John Isherwood

The trials of being a transfer producer - application has to be just-so! I am fortunate, in that I can print my own loco numbers as one-piece, correctly-spaced transfers. CJI.

I hate to sound a negative note but - the '3' of 3188 has split and distorted during application. Shame to spoil the ship for a h'porth of tar, don't you think? CJI.

Interesting - the fourth wagon appears to be a CONFLAT L. John Isherwood.

All these 'hard sums' are not good for me at this hour on a Sunday ! However, I conclude that, with an N20 non-worm motor / gearbox having an output rating of 2000 rpm at 12V, combined with a 20:12 crown and pinion set and 5'-3" (21mm.) dia. wheels, the top speed would be a scale 70 mph. Now that seems not unreasonable for my purposes - I will order some of the relevant N20 motor / gearboxes to go with the crown / pinion gears already on order. This should be interesting ...... ! John Isherwood. PS. Please do tell me if I have b@llsed-up the 'sums'.

Thanks - I'm not exactly sure what I should see - no formulae visible. I see an example for a 63000 rpm. motor and a ratio 42:1, giving a top speed just over 100mph. CJI.

Agreed, mine in the Deeley tank runs beautifully. CJI.

Seems to be an Ebay glitch - the message appears if you click on 'Add to basket', but it's fine if you click 'Buy it now'! It means that you pay P&P on both items, but what's £1.79 amongst friends! CJI.

Bum !!!!! I "can't order those because the seller is on holiday" !!! CJI.

Thank you so much - I had tentatively guessed at C203A - but was too burned-out with the wire-untangling to be confident enough to order! I will order C203A, plus the output gear that you mention. Thank you again. CJI.

Probably time to dispense with the services of the OP as a member!! CJI

If you look for one of my posts in the 18000 thread, you will find instructions for making the model a little more adaptable to sharper radii, with no visible alterations. CJI.

Having spent the entire morning untangling a (blasted!) set of 500 Xmas tree LEDs, my brain hurts! I cannot for the life of me work out which of the crown wheels will fit between 16.5mm. gauge frames, together with a matching gear fitted to a single longitudinal output N20 motor. Any advice as to the appropriate item reference number would be welcome, as would be a source for the matching gear. TIA, John Isherwood.

Ah - mea culpa. CJI.

So it does - I'd forgotten! The one that I bought was ideal for the Deeley dock tank - but I can't recall which one it was! So, for the knowledgeable, which of the gear ratios - 27, 53, 68, 136 or 381:1 - would be best for, say, a BR Standard 4MT with a scale top speed of 70mph? Thanks in advance for any advice. John Isherwood.

Very much as per my experience when fitting one of the double shaft variant into a Deeley 0-4-0 dock tank. The output RPM is ideal for a small wheeled shunter, and the torque is impressive. I wonder if the worm drive motor gearboxes are available with a lower reduction ratio; I'd like to try one in, say, a BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0. John Isherwood.

Are you sure that whatever mind-altering substance you imbibe is legal? Surely the mental effort you have devoted to dreaming up increasingly wild scenarios could be better devoted to producing MODELS of slightly less fanciful forms of motive power? I may be under a misapprehension, but I had been under the impression that this thread was intended to generate MODELS of plausible might-have-beens - not mental flights-of-fancy! CJI.

Agreed, the four bends are intended to avoid hitting the crankpins. Have you taken out the twists and bends in the connecting rod behind the RH crosshead? CJI.

Press out the bends and twists in the motion that are very evident in your photos taken from below. CJI.

Because, in the vast majority of cases, non-articulated locos were perfectly capable of handing the loads coupled behind them. Why, then, would you develop more complex motive power? Longer trains could not be accommodated within the railway infrastructure and signalling. So - if it works, don't 'fix' it; simple is good. CJI.

There's a bent / twisted RH connecting rod for a start, which won't help. Other bits of the motion would benefit from the application of smooth-jawed narrow pliers. I can see plastic insulating bushes in the insulated side wheels - as there should be on a two-rail loco. CJI.

As with any item offered for sale, the market will decide. Someone who particularly wants a model of that particular prototype will, eventually, pay the asking price; presumably the seller is in no hurry. Whether we would be that person is, as ever, our own business. CJI

What would an RTR model of that prototype cost nowadays? CJI.

I worked for forty years in Local Government, and came up against my fair share of HR would-be bullies. The rot set in when they renamed Personnel as 'Human Resources'. Previously, they provided a recruitment service to other departments; then they got ideas of grandure and thought that they ran the place. Believe me, I went through the phase of pandering to them but, eventually, learned that the only way to deal with them was to say 'Do your worst - but be sure of your ground'! I caught them out rigging the outcome of a complaint / disciplinary hearing against me, and made them eat humble pie. They left me alone after that! CJI.

It hasn't arrived in the Duchy yet - and I HAVE renewed my subscription. It does annoy me when subs. copies lag so far behind the news trade supplies. CJI.

It will be difficult to reproduce what you have in 3D printed form; it will be necessary to totally redraw the unit, using the basic dimensions of what you have. Frankly though, it would be simpler to design a totally new seat unit from scratch, measuring from the EMU body moulding, and ignoring what you have. CJI.