Old Gresley teak coaches

[josh_will91]

Hi all, this is my first post on here.

I've recently got my tender-drive A4 Mallard out of storage and got it running again. It was great to see it going round my club's test track after spending 20 years in its box.

I've got 3 of the old teak coaches dating from the late 90s, two corridor composites and one brake composite. I'd love to be able to put together a complete train of around 8 coaches, but Hornby only seem to have done a corridor composite, a brake composite and a sleeping car, so I'd have a train made up of 7 composites and a sleeping car. I suspect that Hornby only expected these coaches to be bought and run in the classic '3 coaches plus express loco' train set formation such as what I've got. So would my ringfield-driven A4 actually manage 8 coaches?

[VESPA]

Surprisingly, the ring field powered locos pulled a reasonable load. I would suggest a new set of tyres on the tender as the older ones may slip in the wheel grooves and loose traction. I had several Triang Hornby locos converted to 3 Rail for my H Dublo layout and they pulled quite good loads. Bear in mind Dublo wheels had loads of friction compared to the Gresley coaches you have. Why not just buy a couple at a time and see how they go. I am sure 8 would be an easy to pull amount anyway.

[Topcat1707821625]

Did A4s ever run with Thompson teak coaches? If so then Triang/Hornby made several different ones, as did Graham Farish, though I can't say if the range of types was any greater than the Gresley coaches.

Of course, most if not all of these coaches don't have any internal detail, the bogies vary and some of them are totally wrong, being later British Rail bogies.

[Going Spare]

Replacing the plastic wheelsets with metal ones should increase the coaches' free-running and ease the load on the loco as well as keeping the rail surface cleaner.

[Brew Man]

I would recommend swapping all plastic wheels for metal ones where possible. I've done it with many of my coaches/wagons and the difference is remarkable.

[ColinB]

I have some of these old Gresley coaches which I replaced the wheels with modern metal ones and they run really well. I also have the latest super detail ones. The only major difference I notice although I am sure there are lots of detail improvements, is the paint job. On the original 1980s ones they do look very plastically but other than that they are perfect on a railway layout. They are also substantially cheaper than the super detail ones. I am thinking on buying some more of the 1980s ones as if you want a reasonable rake, they are a far more cheaper option. If I wasn't useless at painting I might consider just repainting the old ones to look a bit better. I did add lights and passengers to four of mine but again because of the cheap plastic, I had to paint the insides matt black.

[Bulleidboy]

Hi Colin - I am afraid light-bleed through the sides of carriages is a problem even on the latest coaches - if your fitting your own lighting. There are some Youtube videos of the early Hornby Teaks which have had a "paint-job" and look fantastic.

This is a good one -

by Neville Grove.

BB

[Brew Man]

I have some of these old Gresley coaches which I replaced the wheels with modern metal ones and they run really well. I also have the latest super detail ones. The only major difference I notice although I am sure there are lots of detail improvements, is the paint job. On the original 1980s ones they do look very plastically but other than that they are perfect on a railway layout. They are also substantially cheaper than the super detail ones. I am thinking on buying some more of the 1980s ones as if you want a reasonable rake, they are a far more cheaper option. If I wasn't useless at painting I might consider just repainting the old ones to look a bit better. I did add lights and passengers to four of mine but again because of the cheap plastic, I had to paint the insides matt black.

 

 

I don't have any Gresley coaches but I have a rake of four GWR chocolate and cream ones. Three of them are Margate models and the fourth a China-made one. They look identical except the China-built one has guilded door handles. I'm guessing therefore that they were made around the time that production moved from the UK to China. Was that the mid-1990s? Anyway, after changing the wheels to metal on three of them they all run really well and look good too.

[The Doc]

Hi Josh,

Welcome to the forum.

I've just tried out a Hornby tender drive A3 (exactly the same drive mechanism as an A4) and I am pleased to tell you that mine coped just fine around several circuits of my layout with 8 of the Gresley railroad style coaches, 4 of which had metal wheels and 4 plastic wheels. On about 70% power (a Gaugemaster feedback controller) the train ran at a good scale speed (I estimated 80-100 mph). The loop I was running it on is a mix of flexitrack, radius 4, 3 and 2, and I couldn't detect it slowing down as either the loco or coaches passed through the short section of 2nd radius curves.

Therefore you shouldn't have a problem provided the traction tyres are in good condition. Mine are fairly new Hornby replacements, but Barrie Davis on youtube recommends Marklin traction tyres for their longevity.

Incidentally, for a realistic train why not go for more sleeper coaches and fewer composites? I can't imagine (though I could well be mistaken) that there are many 8 coach trains running anywhere that had just one sleeper coach - it would either be several or, most commonly, none at all.

[Rana Temporia]

Topcat, I believe the Farish OO ones were based on LMS prototypes and like most if not all ranges at the time they used the same coaches turned out in the different company colours. I have some of the suburban LNER ones awaiting conversion to a MSJ&A railway EMU and the printing on them is very good and way better than the ‘faulty plastic’ finish on some of my Hornby LNER coaches.

The plastic Farish coaches although non-prototypical really do look the part and run extremely freely with wheel profiles that have no problem with modern track. Most locos would manage a decent rake of them. The older metal ones however weigh a ton and most locos would struggle to pull more than a couple of them on the level.

A nice rake of the Farish OO Pullmans would be good if I could only find some that were not horribly mis-shapen for a reasonable price!

[81F]

Some thoughts on the early Hornby Gresleys. The original ones were fitted with BR Mk1 bogies and black ends as I found out when I bought a few Sleepers to go with my Railroad Rake.

In the end I bought a couple more Railroad Composites nand swapped their Teak ends and bogies and sold the composites on eBay listed as hybrids to help recover the cost.

[VESPA]

This post got me thinking about Teak LNER coaches. I am not prepared to pay £70+ for the new superdetailed ones so for several years thought about upgrading the old teaks from the now Railroad range. Yesterday I picked up 5 on Ebay and suitable stains and varnish. When they arrive I will do one to see how it looks. I intend painting the framework at the bottom of the coach in Humbrol wood finish and if I can get the interiors apart (I have heard some are glued together) I will paint the seats and interiors, possibly fitting passengers. The wheels will get wooden painted centres and whitewall tyres dulled down. I may just see if plasticard steps can be fitted under the doors. Total cost so far inc postage for 5 with paints and stains £62

[VESPA]

An addition to my last post regarding the Gresley teaks. I have just completed 5. One got the full interior paint up but when assembled it is almost impossible to see the painted seats, so I decided not to paint the seats in the other 4. I have another 4 on the way now to be transformed and will show what they look like pre and post paint up. I will be able to give a few do's and dont's with these coach repaints as such. My total cost inc paints is under £100 for 9 coaches. One has to remember that these are NOT scale models but are good enough, when redone with stain and varnish to represent the actual teak coaches.