Tri-ang Hornby R.357 Class 31 A1A A1A Diesel Electric Locomotive with Mixed Goods Wagons

[@asmith2021]

I still have the original Freightmaster set from mid 60s you mentioned with all the original wagons. It still works too. Great to see.

[@oscarpaisley]

Hi that's a terrific set with a lovely picture on the box, great to hear you have it in working order. Thanks. Oscar

[@AllensTrains]

Cool Tri-ang collection. I would have loved to have had that little lot when I was a boy in the 1960's!

[@trainsontuesday]

So much like the one I recently acquired but yours seems to run better than mine. Thank you for the link to Elaine's Trains, I shall be spending quite a lot of time looking through their web site. Cheers, David.

[@oscarpaisley]

Good afternoon David, she's a little noisy getting underway. But then becomes very smooth with a lot of pulling power. Elaine's site is excellent. You should also have a look at Dave Angell's terrific site daveangell.co.uk and Tri-angman tri-angman.co.uk/shop/ these two are also terrific and all three will ship overseas. Oscar Paisley

[@russellbenton2987]

The green one in a Freightmaster set was my first trainset back in 1965. Love it

[@oscarpaisley]

What a terrific set to have as a first train set. There must have been great excitement taking the lid off the box. Oscar

[@paulhemmings3599]

Great loco, always one of my favorites, both back when I was a kid growing up and now i'm thinking about retirement. Got twelve so far and I just need 2 more. Another excellent vid thanks for sharing.

[@oscarpaisley]

Thanks for sharing that Paul and taking the time to watch. Oscar

[@NorbertRoll]

Absolutely wonderful again.

[@oscarpaisley]

Thanks again Norbert. Oscar

[@mytinplaterailway]

I worked in a plastic moulding factory in my school holidays, and that number '1' will denote which one of the tool sections it came form. It must mean some of the models have a '2' and maybe other numbers - they were making more than one of the roofing panels at a time. The number would tell them which injector might be blocked if there was a problem.

[@oscarpaisley]

Good evening Ian thanks for watching and for the terrific information. It makes a great deal since to have that traceability. Oscar

[@leey7h]

Thanks for another video. No matter how much refurbishment I give my cl 31s they are so noisy.

[@oscarpaisley]

I think they were noisy to start with. The basic design has a lot to do with it. I'm not a fan of those plastic type bearings. the play/tolerance in these even at new caused the armature simply vibrates along its axis at a low speed. This only gets worse with age/ware and then the plastic hoops that support the baring begin to fail and then you have a floating armature! But they are 50-60 years old. Thanks Lee for watching and taking the time to comment. Oscar

[@stephenpowell5912]

Great video ❤

[@Steven_Rowe]

I had D5562 in BR green, well i think that was the number, I loved it. Never really impressed with the new BR blue period. How exciting was all this triang stuff back in the 60s. Was it the same planet we live on, I wonder. It really dates me looking back. I would play with my trains on Friday night but could never miss the Avengers? I was in love with Mrs Peel as was my dad and every other boys dad. I. Googled her the other day, wow she is old, I then looked in the mirror and thought wow so am I. Where the heck has the last 50 years gone? Keep the great vids coming Oscar

[@petersmith4455]

hi Oscar, I have one of these locos in green d 5572, In 1962 I had the one in experimental blue, I think it cost my mum 25/6d so had it for my birthday..wish I had kept now, good to see yours going round the track, at least the triang cl 31 don't suffer problems like the new ones. I have had terrible reports on them. come back margate.

[@oscarpaisley]

Hi Peter, we all have trains, models, toys from the past that we wish we had now. Oscar

[@timsmith8189]

Your archive is proving invaluable. Just took the motor boogie out on this model to find out what was wrong. Quick reference to your video and the spring for holding the brushes isn't there. 👍

[@oscarpaisley]

Good morning Tim glad you enjoying the videos and finding them interesting. Hopefully, you should be able to pick a replacement spring quite easily and have her running again soon. Thanks again take care. Oscar

[@ModelRailwaysUnlimited]

Great stuff Oscar, very fond of the 31s. Been away for a few weeks so just catching up

[@oscarpaisley]

Thank you Mike, hope you had a great trip. Oscar

[@alanclarke4646]

Somewher, I have the RS51 Freightmaster set from hen I was a kid. Unfortunately the engine is currently a non-runner, I'll have to dig it out and try to get it going.

[@oscarpaisley]

Good evening Alan, great to hear you have a Freightmaster set. Thanks for watching. Oscar

[@petersmith4455]

the way things are going at hornby i think we should keep all our triang locos going. again great locos built at margate

[@oscarpaisley]

You may my right Peter, Hornby does seem to have some problems. I have not got anything in the collection later than an R.240 Class 91 Bo-Bo Electric Locomotive. But from what I read and watch online, quality and supply are big issues for them at present. And then the manner in which they have treated their stockists/dealers (The little Model Shops). Short production runs on models with unique parts. It seems to be an endless list. Hopefully, the brand will not be lost. I only bought the R.240 Class 91 in a weak moment as it would run from the catenary and have so far got no stock to go with it. But that's for another day, my collecting really ends in the early 80s. That was the point I lost interest in my early teens. Thanks again for watching and taking the time to comment.Oscar

[@KevBygrave]

Hello Oscar, lovely video, I have a green model of this locomotive in near mint condition, I am unable to run it on my attic layout as the wheel flanges are too deep for my code 100 track. Regards Kev

[@oscarpaisley]

Hi that can be a problem if you search that well-known auction site you can find wheelset with shallower profiles/flanges. John from Johns Amazing Trains-chambs123 KZbin Channel sells complete reworked wheels sets search for Re-profiled Wheel Sets For Triang Locos R55/R155/R159/R253/R257/R353/R753 & More Thanks for watching.Oscar

[@stevenpeaketrainsandstuff3682]

Nice model Oscar. Out of all the examples of motors used by Triang, this one gives me the least amount of pleasure to service and restore. So fiddly, but they do run very well.

[@oscarpaisley]

I think you are spot on Steven. When these run well they are excellent. Oscar

[@JamesSmithStudios]

Great Review Oscar! Can’t wait for the next! By the way, what Editing App/ Software do you use?

[@oscarpaisley]

Thanks James, At present, I'm using Adobe Premiere Pro. Oscar

[@georgewyatt6712]

Hi Oscar, that was a great review of the Class 31 A1A A1A, I look forward to your next one. I have a Class 31 A!A A!A by airfix and it's really noise I have had it apart and cleaned everything but it still noise, but it's in immaculate condition so other than a new motor I am not sure what I can do, it doe's run OK but noise. Regards George...

[@oscarpaisley]

Good afternoon George glad you enjoyed the video. Sadly I'm not familiar with the Airfix Class 31. But if the mechanism is of similar design with what is effectively a floating the armature it will generate noise. I think even when in very good condition this type Tri-ang motor bogie is noisy at low speed There is play (tolerance!) in the plastic type bearings even new. This seems to only get worse with use/age. I think the armature simply vibrates along its axis at a low speed this evens out as it spins up in speed then growling noise subsides until the speed drops again. The other problem is the hooped support on the bearing to hold it in place get misshaped/broken/disintegrate this adds to even more lateral movement of the armature along its axis. And then both these problems come together at some point. I think the armature in these motors should have mounted on a more conventional bearing. However, these things probably look like a great idea at the time and I don't think anyone envisaged these items still in use 50-60 years later! If I had access to the right equipment I would have a good go at producing some alternative parts. Some things are just noisy Tri-angs R.59 2-6-2 Tank and R.152 Diesel Shunter are both very noisy but super quiet when you take off the body/shells. But then they both have excellent mechanisms. Barry Davies used to run quite a bit of Airfix also with great info and history but sadly He's taken his channel down. I would have suggested his videos for more information. So I would say if it runs ok and the motor does not look like its suffering it's just noisy old technology. Thanks again for watching George and taking the time to comment, it's much appreciated. Oscar

[@georgewyatt6712]

Hi Oscar, thanks for your reply and your comments, I used to watch Barrie Davies video's but as you said he has taken is channel down he was very good with is knowledge. Thanks again Oscar I will keep running the loco because it does run O.K. Regards George...

[@jimmanyk]

"Toy train speed" = Goldilocks speed? not too "hot", not too "cold", just right!