Suitable chassis

IrishPeter · Post by **IrishPeter** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:06 am

Tidings have reached Skebawn of the fact that some lines are running railbuses and achieving considerable savings. After an initial light-hearted discussion of running a railcar of Poteen, it was decided to inquire whether there is a suitable commerical chassis for a railbus of their own.

The management has heard that Castlederg's example hand a 7' (105mm) driving wheelbase, so I guess the first question is 'are any of the commercial chassis somewhere between 100 and 110mm?

I have a vague idea that the S&CLR&T got all ingeneous and built a car of their own just before the 1925 amalgamation. If that does not work out, I may spring for a Worsley Works Drury on the basis that the GSR might of exiled the unsuccessful WCR example down to Castleknox!

Peter in AZ

Catweasel · Post by **Catweasel** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:32 am

I would have thought that any small chassis would do the job. Busted Bricks, I.P. Engineering budget, Andel etc. Might need to be inventive as to mounting it but nothing to difficult.

spooner · Post by **spooner** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:48 am

You could buy a cheap motor/gearbox and just push some wheels on for 45 gauge,32 gauge is not so easy and whatever gauge only 2wd.

GTB · Post by **GTB** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:34 am

IrishPeter:86329 wrote: it was decided to inquire whether there is a suitable commerical chassis for a freelance railbus.

Have you considered the IP Engineering kit for the T&D, later GSR, inspection car as a starting point? It has a wheelbase around 7' and is nominally 1/20.3 scale.

Being the usual laser cut ply, it is asking to be kitbashed. The drive is on the front axle as it comes, but it shouldn't be difficult to move it to the back to increase the haulage power a bit, or if you wanted to extend the chassis and fit a small bogie at the front.

There is also the IP freelance rail truck kit based on the T&D railcar to consider, which would provide a working chassis and Ford radiator etc. for a freelance body of some sort.

My railcars started out as IP Ezee kits. I'd have preferred to use T&D kit, but it wasn't released until just after I finished building them.......

The main issue with IP drives is getting the gears meshed properly and keeping them that way, but p shouldn't be an issue. Mine are only 2 wheel drive, but can haul themselves and a light trailer up a 1 in 30 grade.

Regards,
Graeme

sstjc · Post by **sstjc** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:50 pm

I'd use IP or Busted Bricks and cut it in the middle and mount it so the wheels are whatever centres you want... but then i'm just a simple bodger...

Enginehouse · Post by **Enginehouse** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 9:00 pm

sstjc:86345 wrote:I'd use IP or Busted Bricks and cut it in the middle and mount it so the wheels are whatever centres you want... but then i'm just a simple bodger...

I am going to have a go at this. The little chassis can be expanded easily and certainly pulls well enough for a scratch built rail bus with possibly a small trailer. Surprisingly the motor can run quite well if a little fast with the batteries doubled up too. Fitted the standard BB chassis under a largish diesel body currently in build for 45mm track and it hauled a couple of wagons around the test loop for half an hour no problem on a 4AA battery pack.

Busted Bricks · Post by **Busted Bricks** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 9:21 pm

The gear ratio is quite high so the motor will happily run on 6V and the speed stays reasonable.

Si · Post by Si » Sat Jul 27, 2013 10:43 am

For my railbus I started with a Busted Bricks 2wd chassis, chopped it in half, turned one end round and used it with the motor in the engine cover area.

However, I think that I'm going to start again as I wanted a Model T type RB and the axle boxes don't really do it for me....I'd prefer the wheel bearings to be inside of the wheels with big leaf springs on them. So for MkII the BB chassis will be used to make a baggage wagon that will sit between two rail buses (both unpowered but with more realistic chassis), to form a sort of rail bus push-pull unit.

IrishPeter · Post by **IrishPeter** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 3:37 pm

I am looking to build something that is a lot like the old Castlederg Rail Motor, which was a fairly large car, about 20' long. It was basically be a 2-4-0 with a 20hp Fordson engine under the bonnet chain driving the two rear axles. I am not going to follow the mechanical particulars, so I can wuss out and hide the motor in the luggage compartment. The main thing I have to keep in mind is that the S&CLR&T is a roadside line half the time, with the attendant 12 mph speed limit. I also have some long stretches of 1 in 24 which even make my 'Millie' cough sometimes!

Cheers,
Peter in AZ

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