Silver Sidelines

This Post follows on from comments received on the last Post.  As bought I think there is a significant difference in the ride heights of the Bachmann Thompson coaches and the Hornby Gresley coaches. Early Bachmann Thompson BG compared to super detail Hornby Gresley I am indebted to John who commented on my previous Post describing a means of remedying the situation.   I am not sure what I was thinking about when I said that there were differences in ride height between ‘old’ and ‘new’ Bachmann coaches – well maybe marginally.   To clarify matters I am posting here a few comparison pictures. Recent Bachmann Thompson BG compared to super detail Hornby Gresley The view above shows the latest Thompson BG compared to the super detail Gresley.   The buffer height seems acceptable but the Bachmann corridor connector looks way too high.   Roof heights seem similar. Recent Bachmann Thompson BG compared to Bachmann Mk1 BG ...

In an earlier Post I detailed the construction of some corridor connectors for my Bachmann Collett coaches.   I have now added a Hornby Hawksworth Full Brake coach. I like the look of the Hornby Hawksworth coaches, perhaps with the exception of the corridor connectors, which could well be the subject of a separate Post.   I bought my first Hornby Hawksworth Full Brake coach back in October 2010 for use with a rake of ‘express coaches’.   Most recently I have added a Full Brake to the local ‘semi fast’ set.   Initially I had problems keeping the Hawksworth Brake on the track.   At one particular location where there are both horizontal and vertical curves the Hawksworth coach at the front of a seven coach train would jump the track.   In my opinion the Hornby Hawksworth coaches are very light weight and I solved the derailment problems by adding some additional lead ballast.   I think the Table below might be quite intuitive.   This confi...