Ebay vagaries (Part 2)

The last post mentioned a Triang Jinty with a HD R1 chassis converted to 3rail which sold at auction on ebay for what I thought was a staggering £107 plus postage.

Well the same seller has just sold a similar engine

Triang Jinty on Hornby Dublo R1 3 Rail Chassis

on ebay which went for £37.75. The vagaries of Ebay!

I am still happy with my Hornby B12 which is running well.

7 thoughts on “Ebay vagaries (Part 2)”

  1. Sad News,
    Learned at a toyfair recently about the sad passing of Tony Cooper. Coopers Trains.
    Top quality Hornby Dublo, no idea if it will carry on.

  2. Having recently resurrected my dismantled 60 year old three rail layout I bought a couple of e-bay “bargains” and was pleasantly surprised with the quality of track I received Over 90% in very good condition including many of the 1/4 curves and 1/8 straights. I am now looking to collect some more locomotives and rolling stock. My knowledge of HD nomenclature is very rusty. Is there a website that lists the numerous part numbers and what are the rare collectables I have seen mentioned . I am at the design stage at the moment and will hopefully start building my layout next winter once my new extension is completed. Any help and advice will be gratefully accepted.

    1. Welcome to 3 rail running.

      The first thing to do is buy the Hornby Dublo bible by Michael Foster, out of print but this looks like a good one
      http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=22836503986&searchurl=tn%3Dthe%2Bhornby%2Bcompanion%2Bseries%2Bvol%2B3%2Bhornby%2Bdublo%2Btrains%26sortby%3D20%26an%3Dmichael%2Bfoster&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title2

      Read the My Layout on this website to pick up tips on building a new layout, not forgetting the comments as these have many additional tips.

      Have a look at “other Layouts” as these might give you some more ideas

      If you want to try out different layout diagrams you can download SCARM which has Hornby Dublo 3 rail as one of its huge number of track options and experiment to your hearts content.

      Valuable locos are the very early ones (prewar) and the very late ones introduced after the main system had switched to 2 rail, Dorchester, Denbeigh Castle, 3 rail EMU, 0-6-2 with coal, 8F with ringfield motor 48094, City of Liverpool, 2-6-4T 80059, Deltic St Paddy. The money you have to pay for these means that they tend to be for collectors not runners.

      Good luck with your layout and I can always add a page to “other Layouts” where you can chronicle your layout as it progresses and let everyone know how it is coming along.

      1. Many thanks for the information, the book is on my shopping list. I am thinking of picking up some “non-runners” and putting them back into working order. I have a tool kit that includes swiss files, soldering irons, and many small spanners and pliers. I am fairly confident at not having too many parts left over. I have rebuilt several classic sports car over the years, HD is very similar just on a smaller scale. I visited a local model railway exhibition recently and when I asked if there were any HD three rail layouts was told the exhibition was for scale model railway enthusiasts not toy train collectors. I found this attitude disappointing, but not too surprised as it exists in the classic car world and no doubt other hobbies. I found the layouts on your website very interesting and started to make a few sketches and will be trying out the SCARM programme shortly. I have discovered in the loft a couple of two rail locos including a Mainline Deltic and another diesel which I will have a go at converting, and my brother has some three rail locos and wagons he is going to pass on. I have 630 separate items of track so I think I should be able to produce a decent layout. I will let you know how I get on later on in the year.

        1. David. The HRCA has area meetings across the country where once a month you can meet and run trains with Hornby Dublo enthusiasts many meetings have a trader or two where you can pick up rolling stock and spares. You should be an HRCA member to attend but new faces are welcome and they might persuade you to join. I will email you so that you can find a suitable area meeting.

          If you do join then you have access to the Spares Directory which can provide all the bits that you will need plus all the instruction sheets etc in the Wiki, if you decide not to then http://www.mtrains.co.uk/ have all the spares you could need at reasonable prices.

          You might need to add a multimeter to your list as this is very useful in diagnosing problems.

          Look through the Ronald Dodd Maintenace videos, in the links, as these give great practical advice on 3 rail locos maintenance and all things three rail

          Good luck, happy to set up your own page on this website to keep us all up to date.

    2. Hi. I was given various 3 rails sets around 1960 ish and I am looking to find them a good home at reasonable price. I live in UAE now. Any suggestions?

  3. I’m somewhat disgusted at the wholly inappropriate remark about “toy trains.” Hornby Dublo has a very fine pedigree, just like Bentley cars or Leica cameras to take but two examples. It is telling that the locos and many wagons are heavy die-cast metal, just like the real thing. The older carriages have metal sides, again as the prototype. The scale model railway, nice as I’m sure it was, would more likely be ‘delicate’. The carriages and wagons, locos too perhaps, plastic? Horrors. The only plastic to be found on my Elmton and Holbeck branch line (30 years-old last September) are people, road signs and a couple of telephone boxes. The 3 rail track and points, Wrenn circa 1956, have fibreboard sleepers with the rails haled in by metal clips.

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