Silver Sidelines

Back in July when I resurrected my Mainline ex LMS 2P 4-4-0 I must have been very lucky because the video made at the time has the engine running perfectly smoothly. Since then attempts to run at slow speed have resulted in the engine stalling on a diamond crossing and worse still coming to an unexpected dead stop in out of the way non scenic sections of the layout. Peco Streamline Short Diamond and Mainline ex LMS 2P The diamond crossing provides the clue. Peco Insulfrog Short Diamond The Mainline 2P only has electrical pickups on its two pairs of driving wheels. The tender drive unit is based on the old Airfix design with all plastic wheels and rubber tyres. The spacing of the dead plastic frogs on the Code 100 Peco small diamond crossing match perfectly with the wheel spacing of the driving wheels on the 2P and it is not surprising that the engine stalls on this piece of track. Mainline ex LMS 2P As to the other locations I am...

The ex GWR ‘B’ Set Airfix model coaches date from 1975. Almost forty years later and the coaches reappeared as Hornby R4293. The coaches must have proved popular and in the intervening years similar models have been available first from Mainline and later Dapol. Bachmann 9017 on Airfix ‘B’ Set passing Hornby Crimson ‘B’ Set The ‘B’ Set coaches were operated in pairs. As fitted with standard Airfix (or Hornby) couplings the gap between the coaches is hugely too large. Original Airfix/Hornby Couplings Left, Bachmann Mini Long Couplings Right One relatively easy way of closing the gap is to substitute Bachmann Mini Long Couplings (36-026), with the wings cut off. Original Airfix/Hornby Left, Bachmann Mini Long 36-026 minus wings Right The original Airfix/Hornby couplings are a simple push fit. Fitting the Bachmann couplings requires removal of the small keeper plate on the underside of the coupling pocket. I used a tiny screw driver for the purp...