Large Scale Central

Another Lame Duck - NENG Railtruck

Modeling Motive Power
#1

This turned up yesterday, acquired from an estate in Canada. It’s a Northeast Narrow Gauge “kit” and the owner did a beautiful job putting it together. It has one major design problem, the track pickups are a huge brass slider between the front wheels, which is all very well but won’t go over a dead frog. New pickups on the wheels are scheduled - I have some phosphor bronze wire (sold for trolley overhead) which does an excellent job.

The reason for bringing it to your attention is those horrible front wheels. They are about 1/2" across the treads and over 3/4" inch over the flanges. I can find 7/8" wheels but I haven’t found anything smaller.

Anyone expert in Lionel or other Gauge-0 wheels? Be nice to find some almost scale 3/4" spoked wheels. I can always find a longer axle.

#2

After an “Aha” moment, I went to Slaters Plastikard website in the UK, where I may have found my solution. These are 16mm:1ft wheels in nylon with steel tires. a 1 ft wheel should be 16mm diameter, or 0.63" (almost 5/8ths). The 1’ 3" wheel should be 20mm or 0.78". I ordered a set of each.

#3

Yea, track power pickup was always the problem with these little jewels. I solved the front wheel problem on mine by going to an O scale truck and getting rid of that hunk of lumber between the wheels.

#4

I just modified a New Bright bogie to add a graphite plunger type pick up to one of the wheels, that me be modifiable to the lead truck, or wiper type picks. The rear wheel may also be able to accept pickups as well, you really need 4 point at the minimum or switch to battery in the bed. Use a cargo box to cover the battery and rc (maybe) ?

#5

The rear wheel may also be able to accept pickups as well,

I think the rear wheel (pair) is a goner. It seems to be homemade aluminum, and is probably hopeless at conducting power! Decent wheels and some wipers should solve the pickup problems. Might need to add some weight so it doesn’t blow off the track.

P.S. Slaters just emailed me to indicate they have 45mm axles that will fit my wheels, so I ordered them.

#6

The wheels turned up today from Slaters, and I have to say they are beautiful. The top one is 3/4" diam (1’3" in 1:19th scale) and the other, which is planned for the railtruck, is 5/8" diameter . Dig the curly spokes.

I asked about 45mm axles and flush ends. Slaters offered the 45mm axles but didn’t have flush end versions, but they are only mild steel so easy to cut with the Dremel. Here’s the comparison with a Bachmann ‘small’ wheel pair, and a Bachmann/Liliput regular size pair.

They will be perfect for the front wheels of the railtruck:

This is the order I sent to Slaters, if you want something similar:

Qty Product ID Product Name - Options Price/ea Extended

1 1612DIN 16mm NG Wheels: 1’0" 6 Curly Spoke Wagon £9.17 £9.17
Wheel (Dinorwic)
1 1615WD 16mm NG Wheels: 1’3" 7 Curly Spoke Wagon £9.17 £9.17
Wheel (WAR DEPARTMENT)

SUBTOTAL: £18.34

TOTAL: £18.34

NOTES:

Shipping will be added at cost to the order as it is to be delivered outside of the UK.

Comments:

Hi. I assume the sets are 4 wheels and 2 axles?

I will be using these wheels on a 45mm track on a front bogie with inside frames. I am happy to use my own axle, but if
you happen to have a flush-end 45mm axle that would fit these wheels I would like to buy some.

#7

I might just have time to finish this before heading south. The project is to make a new front truck and add wipers to all 6 wheels so it runs. First task was to shorten the axles to the width of the wheel. They are very visible, so I wanted a clean end. I loaded one into the vertical drill press and set it spinning while applying a dremel cutoff, which gave me a nice even finish.

Digging around in my junk box, I came across some “starboard”, a dense white polymer used on boats for all kinds of surfaces. Just what I need for attaching new pickups. I have various sizes of brass strip so I figure the 1/16 x 1/32 will make a good frame, and I found 1/8th ID brass tube to use as bearings. To keep it all together, I drilled some pieces of wood (both at the same time) to hold my spare axles while I solder the strip and tube together. The first attempt required a few retries to get the spacing correct, and then the piece of redwood split. So I started again with some pine.

Here’s the jig clamped in the vise after the torch has done the second side. My small soldering iron won’t do a good job as the brass and steel will suck all the heat away.

Looks much better than the coarse O-scale wheels.

I have to see if I can find some leaf springs in the junk box to hide that big gap under the radiator (I have a Bachmann railtruck sitting on the same shelf, and that is providing inspiration for some details. It has brakes between the front wheels which would be a nice touch.) There is a brass plate soldered across between the two sides over the starboard where the truck will pivot, but I may have to re-solder it as I am not sure it is symmetrical. Ah well, onward and upward. . .

#8

I dug out what’s left of my 100’ of bronze wire from Q-Car (trolley wire, great springy conductive stuff - and there’s probably 80’ left.) It was bent to clear the bearings and wipe on the wheels. The 2 holes are for the wires from the motor.

With that done and ready for painting, I took a look at the rear axle. The gearbox is reputed to be from NWSL, so after opening it I smeared vaseline all over. Ugle wheels, and I suspect they are aluminum and won’t be very conductive.

So I dug around and found the steel wheels on my Gilpin Tramway wagons are just about the right size and I have 4 apare axles. Here’s the back end with new wipers and wheels. The axle seems to be brass and one wheel didn’t want to grip, so I added a little superglue; a little too much as I couldn’t turn the axle this morning! It soon loosened up though.

#9

The wipers shown above didn’t work. Too much spring - the wheels preferred to slide rather than roll - and difficult to adjust. So I cut some more bronze wire, started bending it, and dropped 2 pieces on the floor where they disappeared. I then made wiper #5 out of the last length of wire that I cut off the pack, and took down my parts box, cut another 5 inches off the wire for wiper #6, and decided to have a last look on the floor for the other wipers. One decided to be visible, so I finished bending it and screwed it to the front truck.

While painting the truck I also splashed some paint on the sides of the motor which was a bit visible under the cab, and on various other wires that were in sight.

I then tested it again and this time the wheels rotated without my having to add weight. I was thinking I’d have to disguise the lead coin as an old tarp, but maybe not.

And that’s it. I’m just waiting for Jerry to get back from gadding about so I can search the box of car parts he got from Bruce, as that front truck needs some details like springs. (Check out For Sale if you’d like to own it.)