Replacing the weight in a Class 33

One of the problems with the 33 was the missing steel weight. This was easily rectified by adding sections of lead from the 'secondhand' roll which for some reason lives in the garden. As previously noted, nothing will stick to the plastic that the frame is made from, so with four sections dropped into the battery box recess, I melted two lengths of sparkler rod into the floor to retain. This is a bit rock 'n' roll for most people and I can't see too many taking this approach with a new Heljan item.

I may put this to one side for now as it would need a lot more aesthetic work to get it up to scratch and even a new set of finer wheels. As it stands it's a runner and has been a little sideline fun to get it there.

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All the frees...

 You know how you get dragged down a rabbit hole, especially in the early hours when there is no time limit? 

I picked up a youtube video on servicing Lima diesels; why I don't know, but it engaged me for 20 mins and had a couple of useful tips. Then I remembered the rather decrepit Class 33 that I'd been given. It was unboxed and in a bit of a state. So much so that I didn't even test it. The cruddy wheels where cleaned with a fibre brush till they gleamed and I started to deconstruct it. Keep in mind that this was already 1am. The motor was dismantled and cleaned and the tip of removing any witness mark burrs from the gears was employed.

The main worry was a crack in the frame at the front. No solvent known to man will fix this, so I resorted to using a soldering iron with an old bit, 'smearing' the surfaces together. This works fine. 

The trailing bogie had all its contacts polished and the two bogies were refitted. The weight is missing, but a bit of lead will fix this. The body (posed loose below) was dropped into washing up water and scrubbed with a toothbrush (she'll never know). Guess what? It's come up a treat and purrs along, even over the small radius points and mix of fine and bullhead Peco on Dury's Gap.

Where it will end up, I don't know, but it kind of deserves taking up a notch with a glazing and a spot of painting and renumbering. Let's face it it is probably the best part of forty years old, but how much fun is this?

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Lima diesels

Remember when this would have been a magazine cover?
A Lima 33 owned by the Excellent Cake and awaiting a refurb by self. It runs fine, that is until you run a new Bachmann loco; how far we have come since 1976 - or maybe we haven't, as it's very noticeable that bit don't fall off these items when you take them out of the packing. The newer stuff has a habit of disintegrating.

I mentioned a couple of days back that it was all quite jolly running a few Lima items up down on Hopwood and it struck me that there is a whole modelling generation for whom Lima models are the thing that they fondly remember. The steam locos were pretty dire, but the diesels were very good for their day and it's easy to forget that people like the renowned Ian Futers would happily convert them to P4. Monty Wells ran more than a few articles in RM on detailing and then, unbelievably now, latterly in MRJ; the Class 73 springs to mind.

My question is this: There are numerous guides on HD/Tri-ang et al, listing and cataloguing all the products, but considering that Lima produced British OO from the mid 1970s right through to 2004 (and beyond?) there is no collectors organisation, or books, or market in catalogues. That is, not that I've noticed, but then I've not been looking. If you know different, I think we all deserve to know. In the meantime I've got a self-chopped Class 121, the quasi-Class 117 and a CCT already running on Hopwood. Is this a new trend? Could the whole thing be run at an  exhibition  using items from the range?
Lima 1980 catalogue here
   Wiki page here