L&G Royal William Pt.5
London & Greenwich Railway No.1 Royal William - Pt.5
This is the last part of the series on Royal William for now until I make the Stephenson tender to go with it.
It's all done, an interesting project and a good opportunity to try out a few ideas on the cheap! So the lessons learned are as follows:
Sprung plunger pick-ups on such a tiny engine were more trouble than they were worth. In the end I simply fitted some tee shaped wiper pick-ups between the wheels. Easy, simple and effective.
The use of a coarse worm and pinion with such a low ratio gearbox has created what I can only describe as a fine stutter as it moves. It runs beautifully slowly but the click, click of each pinion tooth engaging with the worm just shows. As it speeds up that disappears but it's a useful lesson. A finer worm and pinion and higher ratio box would be a better balance. I'm sure this is quite obvious to those who build engines more often than me!
The casting of the main chunks in white metal has worked very well. Anything lighter and I'm sure it just wouldn't have the weight to pull itself along. As it is, it will pull a short train of third class carriages at distinctly third class speed. Good enough for me!
I haven't yet fitted the nameplates. They're only small but the name Royal William is quite long and rather fills the boiler side. I might fit them with a spot of PVA so they can be picked off again without trace if I decide they look too daft.
I hope this blog has inspired somebody to have a play with those odd motors and gears and wheels that gather in the bits box! Go for it!
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