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| Hornby 2 HAL DCC ready, but no end couplings - Everything Hornby. - More Practical Help - Your Model Railway Club | ||||||||||
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Passed Driver Full Member 
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Hi All I have recently purchased a 2 H A L, which looks very good , but if I want to run it in multiple, with my 2 B I L, I will have to buy the "Front"couplings as extras , this is okay but that means extra postage?? And can someone please tell me, are these the standard "Two Yards Apart Couplings"? which may spoil the appearance?? all the best Kevin
____________________ Staying on the thread Kevin. |
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RFS Full Member
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They have NEM pockets, so any NEM coupling will be suitable. But - beware! The coupling pocket on the trailing coach of the 2-HAL is too long, and any NEM coupling with normal prongs will not clip tight and just slides out. The pocket on the powered coach is OK, as are both the 2-BIL ones. You have two options: have the 2-HAL trailer coach at the rear or front of your rake, or take the bogie off and carefully file about 1mm off the end of the pocket. Not difficult to do but a bit off a faff nonetheless .... I use Kadee 18s to couple together. Which type is suitable for you depends on the minimum radius of your curved track. ____________________ Robert |
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Gwiwer The Mermaid Inspector 
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Can't say I've had a problem with my 2Hal. I use bog standard plug-in small loops on the Bils and the Hal (one and only so far) and all sit snugly in the sockets. As the motors are identical they should multiple perfectly on both DC and DCC. I've successfully run a 10-car formation of 4x2Bil plus the 2Hal though with five motors drawing current the controller had to be cranked up a bit! For what it's worth the same is true of the Bachmann Cep and Motor Luggage Van types though these are supplied with end couplers. With these I have run a 17-car formation of four 4Cep units plus the MLV at both front and rear. That's more than was ever permitted on the SR. 13 was the normal limit for a fully-laden boat train (3x4Cep plus an MLV) though for the few years when trailer luggage vans were also used one of those could sit inside theMLV for a 14-car load. ____________________ Rick Layouts here and here |
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Passed Driver Full Member
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Hi Robert Thank you, you might just have save me the going to the trouble. Filing or Grinding Steel is okay, but plastic?? I wont bother. all the best Kevin
____________________ Staying on the thread Kevin. |
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Passed Driver Full Member
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Hi Rick Thank you, if only I had the room to build such a layout ?? At the moment my layout is awaiting Viaducts and Embankments. And I am not building them very quick at the moment.And then it will be a squeeze?? originally I was content to build a branch line with a two car Push Pull, but then I got the notion for a South London line with the Viaducts, now I would like to build a "Three Island Platform" terminus, maybe that is another "Pipe dream" because that will have to take "Four Car CEP,s". The link coupling idea does seem okay, but I might run the BIL and Hal seperately, and have more trains running all the best Kevin
____________________ Staying on the thread Kevin. |
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SRman Member 
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Gwiwer wrote: Can't say I've had a problem with my 2Hal. I use bog standard plug-in small loops on the Bils and the Hal (one and only so far) and all sit snugly in the sockets. It was fairly common to run 14 with 3 x 4 CEP (or with a BEP) + 2 x MLV before the TLVs came into being. I can recreate this formation myself but at the moment tht would strain the visible track capacity! Once my upper level tracks are done, I will run a normal 2 x 4 CEP + MLV but will occasionally sneak on a 12 CEP + 1 or 2 x MLV. I chose to modify that HAL's trailing bogie NEM pockets by removing a little from the outer end, then using a Kadee #20 in this one to compensate for the longer reach required. I use #18s for all the other HAL and BIL pockets and have run 2, 4, 6, and 8 car formations at different times. ____________________ Jeff Lynn, Amateur layabout, Professional Lurker, Thread hijacker extraordinaire |
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Passed Driver Full Member
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Hi Jeff. If only I had the space to play with My layout from end to end is only eleven feet with the acquisition of the 4 CEP that really is small. I have been considering a "U Shape"? But will also be tight, so for running trains as you describe on my layout? Forget it, so it will be two or four cars for me all the best. Kevin ____________________ Staying on the thread Kevin. |
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SRman Member
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Kevin, that's the beauty of the two-car units; you can run them singly or in "multiple", and still have some variety - BILs and HALs plus the livery variations. I also have a kit-built 'tin' HAL to add to the variety, using one of the bargain 2 BIL chassis so it matches the others for running and coupling purposes. If you are limited to four cars maximum, you can detail the buffer beams on one end of each (or both ends of the CEP), so the smaller train lengths may be a positive rather than a negative.  ____________________ Jeff Lynn, Amateur layabout, Professional Lurker, Thread hijacker extraordinaire |
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Passed Driver Full Member
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Hi Jeff My "Artistic Bent" died when I left school, but I can see your point. I will have to do some more reading on the subject.I would like a try at "Weathering my rolling stock" but that might have an adverse effect(and I mean add Worse) When I see the experienced modeller results it makes me want to pack up and go but I want to persist. all the best Kevin
____________________ Staying on the thread Kevin. |
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SRman Member
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Kevin, my advice with weathering is start with something that doesn't matter too much: either it is an old model you are ready to discard, or one you can easily repaint of it all goes pear-shaped. The only way to get good at weathering is to try it and learn from any mistakes or successes. I can say I have had some "happy accidents" with some techniques I have tried too.  ____________________ Jeff Lynn, Amateur layabout, Professional Lurker, Thread hijacker extraordinaire |
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Passed Driver Full Member
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Hi Jeff Thank you, I think that I might leave well alone, even if I buy someone else's tatt it can be expensive. all the best Kevin
____________________ Staying on the thread Kevin. |
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RFS Full Member
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Southern EMUs had access to carriage washing plants, so usually their bodies were reasonably clean most of the time, although there would have been some track dirt on the underframes. I've not tried to weather any of mine for fear of ruining them (and their second-hand values!).
____________________ Robert |
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Passed Driver Full Member
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Hi Robert Exactly my viewpoint, but if I can stay with the hobby long enough who cares?? once I have died they become someone else's problem. all the best Kevin
____________________ Staying on the thread Kevin. |
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Gwiwer The Mermaid Inspector
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Most SR units would have appeared in traffic with at least a modicum of weathering. The roof canvas was a prime candidate on the Bil and Hal types, and indeed on those other SR units of the same period. Underframe dirt of course built up until cleaned off at a major overhaul but carriage washers were not visited daily - often not weekly - and the effect accumulated on the paintwork. I have an SR scene in-build in the workroom as a static display piece. Heres a couple of hastily-taken and necessarily flash-lit shots of a Bil and a Hal unit with some weathering. The flash has both bleached out some weathering and highlighted the deposits of dust. As it's where we came in these views also show that both types carry a standard plug-in coupler of the same design albeit the Hal one is set slightly closer to the buffer beam. This does not affect the running.  
____________________ Rick Layouts here and here |
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Passed Driver Full Member
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Hi Rick If only I had your confidence?? I haven't even got a workshop, just the kitchen and a table, but on good days I can set up a bench in the garden. But for now it will be "Straight from the Workshop Trains" for me. all the best Kevin
____________________ Staying on the thread Kevin. |
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| This is topic ID = 13833 Current time is 11:47 pm |
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