Hello, I am brand new to the 009 Society and I have already gained lots of good information about how to do things easier through the various postings. This is great! Thanks to all of you for your years of experience and the willingness to pass it on. People like me REALLY appreciate this, especially on the other side of the globe.
I wondered if anyone has motorised the Golden Arrow Kitson-Meyer with an N diesel chassis? Or can someone make suggestions as to which, or even two 4 coupled chassis? I have the kit on order, it's not here yet though. I am open to any suggestions as I am a bit of a novice when it comes to the loco side of things. I intend to attempt outside frames as well. Never tried this before, but willing to have a go.
I was (and still am) a 4mm Tramway modeller (tramway as in London Transport), so I have soldered the odd kit and assembled chassis to suit. I discovered the remnants of my 009 layout from the 1980's stored under my house and this has rekindled my interest.
Thanks, in anticipation.
Russell.
I believe that the kit was designed for the old N gauge Ibertren Cuckoo chassis (2-off). As such these are no longer available new, and command high prices secondhand; they were not the very best of runners anyway. One alternative is the Fleishmann Piccolo 0-4-0T, which is available new or second hand. This will require modification of the kit to fit.
Neville Kent of N-Drive productions makes similar chassis to order: http://www.n-driveproductions.com/. These run well, but may have extended delivery. I do not have experience of the particular kit, so cannot comment on the ease or otherwise of adapting to any of these chassis. None of them have outside frames, so depending on your degree of confidence, you may be able to convert by one of the methods discussed on this Forum.
Secondhand chassis are often available from the Society secondhand sales. However, since you mention being on the other side of the globe, you may be better off sourcing locally!
Thanks for the help Elmgate.
I don't want to use the Cuckoo's if possible, so I will see what else I come up with. The Fleischmann 0-4-0's turn up on eBay here occasionally. I do have a couple of old Trix N diesel chassis' with small wheels, maybe I should look at butchering one. I'll keep searching.
Russell.
Which part of the globe? A Minitrix F9 will fit although the wheels are a little small. I have attached a photo of my model.
Mal.
Excellent, thanks Mal!
I live near Sydney. I have two Trix chassis, one is the American FM H10-44 (I think) and the other is the old Hornby Minitrix class 27. The H10-44 works very well, the 27 not so much. Could I ask the wheelbase of the F9 please Mal?
Thanks for the help.
Russell.
Hi Russell,
The bogie wheelbase is 57mm center to center and the wheelbase of the trucks is 18mm. A bit of a compromise but does give a working model. I have attached two more photos.
Mal.
Hello again Mal,
The pictures have helped a great deal, thank you very much. The model looks very good, I know the wheels are small but it looks the part. I can't find the F9 on eBay at the moment but I have seen them. The wheelbase of the H10-44 is about 50mm.
Sorry for picking your brain so much Mal, but did you glue or solder axle extensions to the wheels? Are the frames brass or plastic? I was contemplating replacing the wheels on the H10-44 with bigger Bemo coach bogie wheels, which I had bought many years ago. But maybe this would be a bit difficult as the bogies won't swing very much and my layout plan will involve curves down to about 12 inches.
Have you used diesel chassis on any other articulated locos? You have certainly given me a number of ideas. One day, I would like to attempt the Tasmanian Hagan's patent class J1 2-6-4-0T with the swing frame. One day....
Thanks again Mal.
Russell.
Hi Russell,
I don't know what's up with Minitrix these days, I heard they improved all their model's chassis which put the price up so no one in 009 uses them anymore!
I glued on steel axle extensions to the wheels using plastic discs to help locate them. I used mass balance fly cranks from Meridian Models.The frames are plastic. I just built up a box around the truck. I tried using larger wheels when I was building this but it just got too complicated, not that this is really a simple model! This is the only articulated Loco I've built so far. I don't mind you picking my brain, I think this is a better way to power this model than using two 0-4-0s. There's plenty of room inside the body to fit whatever mechanism you prefer. This is one of my favorite Locos, real and model.
Mal.
That's a very good-looking Meyer loco, Mal. The chassis conversion is spot on!
Glueing extenders on to the outer faces of the wheels is what I'd do, as it keeps the chassis intact and it doesn't compromise the wheels' fit on the axles as replacing the axles would do.
Can I offer another suggestion? I turned down flat headed roofing felt nails in a power drill, using a coarse file. These make excellent extension studs to glue on to the wheel faces. In one of my locos I used brass cranks fitted on the cut down stems of the nails. Here are photos of such a chassis. It can be done on a BoBo diesel as well.
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Foddphotos%2Fimg_2919.jpg&hash=d22b78fd48b2cf435aab4b9d9bd53482f7e03cdd)
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.009dutch.nl%2Foddphotos%2Fimg_2918.jpg&hash=e35dd7033b897f22ea89cac79b966056110cbabd)
Hello Mal,
The pictures are great, help point me in the right direction. There is a Kato F9 at my local Model Railway shop for $95 AU. About half that in Sterling. Once the kit turns up in the mail, I might do a check. Kato chassis' run sweetly, I have had a number of them.
Articulated locos are my interest, but anything narrow sounds good! K1 is on the agenda one day, but first things first.
Thank you Ted for posting the close up of the axle extensions, this also helps with future projects. Nice to know I only need simple tools, I don't have a milling machine or a lathe. The drill will be getting a work out shortly!
I have decided to use the Peco Mainline track for the new layout and will use Kadee's for the couplings, these are easy to get here. Just need to sort out the plan, still working on it.
Thank you very much,
Russell.
Good luck - let us know how you get along!
Thanks Ted,
Will do.
Russell.