Guest Jack Benson Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 A simple upgrade to Dapol's LMS suburban coaches should be new metal wheels, except the Hornby axle length is too short. Any thoughts or ideas? Cheers Jack Benson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted April 18, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 18, 2019 I think Romford axles are a little longer and may be what you are looking for. It is worth upgrading to metal wheels if you can, as they run better and plastic spreads crud all over your layout. An alternative might be to superglue top hat brass bearings into the Dapol bogies which will then be the right 'gauge' for the Hornby wheelsets; you might have to drill some plastic out for them to fit. This will further improve the running. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejstubbs Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, Jack Benson said: A simple upgrade to Dapol's LMS suburban coaches should be new metal wheels, except the Hornby axle length is too short. I'm a bit puzzled by this statement. I have three Dapol* LMS suburban coaches which are running very happily on Hornby wheelsets in the original bogies (modified to take Kadee couplers, but that makes no difference to the wheelsets). The only item of rolling stock in my fleet that wouldn't take Hornby wheelsets was a Lima GUV. That was solved by switching out the Lima bogies for Bachmann LMS bogies. * Actually Airfix, but the bogies are the same - I know because I have used bogies from the Dapol kits under them. Edited April 18, 2019 by ejstubbs 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasdavetheroad Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 I too have fitted the Dapol LMS non corridor coaches with Hornby wheels with no problems. Mine are the cross country lavatory coaches and I did not know Dapol made a suburban version Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Compound2632 Posted April 18, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 18, 2019 8 minutes ago, wasdavetheroad said: I too have fitted the Dapol LMS non corridor coaches with Hornby wheels with no problems. Mine are the cross country lavatory coaches and I did not know Dapol made a suburban version Those are the ones the OP means - suburban is too often shorthand for non-corridor. Remember, folks, there were only 25 of each of the two designs Airfix / Dapol modelled. Rather rare as LMS carriages go, except on LMS/LMR layouts! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jack Benson Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 (edited) 10 hours ago, Compound2632 said: Remember, folks, there were only 25 of each of the two designs Airfix / Dapol modelled. Rather rare as LMS carriages go, except on LMS/LMR layouts! The thread was a discussion on axle lengths but thanks for the info. Thanks to the other contributors for your ideas, some of the Hornby wheelsets are a perfect fit, if somewhat loose, others are not. The pragmatic solutions could be Johnster's, fit Romford bearings or some warmth and gentle pressure on the bogie sides. Cheers Jack Benson Edited April 19, 2019 by Jack Benson Expansion of the explanation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted April 19, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 19, 2019 These mouldings seem to be quite variable in my experience, probably due to the age of the moulds. On some, Hornby wheelsets are OK, on others, not. The ex-Airfix bogies look a bit weedy to me, though, and I've bought Bachmann bogies to go under the two I'm currently working on. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Compound2632 Posted April 19, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 19, 2019 1 hour ago, Jack Benson said: The thread was a discussion on axle lengths but thanks for the info. Carthago delenda est. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejstubbs Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 2 hours ago, Jack Benson said: some of the Hornby wheelsets are a perfect fit, if somewhat loose, others are not I use Hornby R8218 14.1mm coach wheels on mine. Dunsignalling may have a point, given that all my coaches are original Airfix ones which should have been manufactured from pretty fresh moulds. However, I have also bought some Dapol coach kits going cheap and scavenged the bogies from those with no problems so I couldn't actually tell you which of the bogies I'm now using are the original Airfix ones and which are Dapol ones from 'tired' moulds. (It's certainly true some of the original moulds are now unusable, hence why the roof on the brake 3rd is now the same as the composite.) The first post on this thread says: "Recent Hornby 14mm coach wheels will fit into the Airfix and Dapol bogies." (I haven't found the need to do any "scalping" of the underframes on mine to accommodate the larger wheels. Maybe I'm missing something...) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jack Benson Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 Guys, The warm water and gentle pressure worked a treat, the coaches now run freely. Thanks once more Cheers Jack Benson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free At Last Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 11 minutes ago, ejstubbs said: hence why the roof on the brake 3rd is now the same as the composite I believe this has been corrected. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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