Florence Locomotive Works Posted December 28, 2020 Author Share Posted December 28, 2020 Here is the mostly finished article. It does have one less “spoke” on each side due to me not being able to cut balsa that thin. However a bit more shaping of said spokes is in order though. Then painting shall come. Douglas 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florence Locomotive Works Posted December 28, 2020 Author Share Posted December 28, 2020 After painting and fitting to the engine... Douglas 2 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Do you use track clips, for loose lay track? None of my tubular track has them, but I definitely find they are required. I use small cable ties, in pairs, so the trailing ends are below the ties (sleepers) and snip off any that protrude. I’ve just been experimenting with O31 tubular track. It’s interesting, the differences in size between the various minimum radii - O36 Fastrack takes up a LOT more space than O31, and if you are working in table-top or back-of-a-door sizes, then O31 and O27 are significantly different in terms of what can be accommodated in the space. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 I’ve been tinkering with my Williams die-cast Hudson, fitting a K Line front pilot which (with a little fettling) is a great improvement over the Lionel one. The geometry of the mounting links is slightly different and it doesn’t show the tendency to climb the inner rail, which is common with the Lionel one. I also have a set of four “baby” (13 1/2”) “Madison” type prewar coaches. The whole set is lettered NYC ad with the LED lighting conversion, has a nice soft, steady glow under power. Looks good circulating on the study floor! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florence Locomotive Works Posted March 2, 2021 Author Share Posted March 2, 2021 On 11/01/2021 at 03:36, rockershovel said: Do you use track clips, for loose lay track? None of my tubular track has them, but I definitely find they are required. I use small cable ties, in pairs, so the trailing ends are below the ties (sleepers) and snip off any that protrude. I’ve just been experimenting with O31 tubular track. It’s interesting, the differences in size between the various minimum radii - O36 Fastrack takes up a LOT more space than O31, and if you are working in table-top or back-of-a-door sizes, then O31 and O27 are significantly different in terms of what can be accommodated in the space. Sorry Rocker, just saw these. Currently the layout is packed away, as the floor was converted to something like the plotting floor of the Admiralty wargame room. (Dad and I were doing the track plan for a large Welsh goods yard in 4mm). To answer your question, I've got no idea what a track clip is, so I'm guessing I don't use them. On 11/02/2021 at 14:56, rockershovel said: I’ve been tinkering with my Williams die-cast Hudson, fitting a K Line front pilot which (with a little fettling) is a great improvement over the Lionel one. The geometry of the mounting links is slightly different and it doesn’t show the tendency to climb the inner rail, which is common with the Lionel one. I also have a set of four “baby” (13 1/2”) “Madison” type prewar coaches. The whole set is lettered NYC ad with the LED lighting conversion, has a nice soft, steady glow under power. Looks good circulating on the study floor! The Vision 700e bogie arrived, fitted right in without any issue. My balsa pilot got destroyed on accident but we've been given a store credit from Trainz.com (the who we bought the engine from, great folks) to buy a new one. I keep forgetting to though. Still haven't bought any coaches for mine, I think your NYC coaches are quite rare though! Douglas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BR60103 Posted March 3, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 3, 2021 Douglas: The track clip was used to hold sections of track together. It took advantage of the curly sides and open end of O gauge ties/sleepers and slid over the outer sides of the end ties on two adjacent sections. I've lost mine over the last 70 years somewhere. There were little metal bits that rose from the base and went over the bent-up part of the tie and there as a handle for pulling it off. I'm not sure if Lionel made any; mine were Hornby. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 I’ve got an older Lionel “scale wheels” front bogie which came with my Williams Hudson. It fits straight in but the large wheels pose significant restrictions on radius, by fouling the steam chest / cylinder casting. It’s presently wearing a front bogie from an MTH semi-Scale Hudson which is awaiting attention to the wiring. I’m quite pleased with this, it looks better than the Lionel “tiny wheels” and will cope with O36 Fastrack (I haven’t tried it on O31 yet) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 (edited) I don’t particularly recommend the Lionel “baby Madisons”. MTH or K Line ones are much better. If I saw a set of MTH PRR Madisons I’d buy them, but with no club meetings likely in 2021 it isn’t a priority. Edited March 3, 2021 by rockershovel 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florence Locomotive Works Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 (edited) On 03/03/2021 at 06:08, rockershovel said: I don’t particularly recommend the Lionel “baby Madisons”. MTH or K Line ones are much better. If I saw a set of MTH PRR Madisons I’d buy them, but with no club meetings likely in 2021 it isn’t a priority. I was thinking of getting some older kit built heavyweights to run behind it, but due to cost it doesn't seem very practical. On the front bogie, I run O-72 curves so it doesn't have any major problems, I think it did jump the track once on the straight for no apparent reason. Douglas Edited May 11, 2021 by Florence Locomotive Works Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium J. S. Bach Posted May 11, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 11, 2021 3 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said: I was thinking of getting some older kit built heavyweights to run behind it, but due to cost it doesn't seem very practical. ...snip... Douglas Do not forget Walthers and maybe All Nation for older built-up kits, both made shorter 60' cars which would fit in quite well. There are usually quite a few on ebay. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 On 11/05/2021 at 20:14, Florence Locomotive Works said: I was thinking of getting some older kit built heavyweights to run behind it, but due to cost it doesn't seem very practical. On the front bogie, I run O-72 curves so it doesn't have any major problems, I think it did jump the track once on the straight for no apparent reason. Douglas one thing I've discovered by experiment is that on larger locomotives, the geometry of the front bogie linkage can be sensitive. If the long link is slightly bent, or the locating pin and spring isn't correctly set so the bogie doesn't move freely, it can cause derailments for no obvious reason. I suspect this is why Lionel made a lot of locos with 2-wheel pony trucks rather than 4-wheel bogies in the post-war era. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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