I will soon take possession of three Darjeeling Himalayan Railway coach kits from Worsley Works (seen here: http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/Image-Pages/Image_NG_DHR_4mm.htm#157 (http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/Image-Pages/Image_NG_DHR_4mm.htm#157)). I am thinking of lighting them, and wonder where I can find suitable wheels for electrical pickups? I don't know what diameter the wheels should be but I note that Worsley sell 5.5mm, 6.0mm, and 8.0mm diameter wheels (here: http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/NG/NG_Wheels.htm (http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/NG/NG_Wheels.htm)) so perhaps one of those is the diameter I'll need?
Also I don't really know how to make the pickups (wipers?) but all the rolling stock reviews in Railway Modeler mention 'phosphor bronze'...
Graham Farish have some 6.5mm diameter disc wheels insulated one side only. If you used these with the bogies live to different rails, provided you can isolate one bogie from the frame, you wouldn't need pickups, which can cause friction problems on small undriven wheels.
Rod
Quote from: Tom Haythornthwaite on September 16, 2013, 21:13
I will soon take possession of three Darjeeling Himalayan Railway coach kits from Worsley Works (seen here: http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/Image-Pages/Image_NG_DHR_4mm.htm#157 (http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/Image-Pages/Image_NG_DHR_4mm.htm#157)). I am thinking of lighting them, and wonder where I can find suitable wheels for electrical pickups? I don't know what diameter the wheels should be but I note that Worsley sell 5.5mm, 6.0mm, and 8.0mm diameter wheels (here: http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/NG/NG_Wheels.htm (http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/NG/NG_Wheels.htm)) so perhaps one of those is the diameter I'll need?
Also I don't really know how to make the pickups (wipers?) but all the rolling stock reviews in Railway Modeler mention 'phosphor bronze'...
Why are you only thinking about the wheels? Surely an easy solution to this is to use N gauge bogies that already include pickups for precisely this purpose ?
Try Kato 11-030 or 11-031 bogies - - available from eBay seller Plaza Japan at approx
Did the prototypes for these DHR coaches have lights?
Brian Meldon
Wow, thank you all for the excellent answers including the very important last one!