Nile's NG Modelling

[Nile]

Back to the brake van, as the brake column is outside on the verandah I wanted the guard to be there as well. This being a bit smaller than a standard gauge van none of my Airfix figures would fit, all being a bit too tall. I found a HO scale figure that just about fits (possibly American) and repainted his clothes.

 

Final part is the roof with a Peco oil lamp top and a smoke stack made from some thin plastic tube.

 

A line up of the four brake vans (so far) I've built for the Scarrdale Railway.

[AlfaZagato]

These are looking very good.   Regarding the figures, I've seen a lot of NG vans where the guard is forced to stoop.

[Nile]

I tried, but they refused to stoop. At just over 5ft tall this one is hardly a midget, and people were on average shorter a century ago. He will still need to stoop to exit the van.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Nile

[Nile]

The reason for the new brake van is to go with a permanent way works train. The first wagons for this are a pair of Peco bolster wagons with a rail load. Some old SMP phosphor bronze rail was cut to 20ft (80mm) lengths and stuck to some double sided sticky tape. This was then stuck to the bolsters, keeping everything together. The rail has been toned down with matt varnish and a wash of matt black.

 

Underneath the brake cylinders were cut away leaving room for some lead. The close coupling was a leftover from the slate wagons. Farish wheels and Greenwich couplings complete the mods.

[Compound2632]

So the bolsters plus rails make a rigid unit, with the trucks acting as bogies? (Or possibly the bogies acting as trucks, especially if you're Scottish?) With the centre coupling, are there enough degrees of freedom to get through an S-curve without derailing?

Edited December 16, 2018 by Compound2632

[Nile]

Yes.

Yes.

Cue hastily improvised test track from Peco set-track.

 

[Compound2632]

Good. There's evidently enough slack in the centre coupling. If that was rigid, with the rails fixed to the bolsters, thereby fixing the bolster pin centres, you'd run into trouble with the bolster locating centres on the trucks being closer together on the curve (any curve, I realise, not just an S-curve) than on the straight. 

[Nile]

I could probably get away with no centre coupling here (short, light trains), but this arrangement works just fine.

[Nile]

Next for the PW train is a crane with a runner wagon.

The crane is from Minitrains. I didn't like the wagon it was on so I fitted it to a Peco flat wagon. To the other flat wagon (they come in pairs) I fitted 1ft side planks.

 

The runner wagon was given a load of sleepers and tools. The sleepers were cut from thick card and then painted. The tools are Coopercraft, with a few other bits as well.

 

Add a bit of weathering.

[Nile]

This is what happens when you don't test things properly. You may have noticed that I'd used Dapol knuckle couplers to get the crane and runner wagons close coupled. This was fine on straight track but didn't work through a reverse curve, not enough side-play. As I'd glued them in place I cut off the knuckles and drilled holes in the remaining bits to accept some hook and loop couplers made from brass rod (like those on the quarrymen's coaches).

The hook on the left will also couple with a Greenwich coupling, increasing the wagon's versatility.

 

The complete train can now run into Scarside without derailing.

[Charlie009]

Neil, how did you manage that fact that the rear driving wheels have got a lot of sideplay? Without the rear pony wheels, doesn’t the chassis wiggle from side to side a bit?

 

You've achieved a good finish on that model. You should start your own topic showing us your ng models, what I've seen so far looks good.

Back to Skarloey, I got the saw out again and removed the rear of the chassis and cleaned things up back there. the result is a more compact looking loco.

25.JPG

26.JPG

 

Using bits and bobs I got to work on the inside of the cab. I've tried to make the motor mount look like the firebox backhead, complete with steam dome and safety valves. They sort of line up with those on the cab roof.

27.JPG

Edited December 30, 2018 by Charlie009

[Nile]

Hi Charlie, I added some washers to the rear axle to limit its sideplay, simples.

Of more concern would be the lack of bearings on the mid axle. I don't think it will be a problem for me as my loco is never going to do a high mileage. If it was a concern it might be possible to re-use the bearings from what was the rear axle.

[Nile]

The passenger stock of this railway really should have automatic brakes, so I've made a start to fitting brake pipes.

Those on the loco are from Romford, those on the coach have been removed from a Peco wagon. It would be odd for a railway to have vacuum braked wagons and hand braked coaches.

[Nile]

Fixing Heljan's Lynton & Barnstaple Locos

 

The first batch of models had problems with the valve gear falling apart. This seems to have been fixed with the mk.2 version recently released. There are however still problems with its ability to negotiate points and imperfect track. These are caused by the pony trucks which have several problems:

- The trucks themselves have almost no vertical movement.

- The wheels are wide to gauge, the axles are about 0.5mm too long.

- The wheels are a bit too finescale for 009 track.

- The axles are a loose fit in the truck, they can wobble about. The wheels are not held parallel to the rails.

 

Following advice from a friend this is how I fixed my newest loco 759 YEO.

 

I replaced the pony truck wheels with 8mm 6-hole type made by Alan Gibson many years ago (mine came with Nine Lines kits). New ones made by Romford (I think) are available from Dundas models. These wheels are wider and have a deeper flange. The Heljan wheel is on the right.

 

To allow the truck to move up (as well as down) I carved a bit off the top at the end, where the coupling socket is.

The new wheels have 1.5mm axles, so I've used some brass tube as bearings fitted into the trucks.

 

This tube is 1.5mm inside diameter, 2.0mm outside. As it's a slightly loose fit I used some super glue gel to secure it.

 

On the loco I've kept the pick-ups where they are, the slight downward force helps keep the wheels on the track. Any burrs on the edge were removed as these could snag on the wheels flanges. I removed the washer (arrowed) around the truck mount screw, this inhibits vertical movement.

 

I've fitted Greenwich couplings (CPL-3) slightly modified to improve clearance under the buffer beam. The curve at the front is shallower. As this results in a weak spot I added a fillet of solder here to strengthen it.

 

The new wheels have pin-point axles, these where cut off with a piercing saw. The wheels were fitted to the trucks using a N-gauge back-to-back gauge as a guide.

 

The pony truck re-fitted.

 

Here you can see how the coupling clears the buffer beam.

 

This loco had a successful test run around Willesden Junction last night, so I'm happy with it.

 

It's possible to improve the loco without changing the wheels. Either the axles need to be shortened or the holes in the wheels need to be deepened. Others have found their own solutions.

Edited February 9, 2019 by Nile
title

[Nile]

Tank Wagons are a bit of a rarity on British narrow gauge lines, but that doesn't stop wanting some. I found a suitable staring point in the form of some old Triang TT wagons.

 

The metal chassis has to go, that leaves these parts. I've already started on the tank, removing the letters.

 

To the underside I've stuck the parts of a Dundas Tralee & Dingle chassis. The ends are made up from plastic card.

 

With the tank back on.

 

And then more recently at a show I found one that someone else had converted, using Egger Bahn parts I think. The result is a lower riding wagon than mine.

I shall add some brake details to this, it will make an interesting comparison.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Nile
fix

[Nile]

After removing all traces of the previous markings I sprayed the tanks with red primer. I added a bit of weathering before reassembling them.

I've added brake levers to the lower riding one, leftover bits from kits.

 

The other one, with its simpler brake gear. Due to its higher ride height the couplings are mounted on blocks under the chassis.

 

The two together.

I think some extra strapping is needed around the tanks. I have an idea, watch this space.

 

[Nile]

Some strapping around the tanks added using EZ-line, and extra horizontal bracing with blackened brass rods.

[Nile]

The Fourdees RTR wagons I have come painted in an overall brown livery. I decided to improve their looks with a proper paint job, or should that be an unpaint job as I wanted the interior to be unpainted wood. That meant the iron work on the inside had to be painted black. The exterior is my usual brick red.

 

I also fitted Greenwich couplings. The NEM sockets are a loose fit for the CPL-3 type, some 10thou packing on the underside sorted that out. Filing a slight chamfer on the bottom edge of the socket helps with clearance for the tail of the loop. On the left one I removed the sockets and mounted CPL-1s on some 40thou plastic card glued to the chassis.

 

A before and after photo.

[AlfaZagato]

Are these Fourdees wagons unique to them, or are they more limited releases via Peco, as with the coaches?

[Nile]

Fourdees make them in their own 3D printer. They come with Peco couplings and in the same box as Peco wagons.

[Nile]

Another Fourdees wagon repainted, this time in SR/LSWR livery.

 

There isn't a railway for these Southern wagons to run on for now, except in my head. That doesn't stop me building them.

[Nile]

Over the last few months most of my NG projects have been for Scarside. Here are some things that aren't specifically meant for Scarrdale that have passed across my workbench.

Dundas models Irish open wagon and van. As these are based on 3ft gauge prototypes they are a bit bigger than most 009 stock.

 

As built the open wagon was actually wider than the van. Too wide for me, so I pulled it apart and narrowed it by a few mm. It's now about the same as the van.

 

009 society cattle wagons. I missed these first time around a few years ago, so snapped a couple up recently upon their re-issue. Also based on Irish prototypes they used the same chassis as the above wagons.

 

Something else in the 'round-tuit' pile was this Chivers kit of an Innisfail Tramway coach. It seems to have ended up in a GWR like livery, the brown is actually SR wagon brown.

I've added lamp tops from Peco coaches, and vac-pipes from a Dundas kit. I shortened the footboards so they are only below the door, full length seemed a bit pointless.

The roof is held on with magnets, so I can access the interior. I added the black plastic cross member to keep the sides straight, it then came in handy for the magnets.

 

Adding Greenwich couplings to the bogies was an interesting challenge. I ended up using the NEM type (CPL-3) to get the clearance under the coach ends. I re-enforced one of the fold lines with solder before gluing them to the underside of the tabs on the bogies.

[Nile]

I shall revive this topic with some purchases at Expo-NG last weekend. I found this pair of wagons interesting. They appear to be Nine-Lines kits, I've not seen this round ended variant before.

 

 

 

I removed the markings using Micro-sol, soaking the transfers until they came loose. The inside was painted for an old wood appearance, the outside was left in the grey it came. The original 8mm steel tyred wheels were replaced by new brass rimmed wheels from Dindas. Couplings replaced with Greenwich ones, and a piece of lead added underneath.

 

 

That's a Fourdees WLLR wagon at the end for comparison.

 

Edited November 4, 2019 by Nile

[Compound2632]

14 minutes ago, Nile said:

a piece of lead added underneath.

 

 

What weight do you manage to achieve or find desirable for satisfactory running?

 

A have a few (Parkside) Dundas kits for the Lynton & Barnstaple 4-wheel wagons; they're real featherweights...

[Nile]

With small open wagons like these it's a case of squeeze as much lead into the chassis as possible. I think I have one of those Dundas wagons, I'll have a look when I get home tonight.