Lurker, but with a username

[stefn]

Hi everyone.

Former childhood Hornby OO fan here. I got out of the game in the early nineties, gave away or sold my stuff, and turned my attention to other matters... but I never completely went off the idea of model railways.

A few decades later I find I have bought one or two bits and bobs on ebay - the yellow breakdown crane and an Intercity 125, both of which I used to have. Waiting for delivery as I type. Now maybe when they arrived I'll display them on my shelves and that'll be nostalgia enough... or maybe I'll get the urge to start building a layout again.

The era that calls to me is childhood/teenage based, so mostly blue-grey shading into Network Southeast. I have signed on here so I can look around, maybe join in the odd conversation or look technical information up (e.g. I expect the Intercity engine motor will require a service) and basically dip my toe in the water in what appears to be friendly company. Then we'll see

[Bigmet]

Should be interesting for you. Much has changed.
Near enough every BR and successors diesel traction class has at least one RTR OO model with very much superior central motor driving both bogies mechanisms; including total dogs like 16,17, 21, 22, 28, 29, etc. and most of the prototypes from the 'LMS twins' onwards.
Hornby are but one brand fighting for market share in RTR OO with Accurascale, Bachmann, Cavalex, Dapol, EFE, Ellis Clark, Heljan, Kernow, KR Models, Oxford Rail, Planet industrials, Rails of Sheffield, Rapido, Realtrack, Sonic, Suttons Loco Works, TMC, currently waving product at us.
Remember Hattons? They shut up shop last week.
Then there is DCC and all that goes with that.

[Phred]

Welcome Stefn.

Maybe start with a little diorama to display your breakdown crane and loco. When that inspires you to build more, remember to post photos on here!

[Dad-1]

Welcome aboard Stefn,

Geoff T.

[glencairn]

Welcome on board, Stefn. A good crew here.

Glencairn

[stefn]

Thanks everyone!

@Bigmet Ahhh so the motor technology has come along a bit, it's not just inflation that's put prices up! Interesting to hear about all the competing brands, I have some googling to do... I'm read a bit about DCC and might look into it further if I get settled back into the hobby.

@Phred A diorama is a great idea to test/refresh my scale modelling skills, will bear that in mind.

Both purchases are now with me, be interesting to see if this HST runs smoothly. Train looks very well preserved and barely used, but track could do with a deoxidisation...

WIll check back in soon

[Lofty]

Welcome aboard Stefn

[Bigmet]

...so the motor technology has come along a bit...

The underlying story is that when Bachmann's RTR OO production got going in earnest from China, after an initial market probe using dated American HO 'split chassis' technique, from about 1997 they introduced mechanism design that had been baseline standard in HO for adult models. Good can motors, multistage gears, efficient pick up arrangements. All their twin bogie traction has the centre motor drive and performs beautifully.

Hornby made the move to China, and got their first loco product out to this standard in 2000, concentrating on steam. Their range remains a mess with loads of legacy product with motor bogies. Some of this is ex-Lima which went bust about the same time, and was bought by Hornby.

(The Italian business re-emerged in Vicenza as Vi-Trains, which contracted with an importer to produce a 37 and 47 for OO, but this production soon ended.
One for sale viewtopic.php?p=711148#p711148 )

Heljan entered the OO market in 2001, mainly diesel models, and all the twin bogie types are of centre motor design and pull like fury.

About 2010 Dapol decided to have another crack at OO, and after this the floodgates opened...

There's a lot of choice.

[stefn]

Hi again,

Right. I set the old HST power car on the track, moved the dial on the controller... didn't move. It did, however, hum when I pushed gently down on the loco.

Used a multimeter to confirm it's not the track - voltage between the two wires of the power supply, and voltage between the rails, is substantially the same, i.e. 15v at full whack, about 11 and about 8 at what I guess we would call partial whack.

I think the motor needs a clean.

Looking at prices for newer locos with fancy new engines - I respect the work that has gone into these (thanks again @Bigmet) but with my current budget / interest level / commitment, I want to have a go at getting this one running rather than buy something that's objectively decent but costs hundreds.

So! I have watched a few YouTube videos and reckon I need to get:

Spare bushes/brushes
Spare traction tyres

T-Cut (I presume this is the car divot stuff?)
Electrical contact cleaner (makes sense)
Oil
Molly grease

The spare parts strike me as self-explanatory; any advice on what precisely to get for the various substances in the second group? Does someone on ebay do a helpful boxed set of all this?

[Jaz]

The guys here are friendly and willing to help and I have never seen bullying of people learning far from it so hopefully you will enjoy it here the pace is not especially fast but then you do not get ignored either sorry for late reply I am lazy and jump on other forums also but if I see you are at the scenic range I will happily engage as that is my personal favourite good luck and enjoy

[GeraldH]

Hello Stefn. I don't think you've had any advice the on HST so far? I'm assuming this is the old Hornby Ringfield one. If it hums but doesn't move I would take out the power bogie by gently squeezing the clips at the front/rear of the powered bogie. Check that the gears are not jammed with hair or other debris. You should be able to manually rotate one of the large gears and everything should move correctly - obviously do this with the power off . If that is OK, put power leads onto the clips that hold the brushes in and see if the motor moves. If it just hums, there might be be a problem with the brushes, springs or faceplate. I had one that had overheated and everything was distorted/melted. I hope that helps, let us know how you get on and if you post some photos of the motor someone might spot something.

[Bufferstop]

If you do find that the armature of the Ringfield motor is faulty, take a look at the kits for conversion to a "CD tray drive motor" It's a relatively simple swap and there's no end of YouTube videos showing what to do. If you've pushed a CD draw back in when it wants to come out you'll know how much torque they have.

[Bigmet]

Oil
Molly grease

I bought one of these when in the USA:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386736745891 ... 8IEALw_wcB
Over twenty years on from purchase, and it is still all I have needed -and it is used for non-model railway items too, sewing machine, car subsystems, hi-fi, microwave, to name a few. The important thing is that it is modelling plastics compatible. There's another brand 'Labelle' which has much the same reputation, would have purchased that if it happened to be on the shop shelf!

T-cut, Halfords or similar.

Electrical contact cleaner, never needed it. My layout is in an unheated outbuilding, and has had events including a roof leak that was making a waterfall onto an OO loco. That loco ran as soon as given power, and years later that mechanism still runs. The 'secrets' to avoid spending money on proprietary 'fixits':
All nickel silver rail track with soldered electrical connections, no plastic* 'rail' sections in points,
All metal wheels on all stock, no traction tyres* which are the work of the devil,
Soldered electrical connections in locos,
Regularly run the trains, the rails and tyres improve with use.

*The black gunge on rails on most layouts is fine metal dust 'bound' by plastics 'goo'. Make all wheels and rails from metal and the metal fines typically don't stick that badly, are easily wiped off, and there's less of it; an all around win.

[Dad-1]

Bigmet,

Can't disagree with any of those, although I have and do live with the occasional 'tyre'.
For me the regular use is the most significant factor in reliable track work. IF and when I used
to run the garage layout almost every day it never seemed to need attention.

This last winter it's been left alone and started playing up after so many years of trouble free
running. It was always having trains of 15 - 20 wagons rolling around, the more the merrier.

I need to start making wagons again to build up a decent rake out there to 'Test'.

Geoff T.

[stefn]

Thanks everyone for the comments. My life is still a little crowded to start on this hobby in earnest but I did eventually get the lubricants kit that BigMet linked to and stripped down the ringfield motor, followed some YouTube tutorials, and there has been a noticeable improvement in the HST running (it's still not brilliant but it does move in fits and starts!)

So I occasionally have a tinker with it, if nothing else I find it very calming in a busy world I've picked up some more rolling stock I either had as a kid or always wanted but never got.