Garden Railway Forum

Looks good, Simon. It'll be interesting to see what appears on top of the build plates when their imaginations run wild.

Rik

Trevor Thompson wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:19 pm They look very nice. I hope someone will be pleased!

Thanks Trevor! Hope so! I've really no idea if the couplings will work well with the Tesco ones, my drawings were very sketchy, it would be frustrating if they cannot be hooked up as part of their train!

ge_rik wrote: ↑Wed Dec 23, 2020 9:42 am Looks good, Simon. It'll be interesting to see what appears on top of the build plates when their imaginations run wild.

Thanks Rik! I don't think I could have done it in the time - even with a very basic solebar without the head start yours gave me! I look forward to seeing what they will build too, I only wish I could be with them to see it in person... hopefully before long I will.

The Lego wagons arrived in time for Christmas and have formed the basis for some smart new coaches already...


Whilst the wagons with their short wheelbase run well on the Tesco track, and couple to each other without issue, they don't play well with the Tesco train. The reason for this is that the Tesco wagons have a long wheelbase, and to compensate for this, although they are 4-wheelers, their axles are mounted in... can we call them bogies if they are a single axle? Or are they 'trucks' (like on a skateboard?) Anyway, the coupling is fixed to these bogies, designed so that the coupler pulls the wheels in on the curves... But coupled to my wagons, with the fixed couplings protruding from the buffer beam, the coupling is held out and the wheels are unable to follow the curve causing binding and if not derailment then loco wheel-slip.

So I need to design a new swivelling coupling...

I'm sure a man of your perspicacity can sort a swivelling coupling without too much trouble!
In the meanwhile it looks as though the kids are following after their uncle, well done.

That looks like classic 80s Lego to me! Very nice, I'm glad they like it, hope you can get the couplings sorted - until you do, would the good old bent paperclip solve the problem?

All the best,

Andrew.

Wouldn't a match truck suffice, with a swivelling coupling at one end to couple to the Tesco stock, and a fixed coupling at the other end to attach to your Lego stock?

BorisSpencer wrote: ↑Tue Dec 29, 2020 9:35 am Wouldn't a match truck suffice, with a swivelling coupling at one end to couple to the Tesco stock, and a fixed coupling at the other end to attach to your Lego stock?

That's a good idea - and my plan is that the Duplo wagon will serve that purpose for now, until I can visit with some acetone and replacement buffer beams!

The epilogue: Duplo Wagon

I redesigned the coupling to swivel, now prints in 3 parts with the coupling itself, the pivot on a pin recessed into the buffer beam, held in place by a plate glued on below:
Here are the printed parts:
Assembled:
And here is the finished Duplo wagon, ready to be shipped off for (destruction) testing at the hands of the youngest one. Hope it will couple successfully to the Tesco stock!

I don't think I every shared the files for this. I've now put them on Thingiverse.