OT: Can Anyone in the UK Recommend A Coupler Replacement for a Great Western 0-6-0 by Hornby?

Mad Modeller wrote the following:

You didn't mention what gauge. Does this site help?

Some guesswork needed here, but I'm sure there'll be a real railfan along in a minute to give a better answer.

You speak of "Great Western" " 0-6-0" and "tender". In Hornby terms this means (to me at least) just one engine - the "Dean Goods", in the current Hornby catalog as R.2064

The loco doesn't seem to be in the current catalog, the hornby collectors site has a picture though: is this what you have?

Spec sheet here

This is a tender-drive loco with the "ringfield" motor. The couplings have the code X8302, and are usually described as the Tri-ang tension-lock coupling.

I suspect you want the medium-width coupling from this sheet

Yes, Hornby can supply you with the spare :) You can email them or call them and ask for clarification.

As an ancient of days I associate Hornby with the pre-merger days and the Hornby coupling was very different, like this

I have several and you will probably have to go on a website (there are a bunch of UK ones to include Hornby itself) and see what a replacement runs.

Personally I like the Bachmann ones better as they use a fitting called an NEM pocket which permits fast replacement with any sort of coupler you want - I use either Kadee or other similar US types which pop into the pocket in a matter of seconds. But Hornby is old fashioned and you will have to order them.

I don't keep mine or could send you one.

Cookie Sewell

On 2/7/2011 9:41 AM, willshak wrote:> Mad Modeller wrote the following:

father lent it to somebody for a display

It might. I wish I could see what the listed items look like. I hate to order blind. The engine in question is OO.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

I should have said 0-6-0T. I didn't think of that until I was in bed last night. The 'tender', in this case, is a box at the rear of the engine which has a rectangular tank surrounding the boiler. The engine carries the road number of 2744. Interestingly enough, I don't see any sign of the steam chest and associated piston rods.

We picked up a car off ebay that has one of those at one end and the hoop-and-hook at the other. Thanks Alan.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Thanks Cookie.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

2744 nails it - the Great Western pannier tank. The coal compartment is usually called a bunker - a tender, in British parlance at least, is a separate truck with coal and water spaces.

Catalog number R.059

Service sheets

?sheetid=90 The couplings are partly moulded onto the chassis, which I wasn't expecting. The hooks are listed separately, part S3192

The original locomotives had inside cylinders underneath the smokebox. Plenty of detail in the website below for a similar locomotive

That's the converter truck from the first days after Tri-ang had taken over Hornby. The idea was to allow both types to run together.

Thanks Alan! That's the little charmer. Now I know where to and what to order and the sheets give me the info I need to repair it without causing more damage. Good ol' rms!

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.