Engines and rolling stock for Nixnie

[tedp]

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:



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:



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:

[petersmith1942]

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

[tedp]

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.



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.



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.

[tedp]

I thought I'd show you a few portraits of what is going to run on Nixnie. Here goes!

The Egger replica with coaches:



The Plymouth diesel shunting at the brickworks:



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!



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:



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.



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:



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.



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.

[Tigger]

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!

[tedp]

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:

[Sven]

What a lovely collection! Thanks for sharing.

[tedp]

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:





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.

[Tigger]

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

[MickT]

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

[berryr99]

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

[tedp]

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.

[rod335]

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

[tedp]

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!

[Tigger]

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! :)