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Return of the J15

Fen End Pit

Entry posted by Fen End Pit

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Last Friday I had a particularly productive evening rewheeling my old Alan Gibson J15. The kit was built about 25 years ago (gulp) but had languished on the works sidings for a couple of years following the wheel quartering slipping and the wheels being so old that they were loose on the axles and no amount of locktite would hold them in place.

 

So, finally I bit the bullet and ordered some new wheels from new Mr Gibson. The biggest problem with some of the wheels available from Colin at the moment is that the crank pin hole is not drilled through, there just a dimple as an aid to locate the hole. Friday gave the opportunity to use a friend's pillar drill (thanks Brian!) and with the aid of a little jig we drilled the holes in the wheels and got the crank pins put in. The wheels were quartered with the excellent jig (GW models).

 

Saturday morning came the moment of truth when the bearings were slid into the chassis and the coupling rods put on crank pins. Much to my surprise and delight the chassis rolled away, and when the grub screw on the gear was tightened the loco moved smoothly.

 

Tonight came DCC chip fitting, I had forgotten I had a TCS Z2 sitting in a drawer. It seems to be quite happy with the 1219 portescap and runs smoothly once I adjusted the CVs to give a more suitable speed range.

 

David

 

blogentry-7212-12598811739033_thumb.jpg

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  • RMweb Gold
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  • RMweb Gold

Hi David,

 

Looking good!

 

The J15 looks excellent. I'm building the Nu-Cast version at present. The kit and your handy work have brought out the best in the little J15.

 

Keep up the blog.

 

All the best, Mark

 

 

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  • RMweb Gold
Fen End Pit
  • RMweb Gold

Hi Horsetan

 

Yes, the picture did make it look a bit high. I checked things out and the footplate was sitting flush with the top of the frames. Further investigation seemed to show that the rear of the footplate was correct but the from was about 1mm high. This was due to the compensation beam needing a bit of a tweak to lower the level.

 

thanks for pointing it out.

 

David

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