Fantastic work Rob! I recently filmed a very similar video with my own Pug but you've beaten me too it 😅 If my experience is anything to go by, the stay alive should make a big difference especially if you want to shunt at realistic speeds all the time. Looking forward to Part 2 👍
Thanks, part 2 is the bit I'm worried about, I'm terrible at modelling and painting by hand. Need the 3D printer to do the hard work. Hope you're doing well 🙂
Great work! The cab of my Hornby Pug is crammed full of a Train-o-matic decoder and Smart Power Pack - and the motor - it works well but doesn't look so good. Your project looks like a much-needed upgrade. It surprises me that the loco manufacturer hasn't thought of this!
Such a cute little loco, and you've brought it into the modern age without anything really noticeable from the outside. Looking forward to seeing the rest of this series.
I absolutely love this model. Got an original Dapol one for 30£ in mint condition. Until this day its one of my favourite locomotives despite the age and the lack of modern detail. Fitted the lamps and headcode discs to it. So cool you managed to upgrade it. For the modern price it should be like this from Hornby. I have no idea why this model is in the Railways range like the 4F and the 2P these are all old models which are not up to modern standards. Still, my little Pug is still going strong today as my shunter and local goods locomotive. Got some matching LMS wagons on the way for her to pull. Great video 👍👍
Excellent rob. I've got a pug awaiting an upgrade here. I love what you've done, I think you could sell those motor mounts if you wanted to, I'd have one. The pug is a humble model that deserves this kind of love. Alex
Awesome! I always like to see this sort of modification video, because it's nice to see old locos being given a new lease of life. I'm doing something similar, with a couple of Lima Mk2s. And, on another note, im constructing a completely accurate (bar power source!) Class 139 Parry. Good luck with the pug!
Hi Rob! What a wonderful explanation as always! This video finally gave me the courage to take "the leap" and start building my layout. I ran into some trouble and was hoping you (or anyone following this video) could guide me. Background: I am building a freelance N-Gauge 4mm scale layout taking elements from the Lynton & Barnstaple Rly, the Ffestiniong Rly, Welsh Highland and some narrow gauge railways in India. I had purchased a model power 0-6-0 shunter long back at a good bargain and it works good on DC. I intend to 3d a body, throw in a dcc decoder and convert it to something similar to a Manning Wardle 2-6-2 Lyn of the LBSR. After getting the push watching this video I went ahead and purchased a Zimo MX648 sound decoder from Streamlined Backshop here in the US. It came tested so it is supposed to work out of the box without major setup. The issue: Before soldering the wires, I decided to do a dry run so I connected some jumper wires to the NEM8 pin and connected them to the rails. I am using a DCC++ Ex Command station connected to JMRI. I have not connected a speaker or the motor to the decoder. JMRI is able to connect to the command station but it cannot detect the decoder. Gives me an error that it failed to read CV8 and an error of 308. I googled it but cannot get a good lead. What am I missing?
Ok this is going to sound dumb.. but I am a newbie to the hobby! I figured out two things: First - I had to have a "load" connected to the decoder for it to be able to communicate back to the command station and hence JMRI. So the solution was to I connect the motor to the decoder. Second: I was trying to program on main but that didn't work. As soon as I connected my track to the program side (B) on the motor shield I was able to detect and add the decoder. I hope my noob-ness helps someone else!
What a fantastic project and a wonderful video to reflect that. It's a shame Hornby haven't spent the time themselves in improving this loco. Maybe they will watch it and purchase your 3D images off of you.... who knows....
A really interesting set of modifications to an otherwise somewhat unwieldy tank engine. I might start getting ideas for some very small prototypes at this rate! I wish you luck on your saga.
Very nice work, for the roof repair I'd suggest possibly adding a couple of tiny pins and then using a little greenstuff epoxy putty, the pins help anchor the greenstuff in place
Super glue and baking soda is another option used in military and wargaming modelling. Dries rock hard in a flash and is robust but still filable and sandable.
I love videos like this on restoring and improving common older models. Tristram at 00neal has done a lot of projects like this, great to see you have similar projects!
Nice work, I have been eyeing up some of those motors as a upgrade too. Before you go much further I would check its pulling power vs wagons with the weight you intend to use to check it is viable.
I remember getting my 2 'pugs' when Hornby first got the Dapol toolings, must've been around £25-£30 new at the time? You'd think for £85 they'd have improved the model or done a new tooling like the terriers. Also good to see that the motor can work on DC wired straight to the controller, think it's time my pug got a similar upgrade.
Oh hello! Guess what I've got sitting in front of me on a bit of track? My Pug is the Hornby one but I'm pretty sure they are identical. I put a DCC chip in mine but it was in the cab and I've pulled the loco apart to see how I could better do it. Looks like your mod might make life much easier. I hope you might make your STL's available for others to use. Especially if you are doing some simple cab detail too :). Cheers!
Thanks James. The design wasn't too bad because I could copy the shape of the weight by drawing round a photo in sketch up then mock up the motor from measurements. The shaft extension is brass rod with a 1mm bore fitted onto the motor with a 1mm diameter rod fitting inside that and the worm gear. All fit quite tightly, but will need glue to make sure they don't slip/slide. I think the extended shafts from tramfabreik are probably better than my bodge job.
Excellent project, all is very well designed and should improve this old model no end providing you can add some discreet weight. I suspect the motor runs better with the decoder as I'm not sure how coreless friendly those old Hornby DC controllers are.
In general locomotives often run slightly better on DCC. In this case though, I think it is partly the Hornby controller, as Hornby tend to use feedback or pwm in their controllers, which I have heard can actually damage coreless motors. Fitting a decoder will solve this problem though.
Really interesting video. I have a Hornby Pug and love the loco, but have always been slightly disappointed about the motor almost filling the cab. Although I'm not interested in DCC I would like to have a go at changing the motor. If you ever consider selling the printed motor mounts I would be very interested. Thanks.
When I finish the project and if it looks OK, then I can do prints or share files. Can confirm that the tungsten putty didn't work. Picked the model up after the heat wave, and it had done a tungsten poop on my desk. Need to remove all the putty now and clean the mechanism. Back to the drawing board to increase the weight.
Wait until part 3 eventually comes out. You'll see that my idea to put tungsten putty in the model was a bit of disaster. The room temperature increased and the pug pooped putty all over the desk. The project is on hold until I can get the time and energy to scrape putty out of the mechanism and every little corner of the model. Hornby probably don't need my bright ideas right now...