PaulaDoesTrains

I've been experimenting with 0.1mm phosphor bronze for loco pickups. I'm using an engraving bit for cutting and it seems to be working OK. Here's a pickup for a Hornby 0-6-0. It needs a bit more cleaning up but is basically fine.

Thank you for posting the link to that thread. It was very informative.

Just so that people can see what these 3018 CNCs are capable of, here's one of my little projects milled from 3mm HDPE. It's an adaptor to allow me to fit large D couplings to my 2001 Bachmann Class 25 which doesn't have NEM pockets. The area on the right is machined out to fit a Hornby X8031 (I have a stock of those as I have quite a few Hornby Class 08s). On the left the centre hole is a mounting screw and the other two locate snugly onto two matching locator stubs on the bogie. I used a 1mm diameter end mill and am delighted with the accuracy I can achieve on softer materials with this little machine.

I used one on my little layout (5 foot six by 1 foot) and although I eventually got a decent result I had to go over it several times. Not a product I'd ever use again.

@Giles That's very impressive. There's no way a cheap Chinese CNC Engraver will get close that sort of accuracy even with a beefed up motor as they simply don't have the rigidity.

I've got one of the 3018 Pro's. These seem to marketed by a plethora of different sellers. £300 sounds high unless it includes the laser. Mine cost £170 without the laser. I've upgraded the spindle to a Genmitsu 775-M which is a drop-in replacement and will spin up to 20,000 RPM. From what I've read so far, you really do need the higher speeds to stand any chance of milling metals such as brass. Not that I've tried milling brass yet. I'm still experimenting with wood, MDF and plastics but I'm hoping to be able to cut thin phosphor-bronze sheet to make custom pickups. I think it will be able to do that as these machines can remove the copper from printed-circuit boards. One thing I would advise it to get some decent quality single-flute end mills.

There's a company called 247 Developments who do etched nameplates. I don't know if they do custom ones though.

Hi @Realistic_build_Speed I believe I've got that exact same loco - Duchess of Sutherland 6233 from the late 1970s. What happens electrically is that the loco picks up from the left-hand rail and the tender picks up from the right-hand rail. In both cases the contact goes from wheel to axle to chassis. There are no actual wire or phosphor bronze pick-ups. On the loco, only the two outer driving wheels on the left-hand side pick up current.. The centre one is insulated for some reason. I think @DavidCBroad has suggested the best remedy should you wish to try to get the loco working again.

Some months ago I bought an old Lima Crab as a "poor runner". It turned out to have a well-documented problem of the Mazak body weight swelling and locking the wheels. That was fairly quickly sorted with a file and the loco ran OKish except that it invariably started at a gallop. Much fetting of the motor and drive gear failed to improve the performance so I tried a CD motor conversion which wasn't really any better. As an experiment I re-fitted the ringfield motor and installed new brushes and springs. It is now much, much better - acceptable in fact. One thing I noticed was the new replacement springs are much finer than the originals. Perhaps that helps to get the "Goldilocks" pressure on the brushes - enough for good electrical contact without excessive drag?

I'd also love to know the answer to that question. My layout is only 5ft 6 by 1ft and I find D/EMUs rather dull to operate because I enjoy the (for me) operational fun of uncoupling the loco (I use acetate strip as an uncoupling ramp) the running around the train.

As a guide @ScottishRailFanatic my little layout is 5ft 6 by 1ft with a bolt-on 4ft fiddle yard. It can just about cope with a loco and 2 carriages or a 2-car DMU. I've been told that a good rule of thumb is that your maximum passenger train length is 1/3rd the length of the layout so for your 395 you're looking at 10-12 feet so you may be looking at a 3-board layout.

An alternative to the power track is fishplates/rail joiners with wires soldered to them. You can get packs of them off Ebay. IRC one pack will do for about 5 feed points. I've used them successfully on my own little layout. Very easy to use and unobtrusive when installed.