I have recently come by a Hornby carriage, blue and grey, similar to the 125 Intercity ones but not actually marked Intercity. It has lights fitted to it (looks original) with the wiring connected to the two hollow rivets that hold the bogies on. There is no connection from these rivets to the wheels or other sort of pick-up. How should it be done?
TIA, Gordon
This sounds like one of the original Hornby Mark 2 coaches.The wheel-sets consisted of one plastic wheel and one metal one on a common axle. On the underside of the bogie, a flexible metal strip (phosphor bronze?) made contact with either the axle or the back of the metal wheel. This was connected via wires to the rivet, IIRC. One bogie collected power from one rail, the other bogie acting as a return to the other. The metal wheels were cheaply-made pressings which pitted and corroded easily- were you to try and get the lights to work, it might be an idea to use some of the more recent turned metal wheels along with p/b strip. Brian
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