Got home last night to find the 3rd bogie for teh Dj in the post. I wish Kato would take a leaf out of Atlas' book on postage (a $10 flat fee is crap when its only 3$ for a medium size box). I just purchased the outside frame and the 2 pickups, as for some reason I have a stack of atlas wheelsets in my spares box.
OK, so its a wee bit too small, this will wash out when the proper bogie sideframes are added (possibly in the Mk2 version, this one just needs to be made to work). Now I just have to come up with a bogie mounting and it will be ready to take a trip across the ocean to Wellington.
11 comments:
I've been following this story with trepidation... and I want, no, need to ask - what are you going to be using for the big springs on the outside? the geep ones have leafs... leaves... no leafs...
I'm using your assembly instructions as you go for my own dastardly needs... (different scale though - not that it's compensating for anything...) :)
I've used real springs (kadee couplers etc), the shanks of small bolts, and fine wire coiled around a stiff vertical bit of wire to make such things before. Wire around wire looks good. Or one could employ some CadMagic...
You are assuming that the Wellington workshops are ready for them!!
Linking the bogeys???
Maybe try a a standard steam loco bogey arm. Pivot from the rear of one outer bogey, and onto the centre pivot of the centre bogey.
If you can get some weight onto it it should track ok????
I never realized that working in a larger scale was over compensating in other areas. an interesting hypothesis that might bear further investigation (or at least some innuendo)
Cheers for the spring advice - great idea the wire...
innuendo - great!
on my Dj I have the advantage of the bogie's being motored with an open central area. I shafted it (literally) through the middle of the centre bogie, slotted the frame.
In N I'd glue a strong magnet on top of the bogie and utilise the inherent anisotropic magnetic properties prevalent in the motor assembly for location. Gosh - I wonder if they do that in real life as well?
I think LA lover is on the right track, OR would it be possible to look at slotting the bogie, and sticking a pin through the frame facing downwards?
:)
Hmmm, the mention of magnets has got me thinking....use magnets repelling each other to make the bogie carry some weight.... The tiny neodymium magnets found in CD reader heads (from wrecked computer CD drives) might be ok for this.... I'm thinking more for steam locos, where fitting a spring under the front end is always a proper pain in the (front?) rear
It will be interesting to see if this can be harnessed (It seems like a good idea, but it migth prove a bit more difficult than it seems). You can also buy rare earth magnets on trademe quite cheaply.
just out of interest (jooi for those that live abrvs) How did those Dj underpinnings you guys made decades ago work? I was fondling some ole journals where there are a couple of "big scene" photo's but couldn't see too much.
P.S Can you please philosophise on your blog about whether it is better to butcher an existing body or to start anew?
You might have to contact me off blog with a clarification of the question.
The existing NZ120 DJs were made on Kato bo-bo-bo chassis - there was a brief blog post a few months back on them filed under 'diesel locos'. Some people have made them on co-co chassis as well. Just don't look too closely!
On an old S scale loco I had a middle bogie that literally just 'sat there' and was bumped along by whichever bogie followed it. Later on it had a pin coming down from the body added that fitted into a slot on the top of the bogie to keep things centered.
As long as there is little friction in the wheels and the pin arrangement it doesn't have to be terribly sophisticated...!
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