Silver Sidelines

Duke of Gloucester with Spring Buffers and kinky reversing gear When I posted the picture above a number of you drew attention to the reversing mechanism disappearing rather abruptly beneath the footplate.   I just added it to the list of things to be sorted. Duke of Gloucester – reversing gear in close up Well it is sorted. 12 hours with nail varnish remover (acetone). As I suspected the plastic reversing ‘rod’ is moulded with a pin to locate it into the support cast as part of the chassis.   It took about 12 hours to soften / break up the Hornby adhesive.   I used a small screw driver to add drips of acetone and I kept the ‘joint’ replenished all evening and then again next day.   After 12 hours I was able to lever the plastic away from the metal casting.   The reversing rod felt a little bit like nylon and was not affected by the acetone.   I have to say I was at a loss to say exactly why the rod was kinked.   I decided ...

As a break from work work I took a day off to replace the buffers on my Hornby Duke of Gloucester (DoG). Hornby R3191 Duke of Gloucester as I think it should be with Sprung Buffers I was inspired by Mat t otherwise known as ‘Bluebell Model Railway’ of RMweb. Fitting the buffers to the front was straightforward. I followed Matt’s suggestion and used Hornby Spare Part No. X9313. My usual supplier did not have the R (red) variant so mine were black and had to be painted red. There are two square holes in the back of the buffer beam which had been used to locate the original buffers. After cutting off the old shanks I used a 0.5mm size drill to extend these holes through to the front. I then gradually enlarged the holes from the front starting with 1/16 drill bit, moving up to 5/64 and finishing with 3/32. The Hornby body shell is made of relatively soft plastic and I rotated the drill bits with my fingers. Finally I used a craft knife again to clean the edges of the hole...

Continuing my journey around the layout I thought it time to return to the Branch Junction and catch the ex GWR branch train. Bachmann Dukedog ready and waiting The next station down the old GWR branchline is the ‘Halt in the Corner’ or more simply the ‘Passing Loop’. The Halt in the Corner Neither the station nor the passing loop featured in my original plans. Trains leaving the Branch Junction for the Main Terminus via the old GWR line (literally the Great Way Round) followed a circuitous path around the outside of the layout eventually appearing out of a tunnel at a suitably lower level by the engine sheds. Outside the engine sheds – the branch tunnel exit in the background It soon became obvious operationally that a passing loop was needed midway along the Branch – both to enable trains to pass each other but also to provide some temporary storage. At the same time I was thinking how best I could utilise an Autotrain. Historically modellers would simp...

This is a follow up to my last Post which was devoted to Hornby’s release of Special Edition Duke of Gloucester. Hornby R3191 Duke of Gloucester left versus Hornby R2171 Apollo right What do I still think of the model? I am not so sure about value for money. Hornby R2171 Apollo left versus Hornby R3191 Duke of Gloucester right Hornby R2171 Apollo came with a wealth of added detail parts fitted at manufacture – almost too many to list. HornbyR2171 Apollo - a closer view Apollo came with individual lamp irons and detailed smokebox handles. There were holes for the lifting eyes in the front frames and the inside supports for the smoke deflectors were modelled. Hornby R2171 Apollo – the cab area What seems to me like a majority of the boiler pipes and fitting on Apollo are modelled with separate plastic mouldings. Inside the cab a number of the handles and instruments are again separate mouldings, the handles often picked out with paint. The cab roo...