relaxinghobby Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 I've found this motorised Stirling Single. Don't know if it works yet, not had a chance to check. The motor, gears and big wheels all turn by hand, a very neat chassis, looks like a kit rather than a home made job. Very little of the original plastic kit is damaged or modified. I think the pickup is in the tender, there are some basic electronics tucked away in it. The original plastic connecting rods are used with brass bushes in the Big Ends but the slide rods have been replaced with metal ones. All a sign of quality. There may be an issue with that 2 stage gear box, there are signs of touching and rubbing, it is very advanced for it's time. The wheels have very narrow tread widths and a skinny axle. Will it run and will it run on Peco track with those skinny tyres ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
relaxinghobby Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 I had posted this image over on the Collectable and Vintage section to try and get an I.D. on the wheels and make of mechanism. The picture shows the gears from the other side. The raised disk on the con rod is a brass bush and the slide bar and cross heads are metal. All indicators that this setup will be robust enough to run well? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 The crankpins look like 14BA bolts - that sort of narrows down the possible driving wheel origins to just two - Gibson/AGW, or Sharman. Romford drivers tend to have a plain pin with a 10BA thread that screws into the wheel centre. In days gone by, you didn't even get the luxury of a screw-in with Romfords; instead you had to tap your own 10BA thread..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
relaxinghobby Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 I had a little play with the motor, it is just like a tiny XO4 type, steel top and bottom, magnet sandwiched inbetween and tiny carbon brushes on brass strip held in place with a V shaped spring. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
relaxinghobby Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 She runs! After carefully wiggling the miniature brushes about with tweezers and a needle, and applying the V spring so the brush tension is even on both sides. I applied low power from the controller by holding the two leads to the brushes. All the mechanism turns. Not particulaly noisey for an all metal mech' either. Of course I carefully applied model oil with a wire dropper to all bearings and moving parts. A promising first try. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
relaxinghobby Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 Stirling front bogie Replaced a loose 8 BA bolt ( see first photo in this thread ), with a modern self tapping screw that comes with a built in washer head. Nice and wide. Just right for keeping the bogie in place whilst still allowing it too slide sideways. The prominence of the screw is that it comes from one of the Great British Locomotive static models, the screws that hold them to the base, which is nice. I've included a soft spring between the bogie and underside of the loco boiler, so it should hold the track better. More good news for this overhaul is that the bogie is a brass one, much heavier than the original Rosebud plastic one, I guess it's part of the chassis motorising kit. The drawing comes from the Rapido Stirling thread, I tried to draw my diagram on top using LibreCAD and then Inkscape, I find both these drawing applications very difficult to use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I would also add some form of side control to the bogie. It will help keep everything running in a straight line. Helps a lot when entering and going around curves. What you have done so far is looking good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
relaxinghobby Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 Side control, sounds complicated, perhaps I should just attach a piece of floppy wire from the back of the bogie to the loco body. A sort of L shaped piece? See red line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 It is quite simple. Drill two holes in the front and rear stretchers, say a millimeter either side of centre. Thread some wire front to back either side of the mounting screw. Wire needs to light enough to allow movement from side to side of the bogie. Guitar strings are a good source. when happy with the way it works, i.e. it is not to strong the bogie goes straight on and not too light that it does centre itself. solder or glue the wires at one end only. This stops them falling out and being loose at the other gives them freedom to work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
relaxinghobby Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 No modelling because my living room/workshop has been taken over by a relative who is sleeping on my sofa he has housing issues, came for a visit and has stayed for weeks the welcome is wearing a bit thin. Possible schemes for motorizing singles. So in the meantime some thoughts on motorising a single in 00 gauge. I've done it twice before, once successfully and once unsuccessfully. The Mike Sharman method, this great modeller specialized in single wheelers, he had worked it out for the rest of us. Here are photos of the success a model of the Beyer Peacock Deluiz 2-2-2 type built for the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. Top technology for their day, the 1860s....ish. There is a tiny Mashima open framed motor driving 26 mm drivers frough 38 to 1 gears. I used the Sharman loaded tender technique where the tenders front wheels are a sloppy vertical fit and carry no weight so the tender rests it's weight on the back of the loco adding adhesion weight to the locos drivers. It is balanced by lead weight in the boiler nose under the chimney. To prove the tender has no motor drive in it I modelled it with an empty coal load. Notice how chassis frame is tapered front and back, this is to allow a good sideways swing to the leading and trailing wheels so it can get around 00 train set curves. Good old 00 standards, allowing a mainline in a box room. See the real thing............. http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k239/peninna/r-loco1a_small.jpg It's a good little 'un. It can romp away with three bogies, up hill and down dale, remember this is a tiny loco. The prototype lasted till about 1910 on the boarders railway between Hexham, Newcastle and Scotland, on lightweight local trains so three bogies is about right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 .... sleeping on my sofa he has housing issues, came for a visit and has stayed for weeks the welcome is wearing a bit thin..... If the local Council doesn't deem him as vulnerable / being in priority need, then I fear he may be there for a good while yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.