DB Says: Unfortunately, I used up all my nose-mining one liners in the first "bogie alternatives" posting, so its going to be ‘slim pickings’ as far as amusement goes tonight.
I revisited that first post the other day and saw a few comments had been added recently. In one of them, Ben Scaro pointed out some new Graham Farish wheels and bogies from the UK that might be of interest. So, fool that I am, I sent off a few precious quiddage foodstamps for one of these Grafar BRA Steel Strip Carriers a few days ago. Mainly because I was intrigued to see if there is anything Freudian behind the English wagon class lettering system (which, coincidentally, is called TOPS).
The beast arrived and was peeled open. I was disappointed to find no bra-steel load inside. But on the outside were some nice looking bogies.
Farish, Microtrains and Kato They have a 12.5mm wheelbase. Still shy of the NZR's 14.5-15mm, but considerably better than the 10.5mm Microtrains ones and not dissimilar to the Katos I looked at last time.
Kato, Farish and Microtrains. Mixin it up.The real boon is that the wheels are a nice size, which is what makes them look more realistic than the similarly sized Katos, as is the coil springing for those with good eyesight. They have Rapido couplers, set at a 'good-to-slightly-long' length for must NZR applications.
Until today, the Microtrains equipped UKs (right) looked pretty good, but perhaps not so when harshly compared to the Farish examples (dummied up above on the left). Might be able to lower those UKs afterall...
Next day... Ooooo yeah. They look good. Real good. Because these close ups are cruel, I dulled down the wheels with a permanent marker. Yep, I like em.(RB: I've contacted Bachmann UK about buying these as separate items, and received this reply
" Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately we are unable to help you on this occasion as bogies for these wagons are not kept as spares. It's possible that they may become available as packaged accessories in the furture if it is considered that there is enough demand".
Bastards.)
4 comments:
So what are the wagons worth....Cos those are look much better. How do they go for ride, etc?
run fine. Wa-wa-way too expensive to buy these wagons just for their bogies. About 15 pounds.
Ouch! Okay that scuppered that plan.....time to get the casting rubber out, then.....
Send me your address and I will put a pair of cast brass NZR type 14 bogies (ooh, shiny!) in the post. An oops with shrinkage means they fit 14.2mm axles nicely, which happens to match old Bachmann freight wheelsets (but not much else). I will include a set of these, if only so you can knock the wheels off and substitute something a bit more respectable. Regards, Paul www.woodsworks.co.nz
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