Dan Griffin Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 Hello i have a rake of 12 Hornby VIX ferry vans of varying ages. They are a nightmare on double slips and crossovers because the wheels are able to rotate they tend to travel and derail. back to backs are correct. i am considering fixing the axels in place, my question is will this effect the running capabilities on curves if a wagon as long as a ferry van has fixed axels, and more the point, when the full rake of 12 are running together. regards Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neil Posted January 13, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2022 (edited) I can't comment on the running of a rake of twelve but I have a couple with fixed axles which cause no problems. Edited January 13, 2022 by Neil 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 The problem is that they were designed to run on trainset curves. Fixing the axle units in place should help with your problem, as would replacing the them with compensation units. MJT offer suitable axle units. (Others are also available.) https://www.dartcastings.co.uk/mjt.php#SuspensionSystems-WagonCompensationUnits steve 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasatcopthorne Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 (edited) I have locked all mine in place. They must be absolutely square to the chassis. Make sure you have good wheels and they are at 14.5btb. At least Romfords or the latest Hornby/Bachmann wheels. Like this they are fine down to 2nd radius (Peco Double Slip). Why not lock 2 or 3 up with Blutac and test. Dave. Edited January 13, 2022 by dasatcopthorne 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Griffin Posted January 13, 2022 Author Share Posted January 13, 2022 30 minutes ago, dasatcopthorne said: I have locked all mine in place. They must be absolutely square to the chassis. Make sure you have good wheels and they are at 14.5btb. At least Romfords or the latest Hornby/Bachmann wheels. Like this they are fine down to 2nd radius (Peco Double Slip). Why not lock 2 or 3 up with Blutac and test. Dave. Yes all will have new metal Hornby wheel sets. Good idea with the blue tak. i'll try that first. thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted January 13, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 13, 2022 To ensure the axles are parallel and true I find the Brassmasters axle alignment jig comes in useful, available in 2 lengths, I would imagine the longer version is more suitable. Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhall Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 A VIX wheelbase is 26'3", but the longer brassmasters jig, in its longest position is only 24'6" so it won't help in this instance Jon 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted January 13, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 13, 2022 6 hours ago, jonhall said: A VIX wheelbase is 26'3", but the longer brassmasters jig, in its longest position is only 24'6" so it won't help in this instance Jon Thanks Jon, as you will gather, my ferryvan is still in the roundtuit pile! Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 (edited) I would fix the axleguard assemblies and do something about the excessive solebar height at the same time, This would also eliminate the unsightly gap between solebar and axleguard. The real thing has a minimum radius of 46m, so the model should be OK on a bit less thanks to the slop between wheel and rail. Mine is still to do.... Edited January 14, 2022 by Il Grifone Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 The wheels on the prototype are 1 metre diameter, I believe, which scales out at 14mm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 Actually 13.125* mm which, taking advantage of the prototype allowance for wear, matches the Hornby wheels at 12.6mm. One does not need any additional height below the solebar on anything with Tri-ang origins.... One could even push things and use standard 12mm wheels! * There are a lot more digits, but I rounded it off. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasatcopthorne Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Here's my personal coupling solution. I use the Brian Kirby magnetic conversion for Bachmann couplings. Dave. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessy1692 Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 I found fixing one set up and keeping on able to swivel but added chocks to limit the swivel radius helped a lot. I don't have train set curves but when I glued them all up they did bind a little and reversing through crossovers wasn't exactly great with both sets glued up. Cheers James 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted January 16, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2022 Whilst we're on the subject of couplings, has anybody fitted screw couplings to one of these, I'm assuming a headstock mounting doesn't work unless you've got scale radius curves? Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
47406 Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 Yes, almost - I have fitted 3-link type couplings to a number of Hornby longer wheel base wagons but i cheated - at one end of each wagon the coupling has 4 links on the chain which gives them that little extra amount of room between the wagons. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Mine are also 3 link fitted, however, I don't have any real curves on my layouts. 2 of the 3 are EM, which is an easy conversion. steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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