Elevenses?

[Chris Higgs]

Hopefully my first photos on RMweb....

 

 

 

 

 

I put a bit of Easitrak alongside my 11mm track for comparison.

 

The really good news is that larger wheels do run with bogie muffs on 11mm gauge track without any perceptible wobble - at least to my eye. The wheels are a little loose though, in that they need little persuasion to slide in and out. I will need to glue them in place when I do a permanent fix in proper driving wheel muffs. I very much appreciate Chris raising this as a possible issue - proving it works has increased my confidence no end.

 

So, apart from the minor problem of having to scratch-build everything, which I don't underestimate, the project does seem quite feasible.

 

What do you plan to do about rolling stock wheels? It is obvious that the standard pinpoint 12.25mm length of 2mm wheels will not be enough, and you will need to standardise on a longer value, either one of the other available lengths (13.7, 14.2, 14.8 or 15.2) or your own. Then think about what other components such as wagon axleguards you will need to support that.

 

Chris

[Tequila Sunrise]

For the small diorama type of layout you mention I would not imagine any difficulties. However if you wanted 100 wagon freights on a big roundy roundy the strain on the wheels might be more of an issue.

Now that you have sorted a track gauge etc you may as well continue with 2mm at 1:152.

Don

Ta for the encouragement Don!

 

Research shows there really is next to nothing available in 1:160 that would be of use, whereas in 2mm, Japanese 1:150 and British N there are a few things I can use to save time. The larger scale will in itself be an advantage too.

 

It is the research, the making and the learning as I go that is important to me though, so the less ready-made goods I incorporate the better - except for things like wheels, gears, motors, rail, sleepers and other small components. There is just no point in doing these myself, as Chris rightly says.

 

100 wagon freights would be a bit ambitious even with RTR equipment, when you think of the cost involved! If ever I do need to mass produce wagons, there is always etching, or maybe even 3D printing.

[Tequila Sunrise]

What do you plan to do about rolling stock wheels? It is obvious that the standard pinpoint 12.25mm length of 2mm wheels will not be enough, and you will need to standardise on a longer value, either one of the other available lengths (13.7, 14.2, 14.8 or 15.2) or your own. Then think about what other components such as wagon axleguards you will need to support that.

 

Chris

 

Chris,

 

That is another good question. I had originally assumed I would be needing all bogie stock. Research suggests, to my surprise, that I probably need a mixture of 4 wheel, 6 wheel (that was a real surprise) and bogie stock. I will standardise on one of the longer axle lengths and make a jig to alter the back-to-backs on the wheels. Where an existing bogie or chassis is too narrow, I will have to carefully widen it. Much of the stock I envisage was built by British manufacturers, so carefully-selected springs, bogies and W irons from 2mm stock should be OK.

 

Here are some British-built 6-wheel coaches, for example, in a bit of distress..

[Tequila Sunrise]

Turning back to the loco chassis, I have decided to try an Argentinian broad gauge 4-4-0 as my first effort.

 

Original drawing source http://mdttrenes.tripod.com, but modified for my own use.

 

The loco was built by Schwartzkopff in 1907 for the Rosario-Puerto Belgrano railway in Argentina. This railway was French-owned. It is perhaps an odd choice, but I found it difficult to find anything else broad gauge to suit - I have some loco wheels originally intended for a Highland Railway engine and was determined to use them, no matter what.

 

A 4-4-0 is probably not an ideal starting point in any scale, but in traffic terms it meets my needs quite well, as a loco suitable for very short passenger and mixed trains. It has inside cylinders, so there is no complicated valve gear to model - and 4 driving wheels ought to be relatively easy to quarter. I hope to put together a rolling chassis to start with, building in the gears etc. necessary for turning it into a working model later on - all being well.

 

I only have one side elevation and a couple of poor photographs to work from, so there will be a bit of guesswork involved. Ignorance is probably bliss though, judging by the intensive, seemingly never-ending debates that go on about new Hornby, Bachmann, Heljan and Dapol models!

 

Beyond choosing the prototype, I have not yet given the project much thought. Please be patient while I sort out how I will try to turn the drawing into a 3D model.

[Tequila Sunrise]

Whilst I contemplate my 4-4-0 locomotive in detail, I have been doing further research into the many aspects of my intended 11mm gauge diorama. Assuming you are not all bored with my ramblings by now, I will mention a bit of progress.... but please do tell me when you have all had enough.

 

Trackwork

 

Track features quite high on the agenda. The short length I have built so far was purely a test track, with widely-spaced sleepers. I will build the track on the diorama to look far more realistic. I had a look on the Web to try and find some prototype trackwork details.

 

The best site I have found for broad gauge, flat-bottomed rail track drawings is Mark Bau's VR Site. This contains some very detailed drawings of the Victorian Railways infrastructure. VR track is to 5ft 3in gauge, of course. A little work in Photoshop soon adjusted this to the wider gauge I require. The plain track on VR was built up using fairly short rails, even in the 1930s, it seems. That ties in nicely with photos of 5ft 6in trackwork too. Here are examples of what I have done...

 

 

 

 

 

For the plain track, I will probably fabricate a jig and make half-track on my workbench before sticking it onto the baseboard. For the points though, I will probably build them on location using paper templates stuck directly to the baseboard. The diorama will simply not be elaborate enough for me to justify learning Templot from scratch.

 

2mm Scale Association 18mm sleepers seem about the right length for the plain track, despite the wider gauge. If anything, the 2mmSA point sleepers seem just a fraction broad, but as most should prototypically be buried in earth and weeds, I won't worry too much about that.

 

The Locomotive

 

Turning to the 4-4-0 chassis, I continue to contemplate the design and construction of this locomotive. 4-4-0s (and 0-4-4s) are notorious to build in any gauge, so I am led to believe. There are great problems with weight distribution, controlling the sideways swing at the bogie end of the loco, adhesion, behaviour when propelling stock with the bogie end leading etc. I have been doing as much reading as I can, trying to get to grips with the problems and their solution.

 

One very useful tome is "The Principles of Model Locomotive Suspension" by Russ Elliott, one of the Scalefour Society's data sheets. This is very comprehensive, informative and thought-provoking, even though it is addressed to an audience working in 4mm scale.

 

Clearly, the experience of other 2mm modellers is going to be most relevant to my little experiment. I do however have a lot more space to play around with between the frames than normal. Also, the splashers on my loco are rather high in proportion to the driving wheels, when compared with most British locos - as if they were intended for a different loco entirely! To my mind, this opens up possibilities that people modelling British prototypes in 9.42mm gauge might dismiss as unnecessarily complicated or impractical.

 

I am slowly coming round to the idea that a double-bogie arrangement might work best for me. In this arrangement, the driving wheels would form a bogie, able to pivot and yaw. The leading bogie would simply pivot. roll and yaw at its centre point, without any of the normal sideplay. That would sort many of the problems, but creates a few of its own. I might be able to make the frames (which would be purely cosmetic) and the body as one assembly. The motor would be in the commodious tender.

 

I am still examining the problems associated with this idea - mainly (I think) to do with electrical insulation. I have seen the principle work on a Midland Railway 0-4-4T in P4, if I remember rightly - though it was a long time ago. With the relatively short wheelbase of the loco and fairly generous curves on the trackwork, the amount the wheels would shift sideways on a curve ought to be pretty minimal. Using double-sided PCB for the footplate might make insulation problems easier.

 

I am in no rush to get started though. A few more days, or even weeks of careful reflection will hopefully put all the pieces of the metaphorical jigsaw in place in my mind.

 

If I am about to try something very stupid, please do let me know. As with all my work on this project though, I do not see it as any more than an experiment. As long as the idea has some merit, I am happy to try it and see how well it works in reality - accepting the possibility that it might not work as well as I had hoped. The worst that can happen if I fail (I assume) is that I have to destroy a couple of muffs taking it all apart at the end, plus suffering a little bit of embarrassment!

[£1.38]

At first glance, this looks a very interesting project indeed. I applaud anyone trying something a bit different. There are only so many British BLTs you can see before they all start to look the same

[Tequila Sunrise]

Disappointing news on the loco front - I glued my loco wheels into gear muffs last night with epoxy adhesive. This morning they definitely wobbled very slightly when I rolled them up and down my piece of test track. I have destroyed the muffs with a pair of pliers and recovered my wheels, so no great harm has been done - but it is disappointing! Maybe I am pushing technology with the existing muffs just a little too far after all.

 

I could try getting some longer muffs made as was suggested earlier. The objective of this first experiment was, however, to see if it would work with standard components, which I now suspect it won't - at least not reliably and consistently.

[Tequila Sunrise]

That will be all for now. I have decided to call it a day on this experiment for the time being. I may go back to it in the longer term, when I have more time available. With wider muffs, the project should be perfectly practicable.

 

I am currently working on some 4mm stuff. All is not lost though, as far as 2mm modelling is concerned. I may resurrect an old idea I had a few years ago, using 9.42mm gauge track. Nothing exciting, I am afraid. It is more of a test track than a layout. It will give me practice until I have the time for something more ambitious again.

[Tequila Sunrise]

Just to tie up the loose ends, here is a plan of the proposed test track. It is inspired by the southern terminus of the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway, just before it closed in 1896.

 

The track plan includes a combined scissors crossover and 3-way point. It is these that attracted me to the project. The rest will be fictitious. The scenic area is about 1.4 metres long in 2mm scale.

 

This will be my second attempt. The first failed because I followed a plan from a book that turned out to be inaccurate. The track centres had been drawn too close together. There were clearance problems through the pointwork.

 

I recently got hold of a 1:500 OS map. My impression is that this seems much more like it ought to be.