Desire for a Streetcar

[John Branch]

I have been contemplating building a London tram to go with my other LT stock, probably one from the end of their era, in the 1940s.  A first look reveals that trams are mostly built to G1(Gscale) or G0 scales.  Not much in the way of trade supply.  I have identified a source of drawings, but not much else.  So that I do not spend too much time looking for the non-existent, or solving problems settled  yonks ago, may I ask anyone with experience of G3 trams to give me (and us) the benefit of their advice?

Many thanks.

John

[IanT]

Have you looked at the Occre LCC 106 kit John?

London Tram - Hobbies

It's designed for 45mm track but is to 1:24 (1/2") scale, so not too far out for G3. I know other Occre tram kits have been converted to 63.5mm - so this may be possible in this case too.

Just a thought

Regards,

IanT

[John Branch]

Thanks for that, Ian, I'll investigate
John

[cabbage]

Memory stirs... I believe that IanT had posted a link to a dutch designer living in NZ(!)

There were a number of his designs including the Trans Europe Express -and a tramcar. At this time of night my vision is poor.

Regards

Ralph

[Nick]

The person Ralph is trying to remember may be Julius de Waal - the geography fits. He has published many designs on model engineering website, but I can't find anything on that site, or by googling his name directly, that looks like a London tram. But it might be worth a search if you have a clear idea of what you are looking for.

Nick

[MikeWilliams]

There are several people 3D printing parts for trams in smaller scales.  They might be open to enlarging their files to Gauge 3 and those with their own printer might do it at an affordable cost too.  Just a suggestion, though I suspect if enlarged very much the quality may not be acceptable to you John.  One I know personally is rainycitymodels@outlook.com

Mike

[IanT]

Larger scale trams are normally built to 3/4" (1/16th) scale and are generally scratch built, although there are parts for trucks and motors available from the TRLS. The 'bible' used to be "Scale Model Electric Tramways" by Jackson-Stevens  although "Tramway Modelling" by Peter Hammond is also recommended.

More recently, Ashley Best had a series of articles in Model Engineer that were very well illustrated. I gathered that a great deal of forward planning was required to get all the interior detail in place before assembly. There were a lot of tips on how to make scale parts from scratch. Not sure of this has been assembled into a 'book' form but that would also be very useful if so.

With regards to the Occre '106' kit - this link gives a little more detail of it's construction.


London 106 Tram - MEW

Regards,

IanT

[IanT]

Memory stirs... I believe that IanT had posted a link to a dutch designer living in NZ(!)

There were a number of his designs including the Trans Europe Express -and a tramcar. At this time of night my vision is poor.

Regards

Ralph

That may have been the "Blue Tram" which Julius published on the MEW site. It is still there....

Blue Tram - MEW

Regards,

IanT

[Traininvain]

Further to Ian T's postings above, the TLRS is at

https://tlrs.info/

They do a brilliant guide

https://tlrs.info/product/large-scale-tramway-modelling-an-introduction-and-guide/

which is the tram equivalent of the guide recently published by the G3 Society

[Doddy]

1:19 Manchester Scale scroll halfway down the page, The LTPB London Transport Feltham streamline might be up your street!

https://tlrs.info/modelling/

[John Branch]

I just knew there was a wealth of information out there.  Thanks for all the interest.

I have ordered a drawing to 13.5mm/ft of an LT E class.  It will give me a clue as whether the idea is a goer for me or not.

John

[IanT]

Showing my age but Mum used to take me on the Tram to go shopping in Croyden. There was a Department store there that had ponies in the basement hitched to a central wheel. They used to go around and around to the 'Harry Lime' (Third Man) theme. As treat I'd always get a ride. The smell was quite powerful...

I also remember watching the conductor 'walk' the pole around the tram to reverse it but I'd always thought that it was in Mitcham for some reason. When I checked the tram map a few years back, the end of that tram line was in Purley and I don't know why we'd have gone there. Well, it was a very long time ago!  :-)

Regards,

IanT

[Doddy]

"Showing my age, but Mum used to take me on the Tram to go shopping in Croydon. There was a Department store there that had ponies in the basement hitched to a central wheel. They used to go around and around to the 'Harry Lime' (Third Man) theme. As a treat, I'd always get a ride. The smell was quite powerful... "

Croydon's lost department store that sold amazing goods from around the world and even had a mini zoo with cheetahs and lions



Most people will be aware of the huge hole left in Croydon's Central shopping centre when Debenham's closed in 2020. The flagship store had remained one of the big draws for the town, and added a quality brand to the high street that drew people in.

Even though the department store was popular, there was an even more popular shop that used to be there - long before Debenhams ever came to town. In the 1920s Kennards even introduced pony rides for children in the store, which continued to run until 1966, lions and cheetahs entertained the crowds, and they had an infamous Christmas grotto.

The amazing Kennards was started by William Kennard in 1853 in Croydon, at a time when the railway stations had recently opened in town - bringing in new customers with it. It was a real success story. Though William died in 1887, the business was renamed Kennard Brothers and managed by his sons William & Arthur.

[IanT]

Ah! Thank you - that sounds like the place   

Regards,

IanT

[John Branch]

Readers will note that is now well over a year since I started out on this journey to build a tram in G3.  I have learned many things en-route, and the main one is  NEVER AGAIN.  It has been fascinating, educative, fiddley, an exercise in 3-D mental gymnastics, a project that should not be undertaken without drawing up full PERT and Critical Path analyses.
All my ambitions for automated lifeguard raising with direction and repositioning of seat backs for the same reason have gone for a ball of chalk- the first because my eyes are not up to it, the second because it interferes with the passenger's comfort and safety.  For someone who managed to get batteries, receiver, relays, switches and esc out of sight in a tube train, the tram presented a far worse problem.  It is like a greenhouse on wheels-no hiding place, especially as I must have as much internal detail as possible.  There are 28 LEDs for example.  They are no trouble, but where the heck do I run the wires?
By now, my schedule was to to have had most of my existing stock through the shop-batteries charged, wobbly bits straightened, and a general fettle complete, but there are many months to go before I can even think about choosing the right shade of Halford's car paint.

For progress to date see photo.
With all this rain, I have no excuse for not spending all day on the job, but that does not seem to me to be what a hobby is all about.