Brendan8056

John-r--I have turned down the Lima pizza cutter wheels on HO scale Italian wagons and railcars. The wheels are made of an easy to turn metal (brass?). Just don't try it with Jouef wheels, they really are rubbish. I use a minidrill and some files (and eye protection of course) to turn the wheels down and make the flange more shallow. DiveController--A pic of the 21mm gauge bogie on the 201 class. I used the existing wheels and gears. for the axles I used spare Romford/Maygib axles with the pin point ends filed down. 2mm steel rod would do the job as well. I recall the gear was pressfit onto the axle and I used a toothpick to apply a bit of superglue to hold it more firmly in place. There is plenty of room between the bogie sides and I moved the dampers out by twisting them slightly as they fouled the wider gauge wheels. The Murphys 141 and 071 classes have similar design bogies and can be regauged this way as well.

After a failed regauging to 21mm gauge of a Lima 201 I was left with a bodyshell. I used a Bachmann class 66 chassis, which is a very good match and runs superb, and is easy to regauge to 21mm. The class 66 was a swap meet buy and I was able to sell the loco body on Ebay. I may at a future date make the lighting work. The pics tell the story.

Springside do nice levers as part of their signalbox interior kit. Dart castings do some good whitemetal castings of ground frames. I have used them in the past, link here to the page. Perhaps you could modify 2 of the 6 lever ground frames? https://www.dartcastings.co.uk/dartcastings.php

RichL, That looks a really good idea. The bit of track I pictured was part of a test track with a crossover, like you say, a way to test stock and techniques. I take no credit for the track cut and widen technique, that was used by Stephen Rabone , featured in a Railway Modeller article on his then Irish layout.

RichL, I have taken a pic of the gauges I used for constructing the points. Some are out of production so the moral of the story is buy when you see them. The unknown make ones were purchased from Stephen Rabone, who now models S scale, so don't neglect secondhand sources, even for 21mm gauge. They are: 1. 3 point gauge by Jeremy Suter 2. Roller gauges, left , Jeremy Suter, right, AM Technical services. 3. Wheel back to back gauges, top unknown, bottom, AM Technical 4. Roller gauges with flangeway clearance, Unknown. On the track here is a pic of widened SMP track with gaps filled with car filler. This piece is over 30 years old. If done carefully it looks reasonable, but does not work with the Irish style cess in the middle of the track. Peco Streamline has been improved continuously over the years, the points are now very different. There is a story that Peco planned EM gauge track in the 1950s but the standards then changed to 18.2mm for the gauge and Peco gave up on the idea. Only last year did Peco finally do such track, funded by the EM Gauge Society. I would love to see ready to lay 21mm gauge track but the development costs would be great. Rapido Trains tried to do a new 16.5mm track a few years back but it just did not turn out well and they now say buy Peco. For the plain track I like the Peco Individulay wooden sleepers with Either Peco Pandrol fittings for flatbottom or C&L for bullhead fittings. I have also used real wooden sleepers and the C&L concrete ones, both with good results. Plain track is the same whether it is to P4 or just 00/EM fine standards. Both will look exactly the same and be the same 21mm gauge. A friend has some P87 Danish steam locos and they happily go along Peco code 75 track but the wheels will not go through the pointwork. On a sad note I think the dual gauge bit of the Vivarais did not re-open after the closure of the whole railway a few years back. It was a great ride, especially when an SNCF freight train overtook my train.

I made a couple of 21mm gauge copperclad points last month. I used templot plans , one was for 21mm and the other for the 20.2mm. For both I used my 21mm gauge track gauges and both are consequently that gauge, with 1mm flangeways. The picture show the plans and the points. I always adjust the point a bit to get the stock to ride smoothly through the point, probably due to poor construction technique on my part. I use a "perspex wagon" with a pair of bogies as a test vehicle, one set has Maygibs, the other Romfords. All my wheels seem to go through with no problem, including a few wagons with P4 wheelsets. the others are as varied as Bachmann, Maygib, Athearn, Romford, Gibson, IRM and others I don't recognise the maker. Go for 21mm track gauge/EM standard wheelsets with the 1mm flangeways and you should have few problems. I am sure you will enjoy the look of Irish trains running on the correct gauge track.

Whilst I don't know where the picture of C214 was taken it does seem to be missing the correct screw couplings, that looks like a basic 3 link set.

It is a case of great minds think alike. I have just been finishing an article on how I modelled Bog Road, which I aim to send to New Irish Lines. A picture is attached.

Hello, I always keep a set of instructions, I have scanned them for you. Enjoy the kits, they are very good, Brendan MIRtara1.pdf MIRtara2.pdf MIRtara3.pdf MIRtara4.pdf MIRtara5.pdf

The Bachmann ones you mention are probably about 14mm size, whilst the B4/B5 bogies have smaller diameter wheels, nearer to 12 mm. Just to make it even more difficult Murphy's coach bogies that I have use an axle length of 24.5 (which is the standard HO European length) rather than the usual British 00 length of 26mm., so the Bachmann axles will be too long for the bogie. Gibson will do wheels at 24.5 axle length (this was used by Lima in their 00 coaches) so I would suggest you try that manufacturer. Hope that helps, Brendan

I received my Taras today. They are everything I have wanted from an Irish RTR wagon, and more. Not only do the axlebox hubs turn but they are even fitted as per prototype, from the underside of the bogie frame. But even better, using my old bicycle chain puller, I was able to easily convert them to 21mm gauge, using the existing wheelsets. This saves modellers like me money and allows me to buy even more IRM items! The pictures show how easy it is. Ease off the flat plastic plate below the axle hub. Pop the wheel set out, remove the plastic axle hubs. Then remove the insulated wheel and put the axle in a chain puller (or a very strongly built wheel puller) and push it out against the non insulated wheel until a couple of millimetres short of the narrowed bit of the axle. Put the insulated wheel back in place, also a couple of mm short, checking the gauge back to backs. Refit the plastic hubs and pop the wheel set back in place. Adjust if required, otherwise replace the flat plastic plates and there you have it. I have put a converted bogie beside a narrow gauge one to show the difference. Well done IRM team. I hope the A class will be as easy to do, Brendan

Noel, I used Kadee number 5's as I had a lot of them in stock, purchased very cheaply at a swap meet. They are very reliable. They are easy to get the right height and length from buffers. I keep my number 18s for my HO stock and Murphys locos and coaches. Incidentally what has been said by others about 21 mm gauge is true. We are not all P4 modellers. I too model to finescale/EM standards and I was very pleased at Ally Paley show the other year when an 141 class I had re-gauged using the existing Murphy wheels with longer axles ran perfectly on Valentia Harbour. You should only use P4 wheels if you have track to P4 standards, otherwise the wheels may not go through points (though should be alright on plain track.) The flange and tyre widths on such wheels are very fine. Brendan

Stephen, Hopefully the pictures tell a story. IRM have taken on board comments I made and I expect future wagons will be easier to convert to 21mm gauge. The most disappointing part was the IRM wheelsets. I do not like wheels and axles that can't be dismantled. I was unable to reuse them for 21mm gauge of the same wagons but I have kept them and may use them on kit built wagons instead. Murphy's coaches had the same problem and an even shorter axle length, but I used them to replace HO scale wagons on some Marklin wagons I purchased. I have attached a picture of a bubble converted to 21mm gauge. Note how thin I have filed the axle boxes to provide enough clearance.

I have converted a ballast wagon to 21mm. It was not easy. Removing the plastic collars gave an extra 4mm of width, perhaps this would be enough for the thinner wheels used by P4 modellers? I had to dismantle the model to put in plasticard spacers and enlarge the axle box interiors and fit brass bearings. The pictures attached may explain more. I used one of my last Gibson 21mm gauge wheelsets but Maygibs would work just as well. The existing IRM wheels cannot be used as one side is non insulated and integral with the axle. I also filed the back of the axle boxes to thin them to give a little extra space. It runs really well and I am converting a second wagon at present. I make the axles myself using 2mm steel rod and a mini drill and file the pin point ends. I have re-gauged 3 cement wagons and these did not need dismantling but still needed the axle boxes thinned and modified. I am looking forward to the Taras and the pull out wheelsets.

I used the Chris Leigh blue pullman trailer bogies on my scratchbuilt Dutch van about 25 years ago. They looked right, are to 4mm scale and based on a continental design. I would assume the Kitmaster blue pullman trailer bogies would also be suitable. Both are long out of production but can be found secondhand. You could always ask Bachmann if they could sell you a couple? I think they are doing a rerun blue pullman at the moment, so may have some left over..

Dave of Roxey Mouldings still lists 21mm gauge wheels for use in his Isle of Man coach kits, in O scale, Brendan

David, It was great to see Arigna Town on Saturday and have a chat about Irish railway modelling. I hope your club all had a good show, Best wishes, Brendan