adrian
Flying Squad
So my 2mm adventure is launched - having been very impressed with the various 2mmFS contributions on the forum I decided this was an opportunity to get a small shelf layout started - hopefully I will have some progress to report soon on Holywell Town.
In the meantime I seem to remember a request to post something on the motive power and rolling stock.
I started with a couple of wagon kits from the 2mmFS Association just as a taster to see if I could cope with the smaller scale.
They went together very nicely but I was just waiting for a couple of bits to finish them off. The Association has just released a new range of buffers in lost wax brass which has enabled me to finish off the first 2 wagons. Adding handrails and lamp-irons to the brake van was entertaining. Now just need couplings and painting to finish.
Final one for comparison - I just happened to have a Slaters 7mm brake van for comparison.
So onto motive power - although Holywell Town was a LNWR branchlike to my knowledge it never saw a rail motor. However Worsley Works produce a 2mm etching for the LNWR rail motor and so this seemed like a good start in producing some 2mmFS motive power. The first thing was to produce a motor bogie, on the real thing the boiler was a horizontal unit so the idea was to produce a motor bogie with the motor in the same orientation and place as the boiler. Inspired by @Nigel Cliffe 's article on a diesel shunter I bought some thin copper clad and set about filing a few lumps of brass square bar. A small motor and pulleys from Nigel Lawton and wheels and gears from the association resulted in this.
So it all looks very nice but it doesn't run!! The motor is not strong enough to spin the gears. Having chatted with @queensquare at York I have a few options to try to get motion. First is to remove one of the worm gears from the shaft and rely on the coupling rods for drive. The next option is to fix the motor mount on the chassis rather than hanging it off the layshaft which will remove another bearing surface. The final option would be getting a bigger motor. There probably is room for a larger motor, I'll just have to stick the chimney and dome directly on top of the motor!!
Anyway that's all for now - if I can get this motor bogie running then I'll have an incentive to get the bodywork moving.
In the meantime I seem to remember a request to post something on the motive power and rolling stock.
I started with a couple of wagon kits from the 2mmFS Association just as a taster to see if I could cope with the smaller scale.
They went together very nicely but I was just waiting for a couple of bits to finish them off. The Association has just released a new range of buffers in lost wax brass which has enabled me to finish off the first 2 wagons. Adding handrails and lamp-irons to the brake van was entertaining. Now just need couplings and painting to finish.
Final one for comparison - I just happened to have a Slaters 7mm brake van for comparison.
So onto motive power - although Holywell Town was a LNWR branchlike to my knowledge it never saw a rail motor. However Worsley Works produce a 2mm etching for the LNWR rail motor and so this seemed like a good start in producing some 2mmFS motive power. The first thing was to produce a motor bogie, on the real thing the boiler was a horizontal unit so the idea was to produce a motor bogie with the motor in the same orientation and place as the boiler. Inspired by @Nigel Cliffe 's article on a diesel shunter I bought some thin copper clad and set about filing a few lumps of brass square bar. A small motor and pulleys from Nigel Lawton and wheels and gears from the association resulted in this.
So it all looks very nice but it doesn't run!! The motor is not strong enough to spin the gears. Having chatted with @queensquare at York I have a few options to try to get motion. First is to remove one of the worm gears from the shaft and rely on the coupling rods for drive. The next option is to fix the motor mount on the chassis rather than hanging it off the layshaft which will remove another bearing surface. The final option would be getting a bigger motor. There probably is room for a larger motor, I'll just have to stick the chimney and dome directly on top of the motor!!
Anyway that's all for now - if I can get this motor bogie running then I'll have an incentive to get the bodywork moving.
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