Clockwork 'O' Gauge?

That really looks the part. If you make it faux electric, will you use 50 volts as suggested in a 1940s Model Railway News?

Ray
 
Ray, - I imagine you know about the early 'O' gauge tinplate electric train sets made circa the late 1920's that ran directly on mains voltage without a transformer. Needless to say they weren't available for very long due to customer complaints and surviving examples are much sought after by collectors. I have no idea how many 'surviving examples' there were of customers who purchased them though.
Perhaps what I need is a power station building somewhere on 'Lynborough' with a warning sign on the wall that says, 'Danger 50 Volts' just to give a nod towards that old 1940's copy of RM.

Edit: It would be nice if I could devise a skate type 3 rail current pickup under the engine complete with spark effects.
 
Last edited:
I imagine you know about the early 'O' gauge tinplate electric train sets made circa the late 1920's that ran directly on mains voltage without a transformer.

Oh, yes, a friend of the family (a Methodist minister) had a large collection just like that which he set up in one of the rooms of his manse.

I experiemced 110 volts one summer, must have been about 1950, when as a student needing cash I worked on a seaside fairground ride where the cars picked up from alternate positive and negative metal strips. The circuit breaker, which I had to reset frequently, incorporated a huge blue lamp, I believe using mercury.

Danger 50 Volts

There used to be a notice here in the UK at exhibitions saying "Danger. 12,000 millivolts" to deter fingerpokers. Maybe in New Zealand too?

Ray
 
Last edited:
Yes I've seen those notices at exhibitions here in NZ too. With the old mains voltage trains fingerpokers would soon get a surprise, but I would imagine the local ambulance service would start getting annoyed about it very quickly. Not that such things would be allowed anymore in an exhibition these days due to health and safety regulations.

The transport museum here in Auckland had one of those mercury rectifiers in a huge glass case so that visitors could see it working. Their one was quite sizeable and it was used to provide electricity to the museum's trams.
 
Last edited:
It still amazes me how many invisible tracks are available on the DLS :hehe: looking good on the track front and the engines.
 
Yes there's certainly a bewildering number of them Jimmy. I stick to using the one or two that I like and don't bother about the rest.

Returning to the idea of building faux electric locos this is what I need.......

Vzhm9mL.jpg


I would dearly love it if a clever content creator could make one for me. And don't tell me to go learn how to use Blender and do it myself because with this illness I have I can't. Doing the texture work I do is enough of a struggle for me some days.
 
I still have hopes of being able to reproduce this kind of thing. A live steam Gauge 1 LMS Compound with tinplate coaches of various vintages.

[video=youtube;6MuLrYIlMOc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=136&v=6MuLrYIlMOc&feature=emb_ logo[/video]
 
That is a great idea for a back-yard garden model railroad! Curious about the inside track though, four rails?
 
That is a great idea for a back-yard garden model railroad! Curious about the inside track though, four rails?

Most probably it's a line set up for multiple gauges. Usually there's 'O' gauge and Gauge 1 combined together on outdoor layouts, but I'm not sure what the other combinations might be with that particular setup.
 
Ha! Those trackplans are great! Hope there is no copywrite, because I grabbed a copy! Can't wait to start playing with Rugton. Unfortunately I am leaving on a weeklong trip tomorrow morning so won't get much chance until after. Thanks Ann!
 
Now this has possibilities........ [FONT=&quot] 26ft x 11ft was the size of this layout and it was built for clockwork operation.[/FONT]

AXWMV5R.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hi,
Looks great - let us know if you release a route!

Quick question - how do you stop a clockwork loco? My memory is of the loco hurtling down the track, derailing at the curves, until the spring ran down!
Some of my school friends had the "posh" version with a speed control (a friction brake on the clockwork), but mine needed the metal ties between the track segments to stop them flying apat...

All the best,

Colin
 
Colin, - my Hornby 0 gauge engines have a brake lever with an extension underneath that engages with a sliding bar on a special piece of track which works well, though it's a bit sudden. More skilled clockwork enthusiasts learn how many winds of the key are needed so that a train stops exactly at a station platform, but I haven't mastered that yet.

I used to own a copy of this book that had instructions for all kinds of useful gadgets that could be used to stop clockwork trains. Unfortunately I no longer have it :(

nretpUs.jpg


Presently thinking about the possibilities of that 1925 plan. No promises as to when it will get done though.

3LxQeo6.jpg
 
Last edited:
A very typical layout of the period - and other memories of the past with Ernest F Carter and Percival Marshall - and a book for three shillings!

My clockwork loco had to be stopped by hand and the brake applied. (I never gor beyond one - wartime.)

Ray
 
I look forward to see what you decide to do Annie, I am a big fan of your clockwork theme.

I was a bit naughty as a young lad, I would make a Hornby tinplate track from the top of the stairs to the bottom and let the older wagons roll down the 'hill' :hehe:
They were very robust those little tinplate wagons!
Not with an engine though, they were coveted!
 
Last edited:
Thanks Ray and thanks Graham. The first 1925 volume of Model Railway News, - 12 issues, - was re-published as a book a few years ago and I've been able to track down a copy. I have been told it contains a good few articles about clockwork railways so I will be looking forward to seeing what delights it contains. I have also been able to find a copy of E.F. Carter's 'Electric Control of Clockwork Railways' as well which was a bit of luck since it's quite a rare book these days. This time I'm going to make sure I don't lose it.

I want to make some 'tinplate' O gauge wagons along with some more coaches. Unfortunately I don't have permission to use the meshes for the 6 wheel coaches in the screenshot above so I can't upload those ones to the DLS, but there are other options I can try.
 
Thanks to all for the control methods. Obviously, I had the budget version - (maybe not even a Hornby) so only a wind-up version...

Looking forward to and releases!

Colin
 
Back
Top