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Conversion of Tri-ang/Hornby locos to Dublo 3-Rail

Discussion in 'Members Personal Layouts' started by Barry Johnson, Apr 19, 2024.

  1. Apr 19, 2024 #1
    Barry Johnson

    Barry Johnson Full Member

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    I recently posted on my Youtube channel (Barranny layout) a video of some of the conversions to 3-Rail of Tri-ang/Hornby locos. Britrail asked if I could show how I had converted an 0-4-0 tank and any other types. So here are a few photos and brief descriptions.

    Hornby Railways R.2132W 0-4-0ST.
    This is a bit of a lash-up as the pickup is in two halves, but could easily be one piece. It works so as it ain’t broke I have not fixed it. The first half has the ‘spoon’ made from bent phosphor-bronze, it is angled so it avoids the gearwheel. The second half has the spoon made from p/b strip and a soldered brass drawing pin with the sides cut off. In this case the pickups are screwed into the baseplate as there was a convenient screw there originally. Normally I use double sided tapes to fix the pickups to the loco baseplate.
    040ST 1 IMG_0491.JPEG 040ST 2 IMG_0492.JPEG 040ST 3 IMG_0493.JPEG


    Tri-ang Hornby R.357 Class 31.
    The Marklin skate fits into the unpowered bogie. The white piece of tape is to stop the pickup touching the bogie.
    Class 31 IMG_0495.JPEG


    Hornby Railways R.259 D49 4-4-0
    As this is a tender-drive loco the homemade pickup fits under the boiler. This means having some wires to the tender to connect to the motor.

    D49 IMG_0496.JPEG

    Tri-ang Hornby R.157 Class 101 DMU.
    Similar to the Class 31.
    Class 101 1 IMG_0497.JPEG

    Hornby Railways R.845
    Flying Scotsman 4472. Homemade pickups again.
    No photos

    I use steel tyre weights (5g or 10g) to weight these locos unless I have some spare lead. I remove the condensers and have disconnected smoke units.

    I have not tried any pure Tri-ang as I believe the early ones had quite thick wheel flanges that might not like Dublo points.
     
  2. Apr 19, 2024 #2
    Britrail

    Britrail Full Member

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    Many thanks Barry, it's much appreciated!

    Here are my attempts:
    - An old Jinty with à missing funnel I picked up cheap in a joblot here in France. I had a spare pannier body, so that went on. It has the early solid sintered wheels which function very well on 3-rail and has quite good traction (the panniers are packed with lead fishing weights!), but is very hesitant over points. The position of the (short) Marklin skate is not ideal, but I couldn't figure out another way of avoiding the cog on the centre axle. The 2 rail pick ups are retained and earthed to the chassis
    IMG_0124[2].JPG

    This Lima 94XX pannier came in the same cheap lot off the french website "LeBonCoin". Again she has a Marklin skate fitted and pick up from both rails is sent to the same motor terminal. She goes OK over points, but the plated wheels mean she can't pull the skin off a rice pudding unfortunately, and there's no space to fit extra weight.
    IMG_0426[1].JPG IMG_0427[1].JPG

    I've still got a fair number of Marklin skates in my spares box, and probably plenty of suitable candidates in my 2-rail reserve, which is patiently awaiting the new layout that retirement should bring in a couple of years time. So any suggestions for likely Triang/Triang-Hornby candidates would be welcome!!
     
  3. Apr 20, 2024 #3
    Britrail

    Britrail Full Member

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    Here’s a question which I’ve been pondering for a while. Given how freely available Marklin is here, I’m wondering if they will run on 12V DC. I know they are intended for 16V AC, but as I haven’t a clue how an AC motor works I hope you’ll excuse what might be a stupid question
    :facepalm:
    If they are that would mean plenty of potential chassis suitable for projects:scratchchin:
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2024
  4. Apr 20, 2024 #4
    Britrail

    Britrail Full Member

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    I think I just found the reply to my question on RMweb, so here’s the link in case anyone else is interested:
    https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/99676-running-marklin-on-12v-dc/
    Hmm, I’ve always fancied one of those big German BR52 2-10-0’s, or the streamlined pacifics, but I fear they wouldn’t appreciate Dublo standard 15" Radius curves and points! So maybe I’ll start with one of those little German 0-6-0T’s
     

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