Unlikely, as the Mainline product has no connection to Hornby. What's the trouble? Is it the usual thing of the Mainline gears splitting,
shedding teeth or slipping on the axle? I believe there were replacement gears available, try Peter's Spares.

https://www.petersspares.com/

 

Hi there,

Thanks for your response.

They "look" the same as the ones on the Mainline 42 and I was forever hopeful that somebody might have tried them to say if they were a replacement or not.

Yes the cog does slip on the axle so I can only assume that there is a split but my old eyes cannot see that well. I did try super glue on either side of the cogs but that didn't work. (The only thing I can get super glue to stick is my fingers).

Ultrascale do a brass replacement but for two it costs nearly £20 including postage of £6 plus. (For two small cogs???) I am hoping that there might be a cheaper replacement.

(I cannot find anything on the Pete's Spares site).

Regards

Old Codger

 

The answer is almost certainly definitely not. As alternative why not put the cost of the gears towards the cost of a new one, that Mainline model must be at least 34 years old and how much life is left in motor? You can pick up the Hornby ex Lima one for £38.50 from Hattons (inc P&P) https://www.hattons.co.uk/164390/Hornby_R34...tockDetail.aspx although if you want a well detailed state of the art model you are typically looking at around £128 for a Bachmann one.

 

To butler-henderson

Hi there. Thank you for your response. I understand what you are saying and it is probably the most sensible action to take. However, I’ll explain my reasoning, for not taking that road, which most people will probably find insane.

I am of an age whereby, when I was a young boy, the era I lived in was one of make do and mend, as most consumer goods were in short supply and costly to get hold of. Consequently, the “mindset” drilled into me was if it was fixable then fix it or get it fixed.

Subsequently, peoples’ belongings, even clothes, lasted for as long as possible. If any of my toys broke they were still played with as a new one was not forthcoming. In the middle to late 1950’s I looked with envy in toy shop windows at the Hornby and Triang range of electric trains knowing that my family would never to able to afford to get me any.

Over the years, therefore, this “mindset”, so well engrained, has stuck with me and I find it difficult to get rid of an item that still works unless it is completely destroyed. I know that for decades now we live in a throw-away society and if something new becomes available then the old is discarded, irrespective of its functionality. This behaviour is obviously encouraged by Manufacturers, through advertising, and this can be understood because if you don’t keep your Sales going and increase your profits then your Company will no longer exist. But it must impact on the limited resources this world holds (No, I’m not a Greenie). It also horrifies me that it can be cheaper to buy a new item than get one repaired. (I have in a draw 3 or 4 good mechanical watches which have stopped working but are just probably in need of a good internal clean and oiling. The prices quoted to do this are nearly double the price of a new one. Crazy!).

So when I retired, on a reasonable pension, I started collecting all those trains that I could not have as a child. All of them obtained from EBAY with prices that were now “reasonable”! It is a credit to the Hornby Dublo and Triang Hornby manufacturing that these “toys”, now well over 50 and 60 years old, are still in existence and capable of running. The amount of moulding detail, by today’s standards, may be poor but they still look good running around a track. Thus if I have something, like this Mainline Class 42, that fails I feel uncomfortable to throw it away. In this case the body is fine so why dispose of it. (Judging by the number of Class 42 bodies on offer on EBAY others must have the same problem).

With regard to the motor, well I have sent it off to get it, hopefully, rewound and re-magnetised. So if I go the full hog and get the brass cogs the money spent in getting it back together again will way outweigh its value. Totally illogical isn’t it? But I will have the pleasure of seeing it run again.

However, after all it is a hobby. Lots of people have hobbies that they throw money at that appears to be a “waste”, but if it makes them happy that’s fine. Again, judging by the amount of spares offered on the Internet, and the people who make a business out of supplying them, there must be others like me who like repairing them. So I can’t be the only nutcase in the Forum can I? Can I???

It was nice to get this off my chest.

Regards

Old Codger

 

I rather feel many or even most railway modellers are attuned to this. (I certainly am, my Pa's experience of living in the occupied
Netherlands drove make do and mend into my character. So far this year my significant repairs have been a circa 40 y.o. Russell
Hobbs forgettle, same make 20 y.o toaster, central heating powered valve of unknown age, and my wife's SAD repelling 'lumi' alarm
clock. The last was really satisfying as the component it required was a new capacitor, and I had just the item, some time previously
removed from a Bachmann J11 tender.)

One of the things drummed into me was to look for DIY serviceable design. In model mechanisms I way prefer regular steel axled
wheelsets. There's kit bits to repair with, and if necessary the whole motor and gear train can be replaced too if it's the regular
longitudinal shaft and worm and pinion arrangement.

 

You are right. There is a strange satisfaction in taking am old mechanism and bringing it back to life. I refurbish old paraffin lamps. When finished I often wonder who bought this new 100 years ago.
I will go to the psychologist tomorrow for some more pink pills

 

Good gracious me! I get the enthusiasm for parrafin lamps ..... given your affliction, you might switch from "Aladdin pink" to "Esso Blue ". It could be a life changing moment.........

Kind regards and sympathy...

Julian

 

Sorry a bit late to this - the hornby warship was derived from the lima original - so a different motor design to the mainline - good luck...!

I too have spent much time bodging and refurbishing at some considerable outlay with the fun outweighing the value enormously.

 

Well it looks like my Class 42 will be running just as well as Northern Rail at the week-ends.

I learnt from my rewinder that he is unable to do the job because of the size of the armature. His machine will not take wire as fine as that used by Mainline.

My only hope is spurred on by the fact that some people have found that "canned" motors taken from old computer CD/DVD players can be fitted into some Hornby and Lima locos to replace the original armature. The limitation on this is the fact that using DC at 12 volts can destroy the motor and they should only be used with DCC with the voltage set at 5V. ( I'm wondering what would happen if you put a resistor in series with it to reduce the voltage. Don't know what value resistor you would need).

Anyway, I have one such drive lanquishing in my computer that has not worked for ages so I think I might do some butchery over the week end to find out what they are like.

However, it sets my mind athinking if it is possible to obtain this type of motor with a 12v rating. There used to be replacement motor information bandeed/ banded (?) about a few years ago but I cannot remember the name of them. What I need to fit into the Mainline motor housing is one measuring 18mm in diameter and 6mm deep with the drive shaft sticking out both ends.

Has anybody come across a supplier of these things please?

Regards

Old Codger