I have always liked the look of B4 bogies. In my modelling world I have decided to put B4 bogies under a rake of Bachmann RTR MK1 coaching stock. The main reason being that it is supposed to be used to represent a fairly up to date rake of 'rail tour' or 'short term hire stock' for both my son's layout and my layout.

With this in mind I recently bought a number of Bachmann MK1 RTR coaches. 3 x Maroon SKs, 1 x Blood and Custard SK, 1 x Blue and Grey TSO (SO), 1 x Maroon RMB, 1 x Intercity BSK, 1 x Intercity TSO and an old Airfix MK2D F/O (minus 2 buffers and one bogie damaged).
The SKs came with B1 bogies, the RMB, the BSK, I/C TSO and the Blue/ Grey TSO came with Commonwealths.

I looked into buying enough Bachmann B4 spare bogies to just do a straight swop. However this became eyewateringly expensive at around £11 a pop. Considering all the coaches were second hand this averaged out at just under half the cost of each of the coaches. So I looked up alternatives and found a few posts on RMWEB where clever people have used Replica B4 Bogies under other stock. I would like to thank them for inspiring me to have a go.

This is how it goes.

This is how the Replica Bogie is supplied.

I cut the coupling off.

Then used a Bachmann B1 as a pattern and made a jig to cut of the end of the bogie where the coupling mechanism sits and is activated as the bogie turns. At the same time I cut out a square of 1.5mm styrene sheet and inserted it into the centre of the bogie.

Next I cut out a piece of 1.5mm styrene with the round bogie pivot hole and the radius shape which allows the bogie to rotate a set distance. It is basically the shape of the head of a thistle.

The original screws can be fixed through a hole drilled in the centre of the thistle shaped cut out. It is worth checking that there is a good fit during all the processes. I have now completed two pairs of bogies and have found they run really well and the ride height is good. I used Bachmann wheels that I had previously bought for wagons, not sure that they are the correct ones but they ride correctly and look correct.

For my own personal preferences I used Revell Contacta Professional for the styrene and No Nonsense Super Glue as per Replica's advice. Others my choose to use other products, I chose these because I have had good results over the years.

I hope that this has been of some interest to someone. Thanks again to those clever, talented people who previously posted on RMWEB and who have inspired me to have a go! Also a quick thanks to Replica who where very helpful over the phone when I was ordering and asking loads of questions.

ATB Grizz......