silverlink Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 I have a friend who has a Bassett Lowke 0 gauge J39, unfortunately as it's corse scale it will not run on our club layout which is finescale. Could anyone give me some information on weather its possible to convert the wheels/axles to finescale and if so how much work would be involved. Thanks Ian H Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenglade Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 I'm not familiar with bassett lowke but do know of their reputation for being well built. If so can the original wheels not be re-profiled? If the axles are centre drilled then this could be done with the wheels still attached to their axles between centres on the lathe. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Cousins Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 I have a friend who has a Bassett Lowke 0 gauge J39, unfortunately as it's corse scale it will not run on our club layout which is finescale. Could anyone give me some information on weather its possible to convert the wheels/axles to finescale and if so how much work would be involved. Thanks Ian H As these locos have probably got force fit wheels and the axles may not be the same size as Slaters, or other wheels, it may be almost easier to get a Premier Components or JPL Models chassis and replace the running gear completely. I made the mistake of trying to change the wheels on a Bachmann 0 gauge Flying Scotsman and ended up with a chassis that doesn't run that well, so might as well have just used the body on a new chassis - so I used the body in part to make a P1 in the end. See my blog on this. The Bassett Lowke chassis might be saleable to a coarse scale modeller if left un-molested. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Check the back to back. If this can be made 29mm then you can probably just turn down the flanges a little to make it conpatible with finescale track. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Yes, I'd say it might be worth looking at thinning the flanges by taking a skim off the back, because the modern (Corgi, Hornby) B-L have quite a generous b-t-b for coarse scale, something like 27.5-28mm and the flanges are thick enough to allow for skimming. "Real" B-L did make a J39 in the 1930s, I think, and if it is one of those, the b-t-b would be c26mm (they were designed to run on track with a dimension of 1" over check rails), but it is dead easy to take the wheels off, and they could be re-profiled, then re-fitted to slightly longer axles. I "opened up" a 1930s B-L loco from 26mm to 27.5mm last year, simply by fitting new axles, and having put the job off for fear of making a mess, it turned out to be an easy couple of hours work! Kevin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 I did something similar to the Lima 4F but I know that this is a substantially different case to the Basset Lowke J39 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverlink Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 Yes, I'd say it might be worth looking at thinning the flanges by taking a skim off the back, because the modern (Corgi, Hornby) B-L have quite a generous b-t-b for coarse scale, something like 27.5-28mm and the flanges are thick enough to allow for skimming. "Real" B-L did make a J39 in the 1930s, I think, and if it is one of those, the b-t-b would be c26mm (they were designed to run on track with a dimension of 1" over check rails), but it is dead easy to take the wheels off, and they could be re-profiled, then re-fitted to slightly longer axles. I "opened up" a 1930s B-L loco from 26mm to 27.5mm last year, simply by fitting new axles, and having put the job off for fear of making a mess, it turned out to be an easy couple of hours work! Kevin Hi Kevin, Thanks for your thoughts, the J39 we have is a current model so are you saying we could modify this or is it the 30's model you are talking about. Which 'new' axles do I use. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Ian I think you could modify the modern one by skimming the back of the wheels, to reduce the flange thickness, without the need for new axles. When I get a spare hour at home, I will have a look at my modern B-L mogul, to check how the wheels are fixed to the axles, in the hope that the J39 uses the same fixing, and give further thoughts. The true expert on this topic, BTW, is Len Mills, who I'm pretty sure designed the model for Corgi. I think his email is len.mills@btinternet.com ; I know he's advised on "fine scaling" some of the bigger locos that he has designed, but I've never heard of anyone doing a J39. Kevin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall5 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 It may not be what you or your friend want to hear but I would suggest selling your B/L J39 and replacing it with an RTR Finescale Brass one. The B/L one is more of a tinplate collectors item and by altering it you'll have damaged its value as such. Sure, there's a big difference in price but, by the time you've bought Slater's wheels and messed about with the loco you'd still only have a 'course scale' model with finescale wheels that may or may not run satisfactorily. Sorry if this seems blunt but it's what I'd do. Cheers, Ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Hmmm ........ The corgi/Hornby BL ones were massively over-produced, swamping the market, so there are still brand new ones available for c£300, and second-hand ones are not easy to shift at full price. A new fine-scale brass one seems to cost c£1000. And, the mechanisms in the BL ones are absolutely first class, smooth as you will find, and very controllable. It might all come down to how much the owner values "fine-ness" of appearance. Let's see if skimming can avoid the need to buy new wheels ......... K Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Well ......... The modern Mogul has the wheels secured with cross-head screws, onto what I think are shouldered, square-ended, axles with a blind, tapped hole in the end. And, looking at photos, the modern j39 doesn't. From photos, I can't quite tell how the wheels are fitted/secured. So, I think that the owner of the loco had better contact Mr Mills to get advice on how easy/otherwise it might be to remove and re-fit the wheels. If they can be got off and on reasonably easily I'd be confident that there is enough meat in the flange to allow, say, 0.75mm to be skimmed from the back of each to permit b-t-b to be increased from 27.5 to 29mm. Or, he could go down the road advocated by Ray. Kevin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverlink Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 It may not be what you or your friend want to hear but I would suggest selling your B/L J39 and replacing it with an RTR Finescale Brass one. The B/L one is more of a tinplate collectors item and by altering it you'll have damaged its value as such. Sure, there's a big difference in price but, by the time you've bought Slater's wheels and messed about with the loco you'd still only have a 'course scale' model with finescale wheels that may or may not run satisfactorily. Sorry if this seems blunt but it's what I'd do. Cheers, Ray. Thanks Ray, Totally agree with you, the BL models are definitely not up to the standards of the RTR Finescale Brass you mention, I think my friend was looking to get into 0 gauge as cheaply as he could and its bitten him on the b*m! A group of us at our club have decided to build an 0 gauge layout and are looking for suitable models to buy, I recently bought a LH Loveless A4 and Golden Age A2 which are absolutely stunning. I'm presently considering one of the Finescale Brass V2's which are a far cry from the BS J39 but as Kevin says the cost is massively different. My friend only paid £280 for the J39 and the detail leave's a bit to be desired. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 I had the same quandary with a B-L tank loco. Cut my losses, sold it on eBay and now have a Minerva Peckett. By far the best route. No point in spoiling a good model. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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