Getting to grips with the VEP

I've done write-ups on this thing before and I've had it for several years. In all that time it's never run properly in public. It never worked properly on the original portable layout, it never worked properly with a DCC decoder installed, it didn't work when I tried it on the new layout. In fact the only place it ever does work is in the loft and that's no good.

So after deciding to get a grip on some of the unfinished projects, I decided to have one last proper go at making it run. It wasn't a cheap model and it's already had a fair amount of time and money spent on it having had to replace the motor due to snapping the housing. Okay so it has no place on a three rail layout but I wanted to get at least one modern Hornby product up to a decent running standard. This is intended to be the last time I spend time trying to make this thing work. If this fails then I'll put it back to two rail operation and flog it!

So after the last attempt to run it in public, where it stuttered along for a few feet, I dismantled the motor carriage for the umpteenth time to find a wire off on the current return. Interestingly the motor bogie is also wired for current return but it wouldn't run with current return through only one bogie.

A simple soldering fix to make it run, time to run it round the loft, firstly as a single car and then by connecting the other three coaches.

It ran reasonably well around the loft but the loft layout, these days largely consisting of a large oval loop with only one pair of reverse points in a straight section is hardly a fair test. I needed something more realistic, more challenging.

So I then ripped up the entire remaining tracks in the loft and re-laid it in a design that's more challenging, with more points, installed on bends in an attempt to replicate the conditions when running on I 'ad that. If the set is run on the outer loop then it'll only have to cope with three pairs of points, of which two it will run through backwards which doesn't tend to cause a problem. On the upper loop there are points at each end of the siding and reverse curves. I don't have room to add reverse curves in the loft but I've added points at each end after the curves to create long sidings, similar in design to the upper loop on I 'ad that. Potentially I could add a long station platform should I ever get around to redoing the loft layout.

After more testing with genuine HD locos, some of the track is a little warped but for now I'll leave this in situ as it makes for a good test track. In theory if a loco can cope with this then it should work fine on the main layout. The VEP was then run again to check if it could cope with points and curves together, which all apart from one bogie it coped with. The motor bogie couldn't manage it at all and derailed on every single run over both points. Good thing I decided to make the track more challenging!

Time for another radical rethink about how to make the VEP work.

There are numerous problems associated with trying to make modern stock run on old tinplate three rail track. Firstly whichever type of pickup system is installed, this will create additional resistance and minor lift on the bogie, essentially trying to lift the wheels away from the track. Old HD locos with their heavy chassis and die cast metal bodies provided more than enough weight to counter this. Second problem is clearance under the axles - they were never designed with third rail in mind so space to install pickups is limited. A Marklin skate just and just fits but had to be modified and offers a fair amount of resistance as described above so a lead weight has been bolted to the inside of the coach above the bogie to provide the extra ballast required. Current return should be through as many wheels as possible, just wiring one side will always affect reliability especially when running over points. It isn't difficult on a set like this to wire the return to all eight wheels. The final problem is the shape of the wheels. Modern track is flat, quite square really, whereas HD is coarse and rounded. This means that there is very little surface contact between wheels and railhead and this is why the motor coach wheels, with their rubber tyres, barely made sufficient contact for current return. Bachmann wheels seem to cope with HD track quite well as do the remaining wheels within the VEP set but a solution was needed for the motor coach.

After some more head-scratching, I turned to the recently scrapped Bo-Bo and checked its wheels. Size wise they're marginally larger than the VEP ones but most critically, the axle shaft size is the same!

So the motor coach wheels were extracted...

And I managed to find enough spare HD wheels to fit instead. Bit of a mix 'n' match but once the outer cover is back on, this won't show! The plastic around the wheels had to be reamed to accommodate the slightly larger diameter wheels.

And then onto the next problem...

The end connectors are really nasty things to work on and these two wires had to be soldered back into position using a magnifying glass. To add to the difficulty, both wires are the same colour so I used my test meter to check the continuity at the connector on the opposite end. Although the cab end lights now work, the coach lights don't and this isn't a huge problem so for now I'll ignore it.

After reassembly it was time to test. A couple of action shots below as the VEP, now running on full power, charges over the points without issue:

Of course the proper test will be to run it on the main layout. I'm hopeful that this thing has finally been cracked but it's fair to say that I won't be in a hurry to purchase any more new Hornby products. A shame really as a 2 BIL would have been nice!