Kadees for Kirk Coach

[Markeg]

I have started building a Kirk LNER Full Brake and have already built a Kirk LNER Restaurant coach. At the moment the Restaurant coach has old Hornby Gresley bogies attached but will change these for the new Kirk ones when I next order another Kirk LNER coach, a 1st/3rd Composite.

I have also got several new Hornby Gresleys which I can put on Kadees (#18) with NEM pockets.

 

My question is has any one attached Kadees to the Kirk bogies and which ones did they use?

 

I have checked the Kadee website and I think that #29 with long over shank is the correct ones. But someone may know better.

 

thanks

 

Mark

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

I would suggest that you not bother with the Kirk bogies, they are the least satisfactory aspect of these kits. In my experience they go sloppy very fast in use. There are good whitemetal kit bogies, I have used the ABS castings with complete success. But the quick and easy option nowadays are the LNER 'Thompson' RTR bogies from Bachmann.

 

If you want to bogie mount the coupler a Kadee number 5 box is easily cemented on. (Easiest of all if you can get the first version of the Bachmann bogie, as the moulded on coupler bar is cut off, and the box parked on top of what remains of the coupler, comes out just right for height. ) With the current Bachmann bogie, or any other type, a platform has to be attached to the bogie to carry the box.

 

But the better method is to construct a mounting on the body underside, and attach the number 5 box there.

[James]

My question is has any one attached Kadees to the Kirk bogies and which ones did they use?

 

Why don't you mount them at buffer beam level within the rakes? Prototypical and avoids the need for bogie mounting.

[Adrian Wintle]

The #29/39/49 is probably the best bet for bogie-mounting. I'd use the 49 over the 29 to get the metal coupler shaft.

 

As a general aide to estimating which coupler will work, take one of the NEM couplers (the #18s that you have), and position it such that the shank is approximately where the tension-lock loop would be. This puts the coupler head in approximately the correct height and will give you an indication of the space available and the form factor needed for the coupler.

 

Adrian

[Adrian Wintle]

Why don't you mount them at buffer beam level within the rakes? Prototypical and avoids the need for bogie mounting.

 

Perhaps because the OP wants to use #18s in the NEM pockets on the Hornby Gresleys and wants the Kirk coach to be able to couple with them?

 

Adrian

[James]

Perhaps because the OP wants to use #18s in the NEM pockets on the Hornby Gresleys and wants the Kirk coach to be able to couple with them?

 

I'd change the Hornby ones too in that case! Fixed rakes which can be fine tuned and they should be very reliable too.

 

Just so my reply doesn't seem flippant, this is what I'll be doing for coaching stock (ex LNER and BR Mk 1 stock) on my dad's layout when we get to coaching stock.

[Markeg]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and help in this matter.

 

I will take on board the suggestions and see where I go when it comes to working on them.

 

The Bogies are completely new design and have more detail and better all round. They run very well as I tested it behind a rake of gresleys with a tension lock coupler blutacked on the bogie. New owners of Coopercraft must have felt the need to improve them. I think they look like they modelled these on the ABS bogies.

 

I will post a photo or two when I have completed the work.

 

Mark

[James]

The Bogies are completely new design and have more detail and better all round. They run very well as I tested it behind a rake of gresleys with a tension lock coupler blutacked on the bogie. New owners of Coopercraft must have felt the need to improve them. I think they look like they modelled these on the ABS bogies.

 

Coopercraft have the Mailcoach range don't they? That may be where the bogies are from though I can't remember how they differed though!

[BR60103]

If the bogie has a mounting for a tension-lock coupling, a Kadee NEM can be screwed in the same place (the top of the mountings come to the same height). I would start with a #20 -- see where it fits and drill a hole for the mounting screw.