Turin60

So, the humble Tenshodo motor bogie in it's current coreless motor form, I've not gotten on well with the original form even with it's 5 pole motor but only 14:1 gearing, so I'm hoping that it's present form will be a better running chassis in line with a similar improvement witnessed in Kato N gauge chassis which were already good and the switch to coreless motors made them even better. I would like to suggest few bits and pieces to have to hand prior to starting a gauge conversion on one of these chassis, also the odd caution! The old version had 2mm diameter axles while this version has a 1.5mm, also when you unclip the bottom from the top you will end up with a handful of loose bits and pieces, be careful. A fairly broad flat bladed screwdriver (to remove the base), 1.5mm steel axles (check with your supplier, only spot on 1.5mm will do, don't even think of Chinese suppliers!), replacement wheels of the desired size (mine came from Branchlines in the UK), 1.5 to 2mm shaft adaptors from Nigel Lawton 009 (UK again), 2mm bore turned spacing washers (Alan Gibson UK). One piece of advice, before consigning the warranty to oblivion do test your chassis to make sure it works, insidentaly my chassis/motor bogie came from Scalelink (UK cranky website but he guy says he's retiring!) We'll pull thins apart soon. John Bruce.

How's the progress with the vans Rob? John Bruce.

The Tenshodo Motor bogie and 21mm gauge. May I start by saying I've not had a wonderful relationship with the traditional Iron cored motor as used in the older Tenshodo motor bogies, and this combined with only 14:1 gearing was a recipe for poor running (for me anyway), I will say however that the gear sets are spot on for restoring AHM Minitrains HOn30 locos from the 60's & 70's....sorry thread drift and I've not even started yet! In the world of 009 the greatest thing since sliced bread (debatable!) has been the KATO 4 wheel drive chassis (made I believe for N gauge trams and rail buses) to be found under such unlikely bedfellows as Glyn Valley Tram locos all the way to "skirted" Quarry Hunslets, don't get me started. The launch of a new version with a coreless motor gives it even better performance than before. So when I saw that Tenshodo now did a coreless version of their original motor bogies I thought it out to worth a look with a view to converting one to 21mm gauge, so as it comes out of the box and without any "running in" it didn't perform too badly, not quite as good as an N gauge KATO but better than they used to be. Attached should be a couple of photos of one I have done so far, more details and photos will follow in due course but please be patient. John Bruce.

This is I'm afraid the future, unless some highly skilled person want's to sink an incredible amount of money into an enterprise guaranteed to give no appreciable return. Sorry, but the emphasis of the hobby has changed and not necessarily to the kit builder (or budding kit builder) advantage I'm afraid. John Bruce.

Thanks for all the input folks, much food for thought. John Bruce.

Coaches seem something of a hot topic at the moment, and much as I dislike coaches (particularly the building of them, and painting, and fitting out, and..........) having seen a photo from 1974 of a G class on a passenger service at Dunsandle I've got to ask, what sort of time window were G class used on passenger workings (I know the early ones weren't as they were not vacuum fitted). The period I'm interested in would be the early 60's or would this be too early for them to be given such tasks, but if they were at this time what sort of passenger stock would be used? Something ancient found in some long forgotten corner of the rail system or a more modern vehicle with a modicum of comfort, I can say that a 6 wheeled coach gives a better ride than 4 wheels anytime, proved on the Mid Suffolk Railway last month (I'm not that old!). John Bruce.

Thank you very much for posting this thread, I am sooooo hoping I can get mine finished before a RTR model becomes available. Mine is destined to be in grubby Silver.....but where is the time going? John Bruce.

Or Latin? John Bruce.

Ooh, yes please. A kit builder. AKA John Bruce.

May I also put my hand up for one of these vans if they become available, being awkward & English I am hoping that it will be amenable to conversion to 21mm gauge. John Bruce.

Is this the current froth subject. Hat & coat time? John Bruce.

It is a cracking little engine! John Bruce.

Gone to a nice man who lives in Wiltshire, cattle wagon my way in exchange, thanks Andy. John Bruce.

As a former service engineer may I make a hopefully helpful suggestion...rather than hiding the pick-ups away somewhere in the back of beyond at least have them (of whatever pattern) where you can get at them for cleaning without removing locomotive bodies and so on. Trust me life will be so much simpler. John Bruce.

Here I am living the wrong side of the Irish Sea and being a builder of small layouts I confess to having a struggle with IRM's idea of "Triple Packs", I mean I won't need that many wagons (slight exaggeration!), however I have bitten the bullet and bought IRM Pack 1 with 3 nice Bulleid H vans inside and was wondering if anyone here in the UK would like one of these in exchange for a grey Palvan, mine are all as new, unused and can be your choice of wagon number. Let me know what you think. John Bruce.