Golden Fleece 30

Hi David, I would have guessed around 1955/6 time as I don't think I had started school and I was 3 or 4 years old then. My set was the 4 vehicles seen with the beaver tail coming later on its own. I like the photo you linked, most impressive for its year. My coaches are glued as there is is just a large diameter hole in the base, no screws. I think my locos used to have chevrons on the front but worn/rubbed off. I remember the red version coming out with CN on but don't remember the blue one. The only blue I can remember was the double ended one which had a yellow? strip on. I think it also had a dummy vehicle too. This was also sold as a green and orange one and with pantograghs (Australian/South African?). I did not really have a lot of interest in these and never understood why my parents bought me the TC set, they probably did not know what they were buying just knew it was a train set and I loved trains. Garry

Tho only thing there David is the rear of the base has two lugs that clip in to the body low down to hold it in position. I guess the two screws at the top might hold it, or, use a second plate from the trailing unit to fit a motor and put a couple of screw holes in the body top. Garry

Here is mine, I was going to show the old style motor bogie but it has been replaced with the "standard" one of a lay-shaft with armature/commutator and worms on. When or why this was replaced I have no idea but this still has the old style couplings on. On the power unit the front light and side numbers lit up but not on the trailing unit, maybe Tri-ang never thought about it working trailer car first. I have not seen these myself for a while having to search and dig them out of the loft and thought the plastic was cracking but it is not there just seem to be vertical black lines in the mouldings. Garry

I don't think any Tri-ang locos (TC or BR) were factory fitted with two motors although you could replace the dummy unit with a powered one and they certainly did not have any trailing bogie pick-ups. Those came out later on with the last design Co-Co and A1A-A1A before the Ringfields. The TC power units had one steel wheel live to the chassis and the other with phosphor bronze wipers on a paxolin base on before the Co-Co/EM2 style of nylon axle with 4 separate bronze wipers coming down from the motor (spider assembly I think they called it). The trailing bogies were just large plastic split wheels, 2 halves on one axle. Garry

My very first electric train set was the TC one in the mid 50's. This was the loco and dummy plus a plain coach and the one with the perspex roof top complete with standard grey track. I still have it somewhere along with the rear plastic domed coach, bought separately, and always wanted the centre unit for the power and trailer unit but never got that. The couplings were ungainly long open bar and big hook before the normal tension lock came out. At that time (and even now) I thought loco to coach size was just the American way. The motor drive was unusual as having a cog wheel on the motor shaft driving another at the end of a lay-shaft, quite noisy but that could also be the large knurled wheels too. I have thought recently about replacing all the wheels and 3-railing it just for fun but a lot of other things to do first. Very soon my parents bought me some second hand Hornby Dublo 3-rail (2-rail had not come out yet), Tri-ang TT and Trix Twin without realising none of these would work with each other. Apart from the Trix Twin (bakelite track and A/C locos) which my mother gave away in the 70's I still have all the other. A lot of Dublo and now just resurrecting my TT. Garry

Series 3 track had a power connecting clip which could be inserted on straight or curved track. The uncoupler with power supply terminals was the second style grey standard track. The first style could only be fitted one way into an oval.

Thanks Frank, So the Duchess is out too I guess, although could you not have a special working one day a week to allow it to run? It s a pity these Atlas models did not have a couple of smaller locos, but, on the cards is an ex LMS 0-4-4 tank so watch this space as they say. Garry

Hi David, I only came across these models about 6 weeks ago, I presume they are quite old?. Some look very good for their detail and close to TT (1:100) scale. As you have seen I have a couple of A4's and a nice Duchess. In the wings are the A3 and V2 started but still to do. The Schools does not look too bad but a lot of thought is needed for that chassis wise but I do have an unusual idea which may work. The King might be okay but it will not fit the Castle chassis due to the firebox shape as we have mentioned before with Tri-ang's Castle. The Britannia and 9F do not look right anyway so not bothered buying those, plus Tri-ang has a nice Britannia model to start with. The Scot I want to see in my hand as there seems to be something not quite right about it. The Remembrance class tank loco looks good and I know it never made BR days but it would have on my layout if one comes up cheap. I am not to bothered about City of Truro and want to see the Winston Churchill in my hand also to see if it is any different to the Tri-ang model to make it worth a purchase. It is a pity they never did any other BR locos as they can be a cheap but good looking alternative. They do need a fair bit of work cutting up the diecast footplates though. Garry

4 x Silver Fox Here we have 4 different scales of Silver Fox starting at the bottom with my N gauge version. This was a Mallard with the last two digits and names altered but with hand painted Silver Foxes. Next is my recent TT version, this is a plastic LNER Mallard that has been repainted in BR green, lined with Kemco 00 waterslide transfers, 00 nameplates and numbers and again hand painted Silver Foxes (these look better than my N ones from 20 years ago) and wire handrails replacing the moulded ones. The third one is my Dublo version with Dublo style varnish fix transfers for lining, name, numbers and foxes, I wish I had used etched plates for this. The top one is a scratchbuilt 0 gauge model from about 25 years ago. This shows the Gresley "hump" far better than the N and TT models, the Dublo one does not have it which is its only let down. This is one of over 250 0 gauge A4 bodies I made of which a handful made Australia, South Africa, Canada and USA. I also did 4 gauge 1 versions of the A4 but they were all sold and I did not have space for one myself which is a pity now. My TT version needs the rear Cartazzi frames looking at as they look out of position on the M/N pony truck, the Britannia one was too far back. At the moment it is a nice little runner and looks reasonable. The single view is to show the hand painted foxes.

4 x Silver Fox Here we have 4 different scales of Silver Fox starting at the bottom with my N gauge version. This was a Mallard with the last two digits and names altered but with hand painted Silver Foxes. Next is my recent TT version, this is a plastic LNER Mallard that has been repainted in BR green, lined with Kemco 00 waterslide transfers, 00 nameplates and numbers and again hand painted Silver Foxes (these look better than my N ones from 20 years ago) and wire handrails replacing the moulded ones. The third one is my Dublo version with Dublo style varnish fix transfers for lining, name, numbers and foxes, I wish I had used etched plates for this. The top one is a scratchbuilt 0 gauge model from about 25 years ago. This shows the Gresley "hump" far better than the N and TT models, the Dublo one does not have it which is its only let down. This is one of over 250 0 gauge A4 bodies I made of which a handful made Australia, South Africa, Canada and USA. I also did 4 gauge 1 versions of the A4 but they were all sold and I did not have space for one myself which is a pity now. My TT version needs the rear Cartazzi frames looking at as they look out of position on the M/N pony truck, the Britannia one was too far back. At the moment it is a nice little runner and looks reasonable.

After about 40 years I finally got around to assembling my ESANL (Bec?) E2 loco kit last week. There are not many pieces to it but I had lost two steps so made a couple out of brass. With a nice warm day today I was able to spray varnish it, (along with my Deltic and A4). It is not a bad looking engine but does need a smokebox number when I get around to getting a good print from the PC. All I need now are a couple of SR suburbans to go with it. Garry

Not liking the Britannia chassis as used on the BEC 2-6-4 standard tank in an earlier post having the wrong type of slidebars and due to the Tri-ang arrangement leaving the cylinders too far forward I have done a little modification. I have reshaped and cut some Castle slidebars and lengthened the connecting rod. This gives a better impression to me of the double LMS style slidebars and moved the cylinders forward in line with the steam pipes. I have also put a new axle hole on the rear bogie to move the rear wheel in slightly getting it away from the under the buffer beam. Just need to sort out the buffers and work out how to fit some valve gear later. Garry

After painting a couple of other locos recently I thought about my M/N Clan Line which seemed to have a "washed out" appearance on the orange so I decided to put a new brighter set over the top. I did have to brush paint the gloss on due to the weather as I can only spray outside. The satin varnish, although new yesterday, did not look right so I went for the near ex works look of gloss green with my original satin finish to the black by brushing only the green. Hopefully you will not notice the finish too much when its pulling the ACE at 100mph. Garry

Yes Frank. The Castle has its wheels slightly further apart, still not correct but close enough for a ready to run chassis. All these have to be a compromise as I don't have the time anymore to scratch build anything and that is if you could get the parts. As Tri-ang only made two sizes of wheel that again has to be accepted. I did try to use the Castle chassis with its own motor but that would not fit in the firebox and thankfully I found a large Prairie where I had fitted the XT60 a long time ago so with a new chassis for that (the K's one) I used this modified one on the Duchess. The Britannia/M-N wheel spacing looks to be suitable for the A3 and V2 I am going to do later and thankfully they already use the XT60's. The chassis under Pendennis Castle which is fitted with Romfords also has the XT60 fitted so this will go in a Kitmaster Royal Scot later. Garry

This is the latest installment of Duchess of Hamilton. The front bogie is a Castle one that has had a new axle hole drilled a little further forward. It is slightly longer than scale but I have a feeling the body might be out too. plus, I do not have the correct wheels in the loco chassis. The rear frames have been fitted but only for testing as I might repaint the footplate edge, I should have done it when I did the body really. I did trim a little off the sloping edge of these. The rear pony is the standard M/N one with the front beveled off to swing between the frames on small radius curves. All that is needed now is to sort out the slidebars/connecting rod etc but this maybe a while now. I may get some etched when I get the tenders underframes and other bits done. The chassis as you see is a Castle one fitted with the XT60 motor. Garry

Possibly blackish fingers from filing the castings which still happens now if what I see on my fingers is what you mean but never acne though.

Here's a short video of my TT Duchess having a first test run. I am now using the Castle chassis which is fitted with the XT60 motor as opposed to the Britannia origionally planned. Description on You Tube. Garry

Hopefully that will be what they supplied me with. Garry

I think at the time only K's had the streamlined Coronation as a kit with DJH's coming later although I have no dates as and when. If they were out at the same time Wrenn probably thought K's was the cheaper option, which I guess it was, and so went with that. Garry

Here is a K's whitemetal TT gauge kit of the 61xx I bought recently. This really is poor compared to the Tri-ang versions and does not really look right being too short I think. I may try to convert it to a 45xx as it certainly is no good as it is but that might not be easy. I originally bought it thinking I would do it in BR lined green to go with the Tri-ang ones but that is not on the cards now. This is one K's kit that is a let down for me after what I said about the 00 models. Garry

Regarding K's issues, they actually made the castings for Wrenn for their Streamlined Coronation loco. From what I read in the Wrenn story most castings went back as poor quality hence the rareity of those locos, I think more than half were returned. I will say this does not surprise me with this loco as I have seen in the last couple of years 2 brand new K's kits and the main body is awful. It is so deformed narrowing in I would be scared of it breaking or deforming on top if it was opened up. Suffice to say I did not buy either especially as I have new Hornby bodies on Dublo chassis's and a Jamieson brass/nickel one. Regarding some comments above, we all know the issues but one factor not talked about is the capability of the person making it up. As I mentioned I could not do the chassis very well in the early days but later got them working fine. These were the "stamped" out bent ones where you had to fit the wheels and bearings BEFORE opening the frames to put the spacers in situ. I can understand your frustration though Bertiedog at their methods. Garry

I personally think that all the whitemetal kits from the early 60's when I was old enough to do them (my first was a Wills 0-6-0 quickly followed by the A2 around 1965 when I was 13) have their own good and bad points. Some have more good points and some more bad points. K's kits were a little too much for me at the time but by the late 60's and through the 70's I enjoyed them. I have to say the running was not too good then until my skills were such where I could modify or make the chassis better. By then I had the Bulldog, Atlantic, 57xx all nice runners. I never got the Black 5 chassis working though but put the body on a propriety chassis as I did with the WR 2-8-0 which went on a Dublo 8F chassis. I have all the K's bodyline kits for the Dublo 0-6-0 chassis and they to me are very nice. For their time I think both K's and Wills were by far the best with very little between them especially body wise. K's chassis did leave a little to be desired but the early ones with nice mazak/nickel wheels on an axle were far superior to the plastic centered push on ones with a cra**y motor. I quite liked the ones with two magnets at either end but this is all my views. At the very bottom of the kit scale for me was the Cornard range, a B17 and WD that ended up in the bin. Please note I never had a kit from every manufacturer but did also have Gem and Bec ones. Garry

Silver Fox is coming along nicely, not as good as I hoped but the best I can do these days I guess. The numbers and the black hopefully will be done over the weekend. The chassis has started to be modified to allow the valve gear and body to sit better. I may have to hand paint the fox as it does look a little too big but plenty of time to think about that yet. Garry

Here is a start on Duchess of Hamilton. I have resprayed the Atlas body and tender and done a lot of cutting of the diecast footplates. The loco one to accept a Britannia/Clan Line chassis, The wheel spacing is not correct for the splashers and one day I may re-drill the chassis to suit but for now it is okay. Hopefully the Castle style slide bars will be used with a new longer length connecting rod giving an LMS style twin slide bar look. The loco body looks to need to be higher which takes it off the driving wheels, or I may lower the tender a little. The tender chassis had its inner frames removed and a temporary plastic one made as per the A4. When all my variations are done I will get etched ones made. A new longer bogie will be required and the plastic rear frames will be fixed to the rear pony once the main chassis is to my satisfaction. The painting needs touching up on the tender axleboxes, yellow line on the boiler and the smokebox black. Garry

I have made a start on a second A4, this time a BR version that will be in my favourite colour for these locos, lined green. The cut outs where the valances were still need tidying up and I managed to get a Britannia chassis for this one. The valve gear bracket is holding the body up a little so before any drastic modifications are done to either chassis or body now, I need to think about the best option I have, which at the moment there are 3 possible ones. It may end up as Union of South Africa but most likely Silver Fox. The 00 nameplates came cheap at a toyfair.