Wright writes.....

[polybear]

1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

 

That was my immediate impression too. It is a feature I always look at on model A4s to see if they have been done properly or are fudged because it is wrong on so many models.

 

I have seen a small number of 4mm models where the feature is modelled correctly, including an example that was shown on this thread some while ago when the A4 cylinder arrangement was discussed previously. I can't remember whose it was but they had done an excellent job of modelling the cylinder shape properly. If they could do it, why can't everybody?

 

I wonder if it could be that the number of wrong ones far exceed the right ones - so when people see wrong ones they assume that's how they should be?

[30368]

The A4 cylinder mods might have been my work. I shall dig out the pics and post. Gentle filing of the moulding works quite well + a brass full size cylinder cover.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

[geoff west]

6 hours ago, robertcwp said:

A pair of quad-arts from Ellis Clark Trains will lighten the wallet a bit more!

I have already ordered a set Robert.

[Tony Wright]

Well, a successful modelling day with the chap (Nick) building his DJH A1. 

 

He arrived with a non-running, though accurately-made, set of frames (all his work) and left with a sweet-running basic chassis. Much of the body he'd built as well. Valve gear on his next visit!

 

And, a contribution to CRUK for my tuition is the end result. Job done! 

 

Like a fool, I forgot to take any pictures; next time.........

[PupCam]

I thought I might build a new undercarriage for this P4 K3 that I started many moons ago.       

 

The crank axle was my first foray into eccentric turning with my new 4 jaw chuck on the Emco Unimat 3 so that's probably circa 1988 (you can't rush model building can you).

 

 

As all chances of me building (or even being involved in) a suitable P4 layout have now diminished to something less than zero I thought I might convert it to OO and then it could at least have a purpose and maybe even get an airing as a "visiting loco" should I happen to visit a suitable LNER based layout at anytime.     The replacement chassis would of course be sans the crank axle / inside motion.

 

If I did so would anyone care to suggest what modern (and available) motor / gear ratio combination might suit?

 

Alan

 

[uax6]

5 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

 

Not a problem, I was very sceptical about the working hence looking further into it.  It does prove that even when those that were there at the time are adamant that it was only a 4 car set, there are practical obstacles that seem unlikely to have been overcome.

 

Humm, your local 'lads' said that they could over come the short coupling issue you said? The end of the drawbar of the quad art is a fork with a bolt through it. Do we know what the dimensions of the fork is? There is every chance that it was so designed to allow a normal screw-coupling to fit inside the fork, with the bolt dropping in to secure it (it might not be the locos screw coupling though, it might have been a short coupling designed for this sort of thing). *

I wouldn't rule it out just yet Dave!

 

Andy G

 

Edit: * Did the brake vans of the quads carry two emergency couplings? One normal and one for fitting into the fork?

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by uax6

[richard i]

Or if running with one set just make sure it is being pulled from the end with a hook. If it has to return what are the odds there is a triangle the whole train could be turned on.

I am not saying it happened, I am just suggesting how it could.

richard 

[t-b-g]

4 hours ago, 31A said:

 

Could have been mine!

 

 

 

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

 

That does look like the one I recall. There are some jobs in modelling where a little bit of extra time spent on a model really makes a big difference and this is one of those times.

[Ian Rathbone]

I have a number of Hornby-Dublo locos, which must be between 60 - 70 years old, and none has any Mazak rot. I can only hope that Hornby, and the other manufacturers, are tightly specifying the alloy to be used, and checking that it is being used.  Why do I have H-D? Well, I just kept my original models and my children & grandchildren played with them but, sadly, none retained an interest. I have been known to repaint some of the locos and coaches.

 

Ian R

 

[jwealleans]

8 hours ago, PupCam said:

would anyone care to suggest what modern (and available) motor / gear ratio combination might suit?

 

I'd suggest High Level - the gearboxes are really easy to assemble and run beautifully and the coreless motors are excellent.   The link is to the downloads page where there's a gearbox planner and speed calculator to help you work out what you need.

[Tony Wright]

8 hours ago, Ian Rathbone said:

I have a number of Hornby-Dublo locos, which must be between 60 - 70 years old, and none has any Mazak rot. I can only hope that Hornby, and the other manufacturers, are tightly specifying the alloy to be used, and checking that it is being used.  Why do I have H-D? Well, I just kept my original models and my children & grandchildren played with them but, sadly, none retained an interest. I have been known to repaint some of the locos and coaches.

 

Ian R

 

Good morning Ian,

 

On many occasions when 'performing' as a demonstrator or loco doctor at shows, 1950s HD locomotives are brought along. Most work (though I don't have a three-rail test track), and some only need a bit of fettling, brush adjustment and oiling to get them running sweetly (via crocodile clips) again; testaments to well-made products.

 

What surprises me is the 'expectation of value' expressed by some of those who bring them. ' It's really old, so must be worth quite a bit' is a frequent comment, as a battered DUCHESS OF MONTROSE is presented. How many DUCHESSES OF MONTROSE (we've discussed the correct plural form before) were made over more than a decade, I wonder? Even 'mint' ones struggle today to make a great deal. 

 

One friend bought loads of second-hand HD so that his children could play with it. It was cheap, extremely robust (far more so than some of today's equivalents - if there are equivalents) and ran forever. As a train set system it was (and still is) perfect for younger modellers - younger ones who grew up and gave it to their own children. Not only that, it was performing the role for which it was made.

 

I never had HD as a boy (my dad was only on a teacher's salary), and my brother and I had Tri-ang; which was OK, but my oldest friend (whose dad was a test pilot) had HD, which was far superior. I 'ruined' its value eventually (it was three-rail) by converting the locos to two rail through insulating the driving wheels one side by the method of sawing through the spokes and plugging the gaps with Araldite

 

One collector of HD managed to obtain over the decades a mint/boxed example of every item ever made at Binns Road. I photographed most of his collection, before he sold it all. Why did he sell it? Because, to him, the 'thrill of the chase' was more important than the acquisition.

 

From what I've heard of late, prices of decent HD items are falling, as the the generation which remembers them most (inevitably) declines.

 

As mentioned, though I never had Hornby Dublo as a boy, I did use some of the firm's products later on - fitting scratch-built frames beneath such things as modified A4 bodies. They even appeared in print! I painted them myself, but all have long gone now.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Tony Wright
to add something

[robertcwp]

29 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Ian,

 

On many occasions when 'performing' as a demonstrator or loco doctor at shows, 1950s HD locomotives are brought along. Most work (though I don't have a three-rail test track), and some only need a bit of fettling, brush adjustment and oiling to get them running sweetly (via crocodile clips) again; testaments to well-made products.

 

What surprises me is the 'expectation of value' expressed by some of those who bring them. ' It's really old, so must be worth quite a bit' is a frequent comment, as a battered DUCHESS OF MONTROSE is presented. How many DUCHESSES OF MONTROSE (we've discussed the correct plural form before) were made over more than a decade, I wonder? Even 'mint' ones struggle today to make a great deal. 

 

One friend bought loads of second-hand HD so that his children could play with it. It was cheap, extremely robust (far more so than some of today's equivalents - if there are equivalents) and ran forever. As a train set system it was (and still is) perfect for younger modellers - younger ones who grew up and gave it to their own children. Not only that, it was performing the role for which it was made.

 

I never had HD as a boy (my dad was only on a teacher's salary), and my brother and I had Tri-ang; which was OK, but my oldest friend (whose dad was a test pilot) had HD, which was far superior. I 'ruined' its value eventually (it was three-rail) by converting the locos to two rail through insulating the driving wheels one side by the method of sawing through the spokes and plugging the gaps with Araldite

 

One collector of HD managed to obtain over the decades a mint/boxed example of every item ever made at Binns Road. I photographed most of his collection, before he sold it all. Why did he sell it? Because, to him, the 'thrill of the chase' was more important than the acquisition.

 

From what I've heard of late, prices of decent HD items are falling, as the the generation which remembers them most (inevitably) declines.

 

As mentioned, though I never had Hornby Dublo as a boy, I did use some of the firm's products later on - fitting scratch-built frames beneath such things as modified A4 bodies. They even appeared in print! I painted them myself, but all have long gone now.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

I cannot now recall from where but a while back I heard that there had been avid collectors of HD who competed against each other and bid up the prices. Several of them passed away and others ceased buying so demand fell and the market was flooded with relatives of the deceased selling off collections. Hence, prices crashed.

[Dunsignalling]

Yes, Tony,

 

Observation of items on sale at a recent collectors' fair suggest that whilst prices for the best (genuinely mint/boxed) HD remain fairly firm, (albeit some way off the peak of a decade or so ago), those for items unboxed and/or in lesser condition fall off pretty sharply. 

 

On the up-side, there's a lot of pretty decent material obtainable quite cheaply that, with a little fettling and tittivating by able Dads, could offer a reliable and highly personal gateway to the hobby for at least one more generation.

 

Certainly a step up from Smokey Joe etc....

 

John 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Dunsignalling

[MikeParkin65]

15 hours ago, 31A said:

 

Could have been mine!

 

 

 

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

Lovely work on this and as others have said this really improves the look of the Hornby model. Another thing I think it highlights is that the cab front windows are much better in terms of shape and position on the plastic versions than the new HD version that Tony has photographed. 

[gr.king]

10 hours ago, Ian Rathbone said:

I have a number of Hornby-Dublo locos, which must be between 60 - 70 years old, and none has any Mazak rot. I can only hope that Hornby, and the other manufacturers, are tightly specifying the alloy to be used, and checking that it is being used.  Why do I have H-D? Well, I just kept my original models and my children & grandchildren played with them but, sadly, none retained an interest. I have been known to repaint some of the locos and coaches.

 

Ian R

 

Why not repaint them. They were made to be used / enjoyed, not preserved as pristine items in a glass cabinet or in the original immaculate unopened box.

Maybe it is or was easier for a maker to get high quality alloy, free of any risk of zinc pest, when buying it from a respected home manufacturer keen to preserve a good reputation and open to being sued in a proper British court? I also imagine that production of the right kind of alloy may have been easier in some ways before there was general pressure on various manufacturers to include recycled rubbish in their products.

[paul.anderson@poptel.org]

12 hours ago, richard i said:

Or if running with one set just make sure it is being pulled from the end with a hook. If it has to return what are the odds there is a triangle the whole train could be turned on.

I am not saying it happened, I am just suggesting how it could.

richard 

And some of us don't have space to run double Quard-Art sets ... just saying.

[LNER4479]

Whilst we're on the subject (amongst others) of original Hornby Dublo ...

 

Here is a VERY special (to me) example. This was Dad's first HD 2-rail purchase (he started out in 3-rail); must be circa 1959-60. Originally a City of London; he then had it professionally painted ... but erroneously renumbered/named as 46227 'Duchess of Devonshire' - 46227 never went into BR red! However, it ran like that for many years and was always the 'star of the show' - even made the front cover of RM in 1974(!) when it featured in a garden layout of one of Dad's railway modelling friends.

 

About 30 years ago, he had it re-wheeled and it now runs on 24mm Romfords, including flanged centre drivers (still too small, but closer!) and, as part of that he changed the '7' to '8'(!) to put into the condition you see it now.

 

He's now placed it on indefinite loan to 'Hills of the North'. He's not the least bit sentimental and he feels that it no longer fits in with the all the finer detail locos around now on his layout (despite the fact that he still uses the HD 'Super Detail' (ha!) Mark 1s). But I AM sentimental and it will see use. It still runs exactly as it did all those years ago, strong as an ox (just toying with 11 coaches on Shap here), some 63 years after first entering service. It has also had an endearing grate-y whine noise as it runs which has defied any attempt to oil or grease the mechanism over the years. That only adds to its sentimental appeal for me. They certainly don't make 'em like this any more.

 

Maybe I should take it along to the next show outing (ironically, the 'Hornby' GETS event at Milton Keynes) and see how many folks notice?

Edited April 24, 2023 by LNER4479

[30368]

On 23/04/2023 at 19:42, 30368 said:

The A4 cylinder mods might have been my work. I shall dig out the pics and post. Gentle filing of the moulding works quite well + a brass full size cylinder cover.

 

 

Sorry, this is a bit late and relates to the brief discussion on the latest "high end" version of the A4 and the continued lack of cylinder curvature on the moulding.

 

Some snaps of what I did to my Hornby 60026 body when fitting a detailing kit. Sadly I can't find those images of the work in progress.

 

Miles is now fitted with an etched nameplate. Gentle filing of the moulding to create a curved rather than a flat/square edge to the cylinder cover. I then fitted a punched out cylinder end cover to improve the illusion of a rounded cylinder profile.

 

How Miles looks now and a better view of cylinder front cover. I think this loco is due for a clean...

 

I am not suggesting that this totally solves the problem (That should have been sorted by Hornby long ago) but with a little effort it improves the look of the loco greatly.

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

Edited April 25, 2023 by 30368

[Farang]

On 22/04/2023 at 21:57, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Chas,

 

No; I opened the box in the morning, and reached that stage in the picture by mid-afternoon (having had both breakfast and lunch). 

 

I'd have done a lot more today had I not been up against a tight deadline to photograph, video and write a review of Hornby's latest die-cast A4.....

 

 

It's a very impressive locomotive.

 

I also had to photograph another of Hornby's new locos...............

 

 

The original 'Merchant Navy'.

 

As it was, I still found the time to get the new A1 up and running on the layout.............

 

 

Even at this stage, it easily handled a heavy express.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

When you photographed the MN did you notice if the number and ownership plates were horizontal, or were they a bit angled? I ask because I rejected one of these models because of that problem. And from the low angle it seems Hornby has had to modify the forward faring to accommodate the swing of he bogie to negotiate toy-train curves.

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, Farang said:

When you photographed the MN did you notice if the number and ownership plates were horizontal, or were they a bit angled? I ask because I rejected one of these models because of that problem. And from the low angle it seems Hornby has had to modify the forward faring to accommodate the swing of he bogie to negotiate toy-train curves.

Good evening,

 

I didn't notice if the number and ownership plates on Hornby's latest MN were angled or not. They appear straight enough in my photograph.

 

Here it is again.......

 

 

And yes, the front lower faring has been altered to accommodate the bogie wheels on tight curves. 

 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Every now and then I'm really reminded of how much of a friendly hobby this is...........

 

When friends gather round for Little Bytham's monthly running session, for instance..........

 

 

The group is growing in number, so my grateful thanks to Geoff, George, David, David and Sandra for operating the trainset so diligently today. Apart from a couple of my operating cock-ups (all too common!), the sequence was operated perfectly. 

 

Thanks to Mo, too, for, as usual, providing excellent catering (supplemented by a lovely Susan-baked cake, and biscuits brought along). 

 

Some interesting models were brought along..........

 

 

A lovely Nu-Cast O2/2 (builder/painter unknown, but detailed/weathered by Geoff West), which now resides on the layout. 

 

 

A South Eastern Finecast C12 (builder/painter unknown, but detailed/weathered by Geoff West), from the estate of a deceased modeller. 

 

 

A Little Engines O4/3 (builder/painter unknown), from the estate of a deceased modeller. 

 

Sandra Orpen now owns the C12 and the O4/3, and will convert them to EM for use on Retford. 

 

 

A Millholme N5 (builder/painter unknown).

 

 

And a DJH Standard Five (built/painted by Ray Lightfoot), from the estate of a deceased modeller.

 

I have this model up for sale. It runs nicely, and I'm asking £160.00. Anyone interested, please PM me. 

 

Here's to the next get-together........

 

 

[45568]

For our Australian and N.Z. readers...

 

Lest we forget.

From Oz,

Peter C.

[Tony Wright]

Just to report that the DJH Standard Five shown in my last post has been sold.

[Jack P]

On the subject of models from deceased estates, I was privileged to see part of a nearly 80 locomotive collection that was (get ready to wince) saved from being thrown in the bin.

 

 

 

 

The absolute star of the show was this Raven A2. Which of course, is the one I took the worst photos of. 

 

 

 

It's an etched kit, and there was a Proscale marking on the chassis.

There was also both a large and small boiler C1, all finished to similar standards.

[lezz01]

Well done to whoever saved them. It's a shame that so many collections end up that way and a credit to those of us that save them. The problem being that many bereaved families have no clue to their worth and also don't want to be bothered with disposing of collections at a difficult time but just want them out of the way as fast as possible to reduce the painful memories that these collections often evoke. That's why Tony's work in this matter is so important. So many traders are only too willing to rip off the living let alone bereaved families by seriously undervaluing collections.

Regards Lez.