Bored today, laid up with shingles so not doing much. Decided to finally have a look at the Every Ready tube train I acquired about 5 years ago just out of curiosity and see if would actually run. The power bogie seems to have held together and not disintegrated through metal fatigue which was a common problem with them. Motor initially wouldn't run, the power bogie was easily removed with a small spanner supplied with the set and a drop of oil put on the bearings. I was half expecting the 55 + year old magnet to have got too weak but a few finger spins with 3 volts applied soon had it running nicely with no sign or smell of electric smoke. I don't think it has actually run much even the Ever Ready label remaining on the motor. Reassembled and the crude 4 ft diameter circle of 3 rail tinplate track laid. Surprisingly power reached all sections despite the crude joining pins possibly haven't been connected since the fifties. Took a while for the train to run smoothly despite power reaching it. It's only two wheel drive and very light and it seemed friction from a light coating of rust on the rails was enough to hold it back . A bit of a clean and a rub of a soft pencil along the third rail made all the difference. It's now whizzing around the track sparking like the real thing on a frosty night destroying all MW wireless around the house for that authentic 1950's effect. It was designed for 6 Volts originally from a battery that slotted into the controller but applying 6 Volts makes it run demented and disappear under the sofa so 4 Volts is enough. Remembering how batteries of that era run down that is probably deliberate. Tomorrow I'll solder some wires to the controller. The missus is working away tonight so I won't have to pick it up off the carpet before bedtime.
G.Harman