Tri-ang Hornby R.488 Uncoupling Ramp

[mewsdo]

Lovely to relive the thrills of Triang Hornby trains. When I hear the click of points changing, the smell of hot plastic/whatever comes back straight away!

[Mittagong]

Oscar - as usual, a very informative video. Your layout is an absolute inspiration.

[calibrais]

Thanks Oscar for the brilliant and well explained demonstrations; as always very informative. Many thanks, Greg, N.Z.

[georgewyatt]

Hi Oscar, another great video on de-coupling ramps, and very informative I love all the old stuff it was all very well made.  Regards George...

[johnhurdman]

Interesting video. I think you have a great layout.

[MrKlf]

Hi Oscar, nice to see the Hymek running so well. I have two I have managed to get running quite well. Both of mine are in BR blue, one has pick ups on the rear bogie which makes a real difference in performance. Thanks for sharing, I wish I could get my uncoupling ramps to work as well as yours do.

[NorbertRoll]

Hi Oscar, really wonderful again. And very interesting and informative.

[waldenhouse]

Great product Oscar. Nice demo too!
1/9 is 8p in today’s money! However, 1/9 was a lot of money. The analogy I explain, especially to children, is that in 1/- (One Shilling) there were 12 pennies.
One could buy 4 “Black Jack” chews for a penny (1d), so that’s 48 chews for one Shilling.
In this case of 1/9, (One Shilling and ninepence), means you could buy 84 chews for what is, today 8pence!!

[trainsontuesday]

Wonderful as always Oscar. You are so good at describing things that I think I could sit for ten minutes while you describe a paper clip. I think you may have missed one version. I'm sure I have a couple of lock down uncouplers in the standard track as well as in series 3. I have all that you showed except for the hand uncoupler. The "play" in this video was a delight to watch, thank you. David.

[andrewfanner]

Great video over a glass of port:-) Proper trauin set stuff. I used to make spare ramps out of clear plastic film which had some of the springiness, enough to lift the coupling hooks and could be threaded through the sleeper base. Nice to see the Standatd track version, and I'm not the only person whop has Standard track with green paint up the sides!

[markosolowey]

Hello it's great to see a triang layout.The couplers are fantastic to see i made some of my own with thin transparent plastic and they work great and look great if you can see them.The only downfall is i have to position markers at track side for their location Happy Christmas and Happy New Year cheers.

[robinmathews]

That is a great piece of information Andy. I have collected and run Tri-ang since 1955, and have never run into the Mk. 1 couplers? I have seen (and have samples of) the two versions of the Mk.2 coupler (with the plain or rounded bottom skid) ... But never knew that the really early items had a "Mk. 1 coupler" that was compatible with the later tension locks?
You and I, will have to keep an eye out for a sample of these, won't we Oscar?
A video on the Mk.1 type could be a future project to look forward to perhaps?

[SimonLivertonCentral]

Very interesting video Oscar, I am still unsure which method to use. I have made an uncoupler I will try and do a video of...Simon

[CZtuner]

Triang made a Series 2 (Standard track) version of the Series 3 uncoupling track from 1959 to 1960, when Series 2 track ceased production. This track section is featured in the 1968 Triang Hornby Book of Trains track page. It was not a power feed track, unlike the previous R.97 power uncoupling track, Needless to say they're extremely rare so very collectable.

The Mark 1 couplings are also automatic and pop open when the couplings are pushed together over the R.97 lever ramp, the Series 3, Super 4 and System 6 uncoupling ramps. The bias weight is lifted by the ramp and drops the hook out of the loop. I Have a couple of Plunger Princesses, one Rovex and the other Triang plus the coaches, all with Mark 1 couplings. I run them on Series 3 track and they work fine with the uncoupling ramps. The shape of the hook is similar to the Mark 3 tension lock hook so will only pop when pushed together with the carriage's Mark 1 coupling loop.

However Mark 1 coupling hooks coupled to the Mark 2 or Mark 3 coupling drawbars won't automatically couple or decouple as the Mark 1 hook has to be depressed into its normal decouple position in order to couple with a Mark 2 or Mark 3 coupling drawbar.

A 1950 Rovex Plunger Princess with Mark 1 coupling equipped, can haul the latest Hornby rolling stock.

[waldenhouse]

Oscar, a thought struck me. As you have so many interesting pieces in your collection, have you ever considered recording details of the boxes?
I note they all have a code number on the flap. On Pat Hammond’s webpage he shows the box design (colour/legend), but I haven’t ever seen a catalogue of boxes. There were some, in the 80s which had a wheel symbol with either “S” or “L” in the centre. These were for cutting out and submitting to HORNBY for a special offer. I sent off about 10 “L” ones and £18 and received the Class 86 “Frank Hornby” in return. That was about 1984. Have a good Christmas. Bob

[JAMESDEMU-RailwayModeller]

Never realised that there was a version that could be locked in the down position.
Very interesting and a mystery as to why they wouldn't want to retain that feature.

[TheTazzman]

Another very informative video Oscar, thank you. I've just got some uncoupling ramps to install and was not aware of the trick with the rail. Just as a side point, can you use the series 3 uncoupling track in a Super 4 layout? I know the geometry is different but not sure if the track is the same height. Anyway thanks again. Always look forward to Sunday night here in Australia as it's a new video from yourself, perfect viewing with a nice cup of tea!

[Steven_Rowe]

Oscar, i realise you shoot your videos on your iphone.
Whzt do you use to edit and make your videos???

[russellbenton]

Excellent to see layout in use Oscar . That part where the Brush Two is shunting her train back could be from an early 70s catalogue with Flying Scotsman, Albert Hall, AL1, Princess Elizabeth and jinties all in shot with the Hymek Freightliner going round. Fantastic ! The new Hornby announce their new range and catalogue on 7/1/19, but it won’t be anything like as exciting as this . I find their latest catalogues boring and bland compared to the excitement of the 60s 70s .

[Steven_Rowe]

Oscar how big is the layout and also where isit located, ie spare room etc.
I'm just curious