Replacement drive wheels for Princess Elizabeth R50

[clifft1]

Hi

 

Has anyone tried to replace the old steel driving wheels on the Princess Elizabeth R50 loco.  The loco runs ok on Peco track but fouls on turnouts and cross overs.

I sure I can manage replacing the pony wheels, but the drive wheels look far too complicated.

I am not looking for realism on such an old loco, but it would be nice to get them working.

 

Thanks

 

[The Johnster]

Might be easier to turn the flanges down a bit until they manage the Peco flangeways.  Mount the chassis upside down in a vice, apply full current so that the wheels are turning as fast as possibly, and file the flanges; keep the file away from the rest of the tyre as roughening it up will lead to excessive dirt collection and pickup problems from the railhead.

 

To replace them, you will have to remove them from the axles, and this is a brute force leverage job with a big old screwdriver.  The axles AFAIK are 1/8th", and Romford/Markits or Gibsons of the same diameter will fit on, again with a judicious application of brutality, to a back to back gauge.  The R50 chassis is common return, live on one side, and you will need 3 insulated and 3 uninsulated wheels.  You may have to replace the coupling and connecting rods as well as the screw for the central wheel and pins for the outer ones cannot be used with Romford/Markits or Gibsons.  IIRC Gibsons are plastic centred, so if you use these you will need an extra set of pickups.

Edited January 3, 2022 by The Johnster

[andyman7]

You might get more info in the 'Vintage/Collectable' section, there is a vibrant community over there covering this sort of thing!

[Les Bird]

I think you will find that the axles are 9/64 of an inch in diameter. You can use bushes to reduce the size of the wheel holes in the chassis (you will need one for the worm wheel too) or, if you look on the Scalelink website, you will find 9/64 axles onto which Markits/Romford wheels can be mounted. They have the knurled section in the centre for the worm wheel.

Edited January 4, 2022 by Les Bird

[cypherman]

Hi all,

You could lways replace them with the wheels from a later Triang Princess. The ones with the spoked wheels and not the solid cast wheels. Like on these engines. They run fine on code 100 rail. Or just go the whole hog and replace the complete chassis, They are cheap enough.

Edited January 4, 2022 by cypherman

[clifft1]

I don't know how to reply to an individual posting.  Filing the flange looks the simplest, if a bit drastic.

Do I need to bother about the thickness of the flange or just the diameter?

 

I have finally found the collectable/vintage section; which I think I should be.

 

Thanks

 

[cypherman]

7 minutes ago, clifft1 said:

I don't know how to reply to an individual posting.  Filing the flange looks the simplest, if a bit drastic.

Do I need to bother about the thickness of the flange or just the diameter?

 

I have finally found the collectable/vintage section; which I think I should be.

 

Thanks

 

Hi Cliff,

You just need to click on the quote tab to reply to a particular post. Just be careful if you go down the filing route that you make sure none of the filings get into the motor.

Edited January 4, 2022 by cypherman

[33C]

33 minutes ago, clifft1 said:

I don't know how to reply to an individual posting.  Filing the flange looks the simplest, if a bit drastic.

Do I need to bother about the thickness of the flange or just the diameter?

 

I have finally found the collectable/vintage section; which I think I should be.

 

Thanks

 

The depth of the flange is the issue, they bump along on the chairs. Strip the chassis down to the driving wheels, clamp in a vice upside down, take a coarse file and give 2-3 strokes all the way round on the flange. Polish up with piece of wet n dry and don't forget the backs. Give the axle ends a sharp tap to ensure the wheels are all at equal spacings and then they will go through any point smoothly. Paint the wheels matt black, highlight the spokes with coal black and finish with a dusting of matt oxide and the odd streak of satin black for oil stains. The chassis block can be dusted/highlighted the same way before reassembly. 

[Il Grifone]

Welcome to RMweb! 

 

Tri-ang wheels (especially the early ones) have too tight a back to back and flanges which are too thick and deep for modern code 100 track. Tri-ang trains have their origins in a cheap toy  and kept its coarse wheel standards.

A file is a possibility to reduce them, but some are  extremely tough and will quickly wear the teeth of a file.

My method is to replace them with wheels from a later Hornby version of the model. (Hornby Dublo or scale (e.g. Romford) wheels are an alternative. 9/64" to 1/8" reducing bushes will be needed for these however.

IIRC R50 is the black version lacking the Walschaerts gear. A worthwhile improvement is fitting this. Note that Tri-ang economy means that on one side the return crank points the wrong way, as can be seen on the green version above.

Edited January 4, 2022 by Il Grifone