DJH HO Scale SBB CFF Ae3/5

[DIW]

I'm starting to build a kit I have had put aside for a while. It is the DJH SBB-CFF Ae3/5 electric locomotive, kit number E143.

 

 

The instructions suggest that it is ideal for a beginner; though as a 2-6-2 it is probably not as simple though as the 0-4-0 shunters which are marketed now for that particular purpose. The kit has been discontinued for many years now - a shame in my opinion (but it would be, wouldn't it).

 

The chassis frames have been cut out folded up and bushes soldered in place.

 

 

There are drive gears to be fitted between the wheels (no coupling rods on this model, the prototype used Secheron drive to the three main axles).

 

The motor is a Canon - I imagine that in order to ever re-introduce this kit a re-think of the motor mounting would be needed for use with the motors available nowadays.

 

The gears fitted into the chassis:

 

 

The gears on the main axles come pre-fitted. Further updates will be posted as the build progresses.

 

Here's one I bought earlier:

 

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

Edited July 30, 2022 by DIW
Pictures re-uploaded

[James]

It looks like an interesting project; how is it coming along?

 

I'm always intrigued by kits for European protypes, as I think a lot of UK modellers tend to associate european models with RTR rather than kits.

[Horsetan]

....I'm always intrigued by kits for European protoypes....

 

I'm always intrigued by how much they cost!

[DIW]

Hi James, thanks for your interest!

 

I believe that DJH also used to make an SBB Ae 3/6 either the type I or type III - I'm sure someone will be able to enlighten us.

 

I have got a bit further with the chassis - here the wheels have been fitted and the chassis checked for easy running.

 

 

The centre axle is allowed a fair amount of side play to negotiate the curves:

 

 

And a keeper plate is included to keep fluff and dirt away from the gear trains:

 

 

With the chassis running nicely, the next task was to paint the chassis and wheels, then assemble again.

 

The pick-ups have been fitted to the insulated side (live chassis otherside) and additional pieces fitted (mounting plates, brake gear). Some further painting is required for the brake gear. The circuit card is intended to allow the loco to be switched between track and catenary.

 

 

 

The flywheel was included in the kit.

 

Finally for now another view of the underside. This shot picks out the wheel details.

 

 

Now, off to solder together the pony trucks....

Edited July 30, 2022 by DIW
Pictures re-uploaded

[cheesysmith]

Love theoldelectrics. Remindsme of the old prr p5 boxcabs,but smaller. If the gc had electrified the woodhead earlier, could just imagine things like that running in england.

[DIW]

An update to this topic is well overdue, so here is the progress since the last pictures.

 

The brake gear was fitted and painted:

 

 

The body roof and sides is a one-piece formed etched brass component. The following pictures show the body, with the built pony trucks (as mentioned in my previous posting) in the background.

 

 

 

The kit also included some Sommerfeldt pantographs:

 

 

The body ends are whitemetal castings. They were soldered to the brass component. Also soldered on to the roof was the transformer casting (whitemetal) and footboards (brass etches). This put the body into a state where painting could be carried out. the whole assembly was painted with light grey primer; this was the suitable colour for the roof. The roof and footboards were masked off so that the body sides and ends could be painted SBB green. (Dark green, code NCS 8010 B90G. I found that paints4u.com will custom mix this colour in a 400ml aerosol). the next pictures show the painted body sitting on the chassis, with the roof insulators fitted:

 

 

 

Quite a bit of work followed before I took any more pictures! A rummage in the spares box pulled up a pair of continental couplings which would fit the castings on the pony trucks, so these were fitted. The circuit board shown in the later chassis pictures for switching between track pick-up and catenary was removed; I intend to use track pick up. This made it easier to fit and remove the body from the chassis. A test run of the loco found that the drive wheels were spinning without much forward motion of the loco. With the pony trucks removed all was fine! It looked as if the pony truck springs were lifting the drive wheels off the track.

 

There is plenty of spare space inside the body either side of the motor, so this was partially filled with lead to ensure the springs were compressed - I didn't want to shorten the springs since they force the pony trucks down on to the track. The same problem remained! Eventually I managed to get a quiet couple of hours and a circle of track on the dining table to sort out the problem - the coupling hooks were being forced down by all the furniture attached to the buffer beam. A few minutes later the items were reduced such that the loco would run nicely, and still had the hooks to pull stock.

 

While building the body I had left out the whitemetal 'glazing' from the lamps. Instead I installed some 12V grain of rice lamps with suitable diodes to give illumination in the direction of running for all three headlamps, plus illumination for the lower right lamp at the back.

 

I had previously found a set of running numbers (10222) and works plates for the model in a spares basket n a model shop. This meant that the numbers supplied with the DJH kit (10217, the number of the preserved Ae3/5) wouldn't clash with the Ae3/5 I had obtained a few years previously (see the last picture of post number 1).

 

With the numbers applied, the model is completed. It has had a good run in on the dining room table oval, and is now a very capable little puller:

 

 

 

Well that's the story for the Ae3/5.

 

I ought to get back to the SR T9 now; that's been in the paintshop for longer that it took Dubs (or the LSWR) to build one........

 

Dave

Edited July 30, 2022 by DIW
Pictures re-uploaded