Lima Class 31

Jaguar68 · January 28, 2018, 08:56:39 PM

Hi chaps,

just how inaccurate is the Lima Class 31?

Best regards

John

thebrighton · January 28, 2018, 08:58:15 PM

Very

Jaguar68 · January 28, 2018, 09:14:41 PM

Oh well, I've got one now, so I guess I can always pull it apart a break it!!!

NeMo · January 28, 2018, 09:14:53 PM

Quote from: Jaguar68 on January 28, 2018, 08:56:39 PM
just how inaccurate is the Lima Class 31?

Lima models are not highly rated. The mechanisms are very basic, and tend to be noisy and unreliable. If you don't mind a "vintage" model, then Minitrix make much better investments. Silly prices are often asked for these on eBay, but you can pick them up a lot more cheaply at model railway shows, say £30-40. The later Minitrix 47s are probably the best of the bunch.

Still, I regularly see Farish 'Warships' going for £50, and these are beautifully made locos built to current standards. Hard to imagine any Minitrix diesel, let alone Lima, being worth that sort of money. So spend your cash wisely!

Hattons has a particularly good secondhand website in my humble opinion. New stuff every day, and even if the prices aren't absolutely rock bottom, they're still pretty decent, and you can always return stuff that doesn't work, which isn't always the case with things bought at shows or on eBay.

Cheers, NeMo

Jaguar68 · January 28, 2018, 09:20:19 PM

I think I need to be a little more disciplined with my rolling stock. The best loco I have at the moment is a Farish by Bachmann Class 33, 33002 Seaking, in Dutch.

Best regards

John

ntpntpntp · January 28, 2018, 09:59:35 PM

The Lima 31 is a little overscale, though not as bad as the Lima 55 Deltic which is massively oversize. The size difference is particularly noticeable against Lima's own british coaches which if anything seem to be to 1:160 scale instead of british 1:148. I remember buying a 31 from W&H in the 70s.

The original motor bogie mechanism can only best be described as "cheap and cheerful". The loco suffers from only being driven on the one bogie, with all the pickups on the other bogie which is quite highly sprung. you need to keep the pickup wheels very clean to maintain any hope of decent running through insulfrog points.

In the last gasps of Lima British N production in the early 90s the 31 (and also the class 86) was revised with a can motor, though still driving just the one bogie. This is I think a better, smoother running model but still a little wobbly if the traction tyres aren't perfect, and still hindered by pickups on one bogie only. I've only recently acquired examples of the can-motored 31 and 86, purely in the interests of having them in my collection. I had been vaguely aware of the 31 as it was proposed in the 1991 catalogue (though it was supposed be both bogies driven), but I wasn't aware of the 86 until it was mentioned on this forum. As a European N modeller I view these alongside similar early upgrades to Lima's continental models, on the way to further improvements resulting in models that I consider still good enough to run at shows.

Jaguar68 · January 28, 2018, 10:08:55 PM

Thanks for the replies chaps. I'm not too worried about running the 31's with coaching stock, as I'm looking to repaint it in one of the Railfreight logos. Hopefully, it won't look too bad

railsquid · January 29, 2018, 12:19:39 AM

Has anyone every converted a Lima Class 31 to 2mm finescale, and if so what were they smoking?

I ask because this thread is in the 2mm section

Bealman · January 29, 2018, 06:01:53 AM

Not anymore

railsquid · January 29, 2018, 09:44:25 AM

Just for the record, here's mine:

Lima Class 31 D5518 by Rail Squid, on Flickr

Easily the worst runner I own, I've got a 1960s-era East German Piko locomotive which is better designed and more reliable. I think it might benefit from more weight to improve traction, as the only substantial weight is provided by the diecast metal chassis.

BR Signalman · February 03, 2018, 09:51:24 AM

What the Lima 31s are very good for is donating the boiler steps and filler to put into the older Farish bodies. At least, till Farish brought out the revised 31s and negated all the work!

Jaguar68 · February 03, 2018, 12:53:54 PM

It's a pity really, the shell is really quite finely detailed. I now only have 2 31's as I have just discovered that one of them has had a catastrophic fire at some point!!!

I hope to be doing a restoration thread at some point in the near future 😊

robert shrives · February 03, 2018, 01:01:16 PM

Way back in the 1980s I recall Bernard Taylor - of this parish merrily slicing and dicing the body into a 2mm model - Quite possibly the basis of the resin kit that was available. The chassis with kit was a white metal casting and with a donor to transplant bogies and motor a good model made.

At worst the Lima model makes a siding filler given original chassis is beyond poor..

Robert

BR Signalman · February 03, 2018, 06:16:26 PM

I agree totally on the detail on the Lima bodies. If they hadn't made such a ghastly hash of the proportions, in my opinion, the detail would stand comparison of most models of today. I keep looking at the ones I have to see if there is anything else that can be transplanted.

robert shrives · February 03, 2018, 06:35:47 PM

Hi Cut of cabs on roof join keeping handtails intact , slit vertically and remove a mm from each side and rejoin make good door and roof vent. Then taking a 1990s vintage 31 remove cabs and put on lima cut downs - hepresto a skinhead 31...

A great way to make a differing version until just a year or so ago... and guess what is in my part done bin!! I will finish it one day honest - well I keep telling myself. This "mod" however extreme makes up for how the early farish model was rushed to market part finished- so near but so far.

At a show when 31 was brand new I compared it with the Bernard/ CJM version on the stand. the CJM was slightly - 6mm shorter which made me think it was a 2mm not N model and the Farish crowd were liking the simple blue livery - that came out next ! but were a bit sheepish on the bland end details.