The Sheep Chronicles. A Sheep dips his hooves in various bucolic backwaters.

Reader mode
NHY 581

NHY 581

Western Thunderer
Hi Dave.

Yes, I use either IPA or a dab of Track Magic to degrease then Gaugemaster lube. I use the bare minimum and don't lube the axles themselves.
The gears and gear box seem to be of the same plastic and there are no issues there so not sure why the axles have gone funky.

20240128_091656-01.jpeg

Rob
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
Interesting. From your photos above it would appear the plastic/material used for the gear assembly is just a bit too hard and not forgiving.

It appears the wheelsets run in pinpoint bearings - is this correct? Does the chassis have sufficient room to allow you the sleeve the outer axles on the gear with thin brass tube to minimise the splitting and without any potential shorting?
 
Last edited:
simond

simond

Western Thunderer
Looks to me like the fit of the stub axle in the muff is very (too) tight. Over time the muff has stretched (creep) and eventually cracked, possibly the wall thickness of the muff might be too little.

I’m not sure the lube has anything to do with the failure, though it might have accelerated it.
 
Herb Garden

Herb Garden

Western Thunderer
NHY 581 said:
Hi Dave.

Yes, I use either IPA or a dab of Track Magic to degrease then Gaugemaster lube. I use the bare minimum and don't lube the axles themselves.
The gears and gear box seem to be of the same plastic and there are no issues there so not sure why the axles have gone funky.

View attachment 207747

Rob
Click to expand...
Rob,

Had the same thing with mine a few years ago you ain't alone in this issue.

It's not really the lubricant it's the problem with the manufacturing tolerances between the axle and sleeve. Simply too big g a shaft too small a hole. The stresses in the axle torque over time further weaken the plastic

When I took mine apart I found their was a noticeable difference between the 4 stub axles and the tightness of the fit into the sleeve on each one... Some fell out (not just the cracked one some had to be cut out.

How I've solved it is not for the faint hearted and needs tuning slightly but the principle seems sound. But be warned this could wreck the loco.

IMG_20240128_181345185.jpg
Without taking it apart this is the best view I could get.

Firstly I removed the axles and the orrible pickup system. Binned the stub axles and cut the two sleeves down to just either side of the gears.

Using two old wagon wheel sets I pressed the gears onto those. I then opened up the slots in the inner frame ever so slightly to take brass top hat bearings then put the wheels back on the axles and dropped them in place a bit of trial and error needed to get them sitting at the right height for the gear meshing. But it works!

And then I made the mistake of adding pickups that pressed way to hard on the wheels and she struggled to go anywhere something I've been meaning to fix....

Hope that helps in any case

George
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
Assuming the stub axles are 2mm I'd ream the gear axle/muff with a 2mm reamer to see if the stub axle pushes in without brute force so to speak.

Then remove the stub axle wheels, knurl* the stub axles and reinsert them with a drop of retaining compound.

*Set the stub axle like this on file edge and run a similar file edge over the top i.e. rolling the axle between the two file edges.

Dash 8 40B 007.jpg
 
Herb Garden

Herb Garden

Western Thunderer
Yorkshire Dave said:
Assuming the stub axles are 2mm I'd ream the gear axle/muff with a 2mm reamer to see if the stub axle pushes in without brute force so to speak.

Then remove the stub axle wheels, knurl* the stub axles and reinsert them with a drop of retaining compound.

*Set the stub axle like this on file edge and run a similar file edge over the top i.e. rolling the axle between the two file edges.

View attachment 207808
Click to expand...
Yeah exactly what Dave said! That's the detail I should have put in my explanation....

My excuse is I'm still recovering from having COVID....
 
Phil O

Phil O

Western Thunderer
Rob,

Sorry to hear about your loss of motor. On the subject of small 0 gauge layouts have you seen the Osney Town thread in the other place, also by Rob?
 
NHY 581

NHY 581

Western Thunderer
Morning all,

A bit of a catch up is in order. The new axles arrived and following an inspection the new ready assembled axles and wheels were returned......as they were split. It seems that they are manufactured with an incorrect internal diameter to the axles.
Fortunately, I'd ordered some individual axles and these were reamed, as per advice, using a 2mm reamer and axles were knurled before a snug fit, no splitting reassembly. Result. No more nodding and stately progress restored so we may well see a Sentinel popping up on Ewe at an exhibition this year.

Outside of this there's been no other modelling but there has been a bit of a reset. The 'quicky layout' has gone, moved onto to someone with more appetite for it's development than I. Also moved on were a number of locos in a bit of a decluttering exercise. A few more are scheduled to go over the coming weeks, linked to projects that won't now go ahead.

However, I have ordered one of the new Class 11 shunters being made by Heljan for Model Rail. It's delivery has been a bit of a farce though thanks to Royal Mail but fingers crossed it will arrive tomorrow. If up to the required standard, it will see service on both EWE and Sheep Dip and may be joined by at least one more example as they are doing a couple of genuine East Anglian locos.

The final bit of news demonstrates the kindness that exists in this hobby. On Rmweb, I'm regularly in contact with quite a few people, one of whom is Chris Nicholls. Chris is a very talented chap who has previously produced 3D prints of mainly wagons for himself but last year made some early SER/SE&CR round ended wagons for me after a bit of research and discussion about the project.
On Friday a parcel arrived from Chris, completely unexpected so I was suitably intrigued. I found that it contained two pairs of single bolsters, produced and finished by Chris who had knocked them up purely out of curiosity.
He had finished one pair in SE&CR grey and the other in SER red oxide and here they are in all their glory displayed on Ewe.......

20240209_205742-01.jpeg

20240209_201921.jpg

20240209_204400.jpg

20240209_201914.jpg

An excellent addition to the wagon roster for the SE&CR project and a treasured gift from a very kind individual.

Rob.
 
NHY 581

NHY 581

Western Thunderer
Pencarrow said:
Ewe are a very lucky sheep.
Click to expand...

I is. They are cowing lush.

timbowales said:
As a matter of interest what do they weigh?
Tim T
Click to expand...

Not sure Tim. Haven't weighed them however they're rather light but hold the track beautifully be it pulled or propelled.

These effectively finish the early SE&CR wagon fleet off for now. I have modest requirements for what will be a small terminus layout. I have three Dapol/Rails vans, these bolsters along with a couple of D&S white metal round end opens and two 3D round end opens also by Chris who included a variation which had a stepped end.

Rob
 
Lyndhurstman

Lyndhurstman

Western Thunderer
Yorkshire Dave said:
Assuming the stub axles are 2mm I'd ream the gear axle/muff with a 2mm reamer to see if the stub axle pushes in without brute force so to speak.

Then remove the stub axle wheels, knurl* the stub axles and reinsert them with a drop of retaining compound.

*Set the stub axle like this on file edge and run a similar file edge over the top i.e. rolling the axle between the two file edges.

View attachment 207808
Click to expand...
Oh. That’s very neat. Knurling no-how now nicked!

Cheers
Jan
 
Jordan

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
PXL_20240211_115116952.jpg

Interesting prototypical '4-link' coupler there!! Was the rear coupler the same, did you happen to notice?
I've noted on threads on RMweb that the Dapol 7mm Terrier in particular seems to suffer from buffer locking on tight curves, especially at the rear due to the long overhang from axle to buffer beam. I wonder if the real thing suffered from a similar issue.?
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
NHY 581 said:
A bit of a catch up is in order. The new axles arrived and following an inspection the new ready assembled axles and wheels were returned......as they were split. It seems that they are manufactured with an incorrect internal diameter to the axles.
Fortunately, I'd ordered some individual axles and these were reamed, as per advice, using a 2mm reamer and axles were knurled before a snug fit, no splitting reassembly. Result. No more nodding and stately progress restored so we may well see a Sentinel popping up on Ewe at an exhibition this year.
Click to expand...

I'm pleased to see this has been successful. The proof (of the pudding) as they say is in the eating...:)
 
Reader mode
You must log in or register to reply here.
What's New?
Top