Smooth Runnings

trix trains from Doc Sleaze on Vimeo.
OK, back to the trains for today's post.  A couple of years ago I managed to buy a Trix Standard Class 5 relatively cheaply on eBay.  It was bought from a charity and, not being experts, they couldn't tell me whether it ran or not, or even if it was 2 or 3 rail.  I worked out from the photos that it had the Trix factory fitted 2 rail pickups, but there was still no guarantee that it would run.  Nevertheless, I took a punt on it and bid - I turned out to be the only bidder. Once delivered, I tested it and ascertained that it was a runner - a very jerky runner, but a runner nonetheless.  Having other priorities, its restoration was put on the back burner.  Until today, when I finally dismantled the loco, cleaned all the electrical contacts and lubricated the drive and bearings.  The transformation was spectacular, as can be seen above. 

The Standard 5 turns out to be a very  smooth runner, powerful and reliable.  It doesn't fall off the track or derail for no apparent reason, unlike some other locos I own.  Moreover, it gives the impression that there is no limit to its hauling capabilities.  In the video, it is seen pulling five Trix Mk1 coaches, which it handles with ease.  The only problem turned out to lie with the much vaunted Peco Simplex-style couplings which Trix fitted as standard and with which both locomotive and coaches are still fitted - some of them had an alarming tendency to become uncoupled when running around curves, something which never happens with Tri-ang style couplings.  I know some people swear by the Simplex type of couplings (a version of which were also used by Hornby Dublo), but they do nothing for me.  Luckily, the Trix coaches all have the facility for fitting Tri-ang couplings, which I'll do in due course.  The locomotive is another matter - fitting Tri-ang couplings isn't quite as easy.  I might, instead, resort to using some kind of 'converter' vehicle, with a Simplex coupler at one end, a Tri-ang coupler at the other, to allow the Standard 5 to haul trains on the layout.  All-in-all, though, I'm pretty happy with the Standard 5 - now I've serviced it, the loco is one of my best runners.  It gives a remarkable performance for a model dating back to the early 1960s, (the one I have was probably manufactured in the late sixties, judging by its box and the factory-fitted 2 rail pick ups).  Anyway, here's a still photo of it, to give a better idea of the detail (the wire running between cab and tender is there because the model picks up from the driving wheels but returns via the tender wheels - it will eventually be tidied away) :