My £42 train set

[playmofire]

Recently on eBay there was an old electric train set on offer, collect only.

The lot consisted of the black mains-powered steam loco, two red carriages, transformer, connecting cable to the rails, 14 LGB curves and 4 LGB straights.  The loco was missing its funnel, the connecting rods and a small attachment one side of the funnel and the seller pointed out she didn't know if it worked or not.

As it was in Harrogate and I go there four or more times a year and also have friends there (I worked in Harrogate for 27 years), collecting it was not too much of a problem and, if it was, a local courier would probably be cheap to use to collect it and deliver it for me.  So I bid and won if for £42.

I had a word with my former secretary who had a word with her husband, who collected the item for me.  Then I contacted five fomer work colleagues and arranged one of our quarterly pub lunches for yesterday and, after lunch, I called in on my former secretary at work and collected my buy.

First, some photos of the loco starting with a side view (notice the missing connecting rods, they're only cosmetic, but will be replaced):



Then one showing the parts that are missing externally:



Lastly, an interior shot showing the one part missing in the cab:



Some videos will follow.

[playmofire]

As it was a nice sunny afternoon, I decided to have a brief test run today.  (It was also handy that Diane was out at the hairdresser's as she doesn't know about this latest buy!  That was another reason for collecting it.)

I laid out a shortish oval of track (the track is in beautiful condition, bright and shiny, almost as if it had never been used) in the drive so if anything blew up, it did it outside!  I also used an RCD in the garage electrical socket.  The pins on the track connector are a bit loose in the transformer outlet and I think this led to some jerky running, but it was great to see the little loco set off, headlight working, pulling the two red carriages.  These are complete (although one has no weight underneath, but I have a spare) but need a clean and an oil.  One has a broken coupling hook which I may just take off and just leave the loop as I usually have hooks at only on one of rolling stock, except for one piece on each train so the loco can be connected either end.  As you may hear on the first video, one of the carriages needs oiling.



The hook couplings are the early, non-weighted ones and one of them kept allowing a coach to uncouple, so for the next run I used three coaches fitted with the modern, weighted hooks.

So here we are, going foward:



and then in reverse:



So, I think, quite a bargain.  I shall set out its own layout in the garage where it can be run in all weathers.  I especially like the more realistic noise running on metal rails compared with the plastic ones.

Running the loco was the first time I'd looked closely at the lefthand side, and at first I thought it had been sprayed with grey primer.  However, it just turned out to be a thick layer of dust and was easily wiped off to reveal bright and glossy black plastic underneath.

[Red Watch]

A very nice little set you have yourself there and at a great price!  Wise move to run it outside and on an RCD first time too  Looking at the loco without its funnel and blower something in my mind is saying "fireless loco" I get the feeling it wont be long until it looks like it just came out of the box first time though. Well done on a great buy  Have fun ! 

[Rasputin]

very nice little train you picked up at a bargain price. Congrats