Coarse Scale O Gauge

[rockershovel]

17 hours ago, goldfish said:

 

I have replaced the wheels on some of my stock with finer wheels so that they will negotiate ETS points which require a flange depth of 1.5mm. ETS 3-rail wheels for example will not go through ETS points.

 

Some of my Hornby stock are fitted with Slaters wheels for use on my shunting plank. These are mainly fine scale wheels, but some are course scale wheels. Hornby runs much smoother on metal wheels with proper bearings.

 

I have some Leeds Bakelite wagons that are fitted with ETS wheels and axle boxes. Which combined with sprung drawbar drop link couplings makes them as good, if not better, than the modern offerings. If the original axle boxes are in good condition it is much easier to replace them with modern wheels.

 

I find that fine scale wheels run with no problems on ETS or good quality tubular track, so I have no reason to change them. Obviously they not not run through course scale points or crossings, but they will run through Hornby points but not Hornby crossings.

 

 

I fitted turned steel 17mm front truck wheels from Walsall Model Industries,  to my Williams Hudson. They were described as “coarse scale” but they are a great deal finer anything fitted to any of the other locos! I haven’t run them on O31 tubular track, because I don’t have any suitable curves (the reduced clearances behind the cylinder block require curves if at least O42) but they turn quite happily on O27 profile tubular track in O42 and O54 curves, or O48 Fastrack

Edited June 14, 2020 by rockershovel

[goldfish]

2 hours ago, rockershovel said:

I fitted turned steel 17mm front truck wheels from Walsall Model Industries,  to my Williams Hudson. They were described as “coarse scale” but they are a great deal finer anything fitted to any of the other locos!

 

Walsall probably manufacture course scale wheels to the G0G specification ( https://www.gaugeoguild.com/manual/01_1_standards.pdf ), which is much finer than what would be considered course scale here. Wheels to this standard are very similar to ETS 2-rail wheels which have problems with Lionel and Atlas points.

[rockershovel]

39 minutes ago, goldfish said:

 

Walsall probably manufacture course scale wheels to the G0G specification ( https://www.gaugeoguild.com/manual/01_1_standards.pdf ), which is much finer than what would be considered course scale here. Wheels to this standard are very similar to ETS 2-rail wheels which have problems with Lionel and Atlas points.

 

They don’t actually specify this, but I’d be surprised if a supplier of that sort was using anything other than G0G specifications. Here they are, anyway;

 

 

They certainly cope with Fastrack in O48 and O72. I don’t have any reverse curves, and a large loco like this needs to be driven fairly slowly over the curved side of pointwork

 

They cope quite happily with O27 profile track, but I haven’t tried them on O31 tubular track, which has larger, rounder rails. Might not be a happy experience. 

 

 

 

 

[goldfish]

21 hours ago, rockershovel said:

They don’t actually specify this, but I’d be surprised if a supplier of that sort was using anything other than G0G specifications. Here they are, anyway;

 

An impressive beast. Is that a die-cast metal body?

 

I understand that Walsall will turn wheels to any profile you specify. They make the couplings for me and i find them very helpful. I supply a rather crude drawing of what is required and they do the rest. They provide a good quality product as well. Usual disclaimer, no connection just a very satisfied customer.

[rockershovel]

2 hours ago, goldfish said:

 

An impressive beast. Is that a die-cast metal body?

 

I understand that Walsall will turn wheels to any profile you specify. They make the couplings for me and i find them very helpful. I supply a rather crude drawing of what is required and they do the rest. They provide a good quality product as well. Usual disclaimer, no connection just a very satisfied customer.

 

It is, yes. It’s described as “O Scale” in the sense that it is scale length and loading gauge. There is a long and tangled family tree of locos ultimately deriving from the tooling for the Lionel 700E “scale Hudson” of 1937. 

 

Broadly speaking, this is a die-cast body with no added detail parts and simplified motion, full-scale length and loading gauge, modern style nickel-plated rim spoked wheels and full-size tender. No electronic controls, analogue control, 12v DC can motor, electronic whistle in tender. 

 

 

Lionel produced THIS one in the 1990s, probably the “ultimate post-War Hudson” before moving on to the next generation; note that it has a wholly unprototypical Vanderbilt tender! It also has the undersized front pilot wheels, which are to give clearance for O31 curves; that’s what I replaced with the Walsall ones. There IS a “scale wheels” pilot from Lionel, but they require O72 curves for clearance; the Walsall ones are actually slightly undersized (17mm rather than 19mm) but I thought they would “look right” and I’m quite pleased with the result. 

 

Edited June 15, 2020 by rockershovel

[rockershovel]

Anyone see The Repair Shop? There was a rather nice O Gauge clockwork Stirling single 2-2-2 of unknown origin 

[sncf231e]

Some 50 years old Italian coarse scale 0 gauge; the locomotive and stock are all made by Elettren:

 

 

Regards

Fred

[Il Grifone]

Lovely!   Want! (Even SWMBO showed slight interest - she's Italian.)

 

She's running on the wrong line though! (Grifone pedantic mode - can be ignored!)

 

I must build something like that in my garden! 

 

SWMBO  - NO!

Bank Manager - NO!

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Il Grifone

[sncf231e]

7 hours ago, Il Grifone said:

 

 

She's running on the wrong line though! (Grifone pedantic mode - can be ignored!)

 

 

 

 

It might look like two parallel tracks , but there is only one gauge 0 track; and with single track I hope there cannot be wrong line running 

 

Regards

Fred

[ianLMS]

Good evening folks. I have just been given a load of 2 rail and 3 rail coarse O gauge track and stuff. Some are Hornby, and some of the points are Lionel. I also think there might be some trackside accessories but yet to sort it all out. its all metal sleepers with round top rail and i assume its for clockwork stock. Unfortunately no rolling stock as i think he is saving that for his grand children. In the lot were also around 10 vintage power controllers. H&M, meccano etc and a whole load of of OO gauge track and bits as well.

 

I already have an extensive OO gauge layout but i dont have the space for another full layout.

 

Is the metal track usable outside or will a uk winter destroy it, and is rolling stock available at sensible prices? 

 

Any other suggestions? I will post some pics over the weekend once i have sorted it out and listed what i have.

 

Thanks.

Ian

[Nearholmer]

Tinplate track is what might be called "water soluble", it goes rusty and starts to disappear very quickly if left out in the weather. There is a theory around that waxoyling it might control the rot, but I don't know if anyone has tried it.

 

The three-rail stuff is for electric operation as well as for clockwork.

 

You can buy Hornby locomotives and rolling stock cheaply if you stick to post-war items (which means clockwork locos only, other than some mega-rarities) and accept less than perfect paintwork with no box. The best value for money wagons seem to be the ones produced in the late 1940s to early 1950s, which are painted rather than tin-printed - they are very robust, easy to refurbish, and even good condition ones are very common. Post-war coaches are cheap too, especially LNER and LMS ones, of which there are more around than buyers who want them.

 

I would say that the biggest risk is the springs in clockwork locos, in that they can be very good and strong, or very weak and useless, and the external appearance of the loco seems to be a poor guide to the quality of the spring. There are tatty locos that are strong as oxen, and almost pristine ones that are weak as lambs. Ideally, try on the track with a train before you buy, or buy from a dealer with a reputation to protect, unless the thing is so cheap that you can afford to take a chance on it.

[PatB]

Another budget possibility is to go US outline. If you can find sellers with sensible postage rates, Lionel and, especially, Marx stock can represent excellent value for money. As with Hornby, if you avoid the rarities and accept some playwear it can be astonishingly cheap. The power situation is reversed, though. 3 rail electric predominates, with clockwork being less common, though still l not rare. 

[goldfish]

Another change of couplings, but this time with a difference.

 

My latest clockwork conversion project is the body from a Leeds Model Company 0-4-0 Saddle Tank. It came with the hook from a 3-link coupling soldered onto the front buffer beam, but would originally have been fitted with drop link couplings as these were the standard fitting in the twenties when the body was manufactured. So this time I am restoring the original pattern couplings. The front coupling has the shortened drawbar intended for fitting to Hornby Tinplate, but to my eye could do with being a little shorter.

 

 

The body appears to be an abandoned restoration project because it has been stripped, but left with some residue, and not protected from surface corrosion. It is remarkably good condition considering its age. The inside of the body needs some form of rust protection, but the nooks and crannies cannot be reached with a spray. Does anybody know of a suitable primer for tinplate that can be thinned and applied by brush? It would a shame if having lasted this long the body was allowed to rust away from inside.

[ianLMS]

Here are the pics of what was given to me. Also in the hoard were lots of triang and old Hornby OO gauge buildings, plus loads of track.

 

Now i need to know what im going to do with it all lol!!

 

 

Edited July 2, 2020 by ianLMS

[Annie]

I would have seriously loved to be given a hoard like that when I was still working in tinplate 'O' gauge.

[Nearholmer]

3 hours ago, goldfish said:

Does anybody know of a suitable primer for tinplate that can be thinned and applied by brush?

Have you tried spraying from the can into the cap, then brushing that on? 

[rockershovel]

From the pics above, this is Lionel O Gauge, O31 curves - apart from the top points, and the 90 deg crossing, which I don’t recognise.

 

 

Lionel Post War stuff can be very cheap, but there is a lot of junk around in the U.K. - the AC power system requires a mechanical reverser in the loco, and if this is broken or faulty (and it often is) it’s an expensive fix. Go on eBay, you’ll find any amount of it very cheaply from American private sellers. 

 

I’ve had good results with O27 stock, and the 1980s MPC era stock is cheap. Watch prices for a while before you buy anything, as they vary wildly. 

 

PW locos run happily on 12v DC but may need more power than your transformer will provide - this is particularly true of the small, phone charger type. Also the whistles blow constantly on 12v DC.

[goldfish]

49 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Have you tried spraying from the can into the cap, then brushing that on? 

 

I thought of creating a pool inside the body and then brushing it, but a quick trial in tin suggests that Halford's primer is too quick drying to successfully brush. I am not completely sure what the correct primer is for tinplate, does it need an etch primer? At the moment Hammerite looks to be a good candidate for the inside.

Michael

[Nearholmer]

If really well de-greased it actually holds paint surprisingly well, even shiny tinplate, so etch primer more desirable than essential IMO.

 

Halfords sell a pump-spray bottle of de-greaser that is very effective - it might actually be a hammerite product, I can’t remember.

[goldfish]

10 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

If really well de-greased it actually holds paint surprisingly well, even shiny tinplate, so etch primer more desirable than essential IMO.

 

Halfords sell a pump-spray bottle of de-greaser that is very effective - it might actually be a hammerite product, I can’t remember.

 

 The body has nearly a century of grime in places, so I thought of having it ultrasonically cleaned. The only downside I can see is that I might have to solder it back together if it falls apart in the ultrasonic bath.

[Nearholmer]

Have you seen the article by Martin Dawes about restoring Leeds items in the TCS mag? I have a loco that he did, and he very obviously knows his onions, so worth consulting. He’s a very approachable chap.

[goldfish]

18 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Have you seen the article by Martin Dawes about restoring Leeds items in the TCS mag? I have a loco that he did, and he very obviously knows his onions, so worth consulting. He’s a very approachable chap.

 

Unfortunately I am not a member of the TCS. Does Martin Dawes have a website?

[Nearholmer]

https://methodistic.org.uk/service-speaker/rev-martin-dawes/

[goldfish]

20 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

https://methodistic.org.uk/service-speaker/rev-martin-dawes/

 

Ah, so not a professional restorer. I must confess to jumping to the wrong conclusion. Partly because I recognised the name. In fact this is the second time this article has been recommended to me. Perhaps it is time I joined the TCS, although I hardly qualify as a collector.

[Nearholmer]

36 minutes ago, goldfish said:

Ah, so not a professional restorer

possibly of souls.

 

You don’t need to be an avid collector to join the TCS, in fact I think it’s almost badly named, putting people off who aren’t. It’s good for people who are interested in the history of our hobby, whether they have cupboards-full of old toy trains or not.

 

This year, the summer exhibition has, of course, had to be cancelled, otherwise I’d recommend that you come to that, because it’s the nearest you’ll ever get to a pop-up museum of the history of commercial toy/model trains, and you get to meet all the specialists in all the different makes/types.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Nearholmer