Horsetan

This is something which also affects UK modelling to a certain extent, although the various writings of Bob Essery and Don Rowland (the latter has written extensively about shunting in his "Alpraham Sidings" series, published in past issue of Model Railway Journal) have gone quite some way to making up for the deficiency.

Whilst stumbling around Frateschi's website, it seems that you don't necessarily have to buy the whole G12, as the mechanical parts may be available as spares.... ....and one Frateschi stockist in Switzerland sells G12 spares....

Ah.....that explains it. Meanwhile, just to confirm the measurements: Heljan Hymek: SSM Sulzer casting: Centre axle pilot hole drilled in Hymek casing:

So coy. Meanwhile, the joke's on me as I measured up the SSM bogie sideframe castings, and found they'd been subtly stretched to an overall wheelbase of 46mm, rather than 42. This has caused slight consternation here, as whitemetal isn't the easiest material to cut-and-shut....

I managed to obtain some Heljan Hymek spare part sprues, which include the bogie gear casings: This close-up shows the seven fixed pegs on which the worm wheel and idler spur gears revolve: On the face of it, it looks like a new central axle can be run straight through, in the exact middle of the 10'6" wheelbase. Heljan, of course, don't provide any cogs as separate parts, so that makes the job of working out clearances just a little more difficult.

For those who haven't encountered the SSM Sulzer kit before, this is what ye'll be getting for your money: Resin bodyshell, internally braced: Brass etch for underframe and body detailing. There is a lot of it: grilles, vents, walkways, steps, and a fair few other things: ^^ Note that Des has already put in openings for the bogies, but it's up to the builder as to how they are used..... Castings for bogie sideframes, fuel tank and buffers. I would like to see if the buffers can be converted to sprung ones: Four short lengths of 1.5mm brass tube which I think are meant to be finished as the cab seat columns: Instruction sheets with an extensive decal sheet of CIE emblems and numerals attached: ^^ On my sample sheet, there is no provision for numbers 3,4 and 8, so I will have to find a "3" from somewhere else. A '9" can be fashioned by turning "6" upside down. Des has said elsewhere that he no longer supplies LED packs for marker and tail lights for the Sulzer, as so few people actually installed and used them. If ye're lucky enough to get your hands on a kit from the original batch, these are the tiny LEDs (and they really are tiny), wiring and resistors that are included: The resistors are the traditional ceramic ones, but it might be worth replacing them with the much smaller SMD equivalents if you need to save space on a PCB. These are the raw materials.....

Also, the part of the film which shows the train exiting from the viaduct pans back to show it approaching a "Y" point....

He reminds me of Robert Opron.

I'm after having a look at the inside of the Heljan Hymek bogie gear casing. It looks like there might be room to run a central axle through. Only just, but, and I suspect it could encroach on the gear mesh. Needs more thinking.

I think you are correct on that one. The interlaced track was removed, apparently over a decade ago.

That could work as a club layout....

I think it really depends on what you think your requirements are - a scenario would be to design and build one bogie with secondary, and the other without, and then test them to see whether the secondary makes any difference. I would prefer to have secondary in 21mm gauge. Penbits' system would work with Murphy Models CIE diesels since the design is effectively a cradle that wraps over the existing power bogie, and the rest of the drivetrain is generally unaffected. Penbits don't do anything specific for CIE, and certainly not the Sulzer, which - being A1A+A1A - would be unlike anything they have produced before. That's why I have been looking at the Hymek bogie kit, which is the correct total wheelbase of 10'6, and wondering whether it might be modified to allow a central unpowered axle. The only other alternative RTR 10'6" bogie is the Bachmann Warship. Both Heljan and Bachmann I have found to be mostly unhelpful in answering specific spares queries, mainly because I think they don't really want to help. My preferred motor is invariably a big coreless one - something by Maxon or Faulhaber / Escap, which are fairly easily bought via eBay; do a search for a US-based seller called "microlocomotion", because he seems to deal in just about every size there is. Gears, I don't know. I'd prefer not to have to use worms; I like low-resistance bevels and spurs, or contrate-and-pinion. You can buy the latter from Ultrascale, but their order waiting list is notoriously long, usually six months. RP25-88 is not finer than P4; flanges are thicker, and the tyre overall width is wider at 2.2mm or more. P4 is usually in the range 1.85 to 2mm wide. A Sulzer 101 wheel is supposed to be 37" or 37.5" - 3ft 1in or 3ft 1.5in, depending on whose information you believe! AGW produces disc wheels It sounds like you've got a far better-equipped workshop than the vast majority of us! Do have a look and see if you can turn out a set of miniature bevel gears or contrate-and-pinion.

Yes, I've seen some photos in "Rails To The West" - it must have made Claremorris as busy as stations in Dub.

Grand!! Do let us see your drawings. I have a feeling that some of us might want to have a go at Claremorris - or parts of it - ourselves in future