still maintain a good speed if I feel like it, but what's the point. As another member of this site says, 'why not buy a scalextric'. 😉 😆

Thanks @ Going Spare. Ordered 4. Never thought they would be sold seperately, but I guess they are the bits that get lost so easily. 😆

Would anyone know where these are available, or any easy fit alternatives for my Hornby Virgin 125 HST. L.i.Red/Virgin Voyager. The usual suspects on the internet are out of stock. It's the retainers that are really needed at the moment. I bodged 2 retainers last night, buy cutting a pieces of black plastic and cellotaping in place over and around the coupling. It works fine, but very temporary. Easy to remove though.

X6148 Javelin (Coach) class 395, will fit the Pendolino. Slightly longer, but you wiil not notice. . X6145 for the coach socket. X9717 Power car socket. Good luck fitting the fiddly things. 😆

From memory, once you have the body loose you rotate the chassis 90 degrees(or thereabouts) and get the side of the chassis inside the body shell, as the couplings restrict the movement. But watch the couplings though. They are an absolute... "?^*%$"£%".. to replace if they get broken. Try and get the coupling hanging down at an angle whilst the chassis is at right angles to the body, it's a case of holding your breath that couplings do no catch the slot the couplings go through when assembled. The chassis is reasonably flexible, so it's possible to bend it slightly, which helps. The first time I removed the body I thought it had been glued, it was that tight. I actualy used cocktail sticks along the length of the coach to keep open. It's the last tug that gives me the heeby jeebies, by trying not to break the couplings. They are quite strong, up to a point. I did buy a coach for scrap once, the slot that coupling went through was broken on one side, which made this job so much easier. Good luck @FishyDelishy.

@RAF96, my father in law was quite a dab hand at doing that. Worked in a general garage and workshop, but it still needed to be 'tinned' though. My efforts were far smaller though on my old Ford Corsair, thank goodness. 😆

Used solder paste in the 1970's as a plumber. Marvellous stuff. Saves a heap of faffing about tinning brass, copper, lead, and bronze. Tried it on car body repairs with some success. 😆

@david-bradshaw. Yes, that's a great idea for details.. There are plenty of other web sites for historic details of a certain Loco's and coaches to look at. As a relative newbie, most times I haven't a clue about such stuff as the various, and countless couplings, lights etc. As for bundles, I doubt it, but maybe a couple of £'s wouldn't hurt. I for one went to another place to purchase a pair of coaches, and the deal breaker was the postage, plus the pair were £2 cheaper. When it was all added up, it was almost £17 cheaper than the Hornby site.

For a 40 odd year old Loco it gets along extremely well, the ringfield really does it's job. The only thing that was wrong with were the deflectors were missing, but these were very easily sourced. From what the seller told me, it was part of her grandfathers rather large layout, and looking at others up for grabs they were all very well looked after. Anyway I'm a happy bunny to own this classic Loco. 😆

Thanks for the confirmation. 😆

I have recently bought an old LMS Duchess of Sutherland 6233 - Tender Drive, with lighting at the front for the lanterns(as it appears), with the pick up off the front driving wheel. Is it possible to date this Loco please. Looking at the Collectors guide it shows 1977 to 1979. Is this correct.?

Another idea for what you are asking, is to have a 'dummy' Loco acting as a part of the double header or a 'push me pull me'. I have two steam Locos the same, but one had a motor that was toasted, so I removed the motor for the 'dummy' loco. This is only advisable if the powered Loco is up to job of pulling the 'dummy' and the other rolling stock.

Hornby R2297C BR Class110 3 Car DMU.

As the Loco never had batteries and heavy nuts as ballast from new, it's a temporay fix/bodge. More investigation is required. 😀

There is semi flexible track available, but that's a pain to use in place of fully flexible, as it's not as 'semi flexible' as it's described. I used it a few months ago, and wished I hadn't. Some of which I will be replacing with fully flexible track. Maybe it was me expecting too much from semi flexible, but I won't be using it again.