[Gary]

The Trabant was a classic car made in Eastern Europe that had a certain reputation but it was cheap!

What is/was "the Trabant" of the model railway world?

Discuss!

There are those who say the Hornby Dublo Co-Bo Diesel had Trabant like qualities and a short life as a result. Even now 45 years on and even allowing for its limited production it is one of the least desirable Hornby Dublo models to own as a collector.

Now that I have now given it street cred its collector value will now skyrocket!

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[John Webb]

Was the Hornby Dublo Co-Bo just following the 1:1 version? I seem to remember that they quickly gained a rotten reputation and were withdrawn quite quickly. My 'Ian Allan' for 1962 says they were introduced in 1958 and lists only 20 in the class.

The lack of success of the original means they were not very well known and this may have influenced peoples' perception of the model?

Regards,
John Webb

 

[neil_s_wood]

In terms of comparison to a Trabant I would say Lima probably make the worst product I have ever bought. Some of them look ok on the outside but in terms of running quality, they are the worst. In fact at a recent model rail show here in Melbourne one guy had a stall and his main product was replacement motors for Lima trains.

 

[Ben Manicom]

I have a Lima Railcar which has yet to fail me it still works even though it recieves a lot of running it is nign indestructible and just keeps goings so not all Lima mechs are bad if fact it id better than some Bachmann ones
As for the Trabant of the Model Railway World I would agree with the Metro Vickers Bo-Co

 

[Gary]

I have been searching for a decent image of the Hornby Dublo Bo-Co or Co-Bo and its so aweful that there are no Hornby Dublo collectors prepared to own up and admit they own one!

(Unlike Triang Hornby Blue Pullman owners of course!

)

Is there a model loco with Trabant qualities that can beat that!

Sorry if we are into Top Gear Jeremy Clarkson mode however which loco should all modellers/collectors avoid at all costs?

Now there are rumours that Triang once did a garden railway system and created a loco you could sit in and drive...

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[Gary]

Tell a lie! Found this at the last minute...

Is anybody going to dare to convert there precious Hornby Dublo example?

Apparently the Rev Awdry was a fan and our favourite tank engine had a companion with a big cheesy grin!

Visit http://www.geocities.com/martinclutt/awdry/boco.htm for more information.

Why have I given this site publicity? Everybody will want one now!

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[John Webb]

QUOTE (Gary @ 16 May 2006, 17:03) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Now there are rumours that Triang once did a garden railway system and created a loco you could sit in and drive...

It's not rumour - I've got a leaflet somehere describing this system. Pat Hammond in 'Triang-Hornby - the story of Rovex Volume 2 1965-71' goes into more detail. Called the 'Triang Minic Narow-gauge Railway' (TMNR), it was produced from 1963 onwards to a gauge of 10.25 inches. (9.5inch versions were available.)
The loco was based on the SR E5000 series (Class 71) and could seat 1 adult or two children. 40volts were supplied through the track and locos could be fitted with one or two motors. The track was galvanised steel on hardwood sleepers and curves and points were either 18ft or 12ft radius
The passenger coaches were based either on a pullman coach or an open 'toast-rack' style.
Some 25 out of 85 locos are thought to have survived.

By the way, one Co-Bo still exists (D5705), on the East Lancs railway.

Regards,
John Webb

 

[Gary]

Well, based on John's info and a bit of further research here is the "Golden Arrow"!

Bulleid fans look away now.....

More info at:-

http://www.tri-ang.freeserve.co.uk/tmnr.html

Have any of you ever been on one?

Really we are looking for somebody who has experiance of both riding in a Trabant and on one of these.

Only then can we reveal if this loco should go in the Trabant hall of fame!

Happy modelling
Gary

PS John, if you have got the leaflet it is worth a small fortune. Anything like that is to collectors. Why don't you scan it and publish it here. And pass the info onto the Tri-ang site mentioned above. They will be very happy indeed!

 

[Bilbo]

I'd like to nominate any of the original Graham Farish N scale 0-6-0 tank locos with those awful plastic worms and gears that always seemed either to split or rotate on the shaft. The bodies were pretty awful too.

 

[neil_s_wood]

Oh, I have just remembered Austrains. The Lima of the southern hemisphere. I had forgotten about this one as I chucked it in a storage box three years ago and forgot about it. Externally its not too bad but the arms which connect the motor to the drive wheels keep falling out of their sockets. It also makes a rasping sound as it chugs along. When I looked at the guarantee it had all sorts of get out clauses and basically said you had to register it within a week of purchase or too bad. It also said you were unlikely to need this as their trains were so great. I seen their stall at a recent model rail exhibition and was seriously thinking about going home to collect this train and coming back with it to ram it

.

Not impressed.

 

[Rail-Rider]

Unfortunately, trying to compare mass produced cars with locomotives falls apart with regard to cost, production time scales, numbers produced and even desirability!

To inject a sense of realism . . .

Trabants were built over a period stretching from 1957 to 1991.
That's 34 years - hardly short lived!

More than three million of them were produced.
Not too many cars can equal those production numbers and certainly no locomotive can be remotely compared.

Despite being outclassed by the higher quality (and price) of western cars, Trabants were very highly sought after in their natural home market and there were long waiting lists to be faced by eager customers - extremes as long as 14 years have been quoted.
They remain very collectable today and enjoy genuine cult status

QUOTE After the car first motored into the western consciousness following the fall of the (Berlin) wall, many treated it as a joke, although the car soon developed a certain cult status.

Irish rock band U2 helped in all this, using the car in videos during the band's Zoo TV tour in the 90s. Bono and co even took to the stage with used Trabants hanging above them, the headlights shining down onto the band.

Many of the Trabants on the road in Eastern Europe today have been converted into open-top sports cars or vans.
Quoted Source: Unique Cars and Parts

 

[bangerblueed]

If you are looking for something produced over a long period of time what about the Hornby hymek which is an average model but has been in production since the early to middle 70's perhaps that is the trabant of oo guage model railways

 

[spongebob]

You could even argue that the original tri-ang motor sounded like a trabby as well. Not sure it has the same tree killing qualities but you never know. How about the oddball lima shunter they did in the early sets?

 

[Pennine MC]

I think Rail Rider makes a very good point - a true Trabant analogy would be with a model that was unspectacular but adequate in its day; and long lived, initially because there was little else in the field, and latterly because of a cult following or because people just didnt know any better

So Ed's suggestion takes this the right way, but it's gonna take some argument to convince me the 37 isnt a better contender - it came out before the Hymek, but after the 31 (which isnt in the running cos its no longer in the range) and it just keeps on selling (298 will be along shortly

)

Footnote on the MetroVick - when H/D chose it, it would have been a high-profile type, often being seen in BR's Modernisation Plan 'shop window' so to speak, such as its frequent use on the Condor overnight fast freight

 

[JohnR]

How about the Triang Jinty? Although it had an upgrade in the 70;s, it was still pretty basic, and seemed to get repainted and used for all sorts of things!

 

[DS239]

QUOTE (JohnR @ 8 Sep 2006, 23:02) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>How about the Triang Jinty? Although it had an upgrade in the 70;s, it was still pretty basic, and seemed to get repainted and used for all sorts of things!

To be accurate,... the Tri-ang era Jinty died in 1974 [IIRC],..the Jinty that re-appeared in the late '70's [1978 IIRC] was a totally new model,-not an 'upgrade'-get your facts right!,-and shared only a very limited amount of parts with the original model,[coupling rods and a few screws],and although slightly basic by todays standards was still not a bad rendition.....

 

[Ravenser]

Nah: There's an obvious equivalent

Triang dock shunter.

Cheap, nearly indestructable, knocked out in the tens of thousands over decades, knurled wheels and no known relationship to a prototype.

 

[111]

Got to be the early Graham Farish locos with plastic frames, a whining can motor and clip on coupling rods which fell off every third sleeper!

I've still got two of the Blue Great Eastern Buckjumpers, which I found very cheap, unused and in their original boxes, on a stall in a street market in The Cut below Waterloo Station, almost opposite the Ian Allen Bookshop. I've been meaning to make a decent chassis for them for some time. A fellow modeller in New Zealand sent me some extra driving wheels so I could dispense with the centre uncoupled ones and do a proper job on them

If you should read this Gerry, thanks again - but if you've seen some of my other posts on here and RMWeb you'll understand that illness has got in the way of serious modelling.

 

[7113]

QUOTE (Gary @ 16 May 2006, 19:19) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Well, based on John's info and a bit of further research here is the "Golden Arrow"!
Bulleid fans look away now.....

Have any of you ever been on one?

Really we are looking for somebody who has experiance of both riding in a Trabant and on one of these.

Only then can we reveal if this loco should go in the Trabant hall of fame!

Happy modelling
Gary

I must have missed this at the time but if memory serves this machine, or one very similar used to ply for trade along the iron jetty at margate until 1966 (when the jetty caught fire) and yes as a child I travelled behind it.

Regards

John

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 25 Jan 2007, 16:39) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>the iron jetty at margate until 1966

At least you got the correct name for the long gone structure !