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New motor(s) for the Hornby APT

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Railway Lyons

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Railway Lyons Proficient

Railway Lyons

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Posted

Hi All,

 

I have recently purchased a Hornby APT. It runs Ok with the original motor in it but I would like to upgrade it to a more modern and smooth running motor.

I also plan on making other modifications to it like new lights, interiors and DCC control, so it would be a shame for the performance to let it down.

 

Has anybody already replaced one of these motors and any recommendations on best replacement to use?

 

Thanks in advance

34 answers to this question

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BosKonay

BosKonay

Posted
Posted

Generally recommended are two Hornby Eurostar Motor bogies (Hornby Part No. X3437)

 

You can buy them from Hornby Spares suppliers (I think themodelshop.ie are one?)

 

You'll need to do a little cutting, but if you wire two of them up to a decoder, you should get lovely smooth DCC running :)

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Warbonnet Grand Master

Warbonnet

Posted
Posted

Buy one Bachmann Class 25, rip internals out. Transplant into APT power car, graft on bogie sideframes and Robert's your mothers brother! Well, it's what I plan to do anyway.

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Railway Lyons Proficient

Railway Lyons

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Posted

Hi to all,

 

I have successfully remotored my Hornby APT and it runs really nice and quiet now.

My solution in the end was 2x Hornby 5pole Class 35 motors.

 

They do have to be wired in reverse to each other as one side has rubber traction tyres so if you reverse the 2nd one and crossconnect the pick-ups all is good.

The Class 35 spares will fin right into the existing bogie frames so no need to cut anything.

I will be fitting a DCC decoder to it in the near future as well as directional lighting.

 

All in all the project is coming along nicely.

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Railway Lyons Proficient

Railway Lyons

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Here is the 2 new motors fitted to the original chassis, no alterations needed.

Copper Clad board installed to allow easier commonality of wiring and simple installing of DCC chip

 

No alteration to bogie frames needed as Class 35 motor bogey fits perfectly.(Obtained from Peters Spares)

 

First Motor remains as arrived, second has wiring reversed.

 

 

Also fitted are DCC directional lights, including cab light.

 

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BosKonay

BosKonay

Posted
Posted

I changed around how the forum handles attachments, and moved them out of the database - should be ok going forward!

 

Stunning work on the APT! Any video of her in action? ! :-bd

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Warbonnet Grand Master

Warbonnet

Posted
Posted
Great work on the APT good choice on the yellow LED for the cab light it looks like an incandescent light. :-bd

 

Yes, something the new Murphy's locos fall down on, they look like Tanning Booths!

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Railway Lyons Proficient

Railway Lyons

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I changed around how the forum handles attachments, and moved them out of the database - should be ok going forward!

 

Stunning work on the APT! Any video of her in action? ! :-bd

 

No video just yet. No layout to run on, just a length of test track.

Waiting to fit the decoder first and get to the club to run her.

 

Will post when I do though. :trains:

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Broithe Grand Master

Broithe

Posted
Posted

Mmm, I can see the whole pictures, no trouble at all.

 

But embedded videos no longer run on here for me, I have to copy them to the outside world - mind you, that is happening on my other forum, too...

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Flying Scotsman 4472 Grand Master

Flying Scotsman 4472

Posted
Posted (edited)
can you try clear your browser cache?

 

Laymans terms Bud :confused: what button or handle do I need to press or pull:ROFL: On the iPad its still the same only the top bit shows on the laptop the photos are very very slow to load but they do get there after a minute or so.

Edited by Anthony
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Flying Scotsman 4472 Grand Master

Flying Scotsman 4472

Posted
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I 'double-ended' a Pendelino for a friend and we had to remove the traction tyres from one power bogie to avoid constant de-railing.

 

I know when your double heading the like's of 141/181's it can be a right pain to get them running exactly the same with out one pushing or pulling the other.

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Broithe Grand Master

Broithe

Posted
Posted (edited)
I know when your double heading the like's of 141/181's it can be a right pain to get them running exactly the same with out one pushing or pulling the other.

 

With all-metal wheels you can get away with a bit of sliding, but having traction tyres, on one side!, made life very difficult. Personally, I hate rubber on the rail, and finally persuaded him to put four all-metal wheels on one of the power bogies - it's been OK since then.

 

I tried it with all eight powered wheels un-tyred, but we have a 1/35 slope whilst the end of the train is still on a bend and it wouldn't have it - maybe with more adhesion weight we could have improved things, but he's happy as it is now...

Edited by Broithe
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drt7uk Newbie

drt7uk

Posted
Posted
On 11/17/2012 at 8:17 PM, Broithe said:

 

With all-metal wheels you can get away with a bit of sliding, but having traction tyres, on one side!, made life very difficult. Personally, I hate rubber on the rail, and finally persuaded him to put four all-metal wheels on one of the power bogies - it's been OK since then.

 

I tried it with all eight powered wheels un-tyred, but we have a 1/35 slope whilst the end of the train is still on a bend and it wouldn't have it - maybe with more adhesion weight we could have improved things, but he's happy as it is now...

Hi everyone - I've followed the photos in this post and installed a second motor, but I'm really struggling to get it to run properly. I'd prefer to have traction tyres, as I've got a steep gradient on my layout, but can't get current to flow - how did others get this to work? I can see how the current does run through the wheel flanges - but my Peco track is wider than the axles on my wheels so the flanges do not touch the track properly.

So I've put all metal wheels on it but am finding that it's still not working properly. They are both wired up as above and work fine when tested with leads to the controller, but not on my layout when connected to the layout (keeps derailing on the bends, and doesn't have enough traction)

Any further tips??

Many thanks,

David

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Broithe Grand Master

Broithe

Posted
Posted

As long as the wheel rim is in contact with the rail you should have current available - the flange contact isn't really an issue.

For the derailing aspect, it can be worth checking that nothing (wires) obstructs the swing of the bogie.

This - https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/powerbase-mini-magnet-pack-x24-smaller-magnets/ - can be a way of getting greater contact force on the rail, without adding mass that makes the climb even harder.

Always worth cleaning the rails (and wheels) and seeing if things are any better then.

With the Pendelino, one of the problems was that sudden power changes, from a cheapo set controller, coupled with traction tyres on one side only, caused the bogie to 'climb out' and derail. A flywheel would have helped a lot, but wasn't really practical, a bit of 'slide' from metal wheels was the answer in the short term. A bit of extra mass, over the driven bogie(s) was also a possible benefit.

 

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drt7uk Newbie

drt7uk

Posted
Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, Broithe said:

As long as the wheel rim is in contact with the rail you should have current available - the flange contact isn't really an issue.

Thanks very much for this advice!

My mistake - I meant wheel rim not flange. I'm finding the wheel rims aren't making contact with the rails consistently - is the solution to that to widen the wheels slightly? i.e. pull them slightly apart from one another

Best,

David

12 hours ago, Broithe said:

This - https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/powerbase-mini-magnet-pack-x24-smaller-magnets/ - can be a way of getting greater contact force on the rail, without adding mass that makes the climb even harder.

P.s. would you mind explaining how to use these magnets, where to put them in a model etc? Thanks!

Edited by drt7uk
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Broithe Grand Master

Broithe

Posted
Posted

The back-to-back distance, for 00, should be around 14.5mm.

Image result for oo back to back wheel gauge

Back-to-back issues will also contribute to derailments.

 

The magnets fit under the motorised units and are attracted to the steel plates that need to be fitted under the track, increasing the force the wheel exerts on the track, but without adding (much) to the weight.

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Georgeconna Grand Master

Georgeconna

Posted
Posted

Whip out the wheel Sets and clean the Axles too, I did mine last week and there was a good bit of old oil and dirt there which contributed to poor running and re set the wheels using a Wheel Gauge. Kinda ok on a medium speed but pretty poor at slow speeds all this was on code 75.

 

 

 

 

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drt7uk Newbie

drt7uk

Posted
Posted
On 10/8/2018 at 9:43 AM, Broithe said:

The back-to-back distance, for 00, should be around 14.5mm.

Thanks for all this - I'll check the back to back distance next time I'm home.

I'm also going to try re-soldering the wiring with thinner, more flexible wires as that might be a reason for the derailing.

Thanks for your help, will report back!

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