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Posted: Fri May 15, 2015 8:28 am
by Dr. Bond of the DVLR
Its a very attractive wagon load as well, splendid stuff.

Posted: Fri May 15, 2015 8:26 pm
by Soar Valley Light
Very nice. A great looking wagon doing a cracking job. I love it.

Your Lady Anne is quite a character and I absolutely love your railway. It really looks like it's a part of the landscape. I'm inspired!

Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 8:40 pm
by Andrew
Evening all,

My own momentum vehicle, a little coal truck is now complete - here it is with a Binnie slate wagon and a Mamod guards van to enable a size comparison:

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And a side view:


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I don't currently have a working manually controlled loco that isn't geared, but I tested it out behind my RH Russell, and it works pretty well I think. It seems to give the train a much weightier feel, making acceleration smoother (at least once the geared wheel has caught up with the rest of the train) and helping regulate speed - I had some lovely slow runs up my 1 in 50 gradient. It encourages smoother deceleration too, because if you stop too suddenly it looks plain daft bumping to a halt and then sitting with its wheels spinning - although it's pretty heavy for its size, it can't shift a stationary Russell! More testing is required, but so far, so good. I'm looking forward to running it with visiting manual locos too.

Perhaps best of all I've discovered how much I like building grotty little trucks - three more are now under construction!

Cheers,

Andrew.

PS video to follow sometime - attempts to drive and film at the same time weren't good!

Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 8:51 pm
by Soar Valley Light
That's a really lovely little wagon Andrew. Well done.

I'm itching for the day when all the work on the house and garden is complete, my railway is at least under construction and I have space for a little bit of a workshop in the cellar (squeezed in with the HD Meccano electric mice)!

Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 9:24 pm
by Peter Butler
I agree, that looks just right.
As 'Thomas' would say, 'A really useful truck'.

Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 11:39 pm
by Keith S
I wish now that I had put a bit more effort into mine. I just slapped the mechanism into a IP covered van and it's very plain.

Everybody else seems to have done a nice job weathering and/or coming up with something unique.

I'll have to dress mine up a bit, somehow.

Posted: Mon May 18, 2015 5:00 pm
by Howardws
Has anyone considered machining grooves into the wheels and fitting O-rings to reduce the inclination to slip and thus reduce the weight required? This works well on an old Faller Playtrain tank engine with plastic wheels that belonged to one of my sons and that my grandson now plays with.

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 3:58 am
by 11thHour
Howardws:110938 wrote:Has anyone considered machining grooves into the wheels and fitting O-rings to reduce the inclination to slip and thus reduce the weight required? .
Intuitively, since the mechanism only drives on one wheel and since the coupling height is above the axle height (when looking side on) if you wish to get the maximum 'drag' effect from the mechanism the driven axle should be closest to the engine. Thus the front wheels tend to dig in, whist the rear wheels tend to lift. The ideal (from an engineering point of view) is for the coupler to be level from the track with the axle, which would make it work equally well in both directions.

Tim

Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 5:30 am
by Keith S
That is exactly what I have noticed. Th effect is greatest when the axle is closest to the engine.

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2015 10:52 am
by Peter Butler
Well, it's been some time since I bought my 'Zecar' and things have gone very quiet on this thread, but at last I have made mine into a working vehicle.
The wheelbase has been extended with a plasticard frame and metal wheels fitted. The driven axle running in its own original bushes and the trailing axle in brass. The axleguards are cosmetic and have no contact with the axles.

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The finished vehicle is a goods van which can be run with any train combination.

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Further build details can be found on my 'Time to build a railway'... thread.

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:23 am
by Alan P
Very nice Peter. I wish i'd thought about extending the wheel base and i also like your dummy axle boxes.
I will be very interested to see how your's performs.

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2015 6:52 pm
by Keith S
Oh now I do wish I had gone to more effort with mine. Your goods van looks amazing.

That "plasticard" stuff really builds up into some really good models. I shall have to try my hand at using it some day!

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:43 pm
by Peter Butler
The van is finished and tested. It certainly helps with slow running and makes the locomotive more controllable. I have no idea about sharp curves and inclines as my line has neither!

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Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 8:10 am
by Alan P
Excellent Peter. What did you use to do the lettering if I may ask?

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 10:37 am
by Peter Butler
Alan, I have described the long and frustrating search I had for suitable lettering elsewhere on this Forum, but briefly it was specially made for me by a local printing company. It was drawn out to my design and size on their computer screen then produced in a laser cut A4 white vinyl sheet so the letters simply peel off and are self adhesive.
The whole thing only cost me £12.
Originally I had two sizes on one sheet but in practise only used one of them, so I will now order a full sheet of the smaller size.
If one printing company can do this there must be others!

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 11:26 am
by Daven
Peter,

I have used this firm for my lettering in the past, I found him through my boat modelling activities.:-

http://modellettering.com/


David

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 4:52 pm
by Peter Butler
Thanks for that Dave, personally I have limited requirements but I can pass this on to our Club Members who do boats, 'planes etc.... I'm certain they will be delighted!

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 7:11 pm
by Alan P
Peter Butler:112136 wrote:Alan, I have described the long and frustrating search I had for suitable lettering elsewhere on this Forum, but briefly it was specially made for me by a local printing company.   It was drawn out to my design and size on their computer screen then produced in a laser cut A4 white vinyl sheet so the letters simply peel off and are self adhesive.
The whole thing only cost me £12.  
Originally I had two sizes on one sheet but in practise only used one of them, so I will now order a full sheet of the smaller size.
If one printing company can do this there must be others!
They look just right. I must investigate our local printers to see if they can do something similar.

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:44 pm
by TTHLRMatt
We are lucky enough to have a vinyl cutter which does the trick and I can vouch for the letters longevity. One of my sets is entering its 5th year!

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 11:18 pm
by Peter Butler
That's good news Matt, it both looks good and seems a sound investment! I have already ordered more and a numbering sheet too.