Yes I live in the USA but I moved here as an adult, I started out in Welwyn Garden City, spent some time in Ireland before moving here to the USA. My Dad is a retired Railway Signaling Engineer, always had some kind of layout around when I was growing up. I like Rails of Sheffield, I got this APT and other items from them via eBay. I went ahead and subscribed to your channel. Feedback on the videos I post is always helpful (especially if I make a mistake) :)
You are very welcome Alan, glad you were able to find it useful. We have a lot of videos on the channel and new ones coming out this week. I've been working on a large project behind the scenes which will hopefully surface this weekend! :)
What an absolutely superb demonstration video! Congratulations on a very professional presentation and easy to follow steps to achieve the perfect result.
Cool. You're welcome. Its always nice to hear that folks found the videos useful. I'll put together a video using one of my R.074 Hymeks over the next few days.
I just wanted to personally thank you for making this video. It helped me fix a horribly loud noise in may APT-E power car thanks again! And please keep making these helpful video's!
I used to sell model railways in the UK, and one of my customers brought in a HST powercar that was dead, the thing was dripping inside as he'd sprayed WD40 inside and it had dissolved the carbon brushes, and all but ruined the motor. Some people eh? Great vid, and know Rails well, and nice to see someone on the other side of the pond who is into UK outline railways
Hi. I did what u did to one of the hst class 43. It worked.!! It goes ok but not as fast as yours 12 volt I measured on the rails one problem now it derailed on corners I looked and the wheels aren't straight lol. Will sort out tomorrow but thanks for this handy tip. .
Thanks. Yes its a lot easier to do it that way, I think thats the way the service sheets tell you to do it. There are two types, one with a screw and ones that you have to bend back a little to get the spring / brush in there. Aside from it being a lot easier to lose the spring, the metal will fatigue over time and can easily break. So while its a little bit of extra effort, you don't run the risk of losing the spring or breaking the metal this way. Either way works though! :)
I'm not sure about the pendolino but the Hornby APT has the body tilt on the bogies. This seems to be achieved by the plastic piece where the bogie is connected to the chassis. The plastic is molded such that the body can move on the bogie as it goes around curves. It seems to be finely balanced on the APT, needs the body shell attached to work properly. It does work at slower speeds with just the bogies and chassis. I will see if I can do a video showing it working :)
Watching with great interest. May have mentioned before about the brass cog issues. The original plastic cog broke and have been trying to replace it with a brass cog. For a moment I thought you were going to pull the axle and cog out but you didn’t. Andy Russel spoke about using a C clamp to push the cog back on and I gave one set up for this. Have you ever tried it with any other Ringfield? I have a number that require the cogs to be replaced. I feel your pain on the prices/postage as I live in Toronto Cheers
Glad you enjoyed the video. I've had to replace both plastic and brass cogs on several locos. Usually its because they are loose due to a small crack in cog. If you are installing a new brass cog, you will want to grease (I used silicon / PTFE grease) the shaft and will require using a small vice. There are a couple of ways to do it, putting a nut between the vice and the cog works well, just make sure the nut is big enough that its going to slide right back off when you are done. The brass cogs can crack and I suspect they are weakened by the press fitting process to get them on. The solution I ended up using was to 3D print them, you can see what I did on this video -> ua-cam.com/video/7K9qsUa16Gw/v-deo.html .. now i had the same problem with an alloy cog on an A4, but what was interesting was that the shaft / spindle on that loco was larger than the previous one. Since the cog didn't seem to be damaged, I tried a different approach which was to create something to keep the cog on the spindle. Which you can see here -> ua-cam.com/video/jkptWv9kypE/v-deo.html .. I've got a bunch of these working great with 3D printed cogs using slightly different materials, so if there is interest, I can probably do a video soon and make the STL files available..
Does it make a sort of high pitch grinding noise when it runs? One some of the older HSTs, the metal piece thats on the motor casing that holds the springs in place for the brushes can work loose. I think its held by two screws. I had to replace those screws, bend the metal piece and replace the springs / brushes on one of my HSTs. A cleaning would definitely be the first place to start. If you need help just ask here and I'll see if I can help you troubleshoot it...
sorry about the delay, had to re-encode the video, there is a class 58 video going up tonight and then the tender motor removal video will go up immediately after it. Enjoy!
Found the video above about servicing of the ringfield motor will come in handy but I am the gentleman who is having difficulty removing the motor frame from the chassis. I believe it is type B . I have removed the weights but cant see where those darn lugs are hidden. The model is a 'king edward 1'.
Yes its exactly the same type of motor as the old HSTs. The top of the motor casing might look slightly different. The APT has a bracket for the pantograph that screws into the top of the motor casing. The HSTs that I have don't have the screw hole in the motor casing, but some of the older Class 35s that I have do. The motors are identical aside from that.
Fansatic video. I have two hst class 43 and the worked for bit that stopped. Smoke came out if I did what u did clean it and will that work or it the motor knackered ?
Those motors are always repairable, it just depends on how much effort you need to put in! If you are on a budget, I would start by cleaning it like in this video and probably should replace the springs / brushes. That should get it running. You may end up having to replace the magnet (usually if it won't start on its own without pushing) or the armature. If you replace the armature, you might want to consider upgrading to 5 pole. I have a video showing how to do that coming out soon! :)
I'd recommend applying power to the class 43 with the body shell off, make sure its just out of position before you try to adjust it. There should be some play in it, so you might be able to push the rod back slightly and see if it will engage. Observing it will give you an idea how far you need to move it back. To move it back you're going to need to very carefully use a vice, just don't push it too far!! I'll be posting a video showing how to do this shortly...
@BristolSpotterHD Yes its possible. You need to replace the wheel itself as there is a groove that the traction tyre sits in. You should be able to find replacement wheels on eBay. What model did you want to modify, the APT?
The layout is DC, while I have a few DCC-fitted locomotives, most of the locomotives I have are either newer DCC-ready locomotives, or older Tri-ang / Hornby DC locomotives. Its cost prohibitive to fit these locos with DCC. That said, you'll see some videos later this year on the channel that demonstrate ways to get some of the DCC features using a DC layout (multiple trains running, independent lights and sound etc). So stay tuned :)
Things started looking up when you mentioned the alcohol! Actually, could you not give the bogie parts a "goo gone" bath before the alcohol bath or is it too potent?
I assume you are talking about the very thin pieces of plastic that make up the roof electrical system detail on the top of the power car (the one with the pantograph). You can replace the wires with thin copper wire, I think 24 GA is what I ended up using. You will need to cut the wire and use a decent high quality glue. I would suggest painting the wire before installing it. You might want to look on Google Images or Flickr for photos to get a better match. I have a video on how to do this in the pipeline, but there are quite a few others ahead of it, probably looking at mid-April before you see the rest of the APT-P restoration project videos...
Hi, What a brilliant video, you gave a good account on working on the ringfield motor etc, I have learnt alot just watching this clip, keep up the good work, what state in america are you in ??. as I was born in the UK , but my father was born in montana yrs ago. thanks MARK
Thanks, I'm glad you are finding the videos helpful. I'm in Ohio, which is having a much colder winter than normal at the moment. The videos should hopefully resume tonight, I've been waiting for a few things to come in before finishing the first video for 2014! :)
Everyone has to start somewhere, watch the video carefully and just work through it in a very cautious manner. Don't use too much force and remember you are dealing with plastic that is around 30+ years old. The hardest part is taking the plastic body shell off the chassis, if you get that done without damaging it, the rest is pretty easy. I would suggest perhaps picking up new springs and brushes ahead of time that way you can replace those and not have to keep dismantling the APT power car unnecessarily.
Can anyone help me? I've bought a class 91 from ebay that is apparently 'NEW' but clearly isnt. It doesn't run too well. When a locomotive is in my hand, if i try to move the wheels I cant. They only move when powered. I assume this is normal. But when I pick up this class 91 power car, I can turn the drive wheels freely, with the cogs all turning. Am I right in thinking that this isn't right? Is this an indication that a repair is needed, and if so is it easy to do? Thanks.
There should be a reasonable amount of resistance when you try to move the drive wheels with your thumb. If they are moving as freely or almost as easily as the non-driving wheels then thats not right. How old is this class 91, do you have the Hornby product code? If its "screeching" as it goes around the track? Does it require a bit of coaxing to start moving?
oorail.com It is R293. It doesn't screech, in fact it doesnt really move at all. the motor is definitely moving but the wheels arent. If you push it it moves a little bit then stops. Ive compared it to another class 91, and there seems to be a white blob of superglue stuff on the metal cog in the centre. You have the black plastic cogs around a metal silver one in the middle. On the loco that doesnt move there isnt this glue stuff - is that needed to attach the metal cog to the axle?
ilovenipples Ahhhh... the gear is loose on the motor shaft. So the motor spins but its not turning the metal gear to turn the wheels... is this fixable? Thank you x
Hmm, just got a APT and it keeps derailing over points.....seems to be the van trailers and power car bogies.... ...any advice? oh and taking the shell off the power car is really really hard....you made it look so easy!
Check the wheel spacing on the axles, particularly the ones that lead on approach through the points. When diagnosing issues with points, I typically run the loco through at slow speeds to see if I can see any obvious problems (eg. wheels lifting off the track due to flange depth etc). If you are having problems with the driving cars, those have a wire that goes to a set of copper pickups on the front bogies, that solder joint, the pickups and sometimes the wire itself can restrict the movement of the bogies, especially on curves. Replacing these wires with small gauge wires (such as those used for DCC wiring), can often help as well. As for removing the body shell, its going to vary drastically from model to model, these are plastic models that are about 34 years old at this stage, so if they've never been opened you might find it a bit of a challenge. Mine of the other hand have been opened quite a bit, at least by me, so it looks a lot easier! :)
Great video - thanks. I've got one of these the engine seems fine - and I've opened it up - thanks to your instruction. Won't pickup power from the track but will from front wheel and rear wire! Any thoughts. Malc
+Malcolm Lindsay so I'm traveling by train for the next 36 hours, so I can try to help troubleshoot this. So it won't pickup power from the track but it will if you place a wire on the wheels?
I have filmed the video for you, its in the queue, expect it sometime in the next 24 hours on the channel. I will send you a message when its available.
Yes those kits are ok, but they are very expensive at £15.99. If one of the five LEDs burn out, the entire board needs replaced. You can use thin electrical wire and five 2mm LEDs to achieve the same thing with a bit of patience and some clever wiring for under £5 per set. I'll do a video on this since folks keep asking about it... :)
Yes I live in the USA but I moved here as an adult, I started out in Welwyn Garden City, spent some time in Ireland before moving here to the USA. My Dad is a retired Railway Signaling Engineer, always had some kind of layout around when I was growing up. I like Rails of Sheffield, I got this APT and other items from them via eBay. I went ahead and subscribed to your channel. Feedback on the videos I post is always helpful (especially if I make a mistake) :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to film this and go through it step by step. Liked and subbed 👍🏻
You are very welcome Alan, glad you were able to find it useful. We have a lot of videos on the channel and new ones coming out this week. I've been working on a large project behind the scenes which will hopefully surface this weekend! :)
What an absolutely superb demonstration video! Congratulations on a very professional presentation and easy to follow steps to achieve the perfect result.
Thanks! :)
Cool. You're welcome. Its always nice to hear that folks found the videos useful. I'll put together a video using one of my R.074 Hymeks over the next few days.
I just wanted to personally thank you for making this video. It helped me fix a horribly loud noise in may APT-E power car thanks again! And please keep making these helpful video's!
You're welcome. That is why I upload the videos in the first place, to help folks out. So its great to hear that someone made use of it :)
oorail.com Thanks and it was a huge help. Please continue to make these video's. I can't wait to see more updates on your current APT-P project's :-)
I used to sell model railways in the UK, and one of my customers brought in a HST powercar that was dead, the thing was dripping inside as he'd sprayed WD40 inside and it had dissolved the carbon brushes, and all but ruined the motor. Some people eh? Great vid, and know Rails well, and nice to see someone on the other side of the pond who is into UK outline railways
Hi. I did what u did to one of the hst class 43. It worked.!! It goes ok but not as fast as yours 12 volt I measured on the rails one problem now it derailed on corners I looked and the wheels aren't straight lol. Will sort out tomorrow but thanks for this handy tip. .
Thanks. Yes its a lot easier to do it that way, I think thats the way the service sheets tell you to do it. There are two types, one with a screw and ones that you have to bend back a little to get the spring / brush in there. Aside from it being a lot easier to lose the spring, the metal will fatigue over time and can easily break. So while its a little bit of extra effort, you don't run the risk of losing the spring or breaking the metal this way. Either way works though! :)
I'm not sure about the pendolino but the Hornby APT has the body tilt on the bogies. This seems to be achieved by the plastic piece where the bogie is connected to the chassis. The plastic is molded such that the body can move on the bogie as it goes around curves. It seems to be finely balanced on the APT, needs the body shell attached to work properly. It does work at slower speeds with just the bogies and chassis. I will see if I can do a video showing it working :)
Watching with great interest. May have mentioned before about the brass cog issues. The original plastic cog broke and have been trying to replace it with a brass cog.
For a moment I thought you were going to pull the axle and cog out but you didn’t.
Andy Russel spoke about using a C clamp to push the cog back on and I gave one set up for this.
Have you ever tried it with any other Ringfield? I have a number that require the cogs to be replaced.
I feel your pain on the prices/postage as I live in Toronto
Cheers
Glad you enjoyed the video. I've had to replace both plastic and brass cogs on several locos. Usually its because they are loose due to a small crack in cog. If you are installing a new brass cog, you will want to grease (I used silicon / PTFE grease) the shaft and will require using a small vice. There are a couple of ways to do it, putting a nut between the vice and the cog works well, just make sure the nut is big enough that its going to slide right back off when you are done. The brass cogs can crack and I suspect they are weakened by the press fitting process to get them on. The solution I ended up using was to 3D print them, you can see what I did on this video -> ua-cam.com/video/7K9qsUa16Gw/v-deo.html .. now i had the same problem with an alloy cog on an A4, but what was interesting was that the shaft / spindle on that loco was larger than the previous one. Since the cog didn't seem to be damaged, I tried a different approach which was to create something to keep the cog on the spindle. Which you can see here -> ua-cam.com/video/jkptWv9kypE/v-deo.html .. I've got a bunch of these working great with 3D printed cogs using slightly different materials, so if there is interest, I can probably do a video soon and make the STL files available..
Does it make a sort of high pitch grinding noise when it runs? One some of the older HSTs, the metal piece thats on the motor casing that holds the springs in place for the brushes can work loose. I think its held by two screws. I had to replace those screws, bend the metal piece and replace the springs / brushes on one of my HSTs. A cleaning would definitely be the first place to start. If you need help just ask here and I'll see if I can help you troubleshoot it...
sorry about the delay, had to re-encode the video, there is a class 58 video going up tonight and then the tender motor removal video will go up immediately after it. Enjoy!
Found the video above about servicing of the ringfield motor will come in handy but I am the gentleman who is having difficulty removing the motor frame from the chassis. I believe it is type B . I have removed the weights but cant see where those darn lugs are hidden. The model is a 'king edward 1'.
Yes its exactly the same type of motor as the old HSTs. The top of the motor casing might look slightly different. The APT has a bracket for the pantograph that screws into the top of the motor casing. The HSTs that I have don't have the screw hole in the motor casing, but some of the older Class 35s that I have do. The motors are identical aside from that.
Fansatic video. I have two hst class 43 and the worked for bit that stopped. Smoke came out if I did what u did clean it and will that work or it the motor knackered ?
you know the wheels on the Ringfield motor has traction tyres. do you think its possible to replace them so they're all metal?
Those motors are always repairable, it just depends on how much effort you need to put in! If you are on a budget, I would start by cleaning it like in this video and probably should replace the springs / brushes. That should get it running. You may end up having to replace the magnet (usually if it won't start on its own without pushing) or the armature. If you replace the armature, you might want to consider upgrading to 5 pole. I have a video showing how to do that coming out soon! :)
I'd recommend applying power to the class 43 with the body shell off, make sure its just out of position before you try to adjust it. There should be some play in it, so you might be able to push the rod back slightly and see if it will engage. Observing it will give you an idea how far you need to move it back. To move it back you're going to need to very carefully use a vice, just don't push it too far!! I'll be posting a video showing how to do this shortly...
@BristolSpotterHD Yes its possible. You need to replace the wheel itself as there is a groove that the traction tyre sits in. You should be able to find replacement wheels on eBay. What model did you want to modify, the APT?
That little housing for the screw is a real pain
Yes it is.. this video is quite old, maybe 12 years ago, since then I've found using a magnifying glass is the way to go :)
The layout is DC, while I have a few DCC-fitted locomotives, most of the locomotives I have are either newer DCC-ready locomotives, or older Tri-ang / Hornby DC locomotives. Its cost prohibitive to fit these locos with DCC. That said, you'll see some videos later this year on the channel that demonstrate ways to get some of the DCC features using a DC layout (multiple trains running, independent lights and sound etc). So stay tuned :)
Things started looking up when you mentioned the alcohol! Actually, could you not give the bogie parts a "goo gone" bath before the alcohol bath or is it too potent?
Where is the Video for the overhead wires, I brought an APT and the wire are broken any ideas for replacing them?
I assume you are talking about the very thin pieces of plastic that make up the roof electrical system detail on the top of the power car (the one with the pantograph). You can replace the wires with thin copper wire, I think 24 GA is what I ended up using. You will need to cut the wire and use a decent high quality glue. I would suggest painting the wire before installing it. You might want to look on Google Images or Flickr for photos to get a better match. I have a video on how to do this in the pipeline, but there are quite a few others ahead of it, probably looking at mid-April before you see the rest of the APT-P restoration project videos...
Hi, What a brilliant video, you gave a good account on working on the ringfield motor etc, I have learnt alot just watching this clip, keep up the good work, what state in america are you in ??. as I was born in the UK , but my father was born in montana yrs ago. thanks MARK
Thanks, I'm glad you are finding the videos helpful. I'm in Ohio, which is having a much colder winter than normal at the moment. The videos should hopefully resume tonight, I've been waiting for a few things to come in before finishing the first video for 2014! :)
Is it advisable for a beginner? I bought a old APT that needs to be serviced
Everyone has to start somewhere, watch the video carefully and just work through it in a very cautious manner. Don't use too much force and remember you are dealing with plastic that is around 30+ years old. The hardest part is taking the plastic body shell off the chassis, if you get that done without damaging it, the rest is pretty easy. I would suggest perhaps picking up new springs and brushes ahead of time that way you can replace those and not have to keep dismantling the APT power car unnecessarily.
Can anyone help me? I've bought a class 91 from ebay that is apparently 'NEW' but clearly isnt. It doesn't run too well. When a locomotive is in my hand, if i try to move the wheels I cant. They only move when powered. I assume this is normal. But when I pick up this class 91 power car, I can turn the drive wheels freely, with the cogs all turning. Am I right in thinking that this isn't right? Is this an indication that a repair is needed, and if so is it easy to do? Thanks.
There should be a reasonable amount of resistance when you try to move the drive wheels with your thumb. If they are moving as freely or almost as easily as the non-driving wheels then thats not right. How old is this class 91, do you have the Hornby product code? If its "screeching" as it goes around the track? Does it require a bit of coaxing to start moving?
oorail.com It is R293. It doesn't screech, in fact it doesnt really move at all. the motor is definitely moving but the wheels arent. If you push it it moves a little bit then stops. Ive compared it to another class 91, and there seems to be a white blob of superglue stuff on the metal cog in the centre. You have the black plastic cogs around a metal silver one in the middle. On the loco that doesnt move there isnt this glue stuff - is that needed to attach the metal cog to the axle?
ilovenipples Ahhhh... the gear is loose on the motor shaft. So the motor spins but its not turning the metal gear to turn the wheels... is this fixable? Thank you x
Hmm, just got a APT and it keeps derailing over points.....seems to be the van trailers and power car bogies.... ...any advice? oh and taking the shell off the power car is really really hard....you made it look so easy!
Check the wheel spacing on the axles, particularly the ones that lead on approach through the points. When diagnosing issues with points, I typically run the loco through at slow speeds to see if I can see any obvious problems (eg. wheels lifting off the track due to flange depth etc). If you are having problems with the driving cars, those have a wire that goes to a set of copper pickups on the front bogies, that solder joint, the pickups and sometimes the wire itself can restrict the movement of the bogies, especially on curves. Replacing these wires with small gauge wires (such as those used for DCC wiring), can often help as well.
As for removing the body shell, its going to vary drastically from model to model, these are plastic models that are about 34 years old at this stage, so if they've never been opened you might find it a bit of a challenge. Mine of the other hand have been opened quite a bit, at least by me, so it looks a lot easier! :)
@oorail77 nope its for a LMS Patriot 5XP Steam Loco which is Tender Driven
Great video - thanks. I've got one of these the engine seems fine - and I've opened it up - thanks to your instruction. Won't pickup power from the track but will from front wheel and rear wire! Any thoughts. Malc
+Malcolm Lindsay so I'm traveling by train for the next 36 hours, so I can try to help troubleshoot this. So it won't pickup power from the track but it will if you place a wire on the wheels?
Don't worry - sold it instead of fixing :-)
Is your layout DC or DCC
I have filmed the video for you, its in the queue, expect it sometime in the next 24 hours on the channel. I will send you a message when its available.
@BristolSpotterHD I sent you the URL for the service sheet in a direct message. Let me know if that works for you.
search for blackcat technologies on ebay who sell lighting kits for the APT whichange direction automaticialy.
Yes those kits are ok, but they are very expensive at £15.99. If one of the five LEDs burn out, the entire board needs replaced. You can use thin electrical wire and five 2mm LEDs to achieve the same thing with a bit of patience and some clever wiring for under £5 per set. I'll do a video on this since folks keep asking about it... :)
I think you'd have to use an awful lot of goo gone for murders... lol!!!
i thought you said goo gone is also good for murders instead of motors lol.
Fans a