Modelling a GWR prototype : CARROG in 4mm & 7mm.

P A D

Western Thunderer
My interest in loco kit building dropped out as far back as 1979. Painting & Lining is a skill few people ever master and quite simply, it gave me a better income. Today I am all-but retired and would dread building a loco kit and waking up each day to face a part-finished pile of parts on my workbench. RTR suits me fine as a starting point so long as it runs decently. I doubt I will buy another Heljan.

Your Large Prairie looks superb P A D..........Well balanced and just right. I presume the pony wheels are Slaters....? What size did you fit fore and aft?

Hi Larry,
I fully understand why you and others buy RTR, but it's a great shame when otherwise very good models fall short because of poor quality control. After all, despite being more economic and convenient than building a kit, a few hundred pounds is not peanuts for a model loco. Arriving with missing parts, faulty gears and misaligned coupling pins fouling the cross head is disappointing to say the least.

Cheers,
Peter
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Slaters,

They’re in the box, I’ll check out and let you know when I get in.

Best
Simon
 

P A D

Western Thunderer
Sorry Larry,
I overlooked your question about the wheels. Yes they are Slaters wheels, #7837 3'1" 10 spoke on the front and #7843 3'7" 10 spoke on the rear. I believe they should be a inch larger in diameter on both but who can tell the difference without measuring. I assume they are the closest on the Slaters range.

Considering that I bought several castings from Warren Shephard, I should have remembered that he also does a large prairie kit, as mentioned by Simon.

Cheers,
Peter
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
Thanks P A D. I should have ordered #7843 3' 7" 10 spoke as being the nearest in Slaters range, but a senior moment saw me choosing the wrong number. PhilH pointed out the wheels were a bit small. Easily remedied when the loco comes back.

I noticed one has to be careful with pony truck wheels on the Large Prairies because the different number series carried different diameters.
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Sorry, home late, MrsD dragged me, kicking and screaming to a Wreckless Eric gig which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Will check wheels and report tomorrow.
S
 

P A D

Western Thunderer
Simon,
Check out the copper cap on the chimney. It's a separate turned part that fits onto the brass chimney casting. I used Warren's chimney to replace the somewhat emaciated offering from Scorpio and found that the copper cap was not the correct profile. I pushed it onto some dowel and reprofiled it with a file while spinning in a Black and Decker.

Before.
post-13414-0-27286600-1460148893.jpg


And after reprofiling. Not perfect, but a whole lot better.
post-13414-0-54222300-1460149549.jpg

Cheers,
Peter
 

Richard

Active Member
Larry,

I can't seem to find a follow up to your query as to what the various spurious plastic bits were with the mogul.

Is one of them the vacuum pump driven off the offside crosshead?
 

PhilH

Western Thunderer
I've been requested to post this photo of the YouChoos DCC sound installation in Larry's Heljan GWR Prairie

Prairie DCC.jpg

The Zimo MX644 decoder was supplied ready fitted to the Zimo ADAMTC expansion board which according to YouChoos boosts the motor output to 1.8A continuous and 2.5A peak. The existing circuit boards are removed, the ADAMTC secured to the metal boiler insert with self adhesive foam pads and the motor and pick up wires soldered to terminals on the ADAMTC. Larry didn't want the firebox light so that wasn't reconnected. YouChoos recommend wrapping the decoder in tape and sticking the Zimo dual speaker on top, but I didn't like that idea so made a brass platform to lie clear of the decoder with one end bent into a 'Z' shape to be secured by the screws holding the original circuit boards. Just to be sure if it ever works loose the underside of the platform is lined with self adhesive foam and insulation tape (I'm a belt and braces kinda guy !) and the speaker and a YouChoos 17000uF stay alive fixed on top with more self adhesive foam. Both units are wired directly to the ADAMTC board. Altogether a fairly simple and straightforward installation.
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
Thanks Philip. It's a very neat form of installation on the brass shelf. The stay-alive supplied with the decoder and speaker etc left the sound running for quite some time after the power was turned off. I meant to run the Pannier to compare with the Prairie sound. I'll put the same sound in the forthcoming Small Prairie.
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
For the record I had a duff ADAMTC board which blew the 644 decoder. Zimo had left a pin on the connector which allowed me to install the 644 backwards. YouChoos sorted it out but in the end I decided to do without the ADAMTC board and wired a 645R directly to the motor. So far so good. The stall current was less than 1 amp which suggested the 645R would be adequate.
 
A Heljan GWR Large Prairie arrived last week minus bunker side and back steps. I was emailed a return slip and the loco was promptly returned...

View attachment 103282

It's replacement arrived safely today but with one one screw to two pony trucks (I have heard of this before). While waiting for a response, I found a screw in my spares tray with the appropriate thread plus a brass washer, so job done. Then I saw the bottom step was missing from the bunker. We'd been here before! The stock response was "Send it back".


Not likely. It'd be a rum do if I couldn't meck a replacement step! I can say this on here without being chastised by a few million box openers....

View attachment 103284

The step was made from 12thou thick brass 3.25mm wide..

View attachment 103285

Larry,
In that Other Place you would be accused of either modelling or encouraging the manufacturers to ignore quality control and denying the right of the buyer to whinge at any minor blemish or perceived error in the faithfulness of the interpretation of the model.

Regarding Heljan, I've had a couple of 4mm models of theirs which arrived with several bits in the box. Fortunately they were all there but just not fitted securely. From other manufactureres I've had handrails and lamp irons missing but replacement has been a few minutes job in most cases. The only things which have gone back have been for chassis or motor problems.

Now that I am on here I will be following the latest incarnation of your layouts with interest as I have from the Greenfield days.

Eric
 
Top