RMweb Premium uax6 Posted August 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 13, 2014 I'm in the middle of building a 0-4-4T kit and the rear bogie is a simple white metal casting, so not allowing pickups on both wheels easily. The axles are Romfords with insulated wheels. I'm interested to know if I can get bearings that will fit over these axles so that I can then use them to pick up from (instead of wiping the rear of the wheels, which will add drag and possibly prevent axle rotation). Do they exist and if they do where can I get them from please? Andy g Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Andy, As written, what you propose will not achieve pick up. If the axle is fully insulated from the wheels, then a bearing on the axle cannot pick up any current. (And if they did pick up from both rails, then the axle cannot be a continuous piece of metal, and bearings would need to be fully insulated from the whitemetal bogie, to prevent a dead short.) For what you propose some form of the split frame and axle technique is required. Some of the old split chassis Bachmann locos had bogies constructed in this style, so there may be an option from (probably s/h) RTR parts. Kit parts, I don't now know what is available, but Branchlines might be a place to start. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayfield2 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Andy What I have recently received through the post from an Ebay buy is a Collett Goods where the wheels on one side of the tender have been electrically connected to the axles. Power is picked up on one polarity from un-insulated loco wheels on the loco chassis and the other polarity from the tender wheels (no wipers at all) The connection from the tender is via a wire to the motor and copperclad strip has been used as the draw beam, so there is no short on the loco/tender connection. This may give you an idea if you could insulate the bogie from the chassis, but one polarity only Would a split axle system work? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thane of Fife Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Markits advertise "Live Axle bogie/tender wheels". These would reduce the number of wipers needed for current pick-up Thane of Fife Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted August 14, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 14, 2014 Maybe I should explain a bit more, I propose to build a new bogie, but want to eliminate wipers. The original bogie is whitemetal, and both wheels on the axle are insulated, so don't even achieve a 'one side live connection' which would help. I have two options, both of which require brass bearings for the axle. The first is to make a complete plastic bogie, and by splitting the axle allow both sides to pick up, or have one side pick on one axle and the other axle picking up on the other. Both will require the insulation of the wheels to be destroyed (which I'll do by drilling through it and inserting a bit of wire). All I need is the bearings! Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 If I understand you correctly, Alan Gibson do 2mm top hat bearings and they also do bushes for shorting Jackson and Romford wheels to the axle. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted August 14, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 14, 2014 Ah Nick, I need inside bearings, not the pinpoint ones sadly.... The shorting bushings might be useful mind! Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Ah Nick, I need inside bearings, not the pinpoint ones sadly.... The shorting bushings might be useful mind! Andy G The ones I called 'top hat' are frame bushes, not pinpoints. See 4M65 and 4M65S on p12 of the current online catalogue. Shorting bushes are 4M52 on p4. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted August 14, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 14, 2014 Brilliant, thanks for that! Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Hi Andy, how about taking your axle to your local model shop and finding a section of brass and plastic tube of the right diameters you could cut two short sections of the brass to make your own axle bearings soldering your pick up wires to these and use the plastic tube to split the axle to insulate both sides from each other, you'll need to make a plastic bogie and un-insulate the wheel rims in the manor you proposed for this to work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted August 14, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 14, 2014 Steve, You're not too far away from the way I was planning to go, but I have a need for the bearings for another plan, so it's nice to know where to get them from! I'm going to add a sliver of styrene between the axle ends, just to make sure they don't short..... I could even give the bogie compensation if I slot the side frames! Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Cut the bogie frames from thin brass, and pivot them on the sides of a plastic block which carries the bogie pivot, and you have your split axles pick up on a compensated bogie from the smallest number of pieces of material. Saw this recently on a N gauge model, and it's so b...... obvious, why didn't I think of that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I tried a split axle split frame bogie for my M7, I forced oversize stub axles through the Jackson wheels which fitted through thin brass side frames which were insulated from each other and pivoted horizontally to provide compensation and made up a hard plastic spacers to hold the wheels apart but I could not get the wheels true on the stub axles..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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