Yet another refurbished Dock Shunter

 As regular readers will know, I have a liking for Tri-ang/Hornby Dock Shunters, so it will come as no surprise that I picked up another when visiting a local toy and train fair. This one is a pretty tidy example with little or no damage to the body and only the usual scuffing on the paintwork;

The workings were intact;

But it did have those awful knurled wheels;

A quick spin on the track showed that it worked well, although noisy. I replaced the wheels, as detailed before, but didn't go as far as a full strip-down for a change as I was confident about its running.

Here's the new wheelset in place;

The body responded well to a scrub under the tap with soapy water and a soft brush;

I didn't worry too much about cleaning the chassis, it wasn't too bad considering its age.

It runs well, although very noisily. Its odd how one loco can purr along whilst another of the same type sounds like a bag of nails despite a liberal application of oil and grease...

Still, it looks good, is nice and powerful, and, most importantly, the headlight works.

Paul.

'Missing funnel, needs a service, £5'

 The above was written on a zip-lock bag in amongst a pile of random train stuff at a local toy and train fair. In that bag was this;

An 'ornby R255 0-4-0 Passenger Loco, dating from 1976/77. The description seemed fair, the price very, and as it had the later can motor chassis with plated wheels I just couldn't resist handing over a five pound note.

I removed the body so that I could inspect the chassis, which looked to be pretty sound although the wheels needed a good clean;

So I held it upside down in a vice and applied power using one crocodile clip on the coupling and the other on the pick up wire and went to work with cotton buds and lighter fluid, not only on the wheels but also the chassis block itself. At the same time all moving parts were lubricated, including the crank pins. Soon I had a sweet running unit. I also straightened out those bent couplings.

The body was washed under the tap with warm soapy water and a toothbrush. There's some damage, apart from the obvious missing chimney, but it scrubbed up well enough. There's a buffer head missing at the rear, the rainstrips are damaged, there's some paint chipping, and there's a step missing at the front. All of which, except for the chimney, is quite usual on these locos.

A new chimney was turned from brass. I polished the cap with Brasso but blackened the middle section with Birchwood Casey brass black.

At some stage I might turn up a new buffer head.

It could also do with a drop of paint here and there, but at the moment I have no gloss black so that job can wait.

I'm quite pleased with this, its kept me amused for a few hours and runs well on the Christmas trainset that sits under the tree. And, even if the body was scrap the chassis is worth having, being a nice smooth runner.

A fiver well spent I'd say.

Paul.

Peckett Chimney

 Another commission from my friend Ben, this time a chimney for a scratchbuilt 009 Sena Sugar Estates Peckett 0-6-0ST. This was turned from brass using my Unimat 3.

One of the nice things about this job is that the part is finished ready to sit on the loco rather than to be used as a casting pattern, which means that I can make the top lip and flange a little finer. Its also hollow as Ben didn't want a locating peg underneath.

I'm quite pleased with this, and I'm looking forward to seeing it fitted. 

Paul.