Toby the tram

Discuss Hornby Model Railway products and related topics here. This includes (Lima, Rivarossi, Jouef, Electrotren and Oxford Rail).
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timgray
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Toby the tram

Post by timgray »

Hi
I have recently got hold of a Hornby Toby the tram engine and need a bit of help.
The gear retainer part x9041 has broken into many pieces, I don't seem to be able to locate one from the usual sources, I wonder has any one got a Toby that could be for spares or repair or just the gear retainer. Plan B is there a company that could make one from a 3D printer perhaps.

Thanks folks.
Bigmet
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Re: Toby the tram

Post by Bigmet »

Hopefully you know that Hornby have dumped the TTTE franchise, so the listed parts will no longer be available, unless they are common to other currently manufactured Hornby product; and that you just have to know enough about Hornby's mechanisms to recognise that the part(s) you need that were also used in other models. But there is good help available when it comes to scratching about for s/h parts, this dealer is a champion for know how at a reasonable price. https://www.elaines-trains.co.uk/index.php?pg=l No connection, just found this dealer consistently good.

There is an alternative approach, and it is the one that I prefer, because frankly Hornby's 24+ year old UK design mechanisms are generally poor by current standards. This is to remove the Hornby mechanism, sell it on if anyome wants it, and fit a current mechanism of superior performance. (I have been doing this for over fifty years, since first appreciating what was on offer in American targetted HO product.) Not knowing what the internal dimensions of 'Toby' are - or could be enlarged to - I have no direct advice to offer on what might be a suitable mechanism...
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Mountain
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Re: Toby the tram

Post by Mountain »

Toby mechanism is a very different mechanism than the earlier Hornby 0-6-0 designs in that it has quite a few gears moving in the gear train, so had a lovely smoth running design with a flywheel if I recall correctly. I had one that I bought for a Smallbrook Cadera body kit, but then decided to use a Lima class 09 chassis instead as it has outside frames which to me looked better, so the Toby the tram ended up being sold on having only ever been test run. (I remember looking at the lovely Toby mechanism, but then looking at the lovely outside frames of the 09, and though Toby was tempting for that lovely chassis, the look of the con rods on the 09 chassis won the day! It "Had" to fit, and boy did it take some work to make it fit! :D ).

As for similar chasis. I am not quite sure what is being used today. I would have said the Terrier BUT the Terrier uses those puny motors while Toby has a lovely motor!
Bigmet
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Re: Toby the tram

Post by Bigmet »

Mountain wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2024 1:58 pm Toby mechanism is a very different mechanism than the earlier Hornby 0-6-0 designs in that it has quite a few gears moving in the gear train, so had a lovely smoth running design with a flywheel if I recall correctly ...
Aha, that's a cut above the norm from Hornby. Very unlike Hornby to create a special mechanism, and I would suspect that it was sourced from another range. Was it a recent enough release to have come out after the acquisition of Lima in 2004, which included the HO brands Rivarossi, Electrotren, Jouef? It could be from one of these. This is where the detailed knowledge is required.
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GeraldH
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Re: Toby the tram

Post by GeraldH »

Sadly there were a whole batch of Toby's with mazak rot. I've had two disintegrate. You may find that other parts of the chassis are also on the way out - look for crazed paintwork. As others have noted the range has been discontinued by Hornby. Toby has the same chassis as Bill and Ben though they are also discontinued and I'm not aware of any other locos that are still made that share the same chassis. The good news is that thanks to Toby's skirts you can hide many alternative mechanisms in there. You could probably rig up a Hornby tender drive unit in there for example.
Gerald H - BNR Correspondent :-)

My layout: http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... hp?t=28854
Bigmet
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Re: Toby the tram

Post by Bigmet »

GeraldH wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2024 3:57 pm ...The good news is that thanks to Toby's skirts you can hide many alternative mechanisms in there. You could probably rig up a Hornby tender drive unit in there for example.
That's the way I would go if the original mechanism is not in production and spares are hard to find. If you have one to hand. what are the internal dimensions of the body? That will help wth determining suitable alternative mechanism suggestions if that becomes necessary.
Dad-1
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Re: Toby the tram

Post by Dad-1 »

I did a search on the X number and
acmodelsspares.co.uk show one as being available
I wouldn't take that as 100% but worth a check.

Geoff T.
timgray
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Re: Toby the tram

Post by timgray »

Thanks for your re[plies, based on your ideas I have a coupler of thoughts. I have a lima ring field motor from a class 33 diesel which is fairly small to either put it inside toby or modify a Hornby advertising wagon and fit it in the wagon. I have a very small HST motor and wheel set which is another option and finally a tender drive complete would be another idea but I don't have a complete spare on to hand at the moment just a load of bits form different tenders. Last options seems the easiest.
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Mountain
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Re: Toby the tram

Post by Mountain »

Would be interesting to know how you get on with converting Lima or Hornby motor bogies into single ended drives as I was thinking along similar lines as drives for various 0-16.5 projects... I have not done so yet, but in theory it is about swapping or altering the wheels so no traction tyres are on the drive, and adding extra pick-ups.

You may also find one can use a Hornby 0-4-0 shunter (Try and get one without piston rods) and make a new floor around it or make some sort of brackets to attatch the body to the chassis... Is all do-able in theory.
timgray
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Re: Toby the tram

Post by timgray »

Hi Again

This has now been sorted not in the way that I thought.
I managed to get hold of another Toby the tram spares or repair, this one has mazok rot in the chassis one of the body mounts has totally rotted away.
However the part that I wanted is in good condition and has been fitted to my original Toby who after a quick service is now running fine.
So thanks for all your ideas I may well at some point have a go at sorting out the chassis with mazok rot.
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Mountain
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Re: Toby the tram

Post by Mountain »

You got there in the end!
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