knala29

I recently acquired a Perseverance chassis kit for a GWR 4300 Mogul. I believe it should make up into a decent EM gauge chassis but unfortunately there are no instructions and looking at the etches it is difficult to work out what some of the parts are let alone how to put them together correctly. I am hoping somebody on RM Web might have them and could let me have a copy. Thanks, Alan

Admittedly if I had known that this loco would present the difficulties that it has I probably would not have bought it. However the accuracy and level of detail and finish to be found in recent RTR models exceeds that achievable by the vast majority of kits and kit builders. I have managed to adjust the cylinder saddle and motion brackets to restore clearance at the front end and shaved some material off the inside of the splashers - whether it is sufficient remains to be seen. The only visible cutting up so far has been the removal of the brakes but if all goes well otherwise they can be refitted with suitable spacers. I think the biggest issue there will be permanently bonding the Hornby plastic.

Has anybody tried to convert one of the latest Hornby Princess Royals to EM? I bought one recently expecting it to be essentially similar to other larger Hornby models of recent years with 3mm driving axles and 2mm axles for the rest which would enable the use of standard commercial replacement wheels from Markits or Ultrascale (drivers not made by Gibson). However this loco actually has 2mm driving axles and 1.75mm for the rest and all the visible wheels have blind axle holes with moulded hubs. I have tried using the Hornby drivers regauaged which requires new axles. The wheels are only marginally thicker than Gibson for example but there is negative clearance with the splashers, valve gear and brakes etc.- again tighter than other locos I have converted recently. Thoughts most welcome. Alan

Did you get anywhere in terms of finding a solution? I have one which repeatedly shows a connectivity error but without knowing which wires do what and to which ring on the base of the bridge they connect to it's difficult to diagnose the issue.

Has anybody noticed that the Castle cast wheels don't actually fit on the track moulded onto the plinth. If the tyres are in contact with the rail on one side the gauge is too wide and the wheels on the other side rest on the flange. I happen to model in EM gauge and this Castle will sit on EM gauge track without the wheels falling between the rails as OO vehicles normally would.