Replacement key for a clockwork Thomas

[Trainboy and company]

Hello, 

I recently purchased a second hand Clockwork Hornby train set from the Thomas the tank engine range, which comes with a clockwork 00 gauge Thomas, standard 00 gauge Annie and Clarabel carriages and a circle of 00 gauge metal/nickel track. 

Due to this being a second hand set, the key that is used to wind up the locomotive is missing. I was wondering if there are any shops or online retailers that stock spare keys for the clockwork locomotives?

I had a look on Amazon and Ebay to see if I could purchase a new key, but none of those seemed to stock the keys for the clockwork locomotives. Some tin clockwork toys did appear in the search results, and they had keys, but would they fit this locomotive? 

Thank you, 

Peter. 

[Chrissaf]

This earlier posted thread (Page 2) may help.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/post/view/topic_id/23895/?p=2

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See also. the last post on the previous Page 1 of the thread linked to above.

[Trainboy and company]

This earlier posted thread (Page 2) may help.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/post/view/topic_id/23895/?p=2

.

See also. the last post on the previous Page 1 of the thread linked to above.

Thank you. If all else failed, I did consider just keeping the Thomas locomotive in a siding as a non-moving locomotive to just have in the background. Are you able to purchase these types of keys from local watchmakers? I read the post about someone purchasing the key from a watchmaker for a decent price. Thanks again. Peter.

[NWR-Gordon-4]

Peter Machin, welcome to the Hornby Forum.  😀

 

I very much doubt you will get one from Amazon.co.uk. I suggest that you keep searching eBay, as often as you can. Surely one must pop up at some point. If not, then go to toy and train fairs and / or model railway exhibtions. You never know. You might find one at these sort of events.

 

GNR-Gordon-4

[Chrissaf]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-UK-M2052-X8102-Clockwork-Key

[NWR-Gordon-4]

Well done, for finding that Chris. 10/10 points to you.  😀

 

GNR-Gordon-4

[Trainboy and company]

Peter Machin, welcome to the Hornby Forum.  😀

 

I very much doubt you will get one from Amazon.co.uk. I suggest that you keep searching eBay, as often as you can. Surely one must pop up at some point. If not, then go to toy and train fairs and / or model railway exhibtions. You never know. You might find one at these sort of events.

 

GNR-Gordon-4

I have been to a number of exhibitions and train fairs in the past, but they seemed to just have second hand locomotives, pieces of rolling stock and N gauge/ 00 gauge/ 0 track. I wasn't specifically looking at keys that day, and I couldn't see any, so they probably didn't have any. 

[Bulleidboy]

You could try a shop that sold clocks - especially old ones! Horologist.

[NWR-Gordon-4]

Keeping looking model and at exhibitions, including eBay. You should find one. I have found stuff ny looking at these places. Makesure that you have a good root through shelves and boxes at the model shops and exhibitions, too.

 

The key in the eBay auction that Chris (Chrissaf) post, is that the wrong key?

 

GNR-Gordon-4

[Trainboy and company]

Keeping looking model and at exhibitions, including eBay. You should find one. I have found stuff ny looking at these places. Makesure that you have a good root through shelves and boxes at the model shops and exhibitions, too.

 

The key in the eBay auction that Chris (Chrissaf) post, is that the wrong key?

 

GNR-Gordon-4

I think it might be the right one.

[Trainboy and company]

You could try a shop that sold clocks - especially old ones! Horologist.

I did actually go into a watch shop and a 

key cutting shop the other day to see if they had

one, but neither stocked them. 

[Trainboy and company]

Keeping looking model and at exhibitions, including eBay. You should find one. I have found stuff ny looking at these places. Makesure that you have a good root through shelves and boxes at the model shops and exhibitions, too.

 

The key in the eBay auction that Chris (Chrissaf) post, is that the wrong key?

 

GNR-Gordon-4

I asked the man in my local model shop if he had

any keys for the clockwork locomotives. He said he

didn't, but he said he would put them aside for me

should a new batch arrive. 

[Chrissaf]

@Peter Machin,

.

If the ebay auction key I posted about looks to be the right one, then why not just bid for it?

.

As other's have said, this seller has been auctioning several of these keys, and so far they have all gone for less than £3.

.

PS - It really isn't necessary to keep re-quoting posts when replying. The white arrow in blue box is not a 'reply to this post' button. It is preferable to use the empty white reply text box at the very bottom of the page and use the Green Reply button. If you want to indicate that your post is in response to a previous members post, just use the "@members-username" as a post header as I did at the start of this reply. It is not a big issue in this particular thread as the quoted posts have been relatively short ones, but it can be very off-putting if the re-quotes are very long and contain images.

[NWR-Gordon-4]

There you go then. There’s progress. If your local model shop comes across any, they will let you know about them. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with you checking other model shops, model shop websites, toy and / or train fairs, model railway exhibitions and auction sites, such as eBay.

 

GNR-Gordon-4

[Trainboy and company]

@Chrissaff, 

I do apologise. I am relatively new to this forum, and I am not very good with modern technology, so I don't know how everything works yet. 

I am sorry if I have annoyed anybody, as that is the last thing I wanted to do. I joined the forum primarily to discuss my own experiences with the Hornby hobby with other people, and to raise a few enquiries. 

Peter. 

[Trainboy and company]

@GNR-Gordon-4, 

It is a good model shop as well. It is ran by a lovely man who charges decent prices for his stock. For instance, I once bought a second hand Hornby saddleback tank engine from there for just £12. It was in full working order and the buffers and so on were intact, so you couldn't go wrong. He is also very friendly and talks to the customers, which is a good thing, because I have been to several model shops in the past in different towns that are ran by unfriendly people who never smile or greet you when you walk in, they charge ridiculous prices for their stock and they just have an arrogance about them. 

[Trainboy and company]

@Chrissaff, 

I am afraid I don't use Ebay. I usually just see what I can find in my local model shop, as that has new stock coming in practically every day. Unlike most model shop owners who I have often found to be quite arrogant, the man who owns the model shop that I go to is lovely, and he has promised to reserve any Hornby keys for me to collect when I go there, should a new batch come in. 

[Chrissaf]

Peter,

As I said before apologies are not needed. You have not annoyed anybody, you have done nothing wrong. It is the forum software developers fault for not making replying to posts easier and more intuitive. They put the blue 'quote' button just where relative newbies expect a reply button to be. The suggestion to use the reply text box was meant to be informative and a guide. Again, the forum administrators in their wisdom, have not really provided much in the way of guidance documentation i.e what do the various features and buttons do.

.

In general, when the blue button is used, many users do not seem able to follow your example and end up with their text additions hidden within the yellow quote box, this makes trying to see what is new and what is previous text very difficult. At least in your case, your added text was 'black on white' and clearly and obviously an addition to the quoted text. So congratulations on separating your new text outside the yellow quote box when you did use the blue button. Many new forum posters just don't seem able to do that successfully.

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The blue button does have its uses. For example when a thread is popular and fast moving and one wants to reply to a specific post that is located several pages back from the current one. However, some members (not necessarily you) use the blue quote button directly below the post they are quoting, then somebody does the same to theirs. Within minutes, it can end up with the exact same text being duplicated many times on the same forum page. It can then become difficult to follow the gist of the thread topic as the brain tries to filter out all the duplications. By standardising on using only the reply text box, the flow of a thread can be made more effective, which is why the regular forum contributors try to persuade new posters to adopt the 'reply text box' policy (unofficial policy that is).

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PS - I must admit, that I myself tend to only use the 'Buy it Now' option in e-bay. I have bought a couple of items (non railway related) using the bidding process, but only when the item I have desperately wanted is not available through any other method, usually ending up paying more than I would have liked to in order to secure the winning bid. However, in the case of this clockwork key, the winning bids seem to be consistently under £3. This would indicate to me that there is very little 'bidding' competition for this particular item. Thus, your chance of success with a low bid could be quite high and worth a 'punt'. At the end of the day, it depends how badly you want the key.

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If you don't have an e-bay account, it is very easy to set up. Not unlike setting up an account with an Internet shop so that you can see your purchase history and order tracking.

[NWR-Gordon-4]

Which model shop is this, Peter Machin? I must visit it, depending how close, or how far it from me.

 

GNR-Gordon-4

[Waldo]

I also had this problem. I sent away for a clockwork pecking bird on the off-chance that it would fit AND IT DOES! Here is the Link - it is £1.89 Postage free. I hope that is of help.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MagiDeal-Retro-Style-Wind-Pecking/dp/B00Q9SX6RG 

 

Waldo

[96RAF]

Unless you want a real Hornby key it is probably going to be much cheaper to pop down your local clock repairer and find a quality key that fits rather than those old grey gash-metal ones.

Rob.

[NWR-Gordon-4]

Yes, that is a cheaper alternative, but I am sure an collector would want an original Hornby key, so I should they would go about trying to source one of those; At a more expensive price, anyway!  😆

 

GNR-Gordon-4