Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Nov 10, 2019 16:23:59 GMT
Had a lot of fun with Meccano as well, which I still have somewhere.
Built no end of cranes!
That was before all the special shaped bits to suit one design only.
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Nov 10, 2019 16:34:54 GMT
Had a lot of fun with Meccano as well, which I still have somewhere. Built no end of cranes! That was before all the special shaped bits to suit one design only. I had one that wasn't a dedicated kit - it was just a box of nuts, bolts and metalwork and some pulleys. I think all I built was a couple of cranes - and my brother built a cunning slingshot using pulleys and elastic bands.
The ammo was dried out wax ball off Edam cheese - and it f*****g hurt when you were hit by one of these high velocity musket bullets!!
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Post by Steve Austin on Nov 10, 2019 16:44:41 GMT
Steve I had an action man too. Still have it as you can see it's in the bottom of the cabinet. I won it in a drawing competition with the Evening Argus newspaper. It has gripping hands and has the eagle eye to look through too. I also had a talking one before that as a present one Christmas but it broke. You pulled a string out of its back and it shouted out war commands. Did either of you have the action man helicopter as well ? I remember having this for a birthday at the time, but eventually it sadly got broken! Vi I had this one Vienna. Spent ages making it, only for my sister to break off one of the angled bits of one of the support rails off, annoyed is an understatement It was great though, loved the fact you could get the rotor blades to turn round.
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Nov 10, 2019 16:49:37 GMT
On model trains, here goes...
The 00 gauge ones started in 1938 by Hornby, which they called Hornby Dublo, and were 3 rail with die cast metal bodies on the locos, the coaches and wagons were printed tin. The war interrupted production and they got going again in about 1947 or 48. Triang started in 1950, they were cheaper and were plastic bodied and were 2 rail. The early Triang stuff was a bit toy like but they gradually improved and caught up with Dublo in quality. As they were cheaper they sold better and Dublo then decided to change to 2 rail, but the system they went for was very complicated and wasn't self isolating so they lost sales to Triang and also had to keep the 3 rail stuff going at the same time.
The result was Dublo going bust in 1964 and Triang taking it over, which was then renamed Triang Hornby, who now had the market to themselves, apart from a tiny number of models made by Trix. Some of the Dublo models were taken over and made by G & R Wrenn for a few years afterwards.
Triang Hornby later, in 1971, renamed themselves Hornby and started to face competition from about 1975/6 when Lima and Mainline started up. Both of these manufacturers models looked good and were well detailed, but the mechanisms were spectacularly crap, Hornby and Triangs motors and chassis were, in contrast, fantastically well made and reliable.
Clockwork was mostly the Hornby 0 gauge stiff, which were really just toys for very young kids although Triang did do a clockwork 00 scale loco for starter sets. Some of Triangs models were very good and accurate, in particular the BR mark 1 coaches which came out in about 1961, and are still in production today as they were so good.
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Nov 10, 2019 17:17:42 GMT
On model trains, here goes... The 00 gauge ones started in 1938 by Hornby, which they called Hornby Dublo, and were 3 rail with die cast metal bodies on the locos, the coaches and wagons were printed tin. The war interrupted production and they got going again in about 1947 or 48. Triang started in 1950, they were cheaper and were plastic bodied and were 2 rail. The early Triang stuff was a bit toy like but they gradually improved and caught up with Dublo in quality. As they were cheaper they sold better and Dublo then decided to change to 2 rail, but the system they went for was very complicated and wasn't self isolating so they lost sales to Triang and also had to keep the 3 rail stuff going at the same time. The result was Dublo going bust in 1964 and Triang taking it over, which was then renamed Triang Hornby, who now had the market to themselves, apart from a tiny number of models made by Trix. Some of the Dublo models were taken over and made by G & R Wrenn for a few years afterwards. Triang Hornby later, in 1971, renamed themselves Hornby and started to face competition from about 1975/6 when Lima and Mainline started up. Both of these manufacturers models looked good and were well detailed, but the mechanisms were spectacularly crap, Hornby and Triangs motors and chassis were, in contrast, fantastically well made and reliable. Clockwork was mostly the Hornby 0 gauge stiff, which were really just toys for very young kids although Triang did do a clockwork 00 scale loco for starter sets. Some of Triangs models were very good and accurate, in particular the BR mark 1 coaches which came out in about 1961, and are still in production today as they were so good. Thanks for explaining the Triang Hornby thing- there were some subtle differences in their locos; some of the couplings weren't the same. We brought a batch of 00 Gauge coaches for about £25, and amongst them are some coaches made out of tin, very slight different in gauge and the couplings were odd ones. So those coaches were put aside (for now).
Wasn't there a system that was Mains powered? I mean - it supplied Mains voltage to the tracks (instead of the 12-17v DC).
Imagine catching your fingers on the rails with with one... and before the days of Circuit breakers too. Ouch!
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Nov 10, 2019 17:22:37 GMT
Yes, there was a direct mains powered type, but it was lethal and very quickly banned, I think it was for a very short time in the 1920s. The couplings you mean will be the Dublo ones, they are like metal, or plastic, hands which interlock. The Triang ones are a loop with a hook which moves up and down, they became the standard ones.
A bodge, using paper clips, is possible to couple the two. Another point is that 3 rail stuff has metal wheels and short circuits on 2 rail track. The tin printed ones will be 3 rail. These were dropped when 2 rail came out, in 1959, and new super detail plastic bodied coaches and wagons came out. The wagons were good and some of these are still made now by Dapol. The coaches were not the correct length and Triangs were much better
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Nov 10, 2019 19:13:17 GMT
I got the Six Million Dollar Man doll one Christmas, it wasn't a surprise though as I'd found it whilst present hunting in my mum's wardrobe. I used to do this most years, I think I was caught in the act once. A stupid thing to do as there was no surprise on Christmas Day, it also made me feel very guilty. I don't have any toys from my childhood & sometimes wonder where they all went. I've bought a few things off ebay like Top Trumps, Airfix soldiers ( Afrika Korps ) & who remembers Tomy Pocketeers?
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Post by Steve Austin on Nov 10, 2019 19:24:40 GMT
I did that too Arthur, I felt no guilt at all though, it was all part of Christmas as far as I was concerned. Hunting out the presents and then opening them up and trying to re-seal which was hard with 70's wrapping paper since the design of the paper usually peeled away with the sellotape. It's a skill I'm rather proud of Good call on the Pocketeers, this one was my treasured possession. Top Trumps was a pastime I enjoyed, this set was my favourite. I used to like to try and remember the whole set so if I had a certain card, I knew it'd be unbeatable. Weird, because these days I can't remember a thing
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Nov 10, 2019 19:30:26 GMT
Yes, there was a direct mains powered type, but it was lethal and very quickly banned, I think it was for a very short time in the 1920s. The couplings you mean will be the Dublo ones, they are like metal, or plastic, hands which interlock. The Triang ones are a loop with a hook which moves up and down, they became the standard ones. A bodge, using paper clips, is possible to couple the two. Another point is that 3 rail stuff has metal wheels and short circuits on 2 rail track. The tin printed ones will be 3 rail. These were dropped when 2 rail came out, in 1959, and new super detail plastic bodied coaches and wagons came out. The wagons were good and some of these are still made now by Dapol. The coaches were not the correct length and Triangs were much better Yes, I think they are the Dublo couplings. I am not keen on modifying such things - just in case they may be worth something. Though if they are not, they could be modified. Though, I didn't see any 3rd wheels - will have another look.
If need be, they'll sit in a siding as eye candy. Amazing what proper rail yards have lurking in them these days!!
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Nov 10, 2019 20:13:27 GMT
Probably my favourite toys weren't really toys, they were a bunch of old electrical stuff my Dad gave after rewiring a house. So I used to connect them up, buy stuff like little bulb holders you could get from Woolworths, make electromagnets etc.
A lot of this was inspired by 1960s Dr Who as that is what the character did to get out of trouble, knock something together out of odds and ends.
I was eventually given a couple of old telephones and discovered that if you removed the handsets and them connected them in series with a 4.5V battery you could talk to each other. Amazing, didn't even need an amplifier!
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