The LNER Encyclopedia

I shall certainly watch developments here with great interest. Opportunities to watch the construction of these two nevewazzers will provide welcome relief from those frequent moments at which life's more objectionable realities begin to weigh on the mind.

Good evening gentlemen!

I have tested the motors from all the spare A1/3/4 chassis I purchased from eBay and surprisingly they all seem to work!

However, I would be most grateful for some advice on a couple of points please.

[1] I am having difficulty pursuading the motor to drive onto the gear wheel on my first 4-8-2 chassis. There seems to be something very vague about the way the motor sits in its front and rear housings and engages. (I am happy that the housings sit in the same place as they did when the chassis was a 4-6-2). I must be missing a trick! Do Hornby bodge it with that black goo that sits under the motors - if so I'm not very impressed............ No they can't do that - it must be me!

[2] I do not have DCC and I am not sure whether you need both the NEM 652 socket and the blanking plug for the loco to run? From the 4 chassis I purchased as spares, there is only one upper blanking plug. Is there any problem with ditching the socket totally? I assume the only real necessity would be to keep the TV suppressor?

Thanks in anticipation!

Hi fella,

I think I may have an answer to each of your points, but might want clarification of the first one.

1/ Is the motor gearing actually making contact with the rest of the geartrain? Is it pressing down too hard, or not at all? Was there a keeper plate over the whole lot originally? Reading the forums where other modellers have found a plate of some kind above the geartrain, it appears the plate is holding the whole lot down and keeping it engaged. Hope this helps.

2/ The smaller pcb is (I think) a blanking plate to fill in for a DCC chip. It plugs into the larger pcb to allow use of the model on DC layouts/trainsets. The pcb's can be disposed of, and the wires from the pickups connected directly to the motor. Have got to have an unmodified model to hand to make sure the modifications leave the model running in the same direction as the rest of your fleet.

Look forward to more updates. Keep up the good work.

Many thanks Manxman1831!

[1] My motor problem was not actually what it seemed! I had not fully tightened the chassis bottom assembly (because the holes had been enlarged and the correct size would not fit), doing so just brought everything together. I'm not sure I totally understand because I would have thought that the weight of the chassis on the wheels would have rendered the chassis bottom plate irrelevant.

[2] I don't think there's any point trying to source blanking plugs - might as well lose the socket totally as you suggest.

As far as my first attempt at a scratch-built 1946 4-8-2 body was concerned, let's just say it wasn't a success and it's back to the drawing board!

I'm thinking of approaching both the 1939 stretched A3 and the 1946 loco in the same way, using A3 bodies, but cladding the latter over the top. Hmmm....

Thin plasticard butted up against the smokebox and wrapped over slightly? Nice idea. Would it be practical/possible to form the '46 boiler from thin card for a practise run?

Manxman1831 wrote:Thin plasticard butted up against the smokebox and wrapped over slightly? Nice idea. Would it be practical/possible to form the '46 boiler from thin card for a practise run?

Yep, I'm thinking of adding bands around the A3 boiler to build up the height as required. The tricky part of the exercise will be "cutting in" the cladding around the splashers. I tried this with a B12/3 where I was trying to increase the boiler diameter and was left with some filling to do. That is something else I haven't yet mastered!

I used the same method on the R1. Thin plasticard wrapped around a piece of plastic pipe for the main boiler, to get it to the right diameter. Also a 1mm thick piece wrapped around the same pipe for the smokebox, that was a lot harder to do.

Regards

Richard

Hi all, thought you may like this picture of my exhibition layout 'Haymarket Cross' a busy east coast main line engine shed in the early 60's. Hopefully will be in May edition of Hornby Magazine.
cheers
silverlink

G'Day Gents

For smokeboxes, I find it better to use a couple of thin layers of plastic to build it up to the required thickness, rather than trying to bend bend and glue one thick piece.

manna

mossie wrote:I used the same method on the R1. Thin plasticard wrapped around a piece of plastic pipe for the main boiler, to get it to the right diameter. Also a 1mm thick piece wrapped around the same pipe for the smokebox, that was a lot harder to do.

Regards

Richard

Thanks Richard, I can well understand. Plastikard is not as easy to manipulate as I expected, and without Graeme's old metal Steradent tube, at the moment I'm lacking the means of creating a perfect Plastikard tube. I also need to purchase Plastikard sheets of alternative thicknesses rather than try to build up layers, or try to bend stuff that's too thick to start with.

I need to source some cheap donor bodies too. If no damaged ones come up, I'm thinking that the loco drive Railroad A1/3 model would be best because the front and rear fittings will work on my modified chassis, and if I can make cuts in the right places to utilise the splashers, I should be well on the way.......

silverlink wrote:Hi all, thought you may like this picture of my exhibition layout 'Haymarket Cross' a busy east coast main line engine shed in the early 60's. Hopefully will be in May edition of Hornby Magazine.
cheers
silverlink

Silverlink - that is one awesome scene you have created. Inspirational! Any more photos?

I would like to create something very similar for myself, set back in the mid to late 1930s, as a desktop diorama using the Bachmann 4-road shed. I wonder whether anyone has any in stock yet? Must look...

manna wrote:G'Day Gents

For smokeboxes, I find it better to use a couple of thin layers of plastic to build it up to the required thickness, rather than trying to bend bend and glue one thick piece.

manna

Thanks for the tip Manna!

silverlink wrote:Hi all, thought you may like this picture of my exhibition layout 'Haymarket Cross' a busy east coast main line engine shed in the early 60's. Hopefully will be in May edition of Hornby Magazine.
cheers
silverlink

Very nice shed scene with the cleaners at work. You just need a shipload of Doncaster Green paint, copious black and white lining, some A4 wheel valances and a receptacle for those cast iron smokebox door plates with funny numbers on them - a nasty habit picked up from the Midland!
What's going on with the smokebox door of Boswell? It looks a bit odd in that photo.

2002EarlMarischal wrote:

mossie wrote:I used the same method on the R1. Thin plasticard wrapped around a piece of plastic pipe for the main boiler, to get it to the right diameter. Also a 1mm thick piece wrapped around the same pipe for the smokebox, that was a lot harder to do.

Regards

Richard

Thanks Richard, I can well understand. Plastikard is not as easy to manipulate as I expected, and without Graeme's old metal Steradent tube, at the moment I'm lacking the means of creating a perfect Plastikard tube. I also need to purchase Plastikard sheets of alternative thicknesses rather than try to build up layers, or try to bend stuff that's too thick to start with.

I need to source some cheap donor bodies too. If no damaged ones come up, I'm thinking that the loco drive Railroad A1/3 model would be best because the front and rear fittings will work on my modified chassis, and if I can make cuts in the right places to utilise the splashers, I should be well on the way.......

Check out East Kent Models, to see if they have any spare/scrap bodies in stock. I seem to remember them being quite cheap. Or try the next model railway show in your area - bound to be at least one trade stand selling bodies. Counted five at Nottingham this last weekend, all selling virtually the same bodies.

Manxman1831 wrote:Check out East Kent Models, to see if they have any spare/scrap bodies in stock. I seem to remember them being quite cheap. Or try the next model railway show in your area - bound to be at least one trade stand selling bodies. Counted five at Nottingham this last weekend, all selling virtually the same bodies.

Thanks Manxman1831!

I'd be interested in members' thoughts regarding the best bodies to cut and join to make the extended 4-8-2 body.

Just supposing I came across some of the fine detail loco drive A1/3 bodies, I've already discovered that they are very fragile when cut, particularly around the running plate and splashers.

Never having had a Railroad model, (the loco drive version), I am not sure whether they are likely to be more robust when it comes to cutting and joining? Which one should I be going for? Doncaster out of the Sheffield Pullman for example? Your guidance will be much appreciated!