R178 as per Ebay?? Bogie B SR Luggage Van

Hi All  I have gone for the spring double?? In so far that is buying ""Pre Owned Hornby. But this item has caused a stir, the Ebay seller hascalled it Bogie B Van, No R 178, but there is a difference of opinion with my contacts. Let me get this straight??:???: It is Hornby R178 not Triang or Triang Hornby, Only time will tell?? It has been suggested that I can get the correct parts from Roxey Mouldings, so I contacted Dave the nice gentleman at Roxey, and I even got him guessing at which item I was buying, I have suggested that I had better await delivery before I go any further. Therefore here I am again:???::oops: but if anyone out there has any idea where the confusion lies, any printable answers would be appreciated.                Kevin    
 

Did some googling because you piqued my interest Kevin. 

http://www.hornbyguide.com/year_category_images.asp?categoryid=6&yearid=71

Scroll down a bit.  There's a very similar R174.

Seems a nice model.  My experience with LMS models of this Hornby era (1980-90s) is that they were 4mm shorter than they should be. (Black 5, Stanier coaches, milk and sausage vans).  Wonder if this model is correct length.

What do you intend to do to it that you need bits from Roxey?  BTW, I've dealt with him and found him to be helpful.  Straightaway, I would do up the underframe - but that's me.

John

Hi John.   Thank you, this Van B must be a popular model, as Hornby seemed to be reviving it over the years. I do have an old Hornby tender drive Loco, a schools class " Repton" but it is DIrect Current.  Don't know if I would bother converting it.   all the best. Kevin

Kevin, this van, to me, is iconic of the Southern.  I don't have one, but I think it is a must have for someone of a Southern persuasion.

I'm horribly prejudiced against tender drive.  I've had my share of the beasts, some ran well, others didn't.  I even had one where the drivers would lock up every now and then.  They are just philosophically wrong to me.  Thanks goodness they are all gone.  If you are fond of Repton, perhaps think about getting a modern model (and no I don't know if Hornby do a schools) - just saying'.

John

Hi John.  I agree with you entirely, the van is iconic and an ideal candidate for weathering . SoundTracxx Tsunami do a decoder that I am interested in, the one with the "Clickety Clack" which would also fit in with that era Which I would like to fit inside the van, providing there is enough space.
Buying Repton was a mistake? but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
all the best. Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Yep, the Southern 178 van seems a must have for any layout down south, so well done and I hope it arrives safely.

As for having 'clickety-clack sound, wont you get that anyway from metal stock wheels passing over the rail joints? Just thought it's a tad cheaper than sound chips.

Cheers,

Bill :)

No Kevin, as you say a good idea at the time.  Same story for me and my tender drive locos.  Same goes for the early Bachmann split chassis locos.  In hindsight these designs left a lot to be desired but, for the time, they were it.

I've never heard of putting a sound decoder in a van just to get the clickety clack.  Seems a tad expensive.  To follow on from Bills' point, if you have metal wheels and put small notches in you track at scale 60' intervals wouldn't you get the same effect?

Something else to consider is whether the sound is UK or American.  Rail joins in the UK are opposite one another, but (I read somewhere), in the US, rail joins are staggered.

John

Hi Bill. When I heard the cIckety clack sound on the YouTube video, it was impressive, a bit expensive too. I must admit that Nigel pointed that out to me already.. Going back to the B Van or what ever some people call it ??Bogie Van?. It has had so many names. all the best. Kevin

Hi Kevin,

That's a nice looking van for (very) old tooling. I wouldn't bother messing with it (apart from changing the couplers to Kadees and very light weathering of the underbody and bogies).

I think a couple of these are on the Bluebell Railway - there are some before and after photos on their website.

Nigel

Hi Nigel.    Thank you, I have been doing a lot of guesswork and speculating about the Bogie Van, even before it arrives. The advert on eBay, said Hornby but is it Hornby or Tri Ang? And anyway I have read about the inaccuracies in the Tri Ang model, and I have contacted Roxey Mouldings asking about window/door etchings, roof shape? I even got Dave, that's the man from Roxey Mouldings confused and I said that I had "jumped the gun" and I had better wait until it arrives, before I make up my mind as to what I require. Or even if it will need too much doing to it.
Anyway I keep you updated.   all the best. Kevin

[user=1632]BCDR[/user] wrote:

That's a nice looking van for (very) old tooling. I wouldn't bother messing with it (apart from changing the couplers to Kadees and very light weathering of the underbody and bogies).

Hi Kevin,

Like John (Brossard) I did a bit of research. The Airfix Southern bogie GUV had gangways, as do Hornby R174, R178 and R226 (among others). The passenger brake bogie B is a non-gangwayed luggage van. Which is Hornby R4536, and a new tooling released in 2012 with great detail (sold out at Hattons and most other places I checked). Hopefully this what Postman Pat stuffs through your letterbox. If you remove the gangways from the Airfix GUV or Hornby 174 or 178 it looks like a B (with not as much under-body definition or body detail and poor bogies). I'm not sure the £24 Roxey want to detail the old Airfix/Hornby model is worth the effort.

If you have snapped-up an R4536, well done, they're like hen's teeth. If it comes with gangways it's not a B (and old tooling).

Regards,

Nigel

Hi Nigel. Thank you,.  The Bogie Van has arrived along each side it has four sets of "Double Doors" But, there is not a "Guards Door" so obviously it is not the Van that I was expecting. Another thing that is wrong, it has a "Gangway Connection" , it is sporting the No. 2300 on the side.But the advert said that it was(and is) R178 and that (mistakenly) is what I asked for. So I got "What it said on the tin" . all the best. Kevin

Hi Kevin,

If it's R178 it's a GUV with gangways, not a bogie B with guard's door. If it's the one from Rails of Sheffield it said (2B), which is probably refering to the number of bogies. Misleading. Request a return with refund.

Nigel

Hi Nigel.   The company calls themselves "Manchester Model railways", I think it was me misreading the " online Hornby List" .There are so many
"R" Numbers and it was my mistake. all the best. Kevin

Ratio do a fantastic kit of the SR Bogie B van and it builds up really nicely. Some (many) fiddly bits of etching but everything is explained well. I think it works out around the £15 quid mark or a little more.

Hi:oops::oops::oops: Sorry I have forgotten your name??  I have purchased a Ratio Bogie B, inc postage it is £25.00But I am looking for a pair of R to R  bogies to save me the effort??               Kevin

Hi Kevin, the name is Mick. Have you tried Peter's Spares for the RTR bogies. They seem to have just about everything. Also there is the possibility that in later years under BR some may have had their bogies swapped to Mark 1's on servicing.

Hi Mick:oops::oops::oops:           Thank you, sorry about your name thing?? B T Broadband have been faffing around and I got confused.A local expert told me that Southern "Just plonked a new body on either a L C & D R chassis or a K & E S R chassis?I don't know if that is correct??  all the best  Kevin

[user=1801]Passed Driver[/user] wrote:

Hi:oops::oops::oops: Sorry I have forgotten your name??

Kevin, as long as the member has put his name in the profile, you can find it easy. Click on his name above his avatar/photo on the LHS and  View Profile.

Hi Ron              Thank you for your help, I have been faffing around all this time going back and forth to the list of members.                             all the best  Kevin