Thanks for the fascinating insight and back story for your excellent channel, Dan. Great set of questions, too. It was my childhood interest in railways that meant I joined British Rail in 1977 out of school and I stayed there for 41 years. And I’m still interested, not so much in the current scene, but mostly in the post TOPs era up to the end of BR. Got lots of books too! Keep up the good work! Best wishes from a retired S&T man over here on Wirral!
Hi Dan, For your traction tyres for the BOB get in touch with Peters Spares and ask them about Marklin traction tyres. Barrie Davies highly recommends them for all his engines. They do various sizes and one of their sizes should fit. It is odd that you mentioned the Riverossi BigBoy. I have one of great sentimental value. But it has suffered a great deal over time. Severe mazak rot on the chassis and some acid etching from the foam in its box to the valve gear. I would love to get it restored. If you think it is possible let me know. I asked Hornby about getting spares for it and they were about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Anyway thanks for a great video with a real human touch.
Brilliant Dan alway infos interesting a great help to me as I enjoy bringing old locos back to life. Keep up the great 44:18 work always helpful regards Sam Woodward 😊
Dan concur with you about Hornby locos for I had a large outdoor railway in OO and I had to make sure that the coupling and connecting rods were tight on Hornby locos otherwise they would fall off. I have Battle of Britain 92 Squadron and the connecting rod came adrift on it and pole vaulted the loco off the track. I also have a Britannia which has been repaired after the valve gear on one side fell apart. Another loco repairer in Scotland has found Hornby's Chinese made locos are a nightmare on the electrical side. He says that the electrics on Hornby Locos are made far more complicated than they need to be. I've never had any problems with Bachmann locos either steam or diesel. Living in Australia I bought a class 24 online new and when it arrived one of the bogie frames was hanging off and I emailed Bachmann and they sent me free of charge a new bogie frame. I've also found Heljan in Denmark good to deal with when I bought their Lion diesel and only one bogie was powered. Both bogies are powered and the shop I bought it from suggested a "dodgy fix" but I decided to send the loco back to Heljan in Denmark. They said I took the right action for if I had done the "dodgy fix" and it hadn't worked then the warranty on the loco would have been voided. They fixed it for me and refunded the postage I paid sending it to them. There was no postage to pay for them sending Lion back to me. Hornby seems to direct people to Peter's Spares for spare parts but I think Hornby should be stocking spares not outsourcing it to a private company. Car manufacturers don't send you to an aftermarket shop to get spares for cars.
Dan, Yes, my Bachmann Models compaired to Hornby, the majority having been purchased between 1998 to 2010 and the last new purchases around 2016, aithough prior the last 5 years were more expensive initialy. Bachmann models have had little maintenance and 99% availability, with Hornby requiring fairly periodic maintenance and repairs, with around 85% availability. However as, for the problem with traction tyres, regardess of manufacturer. I now use Marklin Traction tyres, no residue, fit them and forget them! Locomotives in my fleet have 75% better opperational performance and the first so fitted Locomotive has given over 3 years without problem, the Hornby Tyres last about 18 months on average.
Hi Dan. Thanks for answering my questions. On the subject of traction tyres, I find Marklin to be very good. I saw a Barrie Davis video on the subject. The key points to remember are: a) they are a stretch fit, and b) the higher the number, the smaller the tyre. So, 7153s fit most diesels, whilst I used 7152s on a GWR class 14xx. I've also bought Lima/Hornby tyres from Cheltenham Model Centre and Lendons of Cardiff, who are a great source of spares in general.
Hi Dan I have been a subscriber for a wee while now and on the back of your advice I got the tweezer set storage boxes and a park side battery drill excellent advice mate great videos 🚂🚂🚂
Hi Dan,I’ve had a Bachmann class 37 in railfreight red strip continually on my layout for 20 year just a wheel clean and the odd Lub,it’s still mint and is a smooth runner I’m still not into DCC but I’m planing an end to end Oscar paisley style layout to showcase my much older models and buildings ,my brother live in Grantham so if you’ve heard of buzz and plays in RATA??E on the guitar that’s him ,I loved my tube at CLJ as an RO2 but my health so this keeps me going semi retired mmm,I should of asked what music do you like I love to listen to heart 80s or greatest hits radio (London) found a new one on my Alexa well my mum did when we went round there forest gold radio from Epping you can listen on line via Alexa it’s great anyway thanks for getting me better former colleague all the best Mark 😊😊 Emergency call ,emergency call is that the Clapham junction signaller ….😊memories 😢
Dan, I have seen many older Bachmann locos that has cracked/split white plastic gears. Are the newer models better in that respect? I have not come across the same material on Hornby though. I must confess that I do not have repair experience like you do.
Thanks for the fascinating insight and back story for your excellent channel, Dan.
Great set of questions, too.
It was my childhood interest in railways that meant I joined British Rail in 1977 out of school and I stayed there for 41 years. And I’m still interested, not so much in the current scene, but mostly in the post TOPs era up to the end of BR. Got lots of books too!
Keep up the good work!
Best wishes from a retired S&T man over here on Wirral!
Hi Dan, For your traction tyres for the BOB get in touch with Peters Spares and ask them about Marklin traction tyres. Barrie Davies highly recommends them for all his engines. They do various sizes and one of their sizes should fit. It is odd that you mentioned the Riverossi BigBoy. I have one of great sentimental value. But it has suffered a great deal over time. Severe mazak rot on the chassis and some acid etching from the foam in its box to the valve gear. I would love to get it restored. If you think it is possible let me know. I asked Hornby about getting spares for it and they were about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Anyway thanks for a great video with a real human touch.
Great video Dan. I would have liked to have joined in with you. I was on holiday. Keep up the great work 👍 👏
Brilliant Dan alway infos interesting a great help to me as I enjoy bringing old locos back to life. Keep up the great 44:18 work always helpful regards Sam Woodward 😊
Dan concur with you about Hornby locos for I had a large outdoor railway in OO and I had to make sure that the coupling and connecting rods were tight on Hornby locos otherwise they would fall off. I have Battle of Britain 92 Squadron and the connecting rod came adrift on it and pole vaulted the loco off the track. I also have a Britannia which has been repaired after the valve gear on one side fell apart. Another loco repairer in Scotland has found Hornby's Chinese made locos are a nightmare on the electrical side. He says that the electrics on Hornby Locos are made far more complicated than they need to be.
I've never had any problems with Bachmann locos either steam or diesel. Living in Australia I bought a class 24 online new and when it arrived one of the bogie frames was hanging off and I emailed Bachmann and they sent me free of charge a new bogie frame.
I've also found Heljan in Denmark good to deal with when I bought their Lion diesel and only one bogie was powered. Both bogies are powered and the shop I bought it from suggested a "dodgy fix" but I decided to send the loco back to Heljan in Denmark. They said I took the right action for if I had done the "dodgy fix" and it hadn't worked then the warranty on the loco would have been voided. They fixed it for me and refunded the postage I paid sending it to them. There was no postage to pay for them sending Lion back to me.
Hornby seems to direct people to Peter's Spares for spare parts but I think Hornby should be stocking spares not outsourcing it to a private company. Car manufacturers don't send you to an aftermarket shop to get spares for cars.
Dan, Yes, my Bachmann Models compaired to Hornby, the majority having been purchased between 1998 to 2010 and the last new purchases around 2016, aithough prior the last 5 years were more expensive initialy. Bachmann models have had little maintenance and 99% availability, with Hornby requiring fairly periodic maintenance and repairs, with around 85% availability. However as, for the problem with traction tyres, regardess of manufacturer. I now use Marklin Traction tyres, no residue, fit them and forget them! Locomotives in my fleet have 75% better opperational performance and the first so fitted Locomotive has given over 3 years without problem, the Hornby Tyres last about 18 months on average.
Hi Dan. Thanks for answering my questions.
On the subject of traction tyres, I find Marklin to be very good. I saw a Barrie Davis video on the subject. The key points to remember are: a) they are a stretch fit, and b) the higher the number, the smaller the tyre. So, 7153s fit most diesels, whilst I used 7152s on a GWR class 14xx.
I've also bought Lima/Hornby tyres from Cheltenham Model Centre and Lendons of Cardiff, who are a great source of spares in general.
Hi Dan I have been a subscriber for a wee while now and on the back of your advice I got the tweezer set storage boxes and a park side battery drill excellent advice mate great videos 🚂🚂🚂
Dan, as a relatively new subscriber i find your channel very interesting and informative. Thanks for everything you do.
BTW, OOBill has just completed a 4-parter on rebuilding my WD Austerity 2-8-0 that had an argument with a hard floor...!
Yer i watched those . It was a good repair.
The capacitor I believe is for sound not for running. The capacitance is too small to sustain the motor
Hi Dan,I’ve had a Bachmann class 37 in railfreight red strip continually on my layout for 20 year just a wheel clean and the odd Lub,it’s still mint and is a smooth runner I’m still not into DCC but I’m planing an end to end Oscar paisley style layout to showcase my much older models and buildings ,my brother live in Grantham so if you’ve heard of buzz and plays in RATA??E on the guitar that’s him ,I loved my tube at CLJ as an RO2 but my health so this keeps me going semi retired mmm,I should of asked what music do you like I love to listen to heart 80s or greatest hits radio (London) found a new one on my Alexa well my mum did when we went round there forest gold radio from Epping you can listen on line via Alexa it’s great anyway thanks for getting me better former colleague all the best
Mark 😊😊
Emergency call ,emergency call is that the Clapham junction signaller ….😊memories 😢
Dan,
I have seen many older Bachmann locos that has cracked/split white plastic gears. Are the newer models better in that respect? I have not come across the same material on Hornby though. I must confess that I do not have repair experience like you do.
Bachmann no longer use those types of split axel design it inherited from mainline.