Derby Lightweight Railcar - Westdale?

[muddys-blues]

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

 

Hi David, I have built 4 x of Easybuild (Shawn's) bogies, and all mine run nice and quiet, I know others have had problems, not sure what the issues where, but as I understand it now, Shawn has done an alteration or upgrade to his motor bogie assembly and it is slightly diiferent.

 

Building them is a piece of cake, and Shawn must be one of the most accommodating and patient people I have ever dealt with, his service is second to none.

 

Hope this helps

Craig,

[Dava]

Always good to revisit the Derby Lightweight and other pages on this excellent site:

 

 http://railcar.co.uk/type/derby-lightweight/summary

 

Dava

[Ray H]

Idle thoughts of building a pocket sized O gauge layout and discussing same with a colleague resulted in me being given an Easybuild coach kit to assemble. That in turn (plus being at a suitable juncture with my 4mm layout fit out) rekindled my interest in my DLW railbus.

 

I hadn't paid enough attention to the delivered under-frame parts that I had requested from Shawn when they first came so I failed (or have simply forgotten) to register with which of his kits the parts would normally have been supplied. I checked his website and reasoned that they might be from a Class 108 - a derby build - or possibly from a Class 101 - on the basis that its TOPS class number may indicate that it was one of the first classes to be built.

 

I downloaded the relevant files from the website a couple of days ago and still couldn't match the parts with Shawn's instructions so I wondered if he kindly threw the parts that he thought I might need into the bag.

 

I did manage to locate some of the parts based on one of the instruction sets and added a few others that I thought I could recognise. The pictures show the results as of last evening.

 

 

 

 

[Ray H]

I wish I could remember my thinking cap sometimes!

 

I should have mentioned in the previous post that having retrieved the railcar from its hiding place a couple of days back I took another look at the motor bogie to see if I could get it to run quieter.

 

I'd taken the body off and was trying just the chassis plus bogies. The motor doesn't sound too noisy now despite just running on a couple of yards of track simply laid on the equivalent of an upturned plywood box so I've left it alone. I suspect the motor sounds I noticed previously may have been echoing around the inside of the body during the previous running trials. I can't judge that properly until I get the interior nearer a finished state.

 

I have also made both bogies (electrically) removable by running a couple of lengths of adhesive copper tape along the underside of the floor and putting a connector at each end thereof into which the relevant matching connectors can be plugged/unplugged as required.

 

I sat the body back on the chassis (without fixing it to the chassis) and then managed to drop the lot on the floor when transferring it between track and bench. One buffer came unglued and the head of another got damaged. Neither have been show stoppers and the relevant repairs have been made. Ill try to remember to be more careful next time!

 

I did visit Shawn's website again after posting today's earlier post and have just printed off the relevant parts of his instructions for the other two DMU classes he provides kits for - Class 116/7 & 121/2.

 

I need to study the paperwork a bit closer but at first glance it appears that these are the ones I should have tried working with as both look to have a closer resemblance to the parts that Shawn provided me with.

[mike hughes]

Idle thoughts of building a pocket sized O gauge layout and discussing same with a colleague resulted in me being given an Easybuild coach kit to assemble. That in turn (plus being at a suitable juncture with my 4mm layout fit out) rekindled my interest in my DLW railbus.

 

I hadn't paid enough attention to the delivered under-frame parts that I had requested from Shawn when they first came so I failed (or have simply forgotten) to register with which of his kits the parts would normally have been supplied. I checked his website and reasoned that they might be from a Class 108 - a derby build - or possibly from a Class 101 - on the basis that its TOPS class number may indicate that it was one of the first classes to be built.

 

I downloaded the relevant files from the website a couple of days ago and still couldn't match the parts with Shawn's instructions so I wondered if he kindly threw the parts that he thought I might need into the bag.

 

I did manage to locate some of the parts based on one of the instruction sets and added a few others that I thought I could recognise. The pictures show the results as of last evening.

 

240418_1.jpg

 

240418_2.jpg

Its defiantly not a 101 underframe as they had a double battery box on the non drivers side at the cab end 

Michael

[muddys-blues]

Hello Ray, just looking at those underframe parts, here are two decent shots lifted off the internet giving a good view if the underframes.

 

Best regards

Craig.

 

 

[Andrew P]

The Dark side beckons Ray, WELCOME.

Edited April 25, 2018 by Andrew P

[Ray H]

Thanks for the responses chaps.

 

Hindsight (or possibly common sense) suggests that I should have both looked at Shawn's other documentation - which as indicated above I have now done - and having done so, compared the placement of the various components seen in pictures (of the railcar) against the component layout in Shawn's paperwork.

 

I have deduced that the components I bought from Shawn and were sent are those for the Class 121/2 bubble car as this is the only set of parts that includes two cab driver's consoles but only enough components for one vehicle - and I suppose, in hindsight I should have realised that and thus discounted any kits that had more than one vehicle when looking for the relevant documentation!

 

I've now removed all the recently fitted under-floor components and will start again.

[Ray H]

The Dark side beckons Ray, WELCOME.

 

Thanks Andy. I've got three (working) O gauge locos, the railcar (when its "finished"!) and an ex Lima diesel loco that will possibly be converted one day. I can run all these on the club layout but still have thoughts of a possible pocket sized O gauge one of my own if I can get SWMBO to allow me to store it under the bed!

[pwr]

Thanks Andy. I've got three (working) O gauge locos, the railcar (when its "finished"!) and an ex Lima diesel loco that will possibly be converted one day. I can run all these on the club layout but still have thoughts of a possible pocket sized O gauge one of my own if I can get SWMBO to allow me to store it under the bed!

I think you should open negotiations immediately

 

You won’t look back.

 

Even a loco moving on a couple of yards of track is very satisfying in this gauge

 

Paul R

[Ray H]

 

I stripped off my previous attempt at populating the underframe and using one of the drawings from the Easybuild paperwork tried again. I couldn't match everything exactly measurement wise but I think it looks better now, especially since I've sprayed the chassis & downwards black.

 

I've also added the seating according to the "plan" I've seen for the original vehicle.

 

I'm still trying to decide whether to mount the partitions on the floor which would mean they need to be straight sided and would leave a gap between the outer edge of the partition and the (inner) body side because of the tumble-home on the lower body side or whether to affix the partitions to the inside of the body shell which allows them to accommodate the tumble-home but means that I have to be very precise when placing the body onto the chassis so that the seats don't dislodge the partitions.

 

I've had a couple of attempts at lining the inner face of the body side with plasticard to close up any gaps between sides and partitions but I'm not being too successful. I can't fix the plasticard to the side because it needs to come out to have the glazing added between it and the body side and the clamps that I have aren't gripping tight enough to stop the plasticard moving when I try to mark out where to cut the window openings.

 

My colleague also has a model of the railcar in its Iris days so I'll see how he gets around the problem.

[Ray H]

I managed to take a closer look at my colleague's railcar. All the partitions and seats are within an area no wider than the chassis, leaving a few millimetre gap between the edge of anything attached to the chassis and the inner face of the Westdale body shell. So that's the way I've gone as well.

 

 

The partitions have been made using a single piece of clear plastic the full width of the chassis overlaid with white plasticard to represent the non-glazed part of the partition. Hopefully the clear plastic across the centre aisle won't be noticeable once the body is on.

 

The tent like structure over the motor is a box that should hopefully reduce any noise from the motor radiating through the vehicle. My original intention was to house a Zimo double sugar cube speaker (and the decoder) within this box and I may still do so as there is insufficient space on the underside of the model to accommodate much more than a single sugar cube. However, I am thinking that I might fit two of the smaller speakers - one near each bogie where there is some space - and wire them in parallel.

 

The body has had some attention from the airbrush which had highlighted a further few areas where filler was needed. The filler has now been applied and rubbed down and the body now awaits what I hope may be the top coat.

[Dava]

Very useful, Ray.

 

Where did you source the seats, are they Easybuild? I need a shopping list for the G0G Doncaster show!

[Ray H]

Yes, I think they were from Easybuild. Mind you it certainly was a case of "if everything else fails read the instructions!". Being manly I didn't do that and as they came more or less flat I struggled to get the back and seat glued into shape. I've subsequently seen the "instructions" where they mention that the join between back and seat parts needs to be flexed several times to weaken (but not break) it. The seats can then be "formed" into the desired shape. I sill found it advantageous to clamp the seat whilst the adhesive set. I used UHU - other glues are available and they may do the job as well, better or worse.

 

I should have added to yesterday's post that the sides of the "tent" (which are of clear plastic because the guard's door has a window in) have been covered with masking tape prior to the ends being primed.

 

The other end cab partition is currently loosely in place whilst the remaining partitions have been glued in place which will make painting difficult. Will I never learn?

 

Pictures that I've found on the Internet suggest that whilst the ceiling may have been (more or less) white, the sides (and lower sections of the partitions) were a kind of off-white/light grey. I'll achieve that by leaving the sides as they are - in a light primer coat of white that allows the metal to show through it. This won't work for the (white plasticard) partitions which I may just lightly weather. I will manually paint the ceiling and the top of the partitions white.

 

At least that's the plan (today)!

[Nearholmer]

Rather old thread, I realise, but does anyone know whether the Westdale kit is still available/obtainable?

 

Its the body I'm after, rather than the bogies, because I run a coarse-scale railway, and would fit an ETS mechanism, with scratch built (or if they are half-decent) simply the cosmetic exterior parts from the kit.

 

Thanks in advance, Kevin

[Ray H]

Westdale were still trading when my colleague met up with the proprietor at Telford.

 

My understanding is that he hasn't got a web site but does have an email address so it might be worth dropping him a mail.

 

He certainly helped my colleague with odds and ends for a kit he'd bought.

[Dava]

Kevin,

 

J&M Hughes [Mike] has done etched sides & ends for both Derby lightweight Railcars so you can buy just the body kits

 

He has a thread on here

 

https://www.jandmhughesogauge.com/

 

Dava

[O-Gauge-Phil]

I think I saw two kits on ebay last week.  Unusual.