Castle-Man Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Just running my trains through the new layout to check things out. I have an issue with the Airfix large Prairie tank. The front small jockeywheel pair is inclined to jump the points leading of course to problems. I have tried removing them and replaced the screw to ensure that the chassis stays together. With them removed the loco runs around the oval and crosses the points without problem. There are two things that I am wondering about. The first is the Back to Back. This could well be part of the problem. What worries me here is that is easy to change just by pushing the wheels together between thumb and finger or by turning one wheel while pulling it outwards. Should the wheels really be that loose on the shaft? The second is the spring on the jockey. There is a piece of what may be phospher bronze on the jockey which I assume is to sping it down to keep in contact with the rails. This looks as if it has seen better days with evidence of some bends and possibly the end broken off. Does anyone have a picture of how it should look when properly fitted where it lays on the chassis etc. and any general guidance on how much downward pressure it should be applying? Would a small weight do a better job? I suspect that the answer is a mixture of both of these things. I also wonder if I would be better of looking for another jockey complete with correct wheels? Is it available as an old spare or just second hand? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 You can use a new Hornby part if required (I have!), as this model was made by Airfix (GMR, Mainline (Palitoy), Dapol, and last Hornby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 The airfix front wheel is horrible, If I remember correctly it has a solid plastic centre. Yout could replace it with a Romford or a newer hornby version which not only would be tighter but look better. Sadly I dear not take my Airfix one apart to take a photo of the spring as the screws are on their last legs (or should I say threads) so any attempt would result in a trip to the scrap yard. - A shame really as it is my oldest working loco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle-Man Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 I assume that this is what I need Praire Class front Pony truck assembly Item code X3879. https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/prairie_class_front_pony_truck_assembly.html Surprise surprise Hornby say it is out of stock. Anyone know of a stockist that has one before I start making millions of phone calls. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Not in stock at Peter's Spares, but seems to be in stock here.http://www.modeltrains4u.co.uk/Spares-by-Loco/Class-61XX-Prairie/X3879-Bogie-Assembly.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle-Man Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 Thanks Chrissaf I have placed an order so will see if they come up with the stock! Looking at the one that is on there I do not think that it is the original Airfix one as it does have a metal axel however as the current one simply does not allow the loco to be run when fitted I figure that there is nothing to loose by starting with a new one given that it is not exactly an expensive part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle-Man Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 Oh well out of stock. Money refunded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 The original Airfix axles were metal!. These were Ready To Run, not the kits. The Plastic Kit Prairie Tank was originally tooled by Kitmaster, and passed to Airfix. It is now available from Dapol.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Our Mainly Airfix Prairie Tank (Made from parts!). The front Pony Truck is the Hornby One...The Rear is still the solid Airfix (GMR) one... The couplings are the Hornby R.8099 Coupling Assemblies....a direct replacement for Airfix (GMR), Ex Airfix Mainline, and Dapol models....including those now made by Hornby... /media/tinymce_upload/d4600bfd08e19aa468dfcf5ec8660213.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/928fe4f584a7b9056c8358397ab71a86.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/f7923a15bb495172049b31124bef9879.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/5bf5b60ef1254c3dbd48041800cbfedf.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle-Man Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 81F depending upon whether it is the screw on the thread in the chassis this may be of interest to you. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322352833004?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle-Man Posted May 24, 2017 Author Share Posted May 24, 2017 Very nice Sarah You might like to take look at what I have done to repair the sand pipes on another thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Yes, I have seen that repair... Next time my loco is in works, I may well follow your lead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 /media/tinymce_upload/fc2b341933bdea0d968d5d2c58ae24e9.jpgUnfortunately the spigot in the smoke box that takes the front body fixing screw had split and lost a part. I stuck it back together as best I could, sleeved it and replaced the screw with a small bolt (possibly8BA. I know I could replace the body but I did a lot of work on it to make it into a 41XX with the recess inthe rear bunker for the lamp Just noticed that I may have lost my sand pipes as well! Thankfully I have some spares samd boxes from a DAPOL auto tank chassis with some somewhere. Changing the front and back wheels for Romfords certainly make a difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 Yes, I have seen that repair... Next time my loco is in works, I may well follow your lead! Funny thing is....when I got the loco out of its storage box yesterday I had already replaced the missing pipes with handrail wire! 😉 The photos must have been taken before hand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle-Man Posted June 1, 2017 Author Share Posted June 1, 2017 81F I have been thinking about maybe replacing all of the wheels with Romfords. Picked up a couple of spare chassis which has enbabled me to better enderstand the way it is all fixed together. Having had the spares apart it seems that re-wheeling would be fairly straighforward the only bit of extra work being the need to detatch and re-solder the wire from the pickups to the brush to gain access. Actually I may even cut the wire and then refit a longer piece in the middle and shrinkwrap the joint. (Why didn't the just fit a connector to make it easy?) Another reason for re-wheeling is that I have noticed that the original metal tyres have a tendancy to come away from the plastic centre causing wobble and they move far too easily in and out on the axle. Obviouse on the spares. I have looked for Romford wheels but not sure where to get them and how to know the correct size especially for the from and back bogie/jocky. Obviously using the wrong search term. Lastly two chassis have the middle wheels flat and one has all all 3 normal drive wheels were there some with one setup and some with the other?Really learning a lot by playing around with something that at the moment is for spares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howbi Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 @Castle-Man...........try Markits, you can download their catalogue here......http://www.markits.com/download.html ....HB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle-Man Posted June 1, 2017 Author Share Posted June 1, 2017 Thanks that helped although it has given me pause Looks like the full set at 2013 prices was around £50. Sure they are excellent but that is a lot to spend on a set of wheels. Really whether they look more accurate to scale I will not even notice. Just want wheel that will run well including through points and not need adjusting. From what I hear they should do that but that is more than a good condition complete Praire is worth. Decisions! Are there any other alternatives that are sensibly priced? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 There was an article in on of the Model railway Constructor Magazines near to when the original Airfix model came out which detailed how to fit Romford wheels. Not sure but it might have been to convert it to EM but I would suspect the principle would be similar in 00. Howevewr, the front and back wheels that I changed were only the pony truck wheels - I wimped out of doing the drivers as this seemed too much like hard work. Besides the originals looked better than the Triang Hornby ones on my other locos of the time. I believe the diameters should be 3'2 for the front 5'8" for the drivers and 3'8" for the trailing wheels. that would equate to roughly 12mm for the leading pony and 14mm for the trailing pony. However, I would suggest referring to photos of the real thing to get the number of spokes right as i cannot guarantee that mine are correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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