Dublo Three Rail Layout
Re: Dublo Three Rail Layout
A few years ago, I bought a couple of second hand whitemetal kits, mainly just because they were cheap and not because I actually needed them. One was an unmade GEM Midland Compound, and the other was a well put together but badly painted Finecast LMS Stanier 2-6-4T, the former being designed to take the Tri-ang L1 chassis, and the latter a Dublo BR Standard 2-6-4T chassis.
I thought it was time I did something with them, so I converted a Triang L1 chassis to three rail (using a Dublo pick-up - there is just enough room for it to fit underneath) and I got hold of a three rail Dublo tank chassis. The wheels on the L1 chassis are not quite the same profile as Dublo wheels, but it runs quite nicely nevertheless. The wheels on the tender however were too fine a profile and derailed whenever they negotiated the diamond crossing, so I replaced them with a set of wheels from a scrap "Lord of the Isles" tender.
I decided to make the Compound as a 2P 4-4-0 instead, as I didn't think the motion looked very robust and had visions of it self destructing as it went around the track. The bodywork isn't finished yet and I still have to paint it, but here it is:
And here's the LMS 2-6-4T:
I thought it was time I did something with them, so I converted a Triang L1 chassis to three rail (using a Dublo pick-up - there is just enough room for it to fit underneath) and I got hold of a three rail Dublo tank chassis. The wheels on the L1 chassis are not quite the same profile as Dublo wheels, but it runs quite nicely nevertheless. The wheels on the tender however were too fine a profile and derailed whenever they negotiated the diamond crossing, so I replaced them with a set of wheels from a scrap "Lord of the Isles" tender.
I decided to make the Compound as a 2P 4-4-0 instead, as I didn't think the motion looked very robust and had visions of it self destructing as it went around the track. The bodywork isn't finished yet and I still have to paint it, but here it is:
And here's the LMS 2-6-4T:
Re: Dublo Three Rail Layout
Nice work - I'm a great fan of bodging in all of its guises!
Incidentally, at our very recent show, Benton Curlieu, a wonderfully eccentric 3-rail exhibition layout, visited. I don't know how the team created the track geometry - very few straights at all - or the curved Dublo look-alike platforms, but it was magnificent. High speed chaos! And recommended.
Tony
Incidentally, at our very recent show, Benton Curlieu, a wonderfully eccentric 3-rail exhibition layout, visited. I don't know how the team created the track geometry - very few straights at all - or the curved Dublo look-alike platforms, but it was magnificent. High speed chaos! And recommended.
Tony
Men with false teeth may yet speak the truth.......
Re: Dublo Three Rail Layout
Wonderful, Jim. And why not? Just look at the livery variations of the HD and Wrenn originals!
Tony
Tony
Men with false teeth may yet speak the truth.......
Re: Dublo Three Rail Layout
Here's my Hornby Dublo Sir Nigel Gresley. The original model was introduced in 1938, but this is one of the post-war ones - the pre-war ones had valances (as did the real thing then) and simplified valve gear. This one would date from either 1948 or 1949, as it has the pre-war style of horseshoe magnet motor rather than the later and more common design with an Alnico magnet.
Re: Dublo Three Rail Layout
Nice you managed to find one without warped coal in the Tender.
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Re: Dublo Three Rail Layout
Well, I am Scottish and I had an uncle who was born in Toronto. Is that good enough?aleopardstail wrote: ↑Mon Dec 23, 2024 11:16 pmPresumably that makes them go a heck of a lot faster though, but does require a Canadian with a passable Scottish accent on the footplate
Jim
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Re: Dublo Three Rail Layout
good enough for government workWolseley wrote: ↑Tue Dec 24, 2024 1:30 pmWell, I am Scottish and I had an uncle who was born in Toronto. Is that good enough?aleopardstail wrote: ↑Mon Dec 23, 2024 11:16 pmPresumably that makes them go a heck of a lot faster though, but does require a Canadian with a passable Scottish accent on the footplate
Jim

Re: Dublo Three Rail Layout
A couple more photographs.
First a 2-6-4T hauling a goods train I never really planned on having. The wagons were ones I picked up for next to nothing - they were so cheap I thought it was a good price to pay for some spare wheels and couplers, but they turned out to be in excellent condition and too good to be dismantled for spares with one, a tinplate BR open wagon, in absolutely perfect condition - judging from the wheels, it had never been used! The rear is brought up by a Queen Mary brake van (well, sort of - there are quite a few inaccuracies) that I made by mounting the plastic body of an HD Midland region brake van on a modified HD bogie bolster.
And here is where I'm up to with my Caledonian Railway 60 class, an amalgam of parts that were never intended to meet. It consists of a Tri-ang Albert Hall chassis fitted with a Dublo 3 rail pickup, the body being a DJH whitemetal kit sitting on the footplate of Albert Hall's body, and a DJH tender, fitted with an etched brass underframe from Caley Coaches with a lot of sideways movement built into the centre axle so it can go around Dublo curves, as all three wheel sets are flanged. I used this underframe because the DJH one was misshapen and wouldn't run properly - this was one of the earlier DJH kits, some of which frequently left a bit to be desired. I still have to finish the lining, and I haven't fitted handrails yet, but it's slowly getting there.......
First a 2-6-4T hauling a goods train I never really planned on having. The wagons were ones I picked up for next to nothing - they were so cheap I thought it was a good price to pay for some spare wheels and couplers, but they turned out to be in excellent condition and too good to be dismantled for spares with one, a tinplate BR open wagon, in absolutely perfect condition - judging from the wheels, it had never been used! The rear is brought up by a Queen Mary brake van (well, sort of - there are quite a few inaccuracies) that I made by mounting the plastic body of an HD Midland region brake van on a modified HD bogie bolster.
And here is where I'm up to with my Caledonian Railway 60 class, an amalgam of parts that were never intended to meet. It consists of a Tri-ang Albert Hall chassis fitted with a Dublo 3 rail pickup, the body being a DJH whitemetal kit sitting on the footplate of Albert Hall's body, and a DJH tender, fitted with an etched brass underframe from Caley Coaches with a lot of sideways movement built into the centre axle so it can go around Dublo curves, as all three wheel sets are flanged. I used this underframe because the DJH one was misshapen and wouldn't run properly - this was one of the earlier DJH kits, some of which frequently left a bit to be desired. I still have to finish the lining, and I haven't fitted handrails yet, but it's slowly getting there.......
Re: Dublo Three Rail Layout
Man, those ground cover plants in the foreground look real!