Chuffer Davies

Frustratingly, I've just realised that I hadn't followed my own advice.   I'm in the process of preparing to convert the new Dapol Great Western Mogul to EM gauge.  I knew that I had a problem with the clearance between the tender's frames and thought that I was okay (just) with the loco's splashers.  I've had one of those (in your sleep) light bulb moments and realised that I hadn't considered the additional thickness required for the balance weights.  I now realise that in order to allow for some side play on the centre axle I'll need to remove a small amount of material from the splashers as happened with the J50.

I'm so glad you started this thread Duncan!   

Before starting out on a conversion of a steam locomotive first check the inside clearances of the splashers to ensure the new wheelsets will fit - 22mm is required for EM in order to accommodate a small amount of side play.  I can highly recommend the Ultrascale conversion sets which you can get preassembled as a drop in replacement.  They include modified crank pins to accommodate the larger coupling rod holes typical in commercial models.  The downsides are the cost and the delivery time which can be a couple of months minimum but they are well worth the wait and cost in my opinion.   I have a couple of Hornby Castles converted this way and they were really easy to do.  

I have converted two locomotives in the last couple of years using the proprietary chassis where the clearances were insufficient to accept EM wheels.  The first of these was the Hornby J50, although there was sufficient material in the splasher fronts to enable me to thin them down to obtain the necessary clearance.  The 2nd conversion was the Heljan Great Western 47xx.  This was an absolute pain to convert.  I had to cut new splasher fronts out of plasti-card, remove  the existing fronts and glue the replacements outside the originals to widen them. 

Regards,

Frank

5 hours ago, drduncan said:

And you can get ready to run EM gauge points now...courtesy of the EMGS!

Just in case you have not spotted this topic elsewhere on RM Web there is a new range of kit turnouts in EM under development.