LNER Mechanical Horse

[Ewan]

The joblot which yielded my Large Scale Dozer contained another 7 items, all Dinkys and 6 of which I had already decided to sell on. This LNER Mechanical Horse was the only one that fell into 'what am I going to do with it' territory. So I did what I always do, consulted Nick's site

It seems that this, and a huge variety of other Mechanical Horses was produced from 1935 to 1940 (the Castrol tanker is seriously nice), including one for all the 'Big Four' railway companies of the time. Some of them were reintroduced in 1946, but not the railway ones, I suppose the approaching creation of British Railways stopped that. From 1947 onwards all that was made was the rather dull version with open trailer. A quick gander around ebay saw 2 railway ones - a very smart LMS version on 'Buy It Now' for £250, and what appears to be the bottom half of a GWR tractor unit. I think this one is a 'keeper' now, joining a Major Bedford S and 2 Major TK units waiting for a cheap trailer one day.

[starni999]

Very nice mate! You are right the No 33 railway Mech Horses were only made pre war, they were in the shops till Xmas 1940, but didn't reappear in 1945, they are the victims of fatigue like most Pre War models, and are VERY collectible, and you made the right call to keep that one.

I only have these..........

















So I'm still missing a GWR Trailer, and the full LMS unit, also the box van with Hornby Trains logo, and lots of other Tankers / Dustbin Waggons etc etc,

Chris Warr.

[Ewan]

That's a nice assortment you have there

I don't know if you can make it out on my pictures, but there is a patch at the nearside top of the radiator on mine that I thought may be fatigue? It reminds me of the corrosion I used to see on cast aluminium outboard motors except it doesn't look powdery. Is there anything that can be done to stabilise it or is it a process that just keeps going once it's started? I have enough experience of various types of corrosion on 1:1 models to have learnt not to poke around these things

[nickjones]

Hi Ewan, Your model does have a mild case of metal fatigue, it is a result of the zinc crystallizing so there's nothing much you can do to repair the damage.
I'm assuming you keep them indoors which should stop it getting any worse due to keeping it at a stable temperature and humidity. also keeping it out of contact with other toys will help,

[Ewan]

Thanks for that - I hadn't thought of keeping it on it's own. I tend to keep those little sachets of silica you get with some shoes in with my models just in case. It's a rather damp part of the world here - I used to run a filling station and remember getting huge problems with condensation in our quite new digital petrol pumps, it was so bad you couldn't read them until we hit on the idea of stuffing industrial sized silica sachets inside them. I've been a fan of the stuff ever since.

[starni999]

Hi All,
As a collector of Pre War Dinky I know the problem only too well, what we call fatigue is actually nothing of the sort and as Nick says is a chemical reaction due to lead being introduced into the mazak alloy and causing it to split apart and expand at a molecular level slowly bursting the model apart. The good news is Dinky were aware before the war that this was an issue, models were being returned for replacement in 1938 -9, so if your model has lasted 70 + years since then it's not likely to burst soon!
Pre War Dinky is a minefield, what with fatigue and fakes it can be nightmare, and is best avoided unless you really have to! Personally I believe that Pre War models are the only REAL Dinky's, after all they are the only one's made in Frank Hornby's lifetime (just about), so good luck to anybody who has a few.
Chris Warr.

[nickjones]

Ewan, As for keeping it on it's own, as long as it is not in physical contact with other models it should be ok, Toys piled into a toybox can generate a small electrical current if the different metals happen to be in the correct order, Lesney never had lead in their factory but very rarely one with metal fatigue turns up, these nearly all come from long forgotten toyboxes in damp basements or have been in contact with dry cell batteries.

[lionel-honda]

Some beauties there Chris. I am still looking for a horse for my carts...

Scott

[Idris]

Ewan, As for keeping it on it's own, as long as it is not in physical contact with other models it should be ok, Toys piled into a toybox can generate a small electrical current if the different metals happen to be in the correct order, Lesney never had lead in their factory but very rarely one with metal fatigue turns up, these nearly all come from long forgotten toyboxes in damp basements or have been in contact with dry cell batteries.

Hmmmm.....interesing idea.

[Idris]

Hi All,
As a collector of Pre War Dinky I know the problem only too well, what we call fatigue is actually nothing of the sort and as Nick says is a chemical reaction due to lead being introduced into the mazak alloy and causing it to split apart and expand at a molecular level slowly bursting the model apart.

To be precise, it's caused by lead precipitating out of the metal matrix and migrating by diffusion to the crystal boundaries where it oxidises, so forcing the crystals apart.