St. Blazey's Works and Depot

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Hornby part numbers tend to change quite frequently, and may indicate nothing more than being a different batch. I don't think you can go far wrong with this motor, if it has a worm gear it's for an 0-4-0, if it has a spur gear it's the scalextric version. Originally they were mounted with the terminals pointing downwards making contact with the pickup wipers. Later they were mounted the other way up with two wires soldered between the pickups and the terminals. I modified one by adding my own wires, I think there was a slight improvement in the running, but you can never be too sure as just releasing and replacing the spring wire retainer can make a difference.

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Thanks Bufferstop.
I grabbed one of the X8966's with worm gear attatched so hopefully I'll be able to reconstruct the loco and test it by midweek.
Thanks
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Just a quick update on where I am with the ECC loco. I've bought, received and fitted the new motor and all is well.
I've oiled , greased and run in the motor for quite a while in both directions before I actually delve in and add a DCC chip.
I do have two older Hornby 4 pin decoders but not sure if they work as I've not finished my decoder testing circuit yet (needing a 4 pin lead to attach to the circuit to test 4 pin decoders as well as 6 and 8 pin). I can't test the 4 pin decoders in the loco unless I chop of the sockets and hard wire them. Which I'd rather not do as I may sell one of them if both work. (even though hard wiring may well be the case when it comes to the final fitting of the decoder)
I still need some advice about removing the unwanted "CROFT LEICESTER" original Hornby transfers.
Does anyone know how can they be removed without damaging the original paintwork / colour?
Thanks
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I am coming back round to thinking about the DCCing of my HST project.
As mentioned in a previous post the 4700uf capactor is too big. Would a 25V 2200Uf be enough for the stay alive as these would be physically smaller than the 4700uf capacitors?

And also just to bump my previous question about my ECC 0-4-0...

I still need some advice about removing the unwanted "CROFT LEICESTER" original Hornby transfers. Does anyone know how can they be removed without damaging the original paintwork / colour?

Thanks
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The two 6 pin decoders I won arrived today so I set about soldering in a 6 pin socket into my ECC 0-4-0 and testing both of the decoders.
I think one is a Bachmann and the other is definitely a Gaugemaster but not knowing what the decoder numbers were, I used this technique to change their numbers back to 3 on my Bachmann EZ Command controller.
https://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa ... ic=29989.0

Here's a picture of halfway through the project with the loco in it's constituant parts, the 6 pin socket soldered to the motor and the rest of the wires still yet to be cut to length.
Notice the pick-ups in the loco have card behind them. This is to protect the plastic while I tin and solder on the black and red wires so I don't accidently melt anything.

ECC6sm.jpg (137.32 KiB) Viewed 2873 times

I've tested it and all is well.
I've left the white and yellow wires long but wound and bound in case I decide to add lighting in the future and maybe even a driver.
Thanks
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For one of my bodge jobs working on that chassis the great big loops on the motor retaining spring just had to go. I put the motor in position then tied it down by wrapping a loop of wire from a phone cable around the chassis lug on one side, over the top of the motor bearing and round the chassis lug on the other side. The motor actually ran sweeter for not having the dirty great spring forcing the worm down into the cog. I put a dab of Uhu on the motor before putting it down on the diecast block, which seems to hold it in place the wire loop simply stops the worm lifting the motor upwards.

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For one of my bodge jobs working on that chassis the great big loops on the motor retaining spring just had to go.

Perhaps it's only this loco but if you can see, on both sides of the actual body piece are what look like tool boxes but are in fact recesses that the ends/loops of the motor spring sit in.
To be honest Bufferstop it did take me a couple of tries to get the spring the right way round to refit it.
Incidently, these side body "tool boxes" have the CROFT LEICESTER wording on that I want to remove (but don't know how), as mentioned in one of my previous posts.
One anomoly with this loco is that the motor and chassis are sited backwards (compared to other Hornby 0-4-0's).
In my earlier picture you can see that the motor block / chasiss looks the wrong way round but in fact, it isn't. The whole loco is laid out in the picture, as it fits back together.
Thanks
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The fact that the lettering is on the tool boxes would make me a lot less worried about rubbing it off. If you restrict any incidental damage to the tool boxes, and repaint them with the best match you've got you wouldn't be far from what happens in reality. Given this is an industrial loco the boxes could even be made of wood, then they would be shiny brown varnished!
When I was looking at pictures of the Dick-Kerr steeple cab locos one of them had been fitted with with a pantograph which obviously came of a double deck tram, to reach the overhead it was mounted on a wooden pedestal on the cab roof, it was such a ramshackle construction it must have been made by the electrical department from an old packing case, no carpenter would have allowed it out of the shop, Like-wise tool boxes. Similar story from the pair of small 0-6-0s that worked on the Tanat Valley Railway, they had been fitted with sanding gear, stuck for space one of the wooden sandboxes had been screwed to the cab floor diagonally across the door way on the fireman's side.

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I doubt I could match the paint to be honest Bufferstop, but you mention rubbing it off. Rubbing it off with what?
Thanks
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Try a typists eraser or the blue bit on a two colour one. In fact you could try the softer bit of a two colour one, it will most likely achieve nothing but it's always worth a punt. If the body colour is the colour of the plastic, not sprayed on, try it on the inside of the body to see if it leaves bad scratching, some light marks are inevitable. I took the BR emblem off the sides of the Holden tank and replaced it with the GWR monogram, I know there was only one, and it was scrapped before WW1, but I'm quite happy to have a preserved one running round as long as it wears GWR livery.

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I don't have either Bufferstop. I tried the eraser in the picture but no luck.
So, I tired rubbing with a cotton bud and IPA in an inconspicuous area to see what it would do to the plastic. It left a little bit of a shine but nothing untoward. I then tried it on one side of the loco on the "CROFT LEICESTER" and it removed it completely!
Before..

ECC7sm.jpg (113.16 KiB) Viewed 2822 times

After..

ECC8sm.jpg (108.7 KiB) Viewed 2822 times

If you look really close up you can just about see the ghost of the letters as I didn't want to go too mad rubbing them off, but at normal eye distance (and perhaps weathered with china clay dust or adding a nameplate on the toolbox) I doubt very much they will be seen.
Thanks
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I've got the ECC and the Tolgus Tin 0-4-0's on the bench again. Nothing untoward though. I'm actually painting the horrible silver wheels black with a black wash to get into all the nooks and crannnies and those bright red wheels just had to be toned down so they have had the same treatment.
I'm not finished yet as when it's dry I can see any missed silver shining through, that plus I need to take the loco's to the layout a couple of times just to slightly turn the wheels round to get to all the recess's.
(I could have removed the motor and the internals to do this but I'm a lazy sod sometimes.)

One thing I'm considering is painting the con-rods too but I do not want to bung them up so they cannot move.
Does anyone paint the con-rods on their loco's or have any advice on the subject?
Thanks
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I'm picking up where I left off on DCCing my Intercity project. - https://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/F ... 60#p654234 - and still have a few questions about wiring the replacement head/tail light and cab light circuit boards.

As both circuit boards use 3 wire connections (blue + white / blue + yellow etc) can both of the separate boards matching LEDs be made to light from a single function output?
So the white LED in the cab is on when the white headlights are on and the red LED in the cab is on when the red taillights are on?

Or would I need a 4 output decoder to do this due to lack of power from each single function output?

As it a 3 function decoder I could use the Green wire to control a single LED separately if I wanted to, but this is not really needed and it would take a 4 function decoder to light each of the 4 LEDs on the 2 circuit boards. I think. (see above)

Rather, and if, each function output is powerful enough to light 2 LED's at the same time then could I not just splice each of the 3 wires (blue / yellow / white) into 2 and feed 3 wires to each board?

Then both the head/tail lights and internal cab light would change automatically according to direction of travel.

The 3 function decoder I am using is a DCC Concepts Zen Z360.
Thanks
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Looking at my DCC Concepts Z360 decoder last night I noticed another PURPLE wire.
Is this the 4th lighting wire?
I can't seem to find the manual / instructions for the Z360 online as it's been superseded by the ZEN Black.
It's not the 2 wires for the stay alive. That I'm sure of.

Also does anyone know the power draw for the SMD's on Hornby's x7078 Cab light board as shown here?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/X7078-Hornby ... olid=10001
Thanks
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Never mind about the manual for the decoder. It's part of the packaging.
And indeed the purple can be used for the 4th light.
Thanks
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