Hornby Dublo 3 rail 4MT conversion to 2 rail, More involved then expected.

[@Madonsteamrailways]

For a three rail locomotive, it looks gorgeous!! I hope you get her going properly soon.

[@Madonsteamrailways]

The 4MT Tank Locomotive was always a great favourite of mine!! The same applies to the 4MT Tender Locomotive. They were designed by Sir Robert Riddle, Chief Engineer for British Railways.

[@JerseyBill-x9r]

That was a journey and a half. Your perseverance won out in the end. I may have packed it in after smoking post rewind. Great video, Jersey Bill

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

Many thanks for your kind words, I did nearly walk away just fortune that I saw the one wind in the wrong direction. Anyway all the best Matt

[@gerardburton3741]

Hi, When Hornby Dublo converted their engines to 2 rail they fitted all plastic wheels. That was the work round to stop the wheels possibly shorting. Plus if you check the size of the wheels you have fitted they are slightly bigger than the standard Hornby Dublo wheels. They look a bit like Wrenn wheels. Might I also suggest when you are supergluing wires and any thing that requires a really strong bond you sprinkle a small amount of baking powder on the glue. The chemical reaction between the 2 makes a far stronger bond than superglue on its own. Well done. Another old engine saved from the scrapyard to run again.

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

I will take a look, many thanks for the info and thanks for watching.

[@davidstrains4910]

@@gerardburton3741 Hi Gerard, I have been trying that superglue and baking powder combination on some jobs I have had that involve gluing something and every time for me it just doesn’t seem to work out, I am letting the thing dry and cure but for me is just seems to make the join very brittle and then it just breaks again, it’s quite a good idea and I have seen examples where it works but it seems to be hit and miss and unfortunately for me it seems to a constant miss.

[@gerardburton3741]

Hi David. Not sure why you are having a problem. I have used it numerous times with great effect. I first learnt of it by watching Paul Restorer KZbin channel where he uses it quite often.

[@l1a146]

Bloody good effort. So hats off. If I can give you a small tip. Remag it after the magnet and keepers are back in situ on the chassis. Just leave the bolt out give it a couple of zaps and then slip the bolt and nut back on. If you remag it seperately, you can lose up to 20% of the magnet strength each time you remove the keepers to refit the magnet to the chassis. You might want to unscrew that brass / copper low speed shunt set up off the back of the chassis and leave it off too. When wrenn took over the tooling they completely ommited it. As It was a bit of a pointless gimmick.

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

Many thanks for the tip, I will do both of those - Thanks for watching and taking the time to message!

[@Madonsteamrailways]

Great runner, and I love it to bits!!

[@davidstrains4910]

A good video on this video Dusty Shelf Collectables, I have a couple of these hornby dublo locomotive that have been converted to 2 rail operation, one of those is one of these Standard 4MT tank locomotives, my other one is a Duchess of Atholl which considering the years that that model was manufactured it must be the oldest engine in my whole collection, it’s very interesting how these engines are converted from 3 rail to 2 rail, to start with I have never done one myself but from what I have heard and read online it’s quite a job and not one for the faint hearted, onto the 4mt though as I say I do have one that has been converted to 2 rail, overall mine is pretty good, I got mine for just under £50, it runs quite well, the body shell however on mine has quite a lot of paint chips in it though but I don’t think I’m going to look at repainting mine though, mine does have the original Dublo couplings on it though and for rolling stock I have a pair of suburban coaches for it to haul, great to see that you got yours working by doing a complete rewind of the armature, I haven’t tried this on any locos before, great work overall, keep up the good work.

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

Hi David, many thanks for the kind words, I like to keep the older locos in their 'played with' condition I love the chips on the bodywork just shows their history and I love the sound they make on the layout. I may have to try a full conversion myself at some point, anyway many thanks again for watching and taking the time to message.

[@davidhope7206]

Great video 😊 fine work 👍

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

Thansk for watching and your kind words.

[@malcolmpayne754]

Wow Matt! You have done well there and to rewind the armature takes real skill. I have N gauge so I would not have any chance doing anything that. I take my hat off to you! Cheers for now Malcolm

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

Hi Malcom, Many thanks for the kind words, and no I wouldn't be able to attempt N gauge rewind either, took me a couple of hours when I could just about see it. All the best Matt

[@Madonsteamrailways]

Great video, my dear chap!! Thank you.

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

Very kind, thanks very much. you may have noticed I was a bit flu like on the video, hence why I didn't make the model extravaganza, you kindly told me about. Was feeling rough so spent the afternoon at the bench also dint want to spread the cold around!

[@monsvillerailways5736]

Good work Matt. I still haven't gotten around to servicing my one yet. Good buy. Happy Modelling

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

Thanks Mon enjoy your service, great locos to work on arn't they!

[@jocksavard41241]

to me, this loco looks like a wrenn loco. the buffers and couplings give it away. the pickups might have failed on it in the past, thus why the owner fit those wire pickups to it. i might be wrong. just wanted to put that put there! cheers.

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

You could very well be right, there is no markings and Dublo and wren were very much the same, same tools sometimes so I believe, any way many thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts.

[@forrestrobin2712]

Well done ! I haven’t tried this yet, but I’d like to know how the wired are soldered onto the three segments of the commutator, I couldn’t see how you did it in the video. I treated myself to Ronald Dodd’s wonderful machine for my 60th, so magnets are no longer an issue, so this will be my next challenge. Could you please remind me of the type of wire you use for the windings?

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

basically I started on one commutator segment and soldered the wire carefully keeping the solder away from where the brushes run then wound 110 winds (I took a guess but best to count if you can remove the old wire cleanly) then took the wire to the next segment and soldered but with out cutting so the wire then continued back down into the next wind then wind again (in the same direction same number of turns) and then repeat for the final wind, then I took the wire back up to the first solder point. I have no ideal if this is correct or there is a better way so probably best to go in search of a video made by someone who does know what the are doing. I used 0.15mm copper wire. Matt

[@forrestrobin2712]

@@dustyshelfcollectables thanks Matt, it works so it must be right 😂 Rob

[@forrestrobin2712]

@@dustyshelfcollectables How controllable is it at slow speeds? Do you think it would need more or less windings for slower speed running? I’m going to order up some winding wire and give this a go. I have a couple of dead Dublo armatures - killed off I suspect by my experiments with neodymium magnets - I ´ve done a few exchanges via eBay but postage to and from France is ridiculously expensive, so it would be worthwhile learning how to do it myself now. I just need to find the equivalent SWG value to 0.15mm. Found it 38SWG

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

@@forrestrobin2712 Its not to bad at slow speed, I am not sure about the best winding, to be honest I did my best to match the original bind size but counted so I could match the three winds. I have just posted else where my wire cam from The Scientific Wire Company.

[@colinsuffolk9161]

I am good evening, the wire you are using can you let me know where you purchased that from I have a lot of Hornby Dublo three rail locomotives it would be handy to have a role of that I also have the Ronald Dodds magnetiser + Spares,parts + springs + bushes + spare armatures it would be certainly be handy for all of that wire for my Spare kit. Many thanks Colin by the way great video.

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

Hi Colin, I not going to be much help initially here I'm afraid, I've had it an awful long time and I believe it came form my grandfathers work bench which is no help at all. However What I can tell you its 0.15mm solderable wire and the brand is the Scientific Wire Company. so I put that into google and they are local to me, so I feel a visit and video possibility for the channel - thanks you! I hope that may help, Thanks for watching, Matt

[@colinsuffolk9161]

@@dustyshelfcollectables Hi Matt thanks for getting back to me I will go on to Google to find that company Cheers mate, Colin

[@mickjones1941]

done mine but the magnets are weak on my motor, no power ,will run but wont pull much

[@dustyshelfcollectables]

Have a look in Ronald Dodd's videos and machine, I am sure someone will zap you magnets for you . Replacements are available I believe. Anyway many thanks for watching and the message.

[@RobertGreen-c9r]

Hi Matt another good video I have admu? With no motor Lima would a another manufacturer have the same thing ot same Rob Green thanks keep them coming