Airfix Class 31 coupling fix

The Airfix 31 has been part of the Rhiw saga since early days. Dating back to the mid 1970s, it's now half a century old.. and this shows.

For those of a certain age this will be a familiar tale. It it basically past its sell by date on lots of levels, but remains on the roster as an emergency back up. Though quite honestly this is largely emotional rather than practical. Up against the Bachman fleet, which themselves are a 20 year old design it's pretty crude and noisy. That aside, there has been a coupling issue for a while and this is its last chance. 

Above, the existing, but unhelpful, Airfix coupling was reclipped into a bed of super glue and left overnight to cure.

The new fix is that ultimate bondmaster, the Peco track pin. A hole was drilled through the coupling and mount and the pin put through and fixed with lashings of super glue, before trimming the pointy bit.

 Finally a Dapol retainer was clipped over. This apes the Airfix part, but is just a fraction smaller, so is the best, but not perfect. Super glue is again the filler in the sandwich.

All crude stuff, but it seems to have worked; for the minute at least. While under the bonnet, another repair to the main frame was carried out. Nothing will stick to this so some brutal work with a soldering iron and some Wills sheet was the only way forward. The smell was...

And so the old girl limps on for another day.