Bachmann colletts

[twiggy1969]

i have been building several different coach kits over the last couple of years both as complete kits and using overlays (comet worsley  works ect) one thing i have noticed is that the Bachmann colletts seem a lot lower than all the rest

 

having looked into this a bit i found that at 1:1 they are lower at the roof by about 3-4 inches to most gw coaches aprox 1mm in 4mm but the Bachmann model seems to be about 1.6 mm lower than it should be which puts it about 2.6mm lower than a built 1925 bow ender

 

not much i can do about this apart from lifting it at the bogies some how just very annoying as 1.6mm dosnt sound like a lot but when put next to a earlyer coach of the right scale it really shows up

 

 

mark

[Miss Prism]

I haven't got any late Collett coach drawings immediately to hand, but the majority of Churchward and Collett corridor stock was, give or take a smidge, 12'6" from rail to roof (excluding vents). Corridor Hawksworths were lower at 12'4"-ish.

[twiggy1969]

thats right but the sunshine stock like the c77 i think is about 12'3''ish (49mm) Bachmann coming in at 47.4/5mm which is about 11'8''ish the problem seems to to be rail to coach floor mainly as buffer height is a bit low as i said 1.5mm isnt a lot but looks odd in a rake of correct coaches

 

if using a full comet kit i guess they would come out at the right height

 

 

mark

[Adrian Wintle]

thats right but the sunshine stock like the c77 i think is about 12'3''ish (49mm) Bachmann coming in at 47.4/5mm which is about 11'8''ish the problem seems to to be rail to coach floor mainly as buffer height is a bit low as i said 1.5mm isnt a lot but looks odd in a rake of correct coaches

 

if using a full comet kit i guess they would come out at the right height

 

 

mark

 

I have used washers to raise the ride height (much easier on the Mainline or early Bachmann versions with the push-in bogies). It also makes the addition of Keen close couplers easier, as it adds enough clearance above the wheels for them.

 

Adrian

[twiggy1969]

thanks Adrian was thinking the same

 

must admit i did think that all the ones i had made were wrong to start with but soon guessed that bsl comet phoenix worsely works frogmore ect couldnt all be wrong as they were all sitting at about the same height give or take +or- 0.2mm

 

will look into way round it as i have the later ones

[checkrail]

Interesting.  And there was I (and others, I suspect) thinking that the Bachmann Colletts were to scale height but just looked low when juxtaposed with the over-high Hornby 1920s bow-ended stock.  Perhaps it's six of one and half a dozen of the other.  Or perhaps the ancient Hornby offerings aren't as excessively tall in the saddle as I thought. 

[george stein]

Adrian, please elaborate.  I, too, wish to add Keen system couplers to Mainline Colletts.  What kind of washers? Thickness? In essence, how did you accomplish raising Colletts to (a) accurate height and (b) sufficient to clear Keen system?  Are there any "secrets" to getting Keen system to work with Mainline Colletts?  Thanks.

[Adrian Wintle]

I just used a thin (<1mm) washer from the hardware store - sized to go around the bogie post. The Keen system coupler needs to be narrowed to fit between the solebars and needs to have the triangular bit of the arm trimmed into a tee. See http://www.keen-systems.com/Bachmann%20GWR%20Collett%20Coaches.html

 

I also found that using wheels with slightly smaller flanges was necessary to prevent the flanges rubbing on the mechanism.(Gibson or the like)

 

Adrian

[OnTheBranchline]

This might sound silly but do the buffers on the Bachmann Colletts seem a little big? Comparing them to the buffers on the Hornby Hawkesworth, they look to be 25% bigger. I'm not so sure the real forms were that much bigger.

[Il Grifone]

This might sound silly but do the buffers on the Bachmann Colletts seem a little big? Comparing them to the buffers on the Hornby Hawkesworth, they look to be 25% bigger. I'm not so sure the real forms were that much bigger.

 

I have to check, but I've always thought GWR round buffers to be 18" in diameter.

[george stein]

Adrian -- thank you.