Minitrix Britannia

[Bikeracer]

There seem to be a fair few Minitrix Britannias for sale on Ebay.

Is it worth getting one and is a DCC conversion feasible without major problems?
I've got a decoder I bought to fit in a Jinty which didn't get fitted and want to see if I can manage to fit it in an older loco.


Allan

[Jerry Howlett]

Mentioned this on another post but it is worth asking the seller if it has traction tyres. If not it will not barely drag itself around a layout let alone any rolling stock.
Polo2K has suggested using Bullfrog snot a US product to fill the grooves but so far I can only find one UK company Petersspares.com (on ebay) who sell it. Its about £25 for a 1oz jar so is not exactly cheap. Also available from the US at slightly less cost but for me the last time I bought anything (a loco) from the US the Italian postal system wouldn't deliver it until I paid import duties !.

Still thinking of trying the stuff and then perhaps selling the rest on perhaps we could start a communial jar !

[longbridge]

Certainly a fine loco, a friends second hand model train shop has three of these locos and they all run perfectly

[Jerry Howlett]

I forgot to mention, I have 3 of these one was bought new and will haul a 10 coach trains up my 1 in 50 gradients no problem. Also look out for the the newer models as they will have spoked front bogie, the older ones are solid.

[Newportnobby]

Here's a pic of Boadicea

[Jerry Howlett]

Here's a pic of Boadicea

And all that time I believed the rumour that she was buried beneath platform 8 at Kings Cross 

[Newportnobby]

Here's a pic of Boadicea

And all that time I believed the rumour that she was buried beneath platform 8 at Kings Cross 

In the interests of 'elf 'n' safety I took the blades off the driving wheels

[Jerry Howlett]

 

Here's a pic of Boadicea

And all that time I believed the rumour that she was buried beneath platform 8 at Kings Cross 

In the interests of 'elf 'n' safety I took the blades off the driving wheels

[EddieA]

My 'Britannia' dates from the mid 1970's. Recently dug her out of the box where she had been stored for some 15 years (along with my other N Gauge locos/rolling stock), a spot of oil on the gears and she set off around the test track at a good rate of knots as did all the other Minitrix locos, traction tyres seem to be OK on all of them.

But for some reason the Grafar/Farish locos of the same, even later vintage, were a bit more 'reluctant'(!) to move... and indeed quite a few seem to have totally seized up?

Incidentally I also have quite a few Lima British N gauge locos from the same period as the Minitirx and they also responded to a sip of oil. OK they were maybe a bit out of scale but it maybe does raise a question about the historic quality of a certain mass market UK N Gauge manufacturer of the 1970/1980's?

As to the original post, I don't use DCC but I think there should be space in the Britannia tender for a decoder?   

[EtchedPixels]

Incidentally I also have quite a few Lima British N gauge locos from the same period as the Minitirx and they also responded to a sip of oil. OK they were maybe a bit out of scale but it maybe does raise a question about the historic quality of a certain mass market UK N Gauge manufacturer of the 1970/1980's?

The Lima ones I find tend to go phut too. The Farish gears used to split (and still do a bit). They can be replaced but its annoying. The Trix stuff usually just works until it wears out entirely. I've had a couple of dock tanks that were clearly on the receiving end of their third or fourth young modeller by the time I got them. The paint was stuffed but once enough fluff was removed to fill an elephants belly button and they had a spot of oil they just purred back into life.

[Newportnobby]

but once enough fluff was removed to fill an elephants belly button

[Mr chapman]

There should be space next to the weight in tender of the brit for a decoder. If buying on ebay check the colour... there are two versions of green. Boadecea above is the colour you want. Others like mine are closer to a pea green.

[Bikeracer]

Well I managed to score a Minitrix Flying Scotsman tonight on Ebay,so with the 9F that's coming from Etched Pixels I'll have two to convert to DCC.

If the Minitrix locos work as well as most people imply I'll be having more steam locos, and not being a rivet counter I think they'll be plenty enough detailed for my purposes and work out a good bit less cost wise than the newer Farish offerings.
I've put another thread up about measuring amps because I don't know if these older loco motors draw more amps than the 1 amp decoders will supply.

Allan

[Newportnobby]

Other than the Brit 'Boadicea' I also have the 9F 'Evening Star'. Both good runners but I'm considering getting them off to 'Grimy Times' for a severe dose of weathering which will tone them down a bit and also improve their looks

[EddieA]

I have quite a few BR Minitrix locos, both steam and diesel.   They were the only reliable locos around when I was starting out in N Gauge in the mid late 70's. The only one I don't have is the class 47 as by that time Grafar had become Farish, upped their game as to the mechanics and their 47 looked, in my opinion, to be more accurate. 

As with the 'Brit' mentioned above all of them are still going strong. OK maybe 'some liberties were taken' as regards total accuracy to fit British outline bodies onto existing Continental chassis (the 'type 2' diesel maybe being the worst!) but they got me hooked on N Gauge, after trying to get a Grafar pannier tank to run without stalling at the slightest opportunity, and/or shedding its side rods, and almost deciding that N Gauge wasn't for me! 

I can still ignore the 'Britannia' body on a 2-10-0 chassis and see a 9F pounding along.

As to the 'Brit', put three Pullmans behind it and it takes me back to a Christmas in the late 60's when my best friend was given a OO Britannia set (Tri-ang, Tri-ang/Hornby?) from 'Santa'!

I evidently tried to trade my present, a bike, without success... but we still remained friends and I did get to play with the trainset, and he got shots on my bike! Fair do's as we say in Scotland.