Class 81 - 85 in OO ??

Adrian

Liliput, Tri-ang and, IIRC, Hornby Dublo all produced an 81 - you should be able to find a Tri-ang one at a reasonable price. As for the other two, there's currently a Liliput one on eBay which has reached £315.99 (!) with 6 days still to go - search for E3001 if you want to see it. As far as I know no manufacturers have made any of classes 82 - 85 r-t-r.

As for kits, DC kits used to do all five varieties as etched sides with cast ends. They're no longer available, probably partly because the aren't really up to the standards of the other items that DC produce these days. However, classes 81 and 85 are listed on their 'developments for 2003 /

2004' page - so I imagine they're working on a one piece resin body like the

2. I think that MTK probably made all five variants as well, but I haven't seen one for some years.

Can't think of anyone else...

Stuart

The Tri-ang model was originally planned as an AL2; I believe a catalogue was issued as such, featuring an artist's impression. Also, I'm sure that at least one pre-production model may have appeared, possibly moulded in clear plastic; perhaps Pat Hammond can shed a some light on this? In the end, following the Tri-ang/Dublo merger, it was decided to produce an AL1 instead, based on an altered version of the existing HD bodyshell moulding.

In the mid-80s, "Practical Model Railways" magazine featured an article on bashing a Hornby AL6 into an AL5, as there are certain similarities (though the AL6 is about a foot longer); the original type of AL6 bogie frame is the same as that used on the AL5, for instance.

David E. Belcher

In article , David E. Belcher writes

David is quite right. Tri-ang were making the AL2 and a pre-production sample was produced which formed the illustration in the catalogue for two years running. This model has survived and is in a private collection (not mine). As David says, Tri-ang inherited the Hornby Dublo AL1 model and modified it before putting it back into production. Besides the large station, this was the only Hornby Dublo model absorbed into the Tri-ang Hornby range and produced at Margate.

Pat

Don't L&J models do each of them in resin?

Regards,

Stuart.

Thanks for confirming my scribblings, Pat. The modifications were, on the whole, for the good (more accurate livery with white window surrounds, proper sized buffers) - pity they ditched the HD power unit in favour of a Tri-ang one (complete with serrated wheels in early production runs!), in spite of the latter having accurate side frames. It has been suggested that the AL2 bogies were perpetuated in the AL1, but the side frames are clearly the AL1 type. Whilst on the subject, re. Dublo models being produced in Kent; is there any substance in the speculation in Michael Foster's HD book that the 9F was actually drawn at Binns Road before becoming a Tri-ang model? I have the 1971 catalogue in which the 9F first appeared; the tender in the photo of the pre-production "Evening Star" featured is certainly a Tri-ang one (ex-Britannia), but the nickel-tyred drivers on the loco are rather Dublo-ish. The loco body itself appears to be a "tweaked" Airfix job - right down to the transfers used!

David E. Belcher

L&J do a one-piece resin body + metal undeframe for the 81. It's a late type with air-bottles at the No2 end and requires bogies, buffers and pantograph to complete.

The body received an unfavourable review in Railway Modeller in November

1999.

(kim)

I've got a Tri-Ang Class 81 up for auction on ebay at the mo. Unboxed and not a runner at present, but should be repairable.

I'm not sure how scarce these are, but a pristine boxed one went for seventy five quid recently. They seem like fairly typical Tri-Ang products of the time - not great on the fine detail, but passable representations of the real thing.

Lee

I think it might be a bit rarer, it was a model introduced by Hornby Dublo just as they went bankrupt. Triang incorporated it into their range when they took over Hornby.

David

Do you know which is the rarest version? There are several variants - one or two pantographs, and several livery variations - electric blue with or without yellow warning panel, and rail blue with small yellow panel or full yellow end. I think there were also 2 running numbers produced, E3001 and E3002.

Lee

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In article , DJO writes

E3002 is the Hornby Dublo one and is the highest priced (£300-£500). The next rarest is the Tri-ang Hornby E3001 with 2 pantographs (£70-£140). The single pantograph models sell for around £50- £100. The model was dropped in 1971.

Pat

Have any 3-rail examples come to light? According to Michael Foster's HD book, the dedicated 3-rail model, numbered E3003, never got past the blueprint stage, but E3002, on the other hand, was apparently available for 3-rail to special order. Possibly the rarest of the bunch?

David E. Belcher

"David E. Belcher" > wrote

I had an E3002 through my hands in the late 1980s which came with a receipt from Meccano for conversion to 3-rail. I reckon that's as close as it got!

John.