Hello Barrie, 1 / well, this is an excellent, explanatory video especially the close up shots of the plastic and metal wheels , and how they track through the point frogs. As you clearly demonstrated, the finer tolerance, and thinner tread of the metal wheel, compared to the thicker tread of the plastic, white walled wheel, allowed the all metal wheel to dip into the gap within the frog. I also like your explanation of why the TPO Apparatus required careful setting up, and sufficient straight and level, track is so important. 2 / by the way, the correct, prototype terminology for "frog" is Crossing, which consists of two parts, being the crossing vee, the point of which is called the crossing nose; and the closure rails, of which the the closest part of the two closure rails is called the crossing knuckle, within which lay the aforesaid crossing nose portion of the crossing vee. The portion of the closure rail that is past the crossing vee is called the wing rail. The check rails, which are adjacent to the two outer running rails of the point/switch, have the job of preventing the wheelset from taking the wrong line as the wheelset runs through the crossing. 3 / So, one solution worth considering where wheels are occasionally taking the wrong track, is to extend the check rails so that the wheelset correctly tracks thru the point, due to the longer check rail preventing the wheelset from drifting to the wrong track.( Out of gauge wheel back to back dimension needs to be checked to ensure all wheels are correctly gauged.) 4 / the other issue your video clearly demonstrated is that some wheel sets can drop into the gap between the vee nose, and the crossing knuckle. This appears to be more prevalent with older model points/switch which had to accomodate the older, and thicker wheelsets. Depending on the issue highlighted, another fix is to add a slither of thin plastic (Thick Cream plastic tub walls come to mind) to the inside of the check rail, thereby ensuring the wheelset tracks correctly. 5 / as an aside, the original Metro-Cammell Blue Pullman sets utilized Swiss made non powered Schlieren bogies, which had a well deserved reputation for smooth, and quiet running, with the added bonus of low maintenance. In practice. however, this was not BR's experience, as rough riding was endemic with the Blue Pullman. Initial thoughts were that Bullhead Track, being more vertically flexible, thereby contributing to failure rate, and that re-laying with European / American style Flatbottom track (which was happening anyway) would resolve the problem. Er, no, it did not ! Finally, the problem proved to be tolerances between wheel back to back, and the finer tolerances of track gauge in Western Europe turned out to be half of that of BR, which resulted in the Schlieren bogie "hunting" more than it was designed to do. So, our model railways end up being less reliable partly due to reasons outlined above. 6 / this was a most important,, and very well explained video. 7 / hoping this comment finds you and your family well, with best wishes, and regards, from Australia.
A very long time ago I had one of these. It was a horrid BR blue/grey version of one of the old Triang transcontinental toolings. I never used it very much as I soon discovered it was for the (then new) system 6 track, and I was still using Super 4 at the time, so the ramps didn’t fit properly for a start! On my current Dublo 3-rail build I’ve put in the Dublo electric mail set. I must get around to wiring it up one of these days… I’ve spent the last couple of evenings remagnetising my Dublo locomotive fleet with Mr Dodds wonderful machine which I treated myself to for my 60th. I should’ve bought one years ago, but couldn’t justify the cost.the results are pretty spectacular in terms of better low speed control, more power and much smoother running. If you have a collection of old Hornby Dublo, Triang-Hornby and Wrenn locos it’s worth every penny. All the best, Rob
I got one these royal mail sets for a Christmas, loved it ,so much fun ,must look out for one on e bay ,as this is what model railways are about ,i rember it was a bit of a,chore to get set up and running correctly ,but once done was,immensely fun ,one of my freinds at school had the hornby iron ore drop set that was another operational set they hornby did back then.
Hello Barrie. I'm trying to find the video where you demonstrate how to solve the derailing front bogie problem with Tornado. Can you please advise? Thanks.
I can't find that video, but I do remember that Barrie used 3 washers (bicycle spoke washers, I believe) between the body and bogie of the loco, and put a piece of steel rod, measuring 16.7mm X 27mm, inside the body to give it extra weight. He also mentions it at 10 minutes into this video: ua-cam.com/video/XjVxyWV3qgI/v-deo.htmlsi=EfnFnsSiPWtMXVwL
Hello Barrie, 1 / well, this is an excellent, explanatory video especially the close up shots of the plastic and metal wheels , and how they track through the point frogs. As you clearly demonstrated, the finer tolerance, and thinner tread of the metal wheel, compared to the thicker tread of the plastic, white walled wheel, allowed the all metal wheel to dip into the gap within the frog. I also like your explanation of why the TPO Apparatus required careful setting up, and sufficient straight and level, track is so important.
2 / by the way, the correct, prototype terminology for "frog" is Crossing, which consists of two parts, being the crossing vee, the point of which is called the crossing nose; and the closure rails, of which the the closest part of the two closure rails is called the crossing knuckle, within which lay the aforesaid crossing nose portion of the crossing vee. The portion of the closure rail that is past the crossing vee is called the wing rail. The check rails, which are adjacent to the two outer running rails of the point/switch, have the job of preventing the wheelset from taking the wrong line as the wheelset runs through the crossing.
3 / So, one solution worth considering where wheels are occasionally taking the wrong track, is to extend the check rails so that the wheelset correctly tracks thru the point, due to the longer check rail preventing the wheelset from drifting to the wrong track.( Out of gauge wheel back to back dimension needs to be checked to ensure all wheels are correctly gauged.)
4 / the other issue your video clearly demonstrated is that some wheel sets can drop into the gap between the vee nose, and the crossing knuckle. This appears to be more prevalent with older model points/switch which had to accomodate the older, and thicker wheelsets. Depending on the issue highlighted, another fix is to add a slither of thin plastic (Thick Cream plastic tub walls come to mind) to the inside of the check rail, thereby ensuring the wheelset tracks correctly.
5 / as an aside, the original Metro-Cammell Blue Pullman sets utilized Swiss made non powered Schlieren bogies, which had a well deserved reputation for smooth, and quiet running, with the added bonus of low maintenance. In practice. however, this was not BR's experience, as rough riding was endemic with the Blue Pullman.
Initial thoughts were that Bullhead Track, being more vertically flexible, thereby contributing to failure rate, and that re-laying with European / American style Flatbottom track (which was happening anyway) would resolve the problem.
Er, no, it did not ! Finally, the problem proved to be tolerances between wheel back to back, and the finer tolerances of track gauge in Western Europe turned out to be half of that of BR, which resulted in the Schlieren bogie "hunting" more than it was designed to do. So, our model railways end up being less reliable partly due to reasons outlined above.
6 / this was a most important,, and very well explained video.
7 / hoping this comment finds you and your family well, with best wishes, and regards, from Australia.
A very long time ago I had one of these. It was a horrid BR blue/grey version of one of the old Triang transcontinental toolings. I never used it very much as I soon discovered it was for the (then new) system 6 track, and I was still using Super 4 at the time, so the ramps didn’t fit properly for a start! On my current Dublo 3-rail build I’ve put in the Dublo electric mail set. I must get around to wiring it up one of these days… I’ve spent the last couple of evenings remagnetising my Dublo locomotive fleet with Mr Dodds wonderful machine which I treated myself to for my 60th. I should’ve bought one years ago, but couldn’t justify the cost.the results are pretty spectacular in terms of better low speed control, more power and much smoother running. If you have a collection of old Hornby Dublo, Triang-Hornby and Wrenn locos it’s worth every penny. All the best, Rob
Thanks to your video I have now an operating Mail coach thank you Barry ! Love your videos
I got one these royal mail sets for a Christmas, loved it ,so much fun ,must look out for one on e bay ,as this is what model railways are about ,i rember it was a bit of a,chore to get set up and running correctly ,but once done was,immensely fun ,one of my freinds at school had the hornby iron ore drop set that was another operational set they hornby did back then.
great vid thanks for the share on channel thanks lee
Hello Barrie. I'm trying to find the video where you demonstrate how to solve the derailing front bogie problem with Tornado. Can you please advise? Thanks.
I can't find that video, but I do remember that Barrie used 3 washers (bicycle spoke washers, I believe) between the body and bogie of the loco, and put a piece of steel rod, measuring 16.7mm X 27mm, inside the body to give it extra weight.
He also mentions it at 10 minutes into this video: ua-cam.com/video/XjVxyWV3qgI/v-deo.htmlsi=EfnFnsSiPWtMXVwL
@@jerribee1 Thanks for the info