jonshannow Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Does anybody out there know if it is possible to convert these coaches from 45mm gauge to 32mm gauge, or has anybody done it and if so, how?. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevelewis Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I am aware that some people have convereted LGB rolling stock to 32mm gauge by simply removing the wheelsets,, then pulling the plastic wheels and half axles from the metal inner axle and cutting off an approppriate length of the inner plastic axle of each wheel to enable them to be gauged to 32mm A couple of photos attached to illustrate what i mean. You will have to be aware that the flanges are probably quite big so there may be probs on some 32mm track but possible the SM 32 or what ever it is called these days will be OK I am assuming here that Bachmann use their standard 45mm gauge wheelsets for these coaches. You may get much more info on this and large scale in General on www.gscalecentral.co.uk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonshannow Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hi Steve. Thanks for that. I was also thinking of maybe converting LGB coaches to run on 32mm so your info is useful. However, although I don't actually have any of the Emily's coaches, I have seen photos of the underside that appear to show that the wheels are metal and they are fixed on metal axles running in outside axle-boxes; whether the axle-ends run in proper bearings or just in the plastic axle-boxes I just don't know. It might be possible to slide the heels in along the axles to give the 28mm back-to-back, or replace the wheel/axle combinations completely with 32mm gauge ones, but I don't know how the metal wheels are fixed to the axles, and it looks like it would need one of the side-frames to be removed to realease the existing set of wheels, and I don't really want to spend the dough buying a coach just to fins out it what I want to do can't be done-you see the problem!. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevelewis Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 If it is anything to go by Bachmann wheels are pretty similar to LGB wheels, as a matter of interest I buy Bachmann or Liliput Metal wheels sets to re wheel LGB Plastic wheeled rolling stock ( Liliput & Bachmann are the same company so the wheels are exactly the same) I think you may find that some one on GSCALECENTRAL will have the answer re the type of wheel on the Emily coach. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonshannow Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 I've been told, by someone very reliable, that the wheels on the Emily coaches are no less than 38mm diameter and I'm pretty sure that nobody makes replacements that big, so I'm no longer going down the Emily route-instead I'm going down the LGB route. Their coaches, particularly the 4-wheeled ones, are in proportion to my Lady Anne, and have that quirky narrow-gauge look about them- there are several different types so I'm making up a rake of what looks like a random selection, just like the "real" narrow gauge!. You can remove the rooves easily to add "passengers" and most of them come with lighting already installed, although this is designed for the LGB standard of 17 volts, so would have to be replaced if you want lighted coaches. Several firms make LED strips powered by 3-volt lithium button cells which would be perfect for the job. As for changing the wheels, well, after I bought 2 of the coaches I soon discovered a very simple way to convert them to 32mm. The axles just pop out of the frames, then you just pull the wheels off the axle. The wheels are 31mm diameter but the flanges are very deep at 3.5mm and foul the chairs on my Peco SM32 track and cannot be re-used, so I replaced them with Binnie Engineering 8-spoke wheels which are near enough the same at 29mm. Happily the LGB axles are 3mm diameter which is what the Binnie wheels are made for, and as theses only have a flange depth of 1.5mm they are perfect. They are just a push fit onto the original axles then you set them at a back-to-back of 28mm, and the jobs a good un, as they say. If you do this conversion, I would recommend that you put a piece of plastic tubing, or something similar, between the wheel and the axleboxes to reduce the amount of side-play. Incidentally, I don't have a back-to-back gauge but used my digital micrometer instead-if you don't have one of these I would highly recommend getting one as you can use them for all sorts of things; it isn't neccesary to spend a vast amount on a high-spec one, as many are available at reasonable prices. By the way, Binnie were excellent. I placed my order on-line late on Day one, paid for the wheels on Day two, and they arrived first thing on Day three. I just wish all the suppliers i deal with were as prompt!. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted June 25, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 25, 2015 Guess who...#waves#.....nice to know I'm reliable!!!. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevelewis Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Interesting point you make about suppliers responding in a timely manner and despatching quickly. All the Large scale suppliers EXCEPT ONE have delivered my orders the next day in the last few months without exception They are Dragon G Scale, Glendale Junction, Garden Railway Centres, And Arcadiarail in Shaw. I wont name the one whose service i found disappointing other than to say they are well known on the Garden Railway Sector they took 6 days to get a simple 1 item order for some track to me! I ordered early on June 18th, it wasn't despatched until June 23rd on a 24 hr service and arrived with me on June 24th. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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