Some more pics from my layout.

Barnstaple showing how 2 rail wire pickup trapped under insulation block to deinsulate  wheels.

I hand painted the LMS N2 tank myself, using flat brush and thinned Humbrol  enamel, mixed to get right shade! Transfers courtesy of Dennis Williams.

The GWR pannier was a scrap JVM body on a shortened r1 chassis. Brass Cab side Number plates by Geoff Burton of Kings Cross plates.

Amazing the expertise people have which helps guys like me!

Got my Barnstaple working fine now – thanks to you and all your step by step advice!
Here’s a few shots of my layout – it is 8 x5 ft, based on a plan I found in an old HRCA mag.

The LMS N2 tank I did as a renovation attempt on a scrap body, the Silver King I had as a

boy and still goes fine, the Farish Prairie was dublo wheeled and 3 railed for me by Dennis,

dublo surgeon. Runs ok but very noisy!

Have found great pleasure in fixing old models, usually not too bad as so well made in first place!
Many thanks
Richard

I received an email from David M about his layout and I asked him to send some pictures.

So here are his pictures and the letter he sent to accompany them

“I have enclosed a few shots of my model railway that is still not completed after 27 years. We are Hornby Dublo 3 rail as I have always been impressed with the sheer heft of the locos and diecast rolling stock. A chap at a car boot sale in 1988 advised me to go to Maroway at Sheffield after I looked at some Dublo he was selling. There I found a few Wrenn 3 rail points and the owner, Mark Weaver, found a box of 12 yards of track labelled with a Sheffield address and postmarked 1956. I bought the lot.

I decided on a single track branch line that would enable me to use my limited stock of track to layout long sidings. This we aare fiddle yard to fiddle yard with a station area along one side for shunting etc.

Elmton is a very small village over Bolsover way. I chose the name as I liked the sound of it. My partner and I visited a few years ago and had a meal in the pub. The Landlord was tickled pink that it was also the name of my little railway”.

The pictures follow  – click on a picture to get the full sized version

The saga of the Bo-Bo was in a previous post which after a lot of work was still running and stopping erratically. Well so was someone elses on the HRCA forum. One improvement suggestion was to check that the pick up sleeve was flush in the pick up mount as if it wasn’t then the pick up at its lowest position would still be a little high. Off came the body for a check. Lo and behold that was exactly the position – the top of the pick up sleeve was showing when you lifted up the plunger. A sharp thump with hammer on screwdriver positioned on the sleeve pushed it down perfectly.

Onto the track, Excellent running everywhere over points, X crossings and bends. It is still not the best running Bo-Bo I have but it will easily pull 10 wagons at a realistic speed.

Thanks to the HRCA forum I now have a good runner.

Now what’s my next maintenance job.,

What’s that got to with Hornby Dublo?

Well I need a computer to write this and you need a computer to read it so I just thought that I would add some thoughts on my new one.

I had my first laptop in 1992, a Toshiba T 1200, which had 2 floppy disks one for the programme and one for the data. Many happy hours with Lotus 123 and Wordperfect as this was a business machine and no games were ever played on it. The most excitement was a programme called Sideways which enabled Lotus 123 to go sideways (Landscape) and thus allow more columns.

It started with MS DOS and progressed through all of the Windows programmes as each laptop was replaced with another. I have always had laptops not just because they are portable but because there is not a myriad of wires and connections – all so simple and  easy to set up.

Now retired I am in my home office and a laptop was not essential so I decided to go for a big screen All in One. I have never been into Apple although most of my family are so decided to stick with Windows but the one essential was a matte screen. My home office is a small conservatory type room with full glass on 3 sides and the reflections on a glossy screen are unacceptable and if I have a big screen I want to look at it not touch it so a mouse and keyboard is fine with me.

But to find an AIO with a matte screen. Rule out all of the iMacs (they will run Windows), rule out all with touch screens as these have an extra layer of glass for the touch making them very susceptible to glare and there is not many left. In the end I chose an MSI 24 inch All In One with a matte screen. The screen is full HD and full matte and has already proven its worth with bright winter sun not giving any problems – Winner.

Its fast, i7 processor, 128 GB SSD and 1TB HDD and a separate graphics chip for excellent iPlayer and You Tube watching but it came with Windows 8 which I was nervous about.

It is currently running W 8.1 Update 1 and with a few tweaks (easily available from websites) it is in my opinion better than the W7 which was and still is running on the old laptop which has been set up in the railway shed. So if you are a mouse person rather than touch don’t be afraid of Windows 8 just make sure that it has all of the updates and you will be totally at home and you never even have to see the Metro screen.

And my dublo pictures look really good an a big screen in full HD.

Initial running of this loco was fairly slow. Oiling etc did not improve matters much and the amps needle on the controller was showing 0.9 amps – too high for HD.

But I have done some more running and the amps are now down to 0.4 – much better – surely this is not a new loco being run in after some 50 odd years, possible as the pickups on the loco look very clean and little sign of running. Speed and pulling power is improving as well. A good addition to the fleet.

Picture of the 2 cylinder Stanier with the 3 cylinder version both by Wills Finecast on a HD chassis. The dreadful pink lining has been removed

Thanks to Ron Dodd’s videos I am taking more interest in the mechanical side of my engines. I had a poor running Bo-Bo which on investigation seemed to need new brushes as they were very worn. New brushes were fitted nothing else was touched.

On test, upside down with crocodile clips attached to the pick up and earth it ran smoothly. I let it run for about 10 minutes to bed in the new brushes.

Put it on a straight bit of track and off it went but stopped dead at the first curve, push it and it starts but stops almost immediately. Pushing it around the half circle it came to the straight and off it went but after about 4 lengths it stopped again. Reversing the direction of the engine made no difference. Pick ups were cleaned including the inner sliding mech with a cotton bud and neither seem to be sticking at all.

All wiring checked and the earth was resoldered as it looked flimsy. Engine still runs without any problems on test bed.

There is no sparking that I can see when the engine stops.

As explained when on test upside down the engine runs perfectly but won’t run on the track around curves or even on some straight bits.

I set up a small test track with two curves and a straight. Cleaned the track and checked it with an N2 – track OK. Then the Bo-Bo stutters then stops. I left the front bogie on the track with its pick up and lifted the rear bogie to the side of the track and it ran well but when I moved the front bogie a little it stopped.

My theory is that the insulating washer on the front pick up which is very loose and when the bogie moves it produces a dead short as the pick up washer touches the chassis. So I need to remove the pickup and replace the washer although I will have to make one up from some plastic. The questions are – is this likely and how do I remove the plunger pick up to replace the washer? Is it in Ron’s videos?

This theory explains the upside down running as the insulating washer and the connector would not be able to touch the chassis.

More testing has indicated that my pet theory might well be wrong.

Engine on track, controller on – no movement. With screw driver put pressure on front bogie pick up piston – motor starts running. Take pressure off motor stops.

Seems that the pickup is not making contact with the third rail. Might still have to dismantle the pick up but will try cleaning etc.

White spirit and a cotton bud cleaned the pickups and they now drop down the full extent.

I then remembered that I had fitted a Neo magnet as well as new brushes. If things can be put in 2 ways I usually choose the wrong way first. So the Neo was taken out and turned round – it looked square to me but I turned it round anyway.

Net result is that the engine can now complete a circuit of the track without stopping. What was the Neo doing to make it keep stopping? It was one that was specially supplied for a Bo-Bo.

Final conclusion after all this work, including new tyres is that the engine runs no better than before and still hesitates occasionally just as before.

Put it down to experience

Recently purchased on ebay.

A 2-6-4T with a Stanier body rather than a 4MT. It is an exact fit for for the HD chassis. The body had been badly treated with an unsteady hand and pink? lining. The numbers and LMS seem to be complete stickers rather than transfers as per LHP productions. Any idea who made this body?

So off came the body for remedial work. It then become perhaps more interesting. The chassis is stamped Hornby Dublo and the couplings have the patent number on them so it is a genuine HD chassis but what is that strange way of holding the motion.

Although I presume that a previous owner was keen on black paint and painted the magnet and the screw holding it in matte black, the motion holder is gloss and even has a small white piece of insulation to stop the pick up wires from shorting on it. The rest seems to be standard HD

I have posted this on the HRCA site under Neverwazzas to try and find out who made the body. The initial discussion is about the Wills Finecast Kit 3 cylinder Stanier locomotive on a EDL18 chassis. I have 2 of them but this is a completely different body.

With a bit of research and a troll through the HRCA Collector archives I have sold the conundrum of the body – it is a Wills Finecast kit of a 2 cylinder Stanier tank made to fit an HD 2-6-4T chassis and came without coal as my one did.

The modified chassis remains a mystery

Some time ago Ron Dodds asked me to take a video of slow running with my new controller. The arrival of the boy and his new DSLR which takes videos unlike the old one he passed onto me which doesn’t. So here is a slow start up of a double headed oil train and a local passenger train. Probably more to come if this works. Not yet ready for YouTube but its a start.

Well it would seem that I can’t post it directly on this website so I have posted it here

It needs some editing but that’s for laters

The boy was here over Christmas with his new camera so here are some pictures.

The first is a Wrenn unrebuilt Bullied Pacific, the second is a Maerklin Pacific showing through the trees and the last actually has some HD locos with Dorchester and Mallard but with a Hornby Schools Class as an intruder.

Why does the layout always look a mess when you take a picture but which you don’t notice before you take the picture.