Forum-1211528

I have two Airfix class 31 diesels these were made in the Mid 1970s and were last made ever in 1981! They are Heavy similar to the Triang R357 class 31 and I expect like the XO4 motor you can't DCC this loco? I know Hornby had made a TTS sound chip for the class 31 will this fit the Airfix Class 31 or will this have the same problems as the Triang Class 31?

Long vanished Model Shop Blackwells once based in Essex has opened again in Lodden Norfolk! Blackwells were once the World's Biggest Hornby Spares dealer then vanished in the Nineties. Now Alan Blackwell has started it in Norfolk I hope they once more do what they did as we need a good model shop in Norfolk as the only good one is Burr Valley Railway and the rest are useless or now no longer exist as Autoloco shuts for good so that's nothing in Sheringham so Blackwells can do a good job here!

The Former EFE Leeds Horsefield tooling owned by Gilbow Holdings Limited until they went bankrupt last year has vanished! Bachmann purchased the EFE tooling and name but there's no trace of the Leeds Horsefield tooling! This tram hasn't been made in twenty years when Gilbow Holdings last made it and I knew Frank who ran the company as they started off in Caister Great Yarmouth so if I was down there and go to see Frank seeing what new models he had! Bachmann has been careless not looking after the Leeds Horsefield tooling it could have been put back in production well it needs to be found! Its rather like the Matchbox Diddler Trollybus tooling as it was only made in London United and London Transport liveries then Matchbox went bust the tooling ended up in Mattel's hands and they have done nothing with it since 1988! I'd love love to see the Diddler in the latest preserved livery but Martell seems they won't do a thing?

I knew Peter Graham Garish Farish Pretty well as I did later with David Boyle founder of Dapol! Get yer facts right Grafar started making OO models in 1949 and one of their first locos was a Black Five it had plunger pick ups like the old Triang Princess did in its early fifties days! The 94xx Pannier Tank was introduced in the sixties and is a very reliable loco! Farish even got Rivarossi to make them an Americian Loco I've still got mine and she still runs well! Grafar started making stuff in Bromley Kent then moved to Poole in the late sixties!

That wagon you had would have had small Grafar metal tension lock couplings these couple onto anything fine! By then Grafars only loco was the 94xx Pannier Tank as everything else was gone when OO gauge production ended in 1980 but every time you phoned Romany Works in Poole you heard Grafar Limited Peter Graham Farish speaking so it was always the boss answering the phone and taking your orders as I had many a fine chat with Peter Graham Garish!

People used to moan how expensive Meccano then Wrenn were up to the Company's closure in 1992! This however wasn't the most expensive that goes back to the Fifties and Graham Farish OO some of their locos were so expensive its crazy as Peter Graham Garish must have realised there's only so much a Customer will pay for a model train and he was selling direct even in the fifties so did Meccano! Its obvious this led to the Ranges demise and an end to OO manufacture in 1980 when all Grafar had as a loco was the 94xx Pannier Tank everything else was long gone so why did they do this as I feel Farish is nice stuff if rather heavy!

I segest you Ring Hornby at the Margate Factory explaining to them the loco is faulty and its under warrenty then they will send the Courier round pick it up free of charge and do the repairs to the loco for nothing that's yer best bet mate!

The Triang Bakelite track will connect to nothing except the same track no connecting it to Super 3 or Super 4 track and as far as Super 6 is consirned forget it but I agree Super 4 is a univercial track anything will run on it! Everything from Fifties Triang to Modern Hornby locos but the bonas is you can connect it to modern Super 6 track and old stuff runs fine even Trix TTR locos!

Heljan had made Wagon & Machinbau, Park Royal and AC Cars Railbuses but I think someone should make the Handsome Wickham Railbus it looks abit Art Deco inside and runs very well! Anbrico once did a kit for it in the Eighties but that's long gone so now maybe its time for someone to a ready to run version of it!!/media/tinymce_upload/da9399abde51fa4961aaf5f1032c24ab.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c75251ae53b765f7b3a39f1b83dda0ab.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/b20d1a715e3af14f7dfc3b8d4de549d2.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/54a92db40b4f0b933d9d94dc4a8ad255.jpg

In those days Grafar Limited were in Bromley Kent they didn't move to Romany Works in Poole till the sixties! By then this loco, the Black Five, Battle of Britain, Castle and Prairie Tank were all finished its a shame Wrenn didn't buy the Grafar tooling when they stopped making OO in 1980 by then the only loco was the 94xx Pannier Tank!

The Graham Garish OO American loco they did in the Fifties was actually manufactured by Rivarossi so Peter Graham Farish had obviously done a deal! Rivarossi have done a lovely job with this loco it looks and runs great but it was short lived as many Farish OO locos vanished from the range very quickly as in 1980 when they stopped making OO there was only the 94xx Pannier tank left! So what do you think of this loco?/media/tinymce_upload/f6e964f757d885d385809f24d4a6e853.jpg

The Hornby Black Five wasn't the first model of its type, that goes to the Grafar version made in 1949 it was only in production two years and was very expensive having a die cast body! The loco has plunger pick ups abit like the Triang Princess did in the fifties this loco is part of model history and mine runs fine today on modern Hornby track!!

I have finally got hold of the Triang F class loco in Victoria blue these are extremely rare as Hornby itself made the New South Wales Version in 1979 I love this blue livery as its great and Roco made a version of the Triang loco last year so I have em both now!!/media/tinymce_upload/85aec4beed43cd0f2bb6b20c41792e87.jpg

Hornby have released a new controller in the train set range this looks a great controller and the price looks cheap on this website! However Hornby hasn't said on here you need to purchase a separate transformer to make it work so come on Hornby let's have a link to the transformer so everything is then ordered together we have it arrive getting the controller out of its box put in its transformer turn it on after connecting it to the power track and start using it I think Hornby must let customers know where to get the transformer from not hide it saying nothing so why do that??

Al the Hannant and Morgan Power master isn't the controllers that Oxford Rail are on about as those were the Clipper and Duette as the Powermaster was top of H&Ms range at the time could run seven trains on one track at a time and was very complicated as remember then no DCC or ZERO ONE so then that was the only way to do that! Even today Gauge master does nothing like the Power master!!

Get Yourself a Power master mate this is the greatest H&M controller ever you will love it!

Oxford Rail can advise you not to run the loco on Half wave on a Clipper or Duette I use mine on full wave and everything works fine its just I take no notice and continue to use my Hannant and Morgan Duette!

I'm not attacking Oxford Rail its just Steve that Hornby, Dapol, Bachmann, and other manufactures don't put warnings in their locos boxes telling people not to use a Clipper or Duette controller as I love my Hannant and Morgan controllers as I did have a Adams Radial from Oxford Rail that works fine with Hannant and Morgan controllers so I trust what Hornby say when they tell me these controllers work fine!

I got a Oxford Rail GER N7 tank loco the instructions says don't use a Hannant and Morgan Duette and Clipper controller it goes on about this? Why is this the case as most modern Hornby locos works fine with a Clipper or Duette controller as Oxford Rails nonsence over these wonderful excellent controllers show you that these manufactures must learn these controllers will work fine so why spread garbage about?

I have the Hornby class 47 Mammoth from the Seventies it has lit directional head codes can this be converted to DCC then you could turn the lit head codes off with DCC! Do you think think this is a good idea or is it like Triang they can cause trouble?

i wouldn't use Bachmann parts for a Hornby loco so I segest you Ring Hornby asking them for the coupling you want giving them the locos R number then I'm sure you will get one for it!

Jimmy its Concor they once made trams and locos and wagons their demise maybe due to the fact they didn't have a UK distributor anymore and expected to order direct! A lot of customers wouldn't do that as they would get clobbered by the Customs, VAT, postage and Duty so no wonder Concor went under!!

Mehano started off in the 1980s when they were called Mehanotekinka in what was Yugoslavia and distributed in the UK by Eastern Models run by Graham Hubbard who until recently ran Bachmann! Mehano can be reached on their website at www.mehano.si, see what they have got available as they don't seem very active now I think they did go Bankrupt and someone else has taken on this range as for a UK distributor there isn't one anymore its best to simply deal direct with them that's how to get what you need as I don't know what they have so look on their website OK!

Hornby go ahead giving a new date for the release date for the club loco that was January, I thought OK it won't arrive till 2019 then this Hornby Parcel arrives and the loco is in there! I wish they would either saying its arriving in September or its coming out in 2019! Otherwise its god knows when you will get one!!

My Hornby 0-4-0 loco has arrived i dont know why Hornby said January 2019 as its release date its here shunting Triang wagons so if you havent got one it may a good idea to ring the Hornby Club asking them where your loco is! ☹️