With an exhibition coming up for Nixnie, it is about time to get a move on doing something about rolling stock and further detailing of the layout. Further detailing will be handled in the layout thread.
The rolling stock for Nixnie is twofold. I do run some of the smaller C&DR stock on the layout, but in recent years I have accumulated some small size 009 and H0e stock which is more appropriate for the small layout. The most recent additions are from the Minitrains range. The last item I obtained is a Plymouth diesel in the 1960s livery of dark green with a yellow band. This didn't run as well as I had hoped as it proved to tilt fore and aft alarmingly. On investigation this proved to be due to the chassis construction which has two brass beams slotting into the chassis block:
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The beams proved to have some play so the wheels tilted with the action of the drive gearing. I reduced this movement by inserting two strips of brass shim between the beams and the rectangular support block protruding from the chassis. One can just be made out under the brass beam in the following close-up:
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The net result is that running has improved hugely. It isn't as smooth as a Kato chassis and never will be, but it runs much better now. I also took advantage of the body shell being off to blank off the LED under the cab roof with black paint so it only shines forward!
At the moment I'm busy improving the three Egger carriages I have for the layout. The idea is to run a 1960s style Egger train, using the Minitrains replica Egger no. 1 loco and original carriages. As many of you know, the two-wheel bogies of the Egger stock cause many problems when running on non-Egger track. I tried gluing the bogies to the vehicle floor which improved things somewhat. However, the long wheelbase and the square flange profile means they tend to climb the track and the fixed couplings (early Egger type) lock up too easily so they derail the vehicle on my sharp curves. So I found a solution that both improves running and reduces the long wheelbase look. The brake van in the following view has been adapted, note the shorter wheelbase and overall better look:
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Ted
interesting as usual. I am trying to support Minitrains but must admit my preferred solution is a fettled Bachmann MDT chassis with a Funero and Camarlengo body, both from the sales stand. The 6 wheel chassis is not noticeable under the sideframes and if stripped and all parts polished and the gears slightly oiled it performs very well.
Peter Smith
The main reason I have bought some Minitrains stock is sentimental, as it reminds me of the 1960s when I started modelling. My experiences with the new Minitrains stock are mixed. The Egger no.1 replica runs beautifully, but the Plymouth and the Baldwin have been a pain. They run well enough now but it was a lot of work and I think there is more to come before I'm satisfied.
improvements on the Egger coaches
I cut the couplings off the bogies and cut the pivot stud off the carriage floor, then move the wheelsets inboard so the brake hanger lines up with the inboard end of the steps. I fitted the couplings on a 0.5mm strip of styrene which is then pivoted from the original bogie pivot, using the plastic pivot pin. The photo below shows the changes made. Note that the floor is rather cluttered with glue spots due to the earlier work. The Egger plastic doesn't take kindly to polystyrene cement, so I turned to cyanoacrylate gel.
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The 0.5mm strip can just move sideways under the bogie subframe if this is glued on two strips of styrene glued to the floor next to the solebars. The plastic pivot pin needs to be given a little space so I drilled a second hole in the floor in the spot the bogie pivot ends up. The coupling stub is given a slightly flat top edge, then is glued against a small block of styrene glued to the coupling strip, again using cyano gel. If one supports the coupling with a sliver of 1mm styrene between it and the buffer beam, it sets just right.
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The wheels are still the original ones. The flanges have worn a little due to the long wheelbase having ground through the curves countless times. Having them closer together means the angle to the track is less acute. They track much better now. Using an engine, I pushed the two carriages converted up to now through the curves on Rae Bridge for some time, and they stay on without any problem.
Here is a close-up of the two vehicles shown in the previous post, one modified, the other isn't yet.
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I thought I'd show you a few portraits of what is going to run on Nixnie. Here goes!
The Egger replica with coaches:
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The Plymouth diesel shunting at the brickworks:
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The Baldwin saddle tank with a short coal train and a Minitrains 'brake van'. Note I did some photoshopping of the trees on the left - there was a bit of C&DR in the way!
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A Peco 'Jeanette' on a Fleischmann chassis. The loco is still a bit unfinished - I need to camouflage that awful seam in the boiler and smokebox:
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The next one is a real beauty. I got it from Klaus Olschewski in Germany, who had picked it up at a swapmeet. It is an Egger/Jouef 'works locomotive' with the front end of a Cass tractor (or possibly the rear end of a shovel?) added. It is a good runner into the bargain, shown here with a few Roco skips.
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Finally, here is another diesel loco. It started as a 1970s Atlas diesel, a precursor of the Roco range. I rebuilt it with a shorter hood long ago, and fitted an excuse for a gearbox in front of the radiator. It was refitted with a 5 pole motor and despite the slightly wobbly wheels it is a fair runner:
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Finally another view of the Egger no. 2 replica coming round the curve at the brickworks, bunker first. The wagon in the siding was built by my good and departed friend Reinier Hendriksen, for his Moors End layout.
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About the Minitrains locos: the Egger replica runs like a treat, very smooth and quiet despite being rod coupled. It has a flywheel that regrettably fills the cab but keeps it going almost everywhere, and it looks excellent at the head of a train of Egger coaches.
The Baldwin has been a source of trouble all along. It has a good motor and chassis, but no amount of tweaking the quartering makes it run smoothly. It came with a cut down gear on the first axle that hit the intermediate gearing to the motor, making the loco limp along the track. I wonder why they didn't make it gear coupled anyway. I removed the burrs from the cut down gear and it ran a little better.
It still has a few binding points in the rod coupling that won't go away. I think the crankpin positions are inaccurate. I tried tightening up the loose bearing journals inserting brass shim, but that succeeded only in locking up the chassis as the binding was accentuated, so I removed the shims. I can now run it by setting the KPC controller to full feedback, as this boosts the motor over the binding points. It runs reasonably well now and it keeps running for ages. But not having solved the problem irks me no end.
Well done Ted - this is excellent. So good in fact that I've decided not to report you to the Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Eggerbahn Enthusiasts. ;D ;D
The diesel from Klaus looks fine and the Jeanette on the Fleischmann chassis is really nice. Perhaps an outside blower pipe ans a couple of handrails in front of the seam?
My own recent loco work has had nothing to do with 009! I've been preparing my 5" gauge War Department 2-10-0 for a trip to her new home in Sheffield and working on a 4mm BR Standard Class 7!
Quote from: Tigger on December 17, 2012, 12:08
Well done Ted - this is excellent. So good in fact that I've decided not to report you to the Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Eggerbahn Enthusiasts. ;D ;D
The diesel from Klaus looks fine and the Jeanette on the Fleischmann chassis is really nice. Perhaps an outside blower pipe ans a couple of handrails in front of the seam?
My own recent loco work has had nothing to do with 009! I've been preparing my 5" gauge War Department 2-10-0 for a trip to her new home in Sheffield and working on a 4mm BR Standard Class 7!
Thanks for not reporting me. That would have been awful! ::)
Handrails and/or a blower pipe had been on my mind, thanks.
Standard gauge? How dare you....! Shameful, really... :police:
What a lovely collection! Thanks for sharing.
Quote from: Sven on December 18, 2012, 06:28
What a lovely collection! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Sven - it's a pleasure!
Coming back to the latest developments on rolling stock for Nixnie, I have been busy with the little box cab electric which I got from Tom Bell last spring. It will enter service as a battery loco due to the absence of overhead wiring, but I'm thinking of making up an extra roof with a pantograph for service on the C&DR in the future.
Here are a few photos:
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There is a little roughness left on the 3D printed surface, but the paint has sunk into it and evened out most of it. I don't have a glassfibre pencil to do some preliminary polishing, but it doesn't look too bad now. The acrylic paint mixed a little with the rust brown water-based paint Tom sprayed onto it, but this makes for an interesting weathering effect, particularly on the roof.
I fitted styrene strips inside the body that fix it to the clips on the Bandai chassis. Also, I glued the Bandai ballast blocks into the hoods.
What I missed on the tiny hoods was ventilation grilles. I made up a few from paper. I'm not yet quite satisfied with them as they look too much like paper, but I've got some ideas.
The buffer beams have been extended downward with a strip of styrene, and I fitted some whitemetal coupling/buffer bars to it. All was done with cyano gel glue. More detail work has to be done still - a controller box, brake lever and a driver come to mind.
That is a lovely little loco, Ted! It would look superb with a trolley pole on the roof.
Sorry about the standard gauge drift there but in my defence, the Standard Class 7 is OO and therefore narrow to gauge and the WD 2-10-0 is miniature so that's just very narrow gauge! ;D
Quote from: Tigger on December 18, 2012, 12:59
Sorry about the standard gauge drift there but in my defence, the Standard Class 7 is OO and therefore narrow to gauge and the WD 2-10-0 is miniature so that's just very narrow gauge! ;D
No lame excuses will get you out of the deep hole you have dug for yourself young Master Burleigh. Just hope that Herr Direktor General of the Society does not read this thread or you may find yourself being despatched to the East on a P&O steamer (starboard side, 3rd class) for re-education in penury in the far frontiers of Empire .
Mick
Just to try to bring the thread back a little - but then kick it in another direction....
Talking of battery locos ( or more properly locos powered by a portable generator) it might be interesting to model the Gherkin MK 2 which appeared on the Ffestiniog - there's a picture in the current edition of the Snowdon Ranger.
Bob
Quote from: MickT on December 18, 2012, 15:22
Quote from: Tigger on December 18, 2012, 12:59
Sorry about the standard gauge drift there but in my defence, the Standard Class 7 is OO and therefore narrow to gauge and the WD 2-10-0 is miniature so that's just very narrow gauge! ;D
No lame excuses will get you out of the deep hole you have dug for yourself young Master Burleigh. Just hope that Herr Direktor General of the Society does not read this thread or you may find yourself being despatched to the East on a P&O steamer (starboard side, 3rd class) for re-education in penury in the far frontiers of Empire .
Mick
I think that is called a slow boat to China.
Here is another photo of the steeplecab, with improvements to the ventilation louvres. I'm now working on the cab interior (controller wheel, brake handle), a driver etc.
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Does anyone remember Bob Symes (Schutzman) who worked for the Beeb and had the very eccentic Payerbrook and Fairlie Railway? He had a steeple cab loco with a pantograph on it but also a 'maintennance tower wagon' theoretically for overhead wire maintennance but in reality wired up for 2-rail with a wire projecting from the tower to make contact with the loco's pantograph so it could run without the overhead wire. He referred to the wagon as 'The Angler' for obvious reasons. I suppose nowadays we'd just wire a a micro switch of some sort in to switch between the pantograph and 2-rail collection. But somehow his solution seemed so much more elegant.
Rod
Yes I remember something about the Payerbrook & Fairlie - late 1960s, wasn't it, and standard gauge? Wasn't it in the Model Railway News?
The idea of using a generator wagon with a wire to the pantograph or trolley pole springs to mind!
At first I couldn't place the 'Gherkin', but in this context I can!
Quote from: tedp on December 19, 2012, 11:48
The idea of using a generator wagon with a wire to the pantograph or trolley pole springs to mind!
I LIKE IT! I LIKE IT!! ;D It does mean that you can use it anywhere on any layout and the generator wagon can be used for extra pick-up.
When I was working for the Department of Transport I once saw a trolleybus going through its MoT test in Mitcham Heavy Goods Vehicle testing station. Yup, you've guessed it! It was towing a generator which was feeding the trolley poles!
And Mick, I'd have thought you'd approve of a War Department Austerity! I dare not post a photo here 'coz I'll be accused of major thread drift! :)
Whew... that one's completed. For the moment, as I'm seriously considering the generator wagon. But right now there's no time for that as I have to move on to other work on the stock and the layout. Here are the final photos.
The driver being painted:
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Cab interior, plus some undetected paint blemishes:
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And finally a view of the loco in service, showing how tiny it is - only 42mm long with a few mm added for the couplings:
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Hythe Pier ex mustard gas comes to mind ~ before their uglification. They were battery powered before taking the third rail option.
Wonderful! It seems to be chain driven with the traction motor in the cab. Controller to the right, the brake is the handwheel I think. In the back is the main switch, or possibly a reversing switch. Thanks for posting this, Paul.
There is a battery electric loco with a steeple cab in the slate museum in Llanberis that is very similar to your new loco, which I love. I'll pop down and get a picture or two when I get a chance. I'm not sure where it came from but I guess that it must be from a quarry or it wouldn't be in the museum.
http://www.aditnow.co.uk/showimage/?f=/community/Llanberis-2-User-Album-Image-30386/
This is it, I found the pic on line.
Keep it up
Cheers
John
Both of those locos share a common origin I think. The Hythe locos were very extensively "rebuilt" by Southampton University Engineering Department in the 1980s after the salt spray had corroded just too much away. Basically they've spent most of their lives on (over) the water. The Hythe Tramway picks up power from a third rail (human muscle when shunting in the curlicue siding at the landward end) instead of the battery boxes that were mounted fore and aft. The motor is from the eighties and has a thyristor control. The pier itself has had adventures, like being cut into by a ship that got lost. Now it is almost buried in the land (they've left a "canal" of water for it) which has been reclaimed on both sides.
Initially it would seem a superb prototype for modeling but 80 feet of straight track, 79 feet of see or mud (depending on the tide) and hundreds of Victorian screw pilings all dipped in Captain Peacock's patent mixture, topped by girders, timber and ornate railings. Operation is very much a case of out and back, and the stock list is short.
I'm not saying that someone hasn't done it, but
Thanks, all, for your information on battery electrics. I may have to put a motor mock-up in the cab of mine - I always assumed there would be a motor under the cab and the batteries in the ends. But probably there wouldn't be enough space under the cab for a decent size motor. If it's going to be an overhead powered loco I think the motor would be in one hood and the switchgear in the other.
Regarding pier tramways, I seem to remember Laurie Cooksey once built a model of one.
John
Manod Quarry had two Brush built battery electric locos, the one you picture appears to have similar parentage although probably is not from Manod. I don't know of any other quarries in the area that had such things, maybe someone elso knows better. Presumably it is not known where your example came from?
Rod
If my daughter ever gets out of her pit I'll take her and the hound for a walk down to the museum and see if it has any information about it. I've never taken much notice of it till I saw Ted's model of it!
John W
Quote from: rod335 on December 27, 2012, 12:37
John
Manod Quarry had two Brush built battery electric locos, the one you picture appears to have similar parentage although probably is not from Manod. I don't know of any other quarries in the area that had such things, maybe someone elso knows better. Presumably it is not known where your example came from?
Rod
Any luck with the battery electric loco at Llanberis John? I've been eagerly scanning the site since your post waiting for details. I suppose that's a comment on the sort of life I lead! Seriously, I find posts about these sort of obscure things that very little is known about to be vastly more interesting than yet another picture of Lyd etc. Cue howls of outrage....
Rod
Hi Rod
Daughter stayed in bed too long and I haven't had a chance to get down there since but as soon as do I promise to put up some pics. I know I've got some prints in an album but it is behind the xmas tree at the moment.
John W
Quote from: Isle of Stoner on December 30, 2012, 18:05
Hi Rod
Daughter stayed in bed too long and I haven't had a chance to get down there since but as soon as do I promise to put up some pics. I know I've got some prints in an album but it is behind the xmas tree at the moment.
John W
;D I thought that was a problem only specific to sons!
Continuing the tale of the rolling stock for Nixnie, here are a few photos of a model scratchbuilt by my friend the late Reinier Hendriksen, over 15 years ago. It is a tiny Bagnall style wing tank, made from brass on what I think may be a Saltford models chassis. It is of split frame and axle construction, with tiny cranks and coupling rods, driven on the rear axle by a Mashima 16x9 open frame motor in the cab. It runs very smoothly although it has a slight limp due to wobbly wheels. The wagon, also by Reinier, is a scratchbuilt affair with 5.5mm curly spoke wheels. I intend to run this loco sparingly as I don't want to cause any wear. Some of the old hands on this forum, who remember Reinier's Moors End layout, may recognise it!
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Here is a close-up of the chassis which may shed some light on its construction and origins:
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I agree that this definitely looks like a Brian Clarke Saltford Models chassis. Unless it is a bit of an optical illusion, the driven axle appears to be slightly off-centre to the wheels. I wonder if this is the cause of the slight limp that you mentioned?
Mick
I think that's an optical illusion - it is a blob of glue on the back of one of those pinroller wheels that you're seeing - or perhaps that is the offending wheel. It may be the quartering which is very difficult with a crank throw of perhaps 2mm. I'm not happy to tamper with that as it must have been a lot of work to get it to run properly. The cranks are soldered to the flat faces of the wheel bearings.
Just to hop back a loco if nobody minds. I dug out a couple of pics of the battery loco in the slate museum. I've scanned them and put them on my photobucket site. One is of the loco and the other is a wagon with, what I assume, are the batteries for the loco.
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi808.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fzz5%2FIsleofstoner%2Fth_batteryloco1.jpg&hash=3715079454cb6497dd2c06b365f8875361554b91) (http://s808.photobucket.com/albums/zz5/Isleofstoner/?action=view¤t=batteryloco1.jpg)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi808.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fzz5%2FIsleofstoner%2Fth_baterylocobatteries.jpg&hash=dcbe4277a3354141e6e1cca998bc7e98df3310df) (http://s808.photobucket.com/albums/zz5/Isleofstoner/?action=view¤t=baterylocobatteries.jpg)
When I get a chance I'll get some close ups of the motor and control gubbins.
John W
What's the funny dome-like roof for? The batteries are pretty big - like the traction batteries you find in fork lift trucks. I expect they could only fit two of them in each end, with a lid at the top to be able to get at them.
Definitely a Saltford I'd say. We have a pair of these in service on Buccabury under the Simplex locos. Or one, actually because the rear axle on one of them has collapsed.
I finally got a chance to pop down to the museum with the camera... should have checked the batteries... doh!
I did get a couple of shots but without flash so they are a bit dark.
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi808.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fzz5%2FIsleofstoner%2Fth_DSC00285_zps557062a2.jpg&hash=20243c2cd995d7b7903d5101b9f2c64b3fb47e64) (http://s808.photobucket.com/albums/zz5/Isleofstoner/?action=view¤t=DSC00285_zps557062a2.jpg)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi808.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fzz5%2FIsleofstoner%2Fth_DSC00282_zps0a141dfc.jpg&hash=2db50a35055c7741bc8d78265fb9eb5e5309ee91) (http://s808.photobucket.com/albums/zz5/Isleofstoner/?action=view¤t=DSC00282_zps0a141dfc.jpg)
Inside the domed roof is fresh air and I couldn't see any evidence of anything missing so I guess it was just some headroom for the driver.
There is an information board which tells us that the loco was made by Brush in 1917 for use in a mustard gas factory. It was sold to a quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog in the 1920s. From there it went to Aberllefenni slate quarry in 1963. It was donated to the museum in 2008.
The good news is that it is being restored to working order. It certainly had new batteries in the end I could look in and there were the remains of a modern BEV loco lying nearby, this may have donated modern traction batteries.
The controls look basic, brake and speed controller which I guess also controlled direction.
There is a video on you tube showing this loco running, search under 'Ruston 20DL loco at Llanberis', I'm not clever enough to be able to give you a proper link! Didn't know it worked at Aberllefenni though, that means it's been regauged twice (from 2' to 2' 3" then back to 2').
Rod
Looks like a really uncomfortable driving position. Would there have been a seat in it ?
Bob
There is a block of wood bolted to the top of the motor.
I wondered about the gauge. I've never seen any pictures of it at Aberllefenni, I wonder if it ever got used? Or did they have a 2ft gauge bit?
More to this than meets the eye.
John W
Quote from: rod335 on January 04, 2013, 14:51
There is a video on you tube showing this loco running, search under 'Ruston 20DL loco at Llanberis'...
There are any number of cute links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWrILuYn3aw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWrILuYn3aw)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq2_kyT8W2A (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq2_kyT8W2A)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmX-qMCLoBg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmX-qMCLoBg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eiyj-f7rgY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eiyj-f7rgY)
We used to have a caravan on one of the sites close to Llanberis. In all those years we never did the mountain railway, but we did do the lake railway. Ah yes, those were the days(*).
(*) Yeah, like 40 years ago (cough, splutter)...
Ted,
Just picking up on an earlier post in this series:
"Coming back to the latest developments on rolling stock for Nixnie, I have been busy with the little box cab electric which I got from Tom Bell last spring. It will enter service as a battery loco due to the absence of overhead wiring."
I was wondering if there were any other locos like this around as I am intrigued by it ?
I supposed Second Hand Sales might be a place to start looking ?
I was wondering what you knew of its history as a model
Thanks
Regards
Bob Berry
Industrial locos of North Wales states that the battery electric loco went new with one other to Votty and Bowydd and this one then went to Aberllefenni. Since I am not aware of any 2 foot at Aberllefenni, it must have been regauged to 2' 3" then back to 2' when Llanberis got it. I've already got visions of one in 4mm on a spare Portram bogie!
Rod
Bob - the model is a 3D printed shell produced by Tom Bell (Tebee models) on a Bandai 4w chassis. Tom's Shapeways website including his models is here (http://www.shapeways.com/shops/tebee?sort=newest&s=0§ion=OO9%28British%29). The box cab is on page 3 of the 009 section. Tom does a good selection of other models including a double-cab Sentinel loco, railcars and various rolling stock.
Quote from: tedp on January 10, 2013, 22:39
Bob - the model is a 3D printed shell produced by Tom Bell (Tebee models) on a Bandai 4w chassis. Tom's Shapeways website including his models is here (http://www.shapeways.com/shops/tebee?sort=newest&s=0§ion=OO9%28British%29). The box cab is on page 3 of the 009 section. Tom does a good selection of other models including a double-cab Sentinel loco, railcars and various rolling stock.
Unfortunately the "available chassis problem" strikes again! The Bandai 1 4w chassis is currently not listed on the Plaza-Japan eBay shop site ( and hasn't been since early November 2012 and was only available in very small numbers prior to that ). I suspect that it is a another victim of batch production syndrome, so it is almost imposible to ascertain when it may become available again.
The days of suitable chassis being continuously available are long gone.
Well, you could try a Portram bogie or even a Caramel chassis. Although with a Caramel the driver might feel a bit like 'Rocket Man'. ;D
A reasonable alternative to the Bandai is the good old Bachmann 6wh diesel "brick" which is easily obtainable and has a wheelbase that is close enough to compare OK. The centre wheelset can be removed very easily and replaced with a same length piece of rod or even mains copper single core wire with the gear wheel simply push fit onto it. No need to glue as the rod/wire is just to hold the gear in place so that it can transmit the drive. File the metal axle box relief from the chassis sides to make it look like a 4wh chassis and Bob's yer Uncle! Literally a 10 minute (or less) job. The only delicate part of the operation is to be careful with everything whilst the bottom cover plate is off and not let anything escape - otherwise the carpet monster will be sure to eat the bits and you will end up with a totally f-----d chassis. I found out this the hard way!
Actually it's easier to do than to try to explain. There is a thread on here by Colin Peake with an illustrated guide for those who need it and are adept enough to be able to find it using the search facility - which is quite beyond me!
Not recommended for doing on an original type Bachmann "pre-brick" chassis however which is a much more fiddly and swear box filling exercise - I found that out the hard way as well!
Ted,
Thanks for putting me onto the Tom Bell site - I didn't know about this and its a real eye opener. I am still developing my skills on loco building and the 3d route appears to be a good starting place. Also I've taken on board the chassis comments
Garry/Mick,
Thanks for the info. Please can you explain the Bachmann 6wh "brick" comment - I don't know what this loco is although second hand sales might have one ?
Thanks
Bob
Sorry, I should have been clearer. The Bachmann "brick" is the N scale Bachmann Plymouth 6wh diesel loco which has been commonly available for many years. Society sales quite often have some new examples available currently at around
The Bachmann 'brick' chassis/motor won't fit into this tiny body shell. I held it against the body and it won't fit. The Bandai had to be cut down to be able to use it and the brick is a lot taller. Perhaps a Nigel Lawton chassis if nothing else can be found?
Anyway here is something more on the rolling stock of Nixnie. There are a few items I haven't yet described, but for the moment here is the Ffestiniog-style bogie coach, on its wheels but not yet completed, showing how tiny this stock is compared to the 3.5mm scale Egger stock. I have compared their size to that of the West Clare 3ft gauge vehicles, and it struck me that these Ffestiniog-inspired carriages might make a good starting point for TTm stock, for anyone building a 3mm scale Irish layout. You only need to take 2mm out of the centre and you're almost dead on scale.
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Farchive%2F2012%2Fgallery44%2Fimages%2F200IMG_1779.jpg&hash=b932c00dece2a05895fd52165c1c3e9161a8c3b7)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Farchive%2F2012%2Fgallery44%2Fimages%2F300IMG_1799.jpg&hash=523788cfbac80926a6bd7527c1e4dd8d70f2d2cc)
Mick/Ted,
Thanks for the info
Bob
I completed the freelance vehicle today. Although it is a very nice kit, it is very fiddly to complete, with the window bars and the separate brake blocks. One of these managed to escape and won't be found again! I sweated over it and skipped the handrails next to the doors. I don't have a 0.5mm drill anyway. Weak, weak, I know, but eyes watering and hands shaking I'm glad I managed to complete it as it is.
It makes a nice companion to Reinier's little Bagnall, as can be seen in the photos below:
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Farchive%2F2012%2Fgallery44%2Fimages%2F200IMG_1804.jpg&hash=7d7ea229891e56f61725c68211339a7f224902d7)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Farchive%2F2012%2Fgallery44%2Fimages%2F200IMG_1807.jpg&hash=e2c16556d0d1a93f9ae75d8e08f769ce92081d03)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Farchive%2F2012%2Fgallery44%2Fimages%2F200IMG_1813.jpg&hash=38ce3ed7b68e64653367a3c7ee23faf062d42122)
Mick
Can I politely ask which model of the Bachmann "brick" you were speaking of ref removing the centre wheels? Was it an old model?
The ones I have used in the last few years have a plastic axle with moulded on gear wheel - all three axles are identical. The (metal) running wheels can be pulled off and the axle put back to maintain transmission.
Christopher Payne
Christopher
The current 'bricks' use a very heavy two-piece cast split chassis and the wheels are turned with stub-axles fitted to a moulded plastic muff with a spur gear moulded on one side. These muffs are exactly the same as used in the 0-4-0 and 0-6-0 chassis and, for what it's worth, Bachman will not sell muffs for these chassis as spares, but they will sell the 'Brick' wheelsets including the muff and it is a simple matter to remove the brick wheels from the muffs if you. or anyone else, needs to replace the muffs on an 0-4-0 or 0-6-0. It is the current 'brick' that Mick is referring to.
By the way, it doesn't matter how many times you explain it I still don't understand your return loop wiring! Perhaps there is a psychological reason.
Rod
Rod
My question related to this statement by Mick.
"The centre wheelset can be removed very easily and replaced with a same length piece of rod or even mains copper single core wire with the gear wheel simply push fit onto it. No need to glue as the rod/wire is just to hold the gear in place so that it can transmit the drive."
I was referring to the "brick" that has a two part chassis block - what you refer to as the current type. Your description of removing the wheels from the axles also seems to be what I have done when I wanted to make a six wheel chassis into a four wheel one.
On that basis wasn't Mick referring to an earlier version of the chassis?
As to your comment about return loop wiring I am afraid I don't understand what you mean. Is this a reference to the PTCo layout I had at St Albans this last weekend?
Christopher Payne
Christopher
Indeed I think Mick must be referring to earlier chassis, which seem to have a lot in common with the old, and horrible, Atlas chassis. I had thought yours must have been the current type from the quality of running, I've never been able to get theolder type to run that well.
Yes, I was referring to your discourse at St Albans, I'm afraid that electrical wiring of any sort other than the most basic still baffles me. And as for DCC..... I'm still trying to work out what the acronym REALLY stands for!
Rod
Digital Command Control. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Command_Control)
Going way back on this thread, for John W, I have just been given a very bad copy ('not suitable for publication' as they used to say) of a photograph of the Brush loco in an apparently derelict state, minus cab roof, at Aberllefenni in July 1964, proof that it was at least there, whether it worked there or not is a different matter!
Rod
Interseting. I wonder why they bought a second hand, wrong gauge loco? Cheap I guess. I assume that the underground workings were 2ft 3in not 2ft.
John W