Dublo Three Rail Layout

[Wolseley]

A couple more photos of the layout. First is a rather Australian looking corner, with a country cottage (made from a laser cut kit and modelled on a structure at Uralla, in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales) complete with a Holden ute parked at the side. Second is one to horrify the purists - Cardean, in Caley blue, hauling a train composed of LNER teak Gresley stock, passing an English Electric Type 1 diesel-electric, hauling a rake of BR crimson and cream coaches.

[Bigmet]

The sight of your 'Cardean' operating instantly exonerates all 'misdeeds'!

Hatton's full page advertisements in the Railway Modeller in the early to mid 1960s regularly advertised Tri-ang locos converted to run on three rail Dublo track. Here's an excerpt from the January 1964 issue...

That's a few years before I had sight of railway modelling mags; at that date I was on a diet of the then very new 'Look and Learn', which did the job intended of broadening my curiosity. (Also by happy chance while recovering from an ear infection a large pile of 1950's 'Popular Mechanix' (sic) which still further 'did the job' and had a regular model railroad feature.)

Whatever, the Hattons 3-rail conversions must have usefully expanded the range of traction for the H-D 3 rail user. At that time one of my schoolfriends was the privileged inheritor of his 3 significantly older brother's accumulation of a very comprehensive H-D three rail set up. But no such conversions, H-D product only, very carefully maintained by mother thanks to her wartime training in electrical assembly at Murphy Radio.

[Bufferstop]

I was established in the HD 3 rail camp when Triang started producing their extensive range. With the aid of a Dublo 3rd rail pickup assembly and a spare Triang bogie as a chassis for a shunters truck carrying the pickup I got the Dock shunter running on 3 rail track, the massive flanges on the bogie were easily dealt with, a hand drill and a sheet of carborundum paper dealt with the wheel profile . The ones on the loco were a different matter. Nothing would touch them. Time to talk to Dad. He had just moved out of the toolroom to be a line foreman/trouble-shooter whilst his younger brother became toolroom top dog. So the wheelset was whisked off to work along with a spare HD wheel set for dimensions. It took a week rather than a couple of days for them to return. What came back was the Triang axles with HD profile brass wheels and the original gears still in place. The four Triang wheels looked rather the worst for wear. They turned out to be "case hardened" low quality castings which resisted all attempts to skim them down, so they had turned four new wheels from a piece of brass bar. As they were for three rail there was no problem over centre insulation. That was in the days when the toolroom would take at least a week over any new job, but "foreigners" usually came back next day. Management knew it happened and turned a blind eye. Reminiscing with one of the former managers at my fathers funeral he said "it was a purely pragmatic policy, stop all those little "perks" and they'll start demanding higher wages."

[Wolseley]

With the aid of a Dublo 3rd rail pickup assembly and a spare Triang bogie as a chassis for a shunters truck carrying the pickup I got the Dock shunter running on 3 rail track......

Now that's got me wanting to do something like this:



I do not, however, need to take on any more projects at this stage.......

[Bigmet]

...Now that's got me wanting to do something like this:



I do not, however, need to take on any more projects at this stage...

The positive side of your project overload, is that by the time you get a round tuit, there may be a current standard model available of the 'pugs' built for both the CR and NBR, based on a Neilson design.

It strikes me as a very obvious candidate for a new model, now that our manufacturers have started producing good 0-4-0T mechanisms. Of all railway company 0-4-0T's these were I believe both the most numerous type and survived well to near the end of steam (BR inherited nearly 50, and the last went in 62). Add to that the regular use of salvaged and rebuilt old wagons to make coal tenders of varying design, and you have a very interesting package.

[Wolseley]

Two of the projects currently under way:

A (present day company) Hornby Southern Railway 700 class, three railed using a Marklin skate and made into what is a passable representation of a Highland Railway "Barney" 0-6-0. I made the smokebox and sandboxes a bit too long, but I'm not going back to change it now.

And a spare and badly playworn Dublo 4MT Tank, which is being refinished in the guise of 80135, as preserved.

[Wolseley]

A Trix Flying Scotsman for a change. This is the later Trix two rail version and not the earlier Trix Twin one. It has been three railed using a Marklin skate. There are a few detail items still to be attended to on this loco.

[Ex-Pat]

Two of the projects currently under way:

A (present day company) Hornby Southern Railway 700 class, three railed using a Marklin skate and made into what is a passable representation of a Highland Railway "Barney" 0-6-0. I made the smokebox and sandboxes a bit too long, but I'm not going back to change it now.

P1010871R.jpg

Have you been speaking to manna by any chance? I always enjoy such conversions - will we see the numbered version?

[Bigmet]

Another 'hurrah' for the Barney, very attractive like most late Victorian 0-6-0 designs. Rather neat that with current Hornby making some diecast steam loco bodies such as for this model, they are re-aligning with the H-D practise.

I am very pleased with the four current Hornby steamers I have with diecast bodies (B12/3. D16/3, J15, J36) and very much hope the selection with this feature will expand further.

[Wolseley]

A recent photo. The castle is a Dublo Ringfield motored one, but not an original three-rail Ludlow castle, as they are rarities and cost more than I'm willing to pay. It's a repainted two-rail Cardiff Castle that I got rather cheaply on eBay, sans tender, with paint missing, and a slightly bent cab - sold as being suitable for spares only! I paired it with an equally scruffy three rail tender, complete with plunger pickups so, a bit of rewiring and I had my three-rail Dublo Castle. A bit of reshaping of the cab was called for as was a complete repaint before it could enter service. A previous owner must have been mucking about with it, as a securing grub screw for the bearing adjustment was loose, with the result that it ran erratically and was rather noisy. Easily fixed once I worked out what the problem was.

The two A4s are Dublo, the one in LNER wartime black is a repainted Silver King, and the BR green one is an original Mallard. The Flying Scotsman is a Trix model from their later two-rail period, converted to three-rail using a Marklin skate.

[Wolseley]

And another photo. It's taken me a couple of years, but I finally got around to converting my Wrenn City of Stoke on Trent to three rail. While I was working on it, after seeing the condition of the wheels, brushes and commutator, I realised that it has never been run until now. The magnet was well and truly dead but, after I swapped it for a spare I had (my last one!), it started moving - after a bit of encouragement - and settled down to a steady run around the layout.

[Mountain]

I like looking at 3 rail. I have quite a bit myself, though I am not sure if I will keep it or not.

Thw castle class. You said it has a ringfield motor. I think mine does not. Where is the ringfield motor? In the loco or in the tender?

[Wolseley]

I like looking at 3 rail. I have quite a bit myself, though I am not sure if I will keep it or not.

Thw castle class. You said it has a ringfield motor. I think mine does not. Where is the ringfield motor? In the loco or in the tender?

There were two motors used in the Hornby Dublo Castle, and in the 8F 2-8-0. The first was a motor that was similar in appearance to the Tri-ang X04 and the second was the Ringfield, the armature end of which stuck out into the cab. The rebuilt West Country was Ringfield powered as well, as were some of the diesels and the EMU. Meccano Ltd never made a tender powered locomotive, although, from memory, I think Michael Foster's book mentions that they were planning a tender driven 9F 2-10-0 just before the company collapsed.

The earlier two rail Castle was called Bristol Castle for the three rail version and Denbeigh Castle for two rail. The Ringfield three rail Castle was called Ludlow Castle and the two rail one Cardiff Castle. Both were loco driven.

I'll post some photos later.

[Mountain]

I will have to take a look. I know that it has its 3 rail pickup on the tender and they are a plunger type rather then the skate type.

The names you give. I think mine may have a 2 rail name for a 3 rail loco. I need to investigate.

Ammended. It is Bristol Castle.

I have 7 locos. 6 are woking.

[Bufferstop]

The Hornby and Wrenn Ringfield motor was a totally different beast to the later Triang-Hornby design. It was a skew wound armature with worm drive, capable of very slow running and great haulage capacity. The only downside was it's complete occupation of the cab with a bit sticking out of tee back on tender types. The flattened pancake thing with spur gears produced by Margate was a poor imitation of a continental design. I think I can say that the Triang Hornby Ringfield along with rubber traction tyres was responsible for me going off on an 009 detour for many years only returning to 00 when MainLine, Airfix and Lima started producing a wider variety of designs and better bodies.