Autumn is with us and the nights are drawing in, soon to be time to change the clocks and all this means more running on the layout. I have two Triang “locomotives” a DMU and an EMU both of course converted to 3 rail. I have been running both of them and am surprised by the noise they make. I just wonder if this is normal or something to do with my examples. Compared to HD and Wrenn the motors howl like banchees on heat even when going slow. Do they need oiling? Do they need a service? Or is this normal for the Triang motors in these two units. Still they circulate well even if they drown out the radio which I usually listen to whilst running. Don’t have the same problem with Trix, Lilliput-Trix but the Gaiety is fairly noisy. Anyone out there got any comments?

Its been a very hot and long summer in the UK. Definitely not the weather for playing with trains. Most of the toy fairs stop during this period and even sitting at the computer is not attractive when the sun is shining and there are jobs to be done in the garden etc.
So all in all not a lot of train activity.
However September arrived and so did temptation in the shape of a 3 rail conversion of a Mainline Deans Good. This 0-6-0 engine was first introduced by the GWR in 1891-2, but were rebuilt by the GWR Chief Engineer, William Dean and afterwards they were forever known as Dean Goods. They were the workhorse of the GWR and 280 were built in total.
The model itself is reasonably well detailed but is of course plastic with tender drive, which does not make it suitable for pulling a long rake of tinplate wagons. I have it pulling a coal wagon, a bogie brick, with the rarer brown chassis and a brake van. It must be on a branch line with a short pick up freight.
Some pictures will be posted.

In a previous post I mentioned that I often caught a train hauled by 80033 from Victoria and had added a model of it to the layout.
Now when I was even younger I would look out of my bedroom window and two large fields away there was a railway line on which would run a 2 coach electric train. It was the West Croydon to Mitcham line, it was single line and I don’t remember ever seeing a train consisting of more than two carriages. This line is now part of the Croydon Tramway so it still exists but how different it would all look if I went back there.
Anyway I have now added a Triang 4SUB electric train which has two coaches and is similar to the one I would look out on. It is not the actual type which I think was unusual but it gives the same look.
It runs well but the convertor has put a heavy weight above the new pick ups which have been added to convert it to 3 rail and this does make it wobble a bit and occasionally derail as it would seem that it is a little top heavy. I will do some more running before deciding whether to try and take out this added weight – it does make for a good electrical pickup, better than the DMU which uses a similar set up but without the added weight. More news when I have done some more running

So to continue the theme of branch lines and small engines. I also have a Dapol 4-4-0, a LMS 2P, which was popular on the S&DJR and was used for both passenger and freight working. Actually they usually ran on the main line but I have mine in branch line service as the tender drive and plastic body doesn’t lend itself to pulling much of a train.
I also use a HD GWR 0-6-2T in this type of service.
Then comes the Triang DMU – the horror of branch line steam but they were introduced to try and extend the life of these branch lines and were an essential part of the 1950’s scene.
The strange one is the LMS 4F, 0-6-0, which was a common engine on branch lines but mine is in HO scale and has 3 LMS coaches so it is in main line service. It would probably better to run it in a freight configuration with a connecting wagon to enable it to join with HD wagons. This is because the coaches being HO look wrong and they are also MK1’s purporting to be LMS. I think that the loco might look OK with OO freight wagons – something to try in the future.
So there we are HD 0-6-2T’s running long coal and oil trains, mixed freight and suburban 3 coach passenger services and these little locos running one coach with a vent van pretending that they are on branch line service, when we all know that they run on the same track as the expresses – its a toy thing and imagination

To continue with the collecting theme. One of the problems with the Dublo set up were their tank engines. They made the N2 0-6-2T prewar and post war and using the same engine they painted it in all the big four liveries plus BR. The N2 was a LNER engine used both in Scotland and North London, most of them were fitted with condensing gear and they were used both for passengers and freight. The problem is that this was the least detailed, most toylike of all the HD locos without even any coal in the bunker (until right at the end of its production). The other liveries aren’t very convincing and basically they all look very similar. In addition the 0-6-2T configuration was not the most popular for small multipurpose engines with 0-6-0, 0-4-4,4-4-0 and others being far more numerous.
Dublo concentrated on fast, top link express trains and ignored the small branch lines which criss crossed the country with a small tank or tender engine pulling a couple of coaches. They did bring out an 0-6-0 towards the end but this was available in 2 rail only. There most impressive tank engine was the 2-6-4T which was a BR standard 4MT. This was well detailed an excellent runner and was found through out British Railways from Scotland to the SR. So this is excellent for branch line running but was a bit powerful for some of the smaller lines although they did operate on the Brockenhurst to Lymington branch line for a while.

The net result of this is that I have augmented my collection with suitable branch line engines. The Gaiety made GWR 0-6-0PT was everywhere around the GWR and then the Western region with over 800 prototypes being built. I run it either with a small freight or a single coach and a vent van.
Next there is the Collet 0-6-2T from Trix which is another ex GWR tank engine used for branchline work. This is a good Trix model with detail of the same quality as the HD 2-6-4T.
Then I have 2 of the HD 0-6-0T,s converted to 3 rail one in black and one with a Wrenn Southern Railways livery. These are not very powerful having a plastic body but cope nicely with a 2 coach suburban train.

More to come

I run Hornby Dublo 3 rail toy trains. They are definitely toys as they were given to me as such when I was a young. They represent the real engines and rolling stock but are not models and don’t profess to be. One advantage of this is that the scenery can fall into the same category as representing rather than being a real model. Which is a good thing as my five thumbs have serious problems even building card models.

By running HD you have to be a collector as HD was discontinued in 1964 and 3 rail many years before although Meccano carried on making 3 rail versions of their later 2 rail engines. The rolling stock was compatible with both systems.

Thus being a collector you come against rarities and silly prices. This means that all of the later HD engines are very pricey and therefore not for me. Ludlow Castle > £400, EMU 3 car > £500, St Paddy >£350
City of Liverpool >£300 etc. Its not really that I couldn’t afford them if I really wanted them but all of my stock sits on the track all of the time regardless of temperature dust etc and to take something so valuable and treat it like that hardly seems the right thing to do, but then to leave it in its box and just run it every now and then seems pretty pointless. So I don’t consider them to be within my scope.

My method is to use alternatives, a 3 rail Crepello looks like St Paddy, a 3 rail City of London does for Liverpool, Altheny Castle does for Ludlow but of course it doesn’t have the Ringfield motor, just the one 8F, 2-8-0 as I can’t be bothered to have an equivalent of the ringfield version. The really tricky one is the EMU which I would like if I could find an unboxed very good condition rather than the mint and boxed which seems to represent most of those that come up on ebay. In fact ebay is definitely not the place to look, a local fair or similar would likely be the best bet.

So to add to the rather limited offering that HD had, I have gone for some non Hornby additions. A Trix Lilliput Flying Scotsman, engine drive and an excellent runner. It has a red background to the name plate and therefore it is post its sale to its private owner which means that it can run with BR coaches, which it does.

Then there is – more to follow on this subject

I run Hornby Dublo 3 rail toy trains. They are definitely toys as they were given to me as such when I was a young. They represent the real engines and rolling stock but are not models and don’t profess to be. One advantage of this is that the scenery can fall into the same category as representing rather than being a real model. Which is a good thing as my five thumbs have serious problems even building card models.

By running HD you have to be a collector as HD was discontinued in 1964 and 3 rail many years before although Meccano carried on making 3 rail versions of their later 2 rail engines. The rolling stock was compatible with both systems.

Thus being a collector you come against rarities and silly prices. This means that all of the later HD engines are very pricey and therefore not for me. Ludlow Castle > £400, EMU 3 car > £500, St Paddy >£350 City of Liverpool >£300 etc. Its not really that I couldn’t afford them if I really wanted them but all of my stock sits on the track all of the time regardless of temperature dust etc and to take something so valuable and treat it like that hardly seems the right thing to do, but then to leave it in its box and just run it every now and then seems pretty pointless. So I don’t consider them to be within my scope.

My method is to use alternatives, a 3 rail Crepello looks like St Paddy, a 3 rail City of London does for Liverpool, Altheny Castle does for Ludlow but of course it doesn’t have the Ringfield motor, just the one 8F can’t be bothered to have a replica of the ringfield version. The really tricky one is the EMU which I would like if I could find an unboxed very good condition rather than the mint and boxed which seems to represent most of those that come up on ebay. In fact ebay is definitely not the place to look, a local fair or similar would likely be the best bet.

So to add to the rather limited offering that HD had, I have gone for some non Hornby additions. A Trix Lilliput Flying Scotsman, engine drive and an excellent runner. It has a red background to the name plate and therefore it is post its sale to its private owner which means that it can run with BR coaches, which it does.

Then there is – more to follow on this subject

There is a story behind my latest acquisition of a Hornby King Arthur Class 4-6-0 St Dinandan. Sometime ago I bought, off ebay, a Schools Class, Dulwich, which I wanted to get converted to 3 rail running. I wanted this loco because I went to Dulwich College and thought that it would be an appropriate addition to the loco fleet. However unlike the early Hornby Schools Classes this one was not made in Margate but one of their China productions. This meant that it had been greatly modified including wheels which were close to fine scale i.e with very small flanges. These wheels plus the complicated tender drive system would have made it both difficult to convert to 3 rail running and the small flanges would have made it a very iffy runner on old HD 3 rail track. On the advice of my engineer I decided that it was best to sell it and look for something more suitable.

The loco was sold before Christmas and in its stead I acquired St Dinandan. This is from the period when Triang Hornby changed back to being just Hornby. It was only for sale for a couple of years. It has a plastic body and is reasonably detailed. Interestingly the new 2006 Hornby catalogue indicates that this year they will be introducing a new super detailed King Arthur Class which I am sure will put my old version into the shade. However as it is unlikely that the new version could ever successfully be converted to 3 rail operation I will have to live with the one I have.
In the conversion new driving wheels have been fitted to replace the insulated ones and a full size Marklin skate so it is a very smooth runner and a good puller as well. It is in Southern Malachite Green and in Southern livery so it is another interesting runner for my pre- nationalisation running. I now have examples of all the big four pre-nationalisation companies so can happily operate in this era. The only problem being that HD really didn’t make any pre-nationalisation coaches apart from the Gresley teak coaches provided for Sir Nigel Gresley. Given this I will probably have to operate on a Heritage railway basis with more modern carriages. What matters as long as they rattle around the track and bring a smile to your face.
New pictures have been posted of this addition.

The new photo gallery for 2006 has been started with some pictures of the Collet 0-6-2T. I have also added some pictures of some of the Dinky, Corgi toys that sit in the bookcase. I couldn’t be bothered to remove them especially for the photos so they are taken still in the cabinet which was a major photographic challenge for the boy with his new whizzy camera. It (He) did a pretty good job considering the lighting difficulties.
These do not present a real collection just some of the cars that I had when I was a wee nip, with some additions over the year just to fill in some gaps.
Hope that you find them interesting, pity they are the wrong scale for dublo and therefore can’t be displayed on the layout.

My present to myself was an Charles Collett designed 0-6-2T for the GWR. This model is by Trix Twin and is a 3 rail version modified to run on HD track. It is in BR(W) green. Its a nice little model, reasonably well detailed which looks strange with the boiler being a long way forward of the driving wheels. I looked up the prototype and this is a true representation. For more information on the prototype try Great Western Archive which does have a picture of one
It runs reasonably well and has good pulling power, but does have some trouble over some of the points.
The first Trix Twin on the Layout. So now I have HD, Wrenn, Lilliput Trix, Dapol and Gaiety an interesting variety.