Olive

Hi there fellow modellers : Ive been pursuing British outline modelling in OO scale for a couple years but haven't yet delved into scratchbuilding structures. Id like to change that and get away from my basic card structures. I have a resin 3D printer available to me. Im looking to find a way to get access to a source of plans for structures such as station buildings, water tanks, in fact anything that I could possibly consult to input into my CAD program to generate resin prints. Can anyone suggest an online rail-related magazine that I could subscribe to that has an accessible catalogue of past issues with such modelling plans? Best regards Richard New South Wales Australia

Hi John : Yes that's an idea that completely bypassed my thinking ... trime the "ears" off the gearbox and its cover and place the gearbox further back along the frame. Using the existing NEM coupler mounting hole also obviates the need to drill and tap a new mounting hole for the retaining screw. I'll give it a go on the next one today ... 2 down, four to go. As an aside, there's a monetary benefit to using the Kadee 146/148 sets, at least here in Australia : the price of the standard #146 or #148 coupler sets is 2/3rds the price of the Kadee NEM offerings. Thanks again, Rick

I've replaced all the tension lock couplings on my 6 Dapol vans with Kadee NEM #18 medium couplers mounted into the Dapol pockets. Photo #2 below shows one of the vans so fitted. Following on from your post I purchased new Kadee #146 whisker couplers to try them out. Photo #1 below shows the result and, together with a photo of the same 12T Dapol van with Kadee NEM #18 for comparison, show the difference between keeping with the Dapol NEM system and replacing all of that with a Kadee #146 metal whisker coupler in its own gear box. The conversion from the NEMs to the Kadee #146 involved removing the Dapol coupler fittings, cutting off the leftover van's protruding coupler mouldings and fitting the Kadee gearbox flush to the underfloor of the van with a drilled and tapped hole for a #2-56 screw. Easy. The #146s are at exactly the correct height when tested against a Kadee #205 height gauge and they are hanging straight compared to the Dapol NEM pocket-mounted couplers. PHOTO #3 shows the difference by comparison. My only concern now is the length of protrusion of the Kadee #146 coupler head past the buffers. They look to be too far out for my liking, so I have ordered some Kadee #148 metal whisker couplers which are shorter than the #146s by 2.8mm. I think that the #148s will closer resemble the NEM #18s and the #146s will be similar to the NEM #19. We'll see. Lots of fun. Thanks again John for the idea of using the Kadee #146s. Rick

GWR-fan and Darius : Thanks for the input. I have re-gauged the offending wheelsets to 14.5mm and they run better now, but still nowhere as good as the Bachmann or Oxford wagons. I can live with that. It's not that its hard to fix the problem, but that the problem exists in the first place. I've got a parcel coming from the UK that includes Kadee NEM coupler replacements for the Dapol tension locks. No issues with the Bachmann or Oxford wagons in this regard but it looks like you are warning me that the Kadees might be dragging in the mud with the Dapol wagons. More fettling, eh? In my modelling world, everything complies to NMRA and so its a bit of a surprise to find that the OO standards are laxly applied by UK manufacturers. It's only been the Dapol wagons that have caused concern at my end. Just different worlds I guess. So thanks again guys ... the education process continues. It's a lot of fun.

Thanks Darius. That was very helpful, particularly details about the Double O Gauge standards. It points to a back-to-back dimension of 14.4mm which is too narrow in my opinion and narrower than the NMRA standards at 14.55mm. I'm loathe to purchase any more Dapol wagons if it means that I have to regauge every wheelset. Would be better off sticking with those very smooth running Oxford wagons that I have. Thanks again, Rick

I'm new to British OO gauge / scale but have a long history with other model railway scales and gauges, most noteably On30. Its a real learning experience getting started with UK outline and so far I've purchased some Bachmann and Oxford Rail rolling stock locally as well as one of those beautiful Suttons Locomotive Workshop class 24 engines. The bonus is that I can run the OO trains on my 16.5mm gauge On30 tracks and DCC to get up and running. So, to the point of this : I bought 6 Dapol LMS box vans this month from Rails of Sheffield and when I try to run them through my turnouts, they all derail or jump, indicating the wheelsets are out of gauge. My track is handlaid code 83 on timber ties and conforms to NMRA track standards. All my On30 equipment and SLW engine and OO rolling stock work flawlessly. When I checked the back-to-back measurement of the Dapol wagons, every wheelset was set to about 14.3mm, whereas the NMRA standard indicates 14.55 (+0.05, -0.18)mm. Search as I might, I can't find any internet references to a specific set of British OO wheel standards that might be different to NMRA practices. Is there something different about OO standards that allows Dapol to set a narrower back-to-back? Or are the Dapol wagons known to be narrower? Thanks.