Richard L

Thank you John. You've given me a lot to think about.

Thank you Pak75. The photos are very clear and I'll have a look at Rob's articles.

John Thank you for your continuing interest. The loco I have in mind is a Manning Wardle 6 x 8 inch 18 inch gauge saddle tank of the kind built for Woolwich Arsenal and Chatham Dockyard (very similar to an 'Alice' class Quarry Hunslet) in 11mm scale on 16.5mm track in code 100 track. Length of main frames would be 140 mm (12'8"), wheelbase 35.75mm (3'3"), wheel diameter 19.25mm (1'8"). Richard

Thank you Ian for your suggestion and apologies for not having acknowledged it earlier. I'm afraid I've only just noticed it. I've had a look at the Locosnstuff pages, but none of the chassis that Mark Clark makes would be suitable for my purposes. I'm thinking of modelling 18 inch gauge on 16.5 mm track in 11mm. Mark Clark does makes a chassis for Henrik Laurell 3D printed bodies for 18 inch gauge locos , but in 7mm scale, which would be far too small.

I've wondered about discs to cover 4mm wheels in the past.Cutting discs sounds difficult.

Thank you. I had wondered about using O gauge wheels. Would they be compatible with Peco O16.5 track? I've built an SM32 chassis in plasticard, but couldn't manage brass. Do you think I could get the required strength and accuracy in plasticard in 12mm scale?

Thank you Jeff for the catalogue and John for the photos. This chassis is certainly a very impressive piece of work. Its drawback from my point of view is that I'm thinking of building something along the lines of an 18 inch gauge Manning Wardle in 11 or 12mm scale. Having come from SM32 modelling, anything smaller than around 1:25 or thereabouts seems tiny to me! The Branchlines chassis would be quite close as far as the wheelbase is concerned but a bit small as far as wheels are concerned and it would also need extending. If it were easier to assemble I would consider this, but as it isn't I'm considering my other option which would be to modify an 00 diesel shunter chassis. Wheels and wheelbase would be of more suitable dimensions for my larger scale. I started a thread on this topic when I began this one and have received the suggestion of a Lima 09 chassis from 33C. He has used this chassis for an Aberdare, so it could be suitable. Although it's six-coupled, it looks to me from photos of the chassis on the web that it's driven from one of the end axles and that the centre wheelset would be removeable. Do you have any experience of this kind of modification or know of any examples in narrow gauge modelling? Do you have any ideas for other chassis I could use? I would consider another 0-6-0 chassis as I'm wanting to build something along the lines of a Manning Wardle 6 x 8" inch 0-4-0, rather than an exact model. All suggestions would be welcomed.

Thank you both Jeff and John. You've been very helpful.

I've been looking at some photos of the Lima chassis online. It looks as if the drive is on the rear axle and there's a keeper plate holding the wheelsets in place. That being so, I should be able to remove the central wheels to create an 0-4-0. What do you think?

Thank you John. I've assembled some fairly complex kits over the years, but they've mainly been plastic. It would be very helpful if you could expand on how it's held together. Nuts and bolts and glue I can cope with. Soldering I can only manage in the context of electrics.

Thank you 33C. That's exactly the sort of thing I mean. You mention slicing off the springs on the Lima 09. This suggests the false frames are plastic and quite easy to modify. Would I be right in thinking this? Are the dimensions of the prototype that I culled from Wikipedia reflected in the model: wheel diameter 18mm (4 ft 6 in), wheel base 46mm (11 ft 6 in)? Would I be able to remove the crank pins to enable me to add a connecting rod for the outside cylinders of my steam loco? This is something I've never tried with an OO chassis.

Does anyone have experience of assembling this chassis? How difficult is it? I have no real metalworking skills, but can solder wires at a pinch, provided they're not too fiddly. I'm thinking of using this a basis for a Gn15 loco, so I would like to replace the wheels provided with larger wheels if I could. Would this be possible? Where would I get them from?

Does anyone have experience of using an OO coupled diesel shunter chassis as a basis for an outside-framed steam loco? Can you recommend me an affordable and/or reliable chassis? Will I be able to/need to remove and replace the existing false frames and replace them with my own? Or will I be able to/have to leave the existing ones in place and cover them with mine? I have no experience of modifying OO chassis, indeed I've had no real experience of the OO scene for over 40 years, so all suggestions would be welcome.