Rails Announce OO 18000 Gas Turbine Locomotive

[Pteremy]

If I remember correctly there was an exchange earlier in this thread that concluded that the colour used would have been a 'standard' lining colour in use at the time. So what I was really hoping for by asking the question was that someone who has a green 18000, and also has some possibly appropriate lining to hand, could compare the two. The amount required is very small, and narrow - indeed, it barely shows up on most photographs. Trying to replicate it may be more trouble than it is worth. But then again who knows unless you try.

[Pteremy]

So, by chance i noticed that the 'orange' lining is like the orange that Gaugemaster uses on its e.g leaflets. And Fox do orange and black 'express passenger' BR lining. So bought some lining, albeit for N gauge. If it looks good, all will be revealed.

[cctransuk]

Well - the most widespread criticism of 18000 seems to be its disliking for sharper radii. Examing my late crest version it was evident that, with the loco inverted, the cosmetic bogie sideframes pivot independently of the actual bogies / wheels.

 

The limiting factors, as far as the cosmetic sideframes are concerned, are the portions which are within the bodysides; little can be done to increase the rotation other than attacking the bodysides or the detail of the sideframes.

 

The limiting factor for the actual bogies / wheels is the extent to which they can move within the cosmetic sideframes; in this case, it appeared possible to reduce the thickness of the latter, on the inside, in order to increase rotation.

 

Having removed the body in accordance with the instructions, and turning the cosmetic bogie sideframes as far as possible, it is apparent that the wheels strike the inside of the frames at the rear of the outer and inner spring dampers. Using a diamond-faced mini-file, I removed as much of the inner face of the inside of the damper, and the adjoining frame adjacent to the corner, as I dared.

 

This was done at an angle - deepest towards the corner, tapering to nothing at the inner end of the damper; ie. a wedge shape. This allowed the wheels to rotate further into what had been solid sideframe. The filing was repeated for the remaining seven sideframe dampers. A gentle scrape with a scalpel blade removed any 'fuzz' raised by the file, and then the body was reattached to the chassis; (after taking the opportunity to fit the cab steps to the body, and the brakegear links to the bogies).

 

Test running revealed that the loco is now far more amenable to radii, and happily negotiates Peco medium radius crossovers and worse!

 

John Isherwood.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by cctransuk

[Enterprisingwestern]

10 hours ago, cctransuk said:

Well - the most widespread criticism of 18000 seems to be its disliking for sharper radii. Examing my late crest version it was evident that, with the loco inverted, the cosmetic bogie sideframes pivot independently of the actual bogies / wheels.

 

The limiting factors, as far as the cosmetic sideframes are concerned, are the portions which are within the bodysides; little can be done to increase the rotation other than attacking the bodysides or the detail of the sideframes.

 

The limiting factor for the actual bogies / wheels is the extent to which they can move within the cosmetic sideframes; in this case, it appeared possible to reduce the thickness of the latter, on the inside, in order to increase rotation.

 

Having removed the body in accordance with the instructions, and turning the cosmetic bogie sideframes as far as possible, it is apparent that the wheels strike the inside of the frames at the rear of the outer and inner spring dampers. Using a diamond-faced mini-file, I removed as much of the inner face of the inside of the damper, and the adjoining frame adjacent to the corner, as I dared.

 

This was done at an angle - deepest towards the corner, tapering to nothing at the inner end of the damper; ie. a wedge shape. This allowed the wheels to rotate further into what had been solid sideframe. The filing was repeated for the remaining seven sideframe dampers. A gentle scrape with a scalpel blade removed any 'fuzz' raised by the file, and then the body was reattached to the chassis; (after taking the opportunity to fit the cab steps to the body, and the brakegear links to the bogies).

 

Test running revealed that the loco is now far more amenable to radii, and happily negotiates Peco medium radius crossovers and worse!

 

John Isherwood.

 

 

 

Hmm, very useful John, could make EM conversion "interesting"!

 

Mike.

[cctransuk]

3 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Hmm, very useful John, could make EM conversion "interesting"!

 

Mike.

 

Fortunately, the plastic used for the bogie frames does not appear to be in any way brittle.

 

Modifications would be much easier if the bogie frames were easily removed.

 

This did not appear to be the case, so I did the filing in-situ, with the frames turned as far as possible away from the chassis block.

 

John Isherwood.

[boxbrownie]

15 hours ago, cctransuk said:

.

Test running revealed that the loco is now far more amenable to radii, and happily negotiates Peco medium radius crossovers and worse!

 

John Isherwood.

 

 

Sent mine back too soon I guess. 

[Railsnail]

On 30/12/2021 at 12:35, boxbrownie said:

Sent mine back too soon I guess. 

 

Still available in BR Green early & late BR crest if you wanted to give it another try... https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/18000-gas-turbine/products/Heljan-1802-br-gas-turbine-18000-class-locomotive-br-green-late-crest

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, Railsnail said:

 

Still available in BR Green early & late BR crest if you wanted to give it another try... https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/18000-gas-turbine/products/Heljan-1802-br-gas-turbine-18000-class-locomotive-br-green-late-crest

Thanks, but TBH I don’t really want to modify that particular model, I bought it because it intrigued me and was interesting but not enough to bu99er it up just to get it to run around my 2nd radius hidden curves.

[gwrrob]

Thinking of trying to add a crew to this model , was it a one or two [second man] member job.

[The Stationmaster]

33 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

Thinking of trying to add a crew to this model , was it a one or two [second man] member job.

Double manned Rob - the Fireman had to work the train heating boiler (at the appropriate time of year) and in any case for the sort of turns it worked single manning was not permitted in the days when it was running.   Bristol turns might just have qualified under the 1957 Manning Agreement but I suspect the hours on duty involved would have mitigated against that.

[gwrrob]

On 19/02/2022 at 10:48, The Stationmaster said:

Double manned Rob - the Fireman had to work the train heating boiler (at the appropriate time of year) and in any case for the sort of turns it worked single manning was not permitted in the days when it was running.   Bristol turns might just have qualified under the 1957 Manning Agreement but I suspect the hours on duty involved would have mitigated against that.

 

Weathered, crew and front detail now added although the 150 head code is pure fiction on my part. The numbers supplied are magnetic and very easy to chop and change if needed. Hopefully this item will be available as a separate item from Rail's in due course.

 

[69843]

18 hours ago, gwrrob said:

Hopefully this item will be available as a separate item from Rail's in due course.

http://www.precisionlabels.com/l30.html

[gwrrob]

6 hours ago, 69843 said:

http://www.precisionlabels.com/l30.html

 

They also do the frame as a separate item although not magnetic.

 

http://precisionlabels.com/k17.html?

[Rail-Online]

On 15/05/2022 at 15:04, gwrrob said:

 

Weathered, crew and front detail now added although the 150 head code is pure fiction on my part. The numbers supplied are magnetic and very easy to chop and change if needed. Hopefully this item will be available as a separate item from Rail's in due course.

 

A  question for Rob - the magnetic head code holder has two pips on its rear - did you use these, drilling holes in the cab frony to fit it, or attached it in some other way?

 

Cheers Tony

[gwrrob]

28 minutes ago, Rail-Online said:

A  question for Rob - the magnetic head code holder has two pips on its rear - did you use these, drilling holes in the cab frony to fit it, or attached it in some other way?

 

Cheers Tony

 

I filed them off flush and use tacky wax to fit it to the cab.

[Rail-Online]

Thanks Rob,

 

I will have to experiment with that tacky wax........

 

Just finished converting one to EM - easy job except the whistles are very vulnerable, will give it a run on Tuesday.

 

Tony

Edited September 17, 2022 by Rail-Online
typo

[No Decorum]

14 hours ago, Rail-Online said:

Thanks Rob,

 

I will have to experiment with that tacky wax........

 

Just finished converting one to EM - easy job except the whistles are very vulnerable, will give it a run on Tuesday.

 

Tony

The are very vulnerable. I think it’s well worth replacing them with metal ones.

[OnTheBranchline]

On 19/02/2022 at 05:48, The Stationmaster said:

Double manned Rob - the Fireman had to work the train heating boiler (at the appropriate time of year) and in any case for the sort of turns it worked single manning was not permitted in the days when it was running.   Bristol turns might just have qualified under the 1957 Manning Agreement but I suspect the hours on duty involved would have mitigated against that.

 

So all he had to do was turn up the thermostat?  😉

[Pteremy]

I have been running my sound fitted 18000 this weekend. One thing I have yet to master is a smooth transition from F1 Diesel engines to F3 Turbine. The instructions imply that F3 will turn off the F1 diesel engines and, by implication, start the turbine. But doing that seems to cut the sound out altogether. I can only manage a clunky transition by turning off F1 and only then starting up F3, with a brief sound gap (although curiously I can get a seamless/overlapping transition the other way around, from F3 to F1). Has anyone else been more successful than me?