[L Lucy]

Hello!

I inherited two very well kept sets of Hornby from my grandfather, through my father, and have, on the first day of the Christmas holidays, brought them out for my two young sons to use.

Now, I didn't expect them to work first time, and I did remember having to use one of the adaptors with two 6 lantern batteries, which we went and bought today from B and Q, so they are brand new.

The sets are: a 1970s 00-gauge Hornby freight set, which had the converter for the batteries and a piece to attach it to the track to conduct electricict; and an R673 Intercity which has an AC converter (no plug) but no electricity convertor piece.

I would love anyone's advice as to where to start as to why both of these have not worked.

I set the tracks up and fitted the sections together as close as possible (so as to get a complete circuit); for both sets, we put the trains together on the tracks properly (I understand they're models, not toys - I had it taught well to me as a child; I can't remember being allowed to touch either set as a child!)
We bought new 6V lantern batteries, and set the copper plate from the freight set up freight line. Thinking that maybe it was the set's age, we then tried the battery set on the intercity one. The connector piece does seem a little old (though not corroded), and we got it to sit under the tracks snugly on both sets.
I've not got as far as buying a plug yet, but I will, and wire it up to the mains adaptor (although there are a few working ones including postage I noticed on Ebay for less than the cost of the plug), but that does seem a bit wasteful. Granddad had it folded up so neatly in its own little bag, too, with an elastic band around it, but I can honestly say that both sets couldn't have been played with since the mid to late 1980s!

So, in summary, what I'd like is anyone's opinions, advice or guidance as to what might be very simple things to try before I start buying new power accessories, and so on. The boys were so good, waiting for me to try everything: clearly hobbyists of the future!

Thank you all in advance,
Lucy

 

[Mr N. Ladd]

I would say to buy a Hornby or a Peco rail cleaning rubber to go over the surface of the rails. While you are likely to take the thin coating layer off the rails if using the rubbers,they will get trains to run OK on them.
The most likely cause to any stored loco and track is a film of dirt (Very fine dust) which can prevent electrical connectivity from reaching the motor.
A similar check is needed with the lamp battery controller as the parts the spring connections touch may need a clean.

 

[L Lucy]

Thank you! I will certainly give that a try tomorrow! They are being so patient.

 

[L Lucy]

Silly question (and it doesn't say so in the instructions of either train set) there wouldn't be on/off switches on the engines at all? I really don't want to be missing anything obvious!

 

[kristopher1805]

There are a l;to of issues with anything this old, one is the rail joiners, have they gone black, if so throw them and replace, Peco ones will fit if you get code 100 Peco ones. Hornby locs are all; 12 volt dc of this vintage and there is also a 16volt AC connection that drives point motors, likely this power unit is a problem, if battery powered then this is a very basic set Use of a track rubber is recommended as above this will scour off the crud on the track surface any electrical contact must be suspect and you also have to ensure the mechanism is free to rotate, the whole thing will need a service unless you are exceptionally lucky.

So good luck and merry Christmas.

 

[L Lucy]

No, the rail joiners are very silver-coloured (in fact some of them we had to add from the still-sealed "Beatties" packet as they weren't on all of them, but even those that were aren't corroded.

Ok, so I'll clean everything with a track rubber; the wheels seem to go round well - the boys have carefully fitted them onto their respective tracks and click their couplings together.

Do you/does anyone know whether there's anything I can check on the engines, too, before I find our nearest model shop? I'll get some new track power connectors first too - thank you, and a Merry Christmas to you too - and everyone who has read my messages - happy hobbying