Derby Lightweight Railcar - Westdale?

[Ray H]

This is what the unpowered bogie looked like after it had been stripped of the cast components which had all been assembled with compact adhesive.

I'm not engineer (and I not a much better modeller) but I'd like to think that I could do better.

I refitted the wheels yesterday because I'd been building a couple of points and wanted something to test them with and this is the only thing I had that stood any chance of keeping the two axles together!

[pwr]

Are you intending to unsolder this and start again? I think that might be the only way you would stands a chance of getting it square. How does it run by the way.

 

Paul R

[puddlejumper]

As my late father would say "that's about as straight as a dogs hind leg"

Good luck with it but I fear Paul is right, looks to me as if undoing it and starting again will be the only way to square it up

[bobster]

Did it ever run Ray ?.

 

Cheers, Bob.

[Ray H]

I don't think I could achieve a satisfactory result if I attempted a rebuild with my limited - some may say very limited - engineering skills so I've decided to purchase a replacement set from EasyBuild.

 

The motor bogie is in a worse state with a couple of the etches broken.

 

I presume both bogies were fitted with brakes and whilst I'm not a rivet counter I would like to include that basic detail. The bogie illustrated above seems to lack provision for brakes and they haven't been fitted to the other bogie nor did they come lose with the model.

 

Today's chore [once I've completed the annual exploration in the loft for the (Bah! Humbug) decorations] is to see if I can complete adding the horizontal bars to the cab windows as the body sides are those of M79900 (aka Iris) and those bars were present on that vehicle.

 

The cast ends have had all the simulated cabling below the cab windows filed away but I've left the jumper connector boxes where they were - apologies for the lack of the correct technical terms. However, I now realise that even they are in the wrong place (and seem to be to the wrong pattern) so they need to be removed as well although I've no idea where I can get the relevant replacement parts so would welcome feedback on that.

 

The body side had holes drilled for some grab rails and the door handles - those fittings that did exist were removed before I stripped the paint off. The holes have all been filled with Milliput because of their random placement. Now I'm a little concerned that the filler will drop out when I attempt to reposition the holes if the new and old positions overlap.

[Ray H]

Did it ever run Ray ?.

Cheers, Bob.

I don't know.

 

We guessed the model would need some work on it when it was bought because we'd bought a different railcar from the same source and had seen the few posted images. In the end we'd largely re-built the other railcar.

 

On reflection and knowing the state of the other railcar we should have given this one a miss and just bought the kit but at that time we'd not done our research and had no idea whether this one was a kit and if so the origin thereof.

[Guest Isambarduk]

"David, Yes please if for no other reason I always find your descriptions of problems and solutions very helpful and informative. Doug"

 

Fair enough, 'twill be done, Doug.

 

Ray, I agree with the others, I think that what's left of that bogie would need stripping down completely and all the solder cleaned off the parts (apply flux, warm up, wipe with a tissue) before starting again. However, as this arrangement appears to be using outside bearings, you would not have the challenge of correcting the lap joint on the etches of the inner frames but, given that there are also parts missing, a replacement from EasyBuild does sound like a safer and more satisfactory tack.

 

David

[Ray H]

 

The body now sports a coat of primer. The handrails have been prepared but the intention is to hold back on their installation until the lining is complete.

 

I've assembled and fitted two Easy-build bogies. They can be seen in the above image. I've temporarily fitted a basic DCC decoder and the unit potters up and down my one yard long test track. I'm am hoping to fit a sound decoder and bass speaker in due course.

 

The two external wires seen above are the pick-ups from the trailing bogie and will ultimately be linked to the pick-ups on the powered bogie although I have yet to decide how best to route the wires to achieve this.

 

I've also just noted that the body is the wrong way round in this picture which is why the motor can be seen! And there was me thinking that the chassis only fitted one way round.

 

The next job is to fit the hinges to the outside and then . . . . .

 

M79900 appears to have been a conversion from (or at least based on) a trailer car of a two car unit. If the Bachmann 4mm model of the two car unit is to be believed - and I have no reason to assume otherwise - there was minimal "pipework" along the roof of the trailer, unlike the motor coach which seemed to have been adorned with it. Does anyone know if M79900 had extra pipework fitted when it was converted/built? The trailer car appears to have had a toilet which was removed/not fitted to M79900 so presumably there wasn't a need for any extra pipework

 

I'm hoping to encourage a colleague to spray paint the body and whilst that happens I want to progress the interior. Does anyone have or know of pictures of the interior or the cab of M79900?

[pwr]

Ray

 

I think you will find this and its sister - which had a slightly different bodyside layout were built as such and initially operated on the Banbury LNWR branch

 

Paul R

[Ray H]

Paul

 

They certainly operated on the branch, apparently being based at Bletchley. The two railcars are indeed different even down to the pipework on the roof - M79900 fortunately having a lot less than M79901.

 

The hinges have now been fitted and I'm working on the "pipework" on the end so that it can be fixed before the body is sprayed. I'm also gradually preparing the seats for the interior.

[Pannier Tank]

PaulThey certainly operated on the branch, apparently being based at Bletchley. The two railcars are indeed different even down to the pipework on the roof - M79900 fortunately having a lot less than M79901.The hinges have now been fitted and I'm working on the "pipework" on the end so that it can be fixed before the body is sprayed. I'm also gradually preparing the seats for the interior.

M79900 & M79901 were rebuilt from a production Derby Twin Set hence the slight differences. They were allocated new to Bletchley Carriage Shed and originally worked Banbury Merton St to Buckingham services.

[Guest Isambarduk]

 
"If there is any interest, I will post more pictures here when I work on this one (yes, I know now - I should have taken more photos when I built up the first one!)"

"David, Yes please if for no other reason I always find your descriptions of problems and solutions very helpful and informative. Doug"
 
As promised earlier, I have done this now but, rather than write it all out here, I have published it on my website at: www.davidlosmith.co.uk/Westdale_DMU_Bogies.htm
 
 

 

David

[two tone green]

Very useful, thanks.

[puddlejumper]

 

 "If there is any interest, I will post more pictures here when I work on this one (yes, I know now - I should have taken more photos when I built up the first one!)"

"David, Yes please if for no other reason I always find your descriptions of problems and solutions very helpful and informative. Doug"

 

As promised earlier, I have done this now but, rather than write it all out here, I have published it on my website at: www.davidlosmith.co.uk/Westdale_DMU_Bogies.htm

 

 

 

David

As ever an informative and interesting read, many thanks David

[Ray H]

The railcar laid dormant for several months until it was recently exposed to fresh air again for a short trip up and down my colleague's ongoing garden layout build. It more or less ran straight out of its box.

 

This revealed that one end was much higher than the other something I hadn't previously checked. There was also a mis-match at both ends with the buffer height relative to a number of other items of stock on my mate's layout. Both have now been rectified.

 

My interest was thus revived to the extent that I tried to match the underframe components (that I had recovered from the kit when it was dismantled) with those seen in the pictures that we obtained of the actual railcar. I even got as far as fitting a number of them in place using a hot glue gun - don't laugh! I did this because I couldn't think of any other way of securing white metal castings to an MDF floor.

 

The model was then given a lengthy running-in on the club's 7mm layout. Here the full effect of the adjustments to buffer height became apparent. As a result I've now deepened the solebars to reduce the daylight between bogie tops and the underside of the chassis. This is where the earlier use of the hot glue gun has paid off because I needed to remove all the underframe components because they became partly hidden by the greater solebar depth.

 

I shall now have to lower the underside of the floor where the underframe components will ultimately go and I still have to try and source more appropriate components. I'll probably use epoxy for fixing them this time!

[pwr]

any pictures Ray?

 

regards

 

Paul R

[Ray H]

The majority of the components are shown in the second image down in Post 21.

 

The railcar as it stands at present

 

 

Excuse the lack of anything other than white primer by way of colouring.

 

The increased solebar depth has been created using 2.5mm square plastic strip.

[pwr]

Looks really good Ray

 

Paul R

[Dava]

I've just agreed to buy a Westdale Derby Lightweight kit, unassembled but without bogies, so will be going back through this thread with interest.

 

Ray, did you ever complete the build? Would be nice to see photos if you did.

 

Dava

[muddys-blues]

I've just agreed to buy a Westdale Derby Lightweight kit, unassembled but without bogies, so will be going back through this thread with interest.

 

Ray, did you ever complete the build? Would be nice to see photos if you did.

 

Dava

 

Hello David .... Craig 

[Ray H]

I've just agreed to buy a Westdale Derby Lightweight kit, unassembled but without bogies, so will be going back through this thread with interest.

 

Ray, did you ever complete the build? Would be nice to see photos if you did.

 

Dava

 

Dava

 

The model has advanced little since the picture was posted. She had a tendency to rock quite a lot when moving but that's not the reason for not moving forward with it.

 

O gauge is very much a sideline so to speak so the club electrics and my own 4mm layout take up a lot of my modelling time.

 

I haven't yet fathomed a way to assemble the model because of the tumblehome at the base of the sides. There are several transverse partitions along the length of the model and I haven't thought of a way of fitting them in such a way that the body can be removed from the chassis if required. Painting and glazing - which comes first - and the arrangements for the below floor mechanics have also yet to be sorted.

 

Good luck with yours. I'll be keeping my eyes open for an update. 

[Dava]

Ray,

 

Thanks, those are helpful tips for the unwary!

 

Dava

[Ray H]

I should add that I'd sooner see the compartment partitions fixed on the chassis rather than hanging down from the bodyshell because those partitions are all very close the backs of seats and Im not confident that I can create strong enough partitions that can withstand the inevitable brush with said backs (or more) of the seats without becoming dislodged.

[Dava]

I think I'll be revisiting M79900 at Wirksworth for a photo-survey this Spring before making decisions about that. First stage will be a list of parts to obtain at Kettering next weekend.Invertrain appear to have motor bogies in stock but a lot more expensive than Easibuild. How did you find their power bogie to build?

 

Dava

[Ray H]

You're certainly taxing my memory 

 

I had to re-read parts of this thread to remind me.

 

I seem to recall that Shawn's motor bogie didn't cause any significant problems although it is quite noisy. I'm told by others that shawn will fix problems like that and I may yet ask him to do so as I want to fit a sound decoder in the model and don't want the bogie's natural noise to drown out the speaker's sound from the decoder.