Lima O gauge motor bogies

[D5541]

Evening all

 

A few quick queries for an ongoing project I have...

 

1) is the 4 wheel motor bogie from the O gauge SNCF diesel the same as the one used in the class 33?

 

2) as I'm new to the bigger scales, as far as reputation, general running qualities n that kind of thing go, is the Lima O gauge stuff on par with the OO gauge motors or are they totally different?

 

3) how easy is it to DCCify the O gauge motor?

 

Cheers

 

Dan :-)

[PatB]

I'm not familiar with the SNCF model so can't answer your first question. However, as a user of the Class 33 motor bogie (because, in 1981, there wasn't anything else), IMHO they can be made to run well if you put enough weight on them. Too much and the axle holes in the frames wear oval. Extra pickups will probably help too but as a battery user it wasn't relevant to me at the time. I would expect all techniques for fettling the 00 pancake should apply the their big brother.

 

Whilst I've never DCC'd one, I can't see it being difficult. IIRC it's all plastic with separate scraper pickups on each side so it should just be a case of taking a wire from each to the decoder inputs and from each brush retainer to the outputs.

[peter220950]

Hi Dan,

 

Not sure but I think the class 33 is actually the same bogie unit as the SNCF loco, which is why its so wrong on the 33!

 

As PatB notes above they aren't a bad unit for their price and age, I still have one in a tram loco and it runs well. On DC they can be a bit quick off the mark, and run a bit too quickly on full throttle. He also makes a good point in that at 8ft wheelbase they benefit from additional pick ups or a keep alive in DCC.

 

For DCC they just need the wires to the motor cutting, the suppressor removing, and the decoder inserting between pick ups and motor, I haven't got a photo to hand, but if you get stuck let me know and I will find something.

 

The transformation with DCC is quite marked, you can not only cap the high top speed but also slow the start and tune the motor to give a well behaved little unit, it's worth the effort.

 

Peter

[Joseph_Pestell]

I am fairly sure that the bogies are the same and also the same as the unit used for the 040 diesel shunter.

[kevinlms]

I'm not an O gauge modeller, but I seem to remember how similar it was to an 3.5mm/4mm one, with a bigger plastic surround.

[D5541]

Excellent, thanks for the help guys :-)