HSB Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 I'm still messing around trying to fit couplings to the MTH BG but I can see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. The couplers on these are on separate metal castings forming the centre sections of the buffer beams which screw into the floor. There are a couple screw holes just behind the buffer beams which I am trying to make use of. Meanwhile, Rod has been working on his BR open wagon while I have also been making a little progress on the station roof. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I'm still messing around trying to fit couplings to the MTH BG but I can see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. The couplers on these are on separate metal castings forming the centre sections of the buffer beams which screw into the floor. There are a couple screw holes just behind the buffer beams which I am trying to make use of. Meanwhile, Rod has been working on his BR open wagon while I have also been making a little progress on the station roof. DSCF0036 (1024x636).jpg DSCF0039 (1024x613).jpg Hi, I was thinking of detailing my BG's soon too and I am awaiting the outcome of the Lincs couplings, yet I like the Bachmann TL couplings as they seem to be the only type that will fit to my Brake-Tender LOL!. One BG requires fitting of an ABS Battery box (now painted and ready for fitting), the other is fitted with one from the factory, I need to change the VR's too. Can we have some photos when youve fixed the coupling please Howard - thanks! Kind regards, CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 (edited) One thing I have noticed recently with the MTH BGs is that, although the wheels are described as 'finescale', the flanges appear to be hitting the tops of the chairs. While they seem to roll along alright they are quite noisy on ballasted track. The sideframes appear to be screwed on so it should be possible to remove the wheels and either try and turn the flanges down slightly, or replace them with proper finescale wheels. We've only had one session on the layout this week and the next one won't be till next week as Rod and I are off to Zobland tomorrow afternoon to have a play with Quai:87. Edited March 20, 2014 by HSB Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Rod has a shunt in H0 scale:- 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 (edited) One thing I have noticed recently with the MTH BGs is that, although the wheels are described as 'finescale', the flanges appear to be hitting the tops of the chairs. While they seem to roll along alright they are quite noisy on ballasted track. The sideframes appear to be screwed on so it should be possible to remove the wheels and either try and turn the flanges down slightly, or replace them with proper finescale wheels. We've only had one session on the layout this week and the next one won't be till next week as Rod and I are off to Zobland tomorrow afternoon to have a play with Quai:87. Not only the flanges, the more I look the more I wonder about the bogie-side frames too!?, of course they have to cater for the onboard electrics, but I may ditch those in favour of something a little more finescale and dabbling indicates that such transforms the look of the MTH product - but at added cost. Having said this, I have had no running problems when track testing with the MTH wheels. Zobland - you lucky fellows! Edited March 22, 2014 by CME and Bottlewasher Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Howard is quite right. Brian's layout is great to operate and is done to P87 standards with KD couplings. With my eyesight there was no way that I could see to uncouple these but I stuck to driving and Brian did the uncoupling for me!! Perfect example of driver - shunter partnership -just like the prototype! I am happy with O gauge at present but if my sight gets worse I may have to look at an even larger scale, gauge 1 or even gauge 3. The problem is that I am dependent on r.t.r stock or easy build kits which at present are few and far between in gauge 3. In the meantime Ramchester will progress and with a little help from my friends I will continue on 7mm scale 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
switcher 1 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) Perhaps consider 16mmNG, another way to get big rolling stock for failing eyes, quite a few kits available, runs on 32mm track. Some people have I.O.M. rolling stock running on 45mm track. (Also LGB, but mainly foreign prototypes.) http://16mm.org.uk/newsite/default.html http://www.g-scale-society.co.uk/ Or maybe Seven Eigths minimum gauge (?), some kits available. http://www.7-8ths.info/index.php (I like the 'big stuff', just don't have a lot of space.) Edited March 24, 2014 by fatmac Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Rod already has LGB for the garden and has previously had two indoor G scale layouts. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) As requested by CME here is a picture of a coupling attached to the MTH coupler mount:- Having worked out the right dimensions hopefully the rest will be a bit neater! With regards to the bogies the most obvious thing wrong is the brake shoes in line with the sideframe rather than the wheels which is a problem common to most RTR coaching stock. I will simply chop these away on mine. Changing the sideframes might be quite difficult and I think once they are weathered they will look quite acceptable at normal viewing distance. Edited March 24, 2014 by HSB Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Hi Howard, Many thanks for the photo and comments - nice work. My issue is that every time I look at the MTH bogies now - I cant relate them to eg. 9'.0" LMS bogies. Taking the brake-shoes off is a big help though! Kind regards, CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Thanks fatmac for your suggestions. As Howard pointed out above I am in the process of building a G scale layout in the garden using modified LGB stock on 45mm track. This scale is great fun to operate as coupling and uncoupling is easy and quick. I have built two indoor layouts in G scale using hand made track and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. However my favourite has to be the ex LMS system so gauge 0 it has to be at present. In any case if I am not able to see to do a job I have Howard to assist me and while he is kind enough to haul me out of difficult situations I am happy. After all I have converted him to 0 gauge which cannot be bad! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Here is a picture of the coupler painted matt black and mounted on the coach:- The one for the other end has now been painted and will be fitted next week. I had assumed the bogie sideframes were plastic but on closer inspection they appear to be metal which will make removing the brakeshoes harder work than I at first thought. In any case I will leave any modifications and weathering for now although I have painted the bits showing behind the sideframes matt black to make them less conspicuous. Once the other coupler is fitted it will go into service as part of the parcels train 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Here is a picture of the coupler painted matt black and mounted on the coach:- DSCF0074 (1280x1084).jpg The one for the other end has now been painted and will be fitted next week. I had assumed the bogie sideframes were plastic but on closer inspection they appear to be metal which will make removing the brakeshoes harder work than I at first thought. In any case I will leave any modifications and weathering for now although I have painted the bits showing behind the sideframes matt black to make them less conspicuous. Once the other coupler is fitted it will go into service as part of the parcels train Hi Howard, Nice work on the couplings - thanks for leading the way! I did wonder about cutting off the brake shoes-and assumed that you were a better man than I :-) Kind regards, CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 The other coupling has now been fitted and the BG has taken it's place at the end of the parcels train. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 The other coupling has now been fitted and the BG has taken it's place at the end of the parcels train. DSCF0081 (1024x501).jpg Hi Howard, Can you remind me, did you cut down the foot/running boards on the BG? CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Hi CME, All I have done so far is change the couplings. I've been doing a bit more to the station building the last couple of afternoons while Rod is having a go at building a Slaters open wagon kit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Hello Everyone Just thought I would post a picture of progress on the Slater's open wagon currently under construction. This shows progress to date and so far I have to say it has been a real pleasure to build. I am fitting sprung axle boxes as these ride better than a rigid chassis. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Hello Everyone Just thought I would post a picture of progress on the Slater's open wagon currently under construction. This shows progress to date and so far I have to say it has been a real pleasure to build. I am fitting sprung axle boxes as these ride better than a rigid chassis. Hi Rod, Who's sprung axle boxes are you using? Thanks, CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Hi CME, The wagon kit as supplied by Slater's is not one of their compensated ones. You have to purchase extra parts if you want to build it with some form of compensation. I elected to purchase Slater's etched W irons which they have produced for this wagon. These are sprung as can be seen from the photo posted a couple of days ago. The W iron is an easy fold job but the tiny springs are a b...... to fit - I lost two out of the four but fortunately I had a packet of these in my spares box so no harm done. Howard has been working on the station building this afternoon while I have been putting the completed W irons on to the wagon. Happy days. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Hi CME, The wagon kit as supplied by Slater's is not one of their compensated ones. You have to purchase extra parts if you want to build it with some form of compensation. I elected to purchase Slater's etched W irons which they have produced for this wagon. These are sprung as can be seen from the photo posted a couple of days ago. The W iron is an easy fold job but the tiny springs are a b...... to fit - I lost two out of the four but fortunately I had a packet of these in my spares box so no harm done. Howard has been working on the station building this afternoon while I have been putting the completed W irons on to the wagon. Happy days. Hi Rod, Thanks, I have some from Bill Bedford yet have put them somewhere safe and cant find them now, so I will have a look at Slaters' ATVB CME Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Hi CME I am not familiar with Bill Bedford's W irons so cannot comment on these. I am very pleased with the Slater's ones which are designed to fit their wagon and went together well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 (edited) I'm slowly making progress on the station building The first layer of card for the roof has been cut out and stuck on the left hand end of the building after adding some basic interior details. The roof for the middle section has also been cut out but won't be stuck on until I've done a bit more work on the interior. I've also added another chimney stack with one more yet to be built. Edited April 10, 2014 by HSB 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 We had an operating session this afternoon with most of the usual gang. Unfortunately, one of our original 'Gang of Five', Frank Ewen, hasn't been able to come along for some time due to health problems and is now gravely ill. Anyway I managed to take a shot of Brian Harrap operating so I could post these 'Then and Now' shots. 11/12/2009 Today Even the same loco! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isambarduk Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 "Even the same loco!" Turned round, though :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 Must have happened when it went in for servicing! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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