The workbench of a Ribena drunkard!

[mick b]

Check for a short.

[markindurham]

If the chassis runs nicely without the body, it's possible that it's twisting slightly when it's secured into the body. It doesn't take much to cause a tight spot. Another possibility is that the motor is weak. Can you swap the motors easily? If so, it might be worth trying another one.

[nzpaul]

Check for clearance from the insulated brush holder to the body perhaps. Bit of bluetac stuck across the top of the motor, fit the body, take it off again and look for witness marks. Xo4 notorious for windings separating from the comutator in my experiance, re-soldering is easy enough.
Love the teak finish on the coaches btw.

Cheers
Paul

[Sylvian Tennant]

Cheers chaps

Looks like the motor has gone for burton now - I just serviced it the other day. Thank you for the advice however, I think it was a weakness in the motor as previous there wasn't much of a problem with it running so I ruled out a twist in the chassis and it moved freely without the motor when the body was attached.

I have decided to completely rework it as I have found myself not too comfortable with this live chassis system. The model was given to me and it's about 40 years old (being nucast) probably once why the motor's finally had it.

I'm going to attempt a mashima motor and a high level gear box - Romford wheels as the axles are Romford's self quartering ones and they have done a wonderful job on my Q6. I plan to also wire up the trailing truck so current pick up is maximised.

Does anyone know a good source for online ordering of Romford 21mm and 12mm wheels?

[Sylvian Tennant]

Thank you Paul - if I honest some of your earlier posts were an inspiration for me to work on them.

[drmditch]

I have a Nucast G5 (although it's currently packed away). I do use a live chassis, as I find it easier than wipers on all wheels. Mine is powered by an open frame Anchoridge motor, and actually runs quite well. They key factor was getting the weight distribution correct, as between the driving wheels and the bogie. If I remember correctly, the bogie is live to opposite side to the mainframes, and has a 'sliding spring' arrangement for the balance.

It was however a tricky build, and took a lot of adjustment.

With open frame motors there is always the risk of dirt or swarf getting stuck on the brushes. This can sometimes cause the kind of intermittent short you seem to be suffering from. I haven't built anything using one for a while noe, but I do have some in stock. If the Mashima supply does dry up I may have to use them up!

[mick b]

Cheers chaps

Looks like the motor has gone for burton now - I just serviced it the other day. Thank you for the advice however, I think it was a weakness in the motor as previous there wasn't much of a problem with it running so I ruled out a twist in the chassis and it moved freely without the motor when the body was attached.

I have decided to completely rework it as I have found myself not too comfortable with this live chassis system. The model was given to me and it's about 40 years old (being nucast) probably once why the motor's finally had it.

I'm going to attempt a mashima motor and a high level gear box - Romford wheels as the axles are Romford's self quartering ones and they have done a wonderful job on my Q6. I plan to also wire up the trailing truck so current pick up is maximised.

Does anyone know a good source for online ordering of Romford 21mm and 12mm wheels?

Romford wheels I believe are no longer made , they are now marketed as Markits. 247 developments and others sell them.

There are some on ebay at the moment, not cheap though.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/00-GAUGE-4mm- ... Sw-4BXblxi

[earlswood nob]

Good morning all

Markits (ex-Romford) wheels are of good quality, but expensive. Their catalogue is available on line and they can be ordered. However, they are not the quickest.

Gibson's wheels are available in a large range of sizes and the service cannot be bettered. They are cheaper than Markits, but need careful quartering. They are also isolated, so need pick-ups on both sides of the chassis, unless you use conducting strips.

If I plan to use Gibson's wheels, I use a set of Romford/Markits until the chassis is finished and then fit the press fit Gibson wheels at the last moment.

Earlswood nob

[Sylvian Tennant]

Cheers chaps and possible chapesses! Just a quickie to say I've started cracking on with a couple of new projects. This year will mainly be tank engines as I have none updated so far and since finished the Gresley coaches I may need venture into other projects for the variety. Currently this is the G5, which I think is Nucast originally. Built by a member of my old club and handed to me as some sort of sixth hand gift.

As you may be are from the previous posts the original motor was a Triang X04 motor which I think has seen it's best days. So I'm going to open out the chassis and try and a fit a high level gear box with Mashima motor. I also need some new wheels as the original ones were for a live chassis operation - I have been told this this is a simpler operation than the wiper pick-ups but i'm not buying that!


Next up is a Gresley V1/3 (I don't know which!) which is the old Bachmann model - this is just a simple update to compliment the Gresley coaches I've built.

Later on there will be a Ivatt 2MT Tank and a Thompson K1 (not a tank engine and somehow I've rejected the idea of the Hornby one and decided to build me own!)

[Sylvian Tennant]

For some reason I started on this last night ...

I think it was a Scratchbuilt J27 which another dickie X04 motor and dated chassis. Like the G5 it may have seen many owners and i think compared to any later offers may be slightly out of scale but overall it looks like a J27 and that's all that really matters to me as I think I can finish up with something that looks good.

The chassis is now a Bachmann Jinty which we undergo some visual mods to look like a J27 under frame.

I'v had to cut a fair bit from under the boiler to shoehorn the chassis and take to it and yes, unfortunately the daylight will be limited and I think there may be some shorting issues with the can motor and the metal body but I think they're easy to solve.

The body itself needs a lot of work both from when i received it to further work that needs correcting after I started hacking. Plus a snowy finish from white spray paint I accidentally let off in it's presence. Hopefully with all going well I shall have a BR locomotive with a detailed (and removable cab) that can be put to service on local freight trains.

[Sylvian Tennant]

Hullo everyone

I'm sort of back - I've been milling around the 16mm scale forum a bit recently - and with good reason!

I've been building up my first proper layout and by chance it happens to be in my modest garden!

At the moment it's still in it's construction stage but is effectively up and running waiting for the final few buildings and spring to bring into much needed flora and fauna.

Also I got bloody sick and tired of seeing 16mm modellers donning "GWR" and "Southern Railway" motifs on their railways (although I'll let the BR one's off) so I have decided to make mine of a distinctly North Eastern Flavour - can you guess one of the inspirations?