Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of 5mm gauge 4mm scale railways? I have done some research and it said they used regauged 009 stock before the existence of Z gauge.
I seem to recall Brian Clarke of Saltford Models fame experimented with 005 or 006 as a schoolboy. I forget where I read it, but colour photos of a loco perhaps called Katie, balsa wood sleepers and staples spring to mind. It may have been in Railway Modeller.
I have just regauged a spare Egger skip chassis (actually I think it used to be a flat wagon bogie) to 5mm gauge. Because I have used normal 009 wheels pushed in on their axles it is still quite stable. I am going to use it to model the brake van from the 15" gauge Axe & Lyme Railway, which is built on a converted 2ft gauge skip chassis. I don't know what to do with it after that as there will be nowhere for it to run ???
I have been flirting with 006 for some time now. Built a Sand Hutton Hunslet to see if it would work, got some 2mm association code 40 rail and sleepers, so away we go (sometime.)
Rod
Are you thinking of 6mm or 6.5mm gauge? I would go for 6.5mm. That would give you access to Z gauge chassis and the Busch H0f range.
I don't know if your post was for me Ted but anyway I am proposing doing 6mm gauge. At least that's what the loco is, and to use PDH's original argument, if you decide to make everything yourself, it's no harder to build it to the correct gauge than an incorrect gauge. I do realise that that is not an argument for many,perhaps most except an idiot like me!.
Rod
Like Rod I'm planning on using 6 mm gauge for some models of 18" gauge lines, and am also aiming to use 2 mm Association standards. Fortunately I managed to obtain a set of track gauges designed for Irish 3' narrow gauge (6 mm gauge) in 2 mm scale so that the standards and use of Code 40 rail were built in. The current association 'narrow gauge' standards are, as far as I have been able to work out, the same as for Z (i.e. 6.5 mm gauge) but using Code 30 'strip' rail.
Danny, as far as I know no one, other than Brian Clarke / Saltford models has done anything comercailly. There was a chap in Japan (Yuji Niwa ?) who wrote a couple of articles in Narrow Gauge & Industrial Railway Modelling Review during the 1990's but from what I recall he used Brian Clarke parts to build the loco chassis. I can't recall what track he used - I assume that it was hand built but how I don't know.
Building your own 5 mm gauge track is probably not as dificult as you might think, but your main hurdle will be to get some sort of track gauges sorted out. The best type are those that hold the rail upright in a groove, but to make one will need access to a lathe and a cutting tool fine enough to cut the narrow groves.
Now this is going to be really contentious. I don't think that track and wheel standards are anywhere near as important as most people think. Provided your track is not NARROW to gauge, and the back to back of your wheels will clear check and wing rails, things will usually work. OK, constant standards are something to aim for , but not, to my mind, essential, subject to the provisos above. If you don't believe me, go and measure the gauge and check rail gaps of any commercial track, and try measuring the back to back of various N gauge and commercial 009 items, that all seem to co-exist quite happily. SLIGHTLY over-gauge track, though not ideal, works pretty well provided it is not excessive. In the days when we still had narrow gauge industrial railways, definite track gauge was usually an option. OK, if you are using really fine wheels with narrow (P4?) treads you are going to have problems, but there again, the sort of person who does that is unlikely to be reading this forum, and would, in any event, not take any notice of it!
Rod
I have see the Busch H0f (6.5 mm) in action and it looks very nice indeed. A potential problem is wheel contact with the track and electrical pickup and Busch uses magnets built into the sleeper base I understand.
http://www.gaugemaster.com/search_results.asp?searchstring=%20%20brand~~617~~brand%20%20scale~~%AChof%AC~~scale%20category~~1250~~category (http://www.gaugemaster.com/search_results.asp?searchstring=%20%20brand~~617~~brand%20%20scale~~%AChof%AC~~scale%20category~~1250~~category)
Yoshiya Kobayashi (009 Soc member in Japan) used to sell some H0f kits but I don't see them on his web page now:
http://www.justmystep.justhpbs.jp/ (http://www.justmystep.justhpbs.jp/)
Of course you could always try re-gauging T-Gauge outwards! ;D
http://www.tgauge.com/ (http://www.tgauge.com/)
Again this uses magnets, but in the wheels and the rail is steel.
Quote from: rod335 on February 04, 2013, 08:05
I don't know if your post was for me Ted but anyway I am proposing doing 6mm gauge. At least that's what the loco is, and to use PDH's original argument, if you decide to make everything yourself, it's no harder to build it to the correct gauge than an incorrect gauge. I do realise that that is not an argument for many,perhaps most except an idiot like me!.
Rod
You may remember I'm a lazy modeller! ;D
Quote from: rod335 on February 04, 2013, 09:14
OK, if you are using really fine wheels with narrow (P4?) treads you are going to have problems.
No, I'm just using normal 009 wheels pushed in on their axles. This is really easy to do if you use Minitrains wheels but it is quite a tight fit so they don't move out of gauge when you have finished. The N/009 rail section does look a bit big, but still... :)
Unfortunately the chassis cannot be fitted with coupler loops as these foul the wheels now they are closer together. I might be able to get round this by making a new hole a bit further towards the end of the wagon for the loop to go through. Just found something else as well (16" gauge): http://www.search.windowsonwarwickshire.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?theme=491&originator=%2Fengine%2Ftheme%2Fdefault%2Easp&page=&records=&direction=&pointer=966&text=0&resource=7277
Interesting. I bought some 6mm (ish) track on ebay a while ago. the points were cast in whitemetal but the track was plastic. It came with a couple of little v tips in whitemetal.
Some pics of it in use here; http://s808.photobucket.com/albums/zz5/Isleofstoner/The%20Nursery%20Layout/ (http://s808.photobucket.com/albums/zz5/Isleofstoner/The%20Nursery%20Layout/)
It has ended up on my layout 'Underhill' and has been slightly modified to fit. It would great to make a working layout this size. If I win the lottery I would get some of the new Busch H0f stuff as it looks great. Good luck with the scratch builds, look forward to seeing some progress.
John W
Does anyone remember those beautiful 4mm scale / 5mm gauge Heywood locos that Brian Clarke had in a showcase at one of our AGMs? It may have been one of the York Viking Hotel ones or maybe the Oxford one.
Does anyone have any photos or drawings of the Axe & Lyme brake van? I need to establish if the actual skip frame was narrowed or just the wheel gauge.
I think I might actually model an open wagon at Sherwood Forest Railway. Here is a picture of it: http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b122/Colpeake/o9modeller/WorkbenchApr005.jpg It has already been done in 09 ( http://o9modeller.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_01_archive.html ), but obviously not in 005. I think it would be more useful for the more industrial prototypes that I like. Also, being practical, the Axe & Lyme brake van is noticeably smaller than 009 vehicles, so, unlike the wagon, it would look out of place if it had to be regauged if I gave up the idea. On neither of these does the chassis appear to have been narrowed. The axles have been shortened and the axleboxes moved in. However, I should be able to get away with having normal length axles with the wheels pushed in.