Thought I'd share this picture of some vans I'm building at the moment. This is the first batch of six and they have John Candy designed and made cast resin sides and ends, assembled into a box with Perspex floor. There is a length of 1/2in by 1/2in aluminium angle bolted through the floor at either end and this has a vertical slot to accommodate the coupling hook. These angles and the Perspex floor take all the drawbar loads, not the glued joints. Maybe brass angle would have been better, but I am sure that the aluminium will be quite adequate and ensure the end can never pull off.
Talking of glued joints, although I do use Superglue to tack assemble the sides and ends, I run Araldite (not the quick setting type) into all of the joints from underneath and "Gripfill" applied inside does just what it says on the tube - fills all the gaps and adds strength to the joints. At present they have 3-link couplings, but when (if?) Slaters screw couplings are ever released I'll swap them over. Each van is slightly different, just for variety and because prototype photos show several detail differences which are nice to model. Wheels, axleboxes, W irons, buffers all vary but not much extra detail has been added to the body yet.
More on this shortly...
Mike
What type of van is it Mike?
Dave
454
Dave,
Apparently they are LNER Fish Vans, although with wooden underframe, short wheelbase and outside frame they look more like pre-Grouping. Also, one of the few photos I have shows GNR-type axleboxes and split spoke wheels, which just don't sound like post-1923. Having said that, I know very little about LNER wagons!
Mike
Now to the subject of the heading.....
The running gear was specified by the customer as being Walsall Model Industries (WMI) 3-point suspension units. These are etched, but due to Walsall's curious marketing policy of keeping things secret, don't put them on the web site and don't take them to shows, it may be that not many members know about them. They use the well tried system familiar to smaller scale modellers and indeed the artwork appears to be directly scaled up from a smaller scale with no modifications at all. That means the overall width of the units is variable (half etched fold lines are wide) and needs several washers to take out the c5mm sideplay and the assemblies are all a bit flimsy and floppy, but in service I'm sure they will be fine, and far easier than making it from scratch. I do however have two more serious concerns about them, neither really WMI's fault:
The first is friction. Compared with outside bearings running with reduced-size journals, these bearings are large and the friction considerable, especially as the floppy etches mean keeping both bearings in exact alignment is not easy.
The second is more to do with Slaters wheels in that the axles are not always the same size. With Slaters own bearings, or my own cast brass axleboxes, we use the journals at the ends of the axles, so the exact size of the stock bar used for the axles doesn't matter and they are a nominal 1/4in. But, some Slaters axles measure 6.3mm whilst others are 6.35mm. With the Walsall inside bearings, that means they won't fit and you'll need to open out the bearings a tad, preferably with a reamer.
For comparative purposes I'm making three different types of bearings on these vans:
1. four of this batch use the Walsall units as specified.
2. one uses my brass axleboxes, outside journals and springing.
3. one has the Walsall units, but fitted with ball races in place of plain bearings.
Using ball races is easy enough and I've soldered some thin-walled brass tube onto the legs of the Walsall units in place of their top-hat bearings, popped the ball races in and crimped the end of the tubes with pliers so that they can't fall out. This "cage" allows the bearings to align themselves and spinning the axles by hand with no load they run 4-times longer than the plain bearings, which is encouraging. This does however exacerpate the problem about the size of Slaters axles because you can't just run a reamer through a ball race and turning each axle down in the lathe, between centres, is a pain I can do without. I cheated and selected the axles which fitted best and used the over-size ones on my own wagons with outside bearings! The plain bearings supplied have flanges outside the folded etches, whereas the ball-race tubes do not, meaning there is even more sideplay to take up!
The first test running on a garden line will be in July, so it will be interesting to see whether the free-running bearings make any difference at all in practice. One might assume that the less friction the better running, but Mike May told me once that large live steamers run much better with some weight and friction to hold them back and steady the running - and some of his carriages were VERY heavy! If there are gradients on a large garden track I suspect ball races may be a real nuisance, but all this is theory and I'll report back after the tests.
First photo shows WMI units as intended. Second photo shows ball races. Visually, the tubes to hold the ball races in place are slightly longer, but otherwise its hard to tell them apart.
Mike
Mike, my preference is not for free running wagons but plain bearings & a bit of weight & "drag", what I find quite disconcerting is a train trying to over-take the loco on a downhill grade. The "want" in driving is to go faster so the wagons do not catch up & climb onto the next leading wagon. But one can get locked into a vicious cycle. The result is a monster buffer locking derailment. I think in the smaller scales free running stock is a benefit like in N, 100 wagon trains, 00 say 30 wagon trains but in G3 the tendency is shorter trains in my case 24 ish maximum which is mainly due to financial outlay & physical storage to keep them when not in use.
So to get to the point if any of my stock is a bit tight, even by my criteria, in running i.e. too much drag then my remedy is to use:
dry graphite lock lubricant. With it being dry it is not messy like oil & WD40 it can be squirted quite discretely into the axle bearing & stops a squeak. It does not go gummy, attract dirt, or run all over the place & spoil paintwork. A little goes a long way. But remember it is graphite, the stuff that pencils are made of so do not over do it.
Oh & by the way it can be used on your car locks in the winter (graphite cannot freeze) & home door locks as well, makes them nice & smooth in operation.
Has anybody else tried it?
Dave
454
Confirmation that these are LNER fish vans to dia.23, a total of 1100 being built between 1924 and 1931.
They were constructed at Stratford, Doncaster and Darlington (hence detail differences).
Downgraded to ventilated goods vans pre-WW2 (as larger long WB vans were introduced) , they lasted well into BR days (late 50's/early 60's).
If you want one (or some...fish vans tended to run in blocks) ask Mike, he now has the patterns and moulds.
John.
Thanks John, I didn't want to turn this into a trade advert!
I do not intend to make these as kits, but sides, ends and solebars can be cast, or I could assemble as complete running vans. I'll not however be assembling any until these (and the other similar batches) are finished and proven. Please let me know if you are interested, or indeed just to chat about Gauge 3.
Mike
In my last photo of the WMI unit with ballraces you can see the triangular tabs folded up from the base of the units. A wire is threaded though the holes in these and into a matching base unit which is bolted to the wagon floor, thereby allowing the entire axle unit to rock up and down (and side to side) over uneven track.
Now, imagine play in the holes for those wires, either from new or wear - the axle can move fore and aft along the wagon. But if the plate had been twice the width and the wire twice as long, the effect of any play would be reduced by half. Replacing the wire with a rod reduces the likelihood of wear. Also, the thin etches can twist a little, again allowing the wheels to move along the length of the wagon. Making them wider and thicker, and maybe extending the brace you can see upwards, would help this and stiffen the whole thing up.
Normally WMI are pretty good on engineering, so maybe that's why they don't advertise them.
Mike
The brakegear is starting to take shape and its a bit of a fiddle fitting it all in, especially around wobbly axles when the brake blocks are in a fixed position.
Mike
The bits in the centre of the vans - V hangers, vacuum cylinder, cranks and rods, are all from standard stock parts or scrap. The bits at each wheel are an etch and this was the first test etching. I think the brake blocks are a touch too low (which unfortunate means changing the artwork and starting all over again), but otherwise its coming along OK. Being 100% brass except for the resin brake blocks, when soldered up it is strong and if it is damaged in a derailment it should be possible to bend it back to shape without breaking anything.
Now I've done one end of one van, I need to start on the rest of the batch here:
Mike
Thanks to John Candy for pointing out that I've fitted the wrong brake blocks and that may be why they appear to be too low. It is one of those annoying things that I knew, but completely forgot about. D'oh!
Mike