Warships

Spongebob

I have exactly the same predicament.

In my case it's 827 Kelly in BR Blue.

Last year, after it had sat in a box unused for years, it tried running it ontrack, and found it to run with a regular thumping sound.

When I looked, I found that one of the main gears had a tooth missing. When I tried to fix this, I ended up busting the motor, (knocked a brush spring out, and lost it together with the brush). Now the Loco. is US, yet it looks loke brand new.

I did consider getting one form Ebay, but TBH, I think there all tarred with same brush.

So like you, I was going to try getting a secondhand Bachmann Warship. But as you correctly say, it would have to be one of the same livery.

IIRC,the body fixing screw holes are in different positions,and,of course the drive system is totally different-and at the end of the day,-Why bother?,-just buy a Bachmann one and run that,its running qualities are far superior .
The Mainline ones in this state are really beyond economic repair,the best option is to remove the motor and have them as dead locos on shed,or in a scrap siding...
It's a common fault with them and I wouldn't pay very much for a secondhand because of this...

Bachmann have not produced the liveries that Mainline have produced so if a specific Warship from the Mainline range is required then to buy a Bachmann one may not be the answer.

If you are happy to rename and renumber then a Bachmann one may be a good idea but this all adds to cost and time and will your own renaming and renumbering job be a good one?

Pick up a cheap Mainline one on Ebay that is claimed to be a runner and use that for spares. You might get one for £15-£20 if its rough and unboxed.

And then you can resell it as a non runner and get maybe £10-£15 for it.

Net cost £5!

Happy modelling
Gary

QUOTE (DS239 @ 26 Mar 2006, 18:00)The Mainline ones in this state are really beyond economic repair,the best option is to remove the motor and have them as dead locos on shed,or in a scrap siding...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree DS239. That's exactly what I've did with mine. It's sitting in a siding at the M.P.D. looking rather like poor old "GLORY" outside Swindon Works. Looking splendid but going nowhere.

QUOTE (spongebob @ 28 Mar 2006, 03:52) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thanks for all the tips and opinions on this one. Might just have to bite the bullet and sell it for spares. Its a pity bachmann never (just for a change!!) fitted illuminated headcodes to their version. That would've made yet another very good loco even better. But Bachmann being Bachmann they'd rather whack a dirty great sound unit in them instead of lights. The mind does truly boggle.

I've noticed on a couple of other posts on this forum that people keep referring to lights on BR diesels. Now forgive me if I'm wrong but I thought BR diesels didn't have lights except for class lights and number boards and these you could barely see even at night. Are we talking headlights as in US and Aussie diesels? or is it something else like those high intesity lights I've seen on modern diesles like the 66class.

Ozzie21

QUOTE (Specialsteel @ 26 Apr 2006, 22:37) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I have bought replacement machined brass gears for the Mainline Warship from Gear Services of Letchworth They work very well.
www.ultrascale.co.uk
[email protected]

Can I ask how much they cost,-and how long you had to wait for them

QUOTE (Ozzie21 @ 27 Apr 2006, 02:32) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I've noticed on a couple of other posts on this forum that people keep referring to lights on BR diesels. Now forgive me if I'm wrong but I thought BR diesels didn't have lights except for class lights and number boards and these you could barely see even at night. Are we talking headlights as in US and Aussie diesels? or is it something else like those high intesity lights I've seen on modern diesles like the 66class.

Ozzie21
Any form of lighting however rudimentary has to be better and more realistic than none. my newly acquired class 50 is a model from before the class were refurbished so has no high intensity headlight fitted but has a 2 dot headcode box and red taillights. I'm surprised no one has illuminated the cabs yet apart from accidentally of course.

QUOTE (John Webb @ 28 Apr 2006, 09:49) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Interesting comment that on cab lights. Would there have been general lighting on in a cab in the night-time? Or would they have relied on lit instruments and perhaps a small desk light for reading schedules to avoid blinding the driver to signal lights outside the cab? Any former drivers out there who can tell us?

Regards,
John Webb

Cab lights esp. Locos. and DMUs etc were operated by means of 1 of 2 Cab Light switches.

Generally speaking, whilst driving during the hours of darkness, the Cab Lights would be OFF, more or less for the reasons you have given. ie. you couldn't see a bl**dy thing outside the Cab, with the Cab Lights on.

The only times I would have the Cab Lights on was when someone was climbing in and out of the Cab, or when I was making a brew whilst stuck in a loop or a yard!

Yes you are right, the Driver's Desk Lights were illuminated, by means of an On/Off switch on the Driver's Desk. Some Locos had Dimmers too. This was generally ample enough for reading the instruments at night, in most cases.

Exceptions to this in my experience were Class 26s/27s and Class 84s for some reason. In the event that you couldn't see the gauges, you used your Bardic Lamp (White Aspect) and placed it on the Desk pointing at an angle towards the gauges, but this was a nuisance, because it was difficult to get the Bardic to stay in the right spot for any length of time, because of the vibration! In addition the noise was a real pain esp. on a 25 or a 47 which had metal Desks, as opposed to fibre glass.

I think generally speaking, the stuff from the mid-1980s onwards was better. eg. Class 150s onwards.