# Hornby steam engines



## Luis Diaz (Jan 10, 2012)

Hi there I just bought a two piece set of beutyful Hornby engines! one is a 4-6-2 "duchess of montrose" 46232 and the other a british railway engine marked 69567! at a price of 18 for the two I had to buy them! unfortunately the pacific is missing the tender but otherwise works and looks amazing..anyways to the point! I also bought a bunch of hornby 3 rail track, I tried to connect my Bachmann power transformer and the engines wouldn't move, so I would like to know what i need to make them run!! thanks for your time! and hopefully you can help me!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I just want to make sure we're not mixing apples and oranges here ...

You posted this in the O section, so we're talking Hornby O, right? (Your avatar tags you as HO.) Most O is AC power. But you say a Bachmann transformer ... Bachmann, know for HO and the like ... typically DC power on two rail track.

Can you clarify: O? AC-powered loco? DC transformer?


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## Luis Diaz (Jan 10, 2012)

ahh I see! well I can say my transformer is AC and as for the locos the engines fit in my HO track but everywhere i look it says they are O scale!


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

Sounds like a DC power pack might work


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## seabilliau (Dec 12, 2011)

Luis Diaz said:


> ahh I see! well I can say my transformer is AC and as for the locos the engines fit in my HO track but everywhere i look it says they are O scale!


Interrogative sir, you said they fit on your HO but are labeled O? Does it say O or does it say OO? OO is very close to HO scale. Both are the same gauge track wise.

Just clearing this question up.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Ditto ... something's fishy in Denmark, as they say.

Any Hornby guys here on the forum ???


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Could it be On30?
The size of O but run on HO track?

A copy & paste,

The "O" part of the designation refers to O SCALE, which indicates a 1:48 scale reduction from real ("prototype") size. So if something is 48" long or tall in the real world, its O SCALE model is 1" (1:48 ratio) long or tall. 1:48 scale is also expressed as "1/4 inch equals 1 foot" so a 6 foot tall conductor would be 1 1/2 inches (6 x 1/4") tall in O scale. A 30 foot tall tree or a 30 foot long boxcar would be 7 1/2 inches (30 x 1/4") tall or long as the case may be. So that covers the "O" (scale) part of On30, now on to the "n30" (gauge) part.

Gauge in railroading refers to the distance between the rails that the trains wheels roll on. In the real world the usual distance between these rails is 4' 8 1/2" or 56 1/2". This gauge has been used on all major railroads and trolleys in the USA for over 125 years, so it has become the railroad "standard" gauge. For various reasons some railroads built track and rail equipment with a wider or narrower gauge. The "n30" designation indicates a narrow gauge with the rail 30" apart. Reducing 30" gauge track to O (1:48) scale puts the rails of On30 model track 0.625" apart. As it turns out, HO (1:87) scale track (standard gauge) has rails 0.649" apart. This very small difference (0.024") makes it easy and generally acceptable to operate On30 trains on widely available HO track. In fact Bachmann, the industry leader in On30 trains, provides "HO" track with all their On30 train sets. The ability to use existing HO track to operate On30 scale trains has been a major factor in the rising popularity of models in this scale. Just be aware that if you already have an established HO train layout, although the On30 trains will operate on the TRACK, your buildings, figures, and landscaping will be too small in relation to the On30 trains, and you will have serious clearance problems in tunnels, under bridges and any place where scenery is in close proximity to the track. This is because the On30 trains are quite a bit taller and wider than HO trains. Even though the wheels a similarly spaced ("gauged"), the locomotive and car bodies of On30 equipment extends over the rails and ties in terms of width. If your layout is not established beyond a table with track, you will be good to go running On30 trains on your HO track layout.

As just established, *On30 trains run on HO track, *therefore *On30 trains DO NOT operate on Lionel or other O/O27 gauge 3 rail track*. Conveniently, On30 trains are designed to run on the same electrical systems as HO trains which is a DC (direct current) system, or recently (and optionally) a DCC (Digital Command Control) system. Lionel and other O/O27 3 rail trains operate on an AC (alternating current) electrical system. So *do not* use your Lionel transformer to run On30 trains! *But* ... Lionel O/O27 is based (often rather loosely) on O scale (1:48), just like On30, so all the buildings, figures, and landscaping for Lionel (etc.) are suitable for use with On30. It certainly would be reasonable (rather interesting actually) to operate Lionel O/O27 trains and On30 trains on separate track systems on the same layout.


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## pookybear (Feb 3, 2011)

Hornby make OO guage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OO_gauge

Pookybear


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

pookybear said:


> Hornby make OO guage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OO_gauge
> 
> Pookybear



Did they ever make On30? Do you know?


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## Luis Diaz (Jan 10, 2012)

ups! yess they are OO forgot an "O" there sorry bout that!


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## Luis Diaz (Jan 10, 2012)

^^thats the power pack I have and use on my HO will it work on the OO track?


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## JRich52804 (Nov 6, 2011)

I don't know much about Hornby trains, but from a little research, I found this controller on ebay (made for Hornby)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HORNBY-R825...=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item3a70b771cb


"Controls the direction and speed of one locomotive.
Input is 16V AC from the mains transformer (included)
Output is 0-12v DC to the track."

I am not sure what model number your Bachmann controller is, but as long as it matches the DC output (which I am guessing it would) it would probably work. 


Also, you say in your first post that you bought hornby 3 rail track. From what I have seen on the internet (videos, pictures, etc...), modern Hornby OO seems to run on 2 rails?? Are your trains older or modern? See this old set on youtube of OO with 3 rail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HRnGDDpmxI


Are you planning on making a separate track on your layout for the Hornby, from your HO stuff? 

I would suggest maybe looking up some videos on youtube of people with Hornby layouts, and asking the person who posted the video, either by comments or messaging them as they will probably know more about it. 

Here is a video of someone running an OO Hornby train on HO track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EISuuvgIJBg



I don't know if any of that helps you, but good luck getting them running!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Luis Diaz said:


> ups! yess they are OO forgot an "O" there sorry bout that!


Moving thread over to the *OO* section !


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Try this. Read the manual.


The engines.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Good finds, T!


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## THE TYCO MAN (Aug 23, 2011)

OO scale is 1:76 scale rather than HO which is 1:87. OO runs on standard guage HO track. Not sure why OO is this way,but, I do wanna own a Flying Scotsman oneday!


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## Luis Diaz (Jan 10, 2012)

hey thanks for info guys! I've decided to sell the two engines and keep on with my HO stuff!! thanks for the help!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Luis Diaz said:


> Hi there I just bought a two piece set of beutyful Hornby engines! one is a 4-6-2 "duchess of montrose" 46232 and the other a british railway engine marked 69567!





Luis Diaz said:


> I've decided to sell the two engines and keep on with my HO stuff!!


Easy come, easy go ...


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## pookybear (Feb 3, 2011)

big ed said:


> Did they ever make On30? Do you know?


Older stuff I know they did not, but for newer items I have no idea. 
Not much help here. I mean really its after 1950. 

Pookybear


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## kursplat (Dec 8, 2010)

this thread is 48 hrs old and i'm dyin' for a couple pics of these engines...
maybe the For Sale thread will have some?...:thumbsup:


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## Luis Diaz (Jan 10, 2012)

I'd love to show you these Locos but....I don't really know how to upload images! kinda new to the forum!


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## JRich52804 (Nov 6, 2011)

Click on your name when you are logged in to this forum to see your profile and you are able to create albums and upload pictures there from your computer.



Or, you can go to a site such as www.imageshack.com and upload pictures for free there. It will also give you links for posting to forums after you upload them that you can copy and paste in here so the pictures show up in the message.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

If it's three rail track, make sure the ground is hooked up to the outer rail and the hot to the center rail. That could be your problem.


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## Luis Diaz (Jan 10, 2012)

here are the engines!!


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## Luis Diaz (Jan 10, 2012)




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## kursplat (Dec 8, 2010)

nice looking engines, thanks


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Quite nice. Is that a center rail power pickup on the front of that first engine? (The curved piece.)


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## kursplat (Dec 8, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> Quite nice. Is that a center rail power pickup on the front of that first engine? (The curved piece.)


 that's what i was thinking. for a cowcatcher, it would be a little late :laugh:


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## Luis Diaz (Jan 10, 2012)

yeah they are both great looking pieces!
and yes it is! they are both three rail locomotives!


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## JefferyWright (Mar 1, 2012)

Aa Aah..That's called a creativity. Absolute amazing pics.


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