Bemo outside frame loco conversion

[pilotfriend]

Recently I was able to purchase a Bemo outside frame diesel. (It cost only an arm rather the usual arm and leg!)

I have to say that the engineering and running quality of it really puts it into the Vorsprung durch Technik class

the chassis as it arrived

after removal of body, footplate and jackshaft. Behind is a Backwoods Manning Wardle Chassis.

JdF

[B.Meldon]

Hi John
The only down side with these chassis is the lack of a flywheel and the fact that the motor mounting screws are at the far end of the motor to the worm and as a result they can get a bit noisy after a while unless you secure the front of the motor down.
Not obvious to others who will see your photos is, as I have pointed out before, the rear fly crank under the cab is powered by the rods not the central gears despite the fact the axel has a gear on it! This is not a problem if you are removing this from the chassis anyway to make a steam 0-6-0 as you have.

PS You can send the unused cast body and plastic cab my way if you wish as I will find a use for them!

Brian Meldon

[pilotfriend]

Hi Brian

So sorry but they went in the circular file. Apologies. Agreed about the motor....I alway place a spacer at the front and glue the whole thing in!
The lack of flywheel does not seem to stop it running very smoothly even at scale walking pace. I need the whole cab as this one is being fitted with sound!

This is the converted chassis ready for adding the Backwood kit

As it happens description of the conversion can be found on
http://www.009.cd2.com/members/how_to/bemo.htm
best
John

[pilotfriend]

The progress to date. It runs like a top.





JdF

[pilotfriend]

DCC installation. Power is taken to the body using miniature connectors and sockets. This much reduces wiring mess. There is a red LED in the firebox which also shines down onto the track at the grate area. This will be very effective reflecting on the snow covered track in night scenes.

Sound for the loco is carried in the guards compartment of the first coach. The coaches are also fully lit.

the verdict

The Bemo chassis is very well engineered although there were concerns that in our example, the cranks showed some cracking. The driven wheelbase is shorter than the correct Backwoods chassis and I was concerned that we would experience problems. This has not been the case although more careful balancing was needed when adding weight. We have previously added lead shot as weight. In this example, it was important to keep the ballast over the driven wheels and we have used 'Liquid lead' which is much more compact and therefore more weighty.

We did experience some meshing problems between the wheel drive train and the spur gears to the motor worm drive. These are held in a red plastic moulding which is clearly visible in the above photo. Careful paring with a Kraft knife allowed for good meshing.

The smaller wheels do mean that there are more 'chuffs' per mile but this really does not matter as our sound unit can easily be adjusted to suit.

The loco runs as smoothly and quietly as the best we have on County Gate although I suspect that it is a little less powerful as it is more prone to wheel slip. It does, however easily haul typical L&B consists with ease, even up the CG grades. On the Bratton Fleming layout, where it is destined to work, there will be no problems at all as the layout is quite flat.

All in all, a very successful build and far easier to achieve than struggling with the standard Backwoods chassis. Future maintenance will also be a breeze. The loco is ready for applying water slide transfers which include the green panels, white lining and yellow lettering
. Total build time was 44 hours.

[MickT]

Very impressive and inspiring indeed, John. Thanks for sharing your experience with this!

Mick

[Malcolm]

John
As Mick says very impressive.   Might be tempted if I could get a cheap chassis.   Got a good cheap 0-6-0 Arnold last weekend
Malcolm