Actually, it was my intention to surprise Zora, but this method can also be used to add some more variation in cars for Thomas the Tank Engine.

Basis is the Märklin 44129 tank car from the separate available cars from Thomas the Tank Engine. The cars with inscription "Milk" and "Tar". I assumed that Hornby would use the same basis for all the cars, to save cost. And so they did. The same way as Märklin does with the 44XX series of cars, which I rebuilded so many times.

First, buy a Hornby car:
R 9055 Sodor Fuel
R 9204 Rasberry Sirup
R 6209 Cream Tanker
R 9056 Sodor Scrap
R 9068 S.C. Ruffey
I am not sure about the closed cars. But keep me informed if the frame of these cars is the same.

And a Märklin 44129 "Milk" or "Tar" of course.

Remove the wheels from the Märklin and Hornby cars. Bend the outer frame (1 in picture) OUTwards. Only the frame, NOT the inside mounted brakes. Do it gently, so you won't risking braking the brakes and other small parts on the frame.



The pins (2 in the picture) of the upper part of the cars are solid and won't bend. First I thought I could bend them inwards, but that will not work. The trick is to OUTward bend the frame, something you wouldn't expect.

Change the upper part of the cars and click them together.
Put the wheels back in place. Take the one you took from the Märklin car, the Hornby wheels have too small flanges.

Finished.

I post the pictures of the rebuilding later, after Zora's birthday.

As promised, a picture from the rebuilded cars:



I used frames from Märklin 44129 and the upper part of Hornby R 6212 Adler & Allan and R 6211B Chance & Hunt.

No, to make somebody happy with her birtday, who is also a Railwaychildren fan !

Reason for asking, is that I sent my mother in law to England to buy some more cars for her grandsons Thomas the Tank engine set. I hope that they will fit standard Märklin couples, or that I can make a couple conversion on one waggon.

Otherwise I am in deep s**t with my 4-year old son....

//Erik

A list for the non-Thomas The Tank Engine cars:

R 6212 Adler & Allan
R 6211B Chance & Hunt
R 6243A Whitecliff Lime Company (with No.6 on the low right corner)
R 6239A Mc Kay
R 6238 I.W. Baldwin & Co.

There are new item number for the tank cars.
Märklin 44132 "Milk" (was 44129),
Märklin 44133 "Tar" (was 44129).
The new Hornby R 6320 SLB Lime Wagon also fits on the frame from Märklin 44132 or 44133.

It looks as though Marklin have simply tooled new underframes for these. You could also look in the Dapol and Bachmann ranges for other stock - you'd need to exchange couplings but Hornby offer a suitable coupling to fit NEM pockets, so you could use one of these wagons at each end of a rake as convertors. Dapol wagons are made in Wales and are excellent value, although you may want to rewheel them if you buy an older example with plastic wheels.

Of course, if you want some seriously upmarket OO coaches Hornby's new LNER stock has proper close coupling mounts that will take Marklin close-couplers. The interiors on these are something special - the buffet car even has the glass case on the serving counter and the chromed rail below!

That's a major cause for complaint here too. Why Bachmann didn't get the NEM pockets right is beyond me, especially as Keen Systems offer replacement drawbars that give the right height and spacing. Hornby's LNER stock is currently the only British stock with close coupling fitted according to NEM standards.

All is not lost for the Bachmann stock however. Hornby offer some NEM pocket couplings that look like the Roco ones but are slightly too long for proper close coupling. If you fit them to Bachmann stock however they work well as the Bachmann pockets are too far back. I have a rake of their MK1s fitted with these and it works well enough for a fixed set (they need some assistance to couple or uncouple).

Hornby set R9092 has three cars that can be rebuilded by using Märklin cars. One Märklin 44131 (or 44129) is needed and two 44132 ("Milk" car). The Hornby "SODOR scrap" car has a different frame, but the clipping is the same as the Märklin "Milk" car.
I have learned that much old Hornby stock is based on Triang cars. Perhaps here are some possibilities to rebuild cars.
Well, at least my "Percy" is very busy by shunting all these cars !

Hornby R782 —>



I think the open back will be a problem. Märklin builded the Delta decoder behind the DC motor, and I expect that it will be exposed to the open in this model.

At the moment I am doing some investigation if the body of "Bill/Ben" fits on the frame of Märklin 36121 "Percy". Much depends on the replies I will recieve, but I'll keep you informed.
I'm still very much in doubt about the fitting of the coupling of "Bill/Ben", which opposite to Percy is not fitted on the frame.

At the moment I am fitting the body of Hornby R9203 cattle wagon to the frame of Märklin 44131. This needs some more attention, because the outer clips are placed just a little bit further outwards than the open wagon of 44131. The reason behind this is unknown to me, but it means that I have to cut the clips into half. Cutting the clips into half weakens the clips a bit, and to make the fitting stronger, I applied some glue in the middle of the car. This is the first car of the range that needs some attention, but with basic skills it can be simply done.
It would be nice if I know where to buy some transfers with lettering, because the details on the cattle car is poor. Hornby R9213 circus cattle van is much more attractive.

I suspect that the cattle cars from Hornby are from the former Tri-ang Model Railways range, a company that Hornby took over. If so, a horse box car could also be made. But for that I need a bit more information from the UK model railroaders.

Link —> http://www.tri-ang.co.uk/

Studied the history of Dapol, and it seems to be they also use the moulds of Hornby.



See also:
http://www.dapol.co.uk/c...page=dapol00/wagons.html

They have a beautifull kit of a girder railway bridge. Maybe I will also order a goods car.