Irishrailwayman Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 It would be such a shame to pull apart a 141, they are such a nice loco. I wouldn't be able to bring myself to it:(( Are the 141 chassis available separately from MM now? Quote
Garfield Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Are the 141 chassis available separately from MM now? No, you'd have to sacrifice a 141... Quote
irishthump Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 No, you'd have to sacrifice a 141... To hell with that! Quote
Noel Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 (edited) To hell with that! Ah it might be worth it to have a decent chassis compared to the single power bogie and limited diagonal power pickup many Hornby diesels. 141s can be bought used in mint condition for €80, so that's not an insane price for a top quality precision chassis to run an A class properly. Add SSM detailing plus weathering and lights, then you have one really nice loco. Edited December 9, 2014 by Noel Quote
Alan564017 Posted December 9, 2014 Author Posted December 9, 2014 A little video of my own A class that has the Hornby Deltic chassis,and SSM detail kit.The deltic chassis is not bad at slow speed and the only problem I find is traction,mainly because the bass reflex speaker takes up a lot of space.She can haul 11 cement wagons no bother. I actually have a deltic, to my untrained eye (ehem) it looks longer than a class A could be wrong:D Quote
Glenderg Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 (edited) A 141/181 has four axels. An A Class has 6 axels. Are people planning to put a cosmetic axel on either end of the MM chassis or is for a C class? Edited December 9, 2014 by Glenderg Quote
Garfield Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 A 141/181 has four axels. An A Class has 6 axels. Are people planning to put a cosmetic axel on either end of the MM chassis or is for a C class? Ha, it's for a C class, Richie. I actually have a deltic, to my untrained eye (ehem) it looks longer than a class A could be wrong:D You'll have to do a bit of 'cutting and shutting' with the Deltic chassis. Quote
Noel Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Add S&M detailing 'Sniggers' Apologies, Typo - I meant SSM Quote
Glenderg Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Ha, it's for a C class, Richie. . Silly me. Shur thread titles these days, what are they like with their messin, Ted. Quote
enniscorthyman Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 I actually have a deltic, to my untrained eye (ehem) it looks longer than a class A could be wrong:D You are right Alan, the Hornby Deltic chassis is far too long for the A class body, hence the the chassis has to be cut in the middle and Deltic fuel tank removed. When you buy the A class resin body, you get the fuel tank sides and a bit of plastic card will finish off the missing bit in the middle.The resin kit also comes with the bogie side frames which match up nicely on the Deltic bogies. My workbench has some photos of my build of a39. Quote
irishthump Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 A 141/181 has four axels. An A Class has 6 axels. Are people planning to put a cosmetic axel on either end of the MM chassis or is for a C class? I was actually talking about the A class! I'd give a cosmetic axle a go with the Athearn chassis. You can pick them up handy (and cheaply) enough on Ebay and they can be made to run very well with a bit of work. I certainly would'nt spend close to €100 on a 141 just to stick the chassis under a silverfox kit. Quote
Blaine Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Apologies, Typo - I meant SSM Ah no, we all know now your the kinky type Quote
RedRich Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 I thought people would be discussing drugs when I saw the thread title. Rich, Quote
burnthebox Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 (edited) Yeh,that was a bit of a disappointment Edited December 10, 2014 by burnthebox Quote
Warbonnet Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Enough of this pricking around with powering your A class. Buy an Atlas/Kato HO Scale RSD 4/5 and slap it underneath. It'll be the best runner in your fleet. Quote
aclass007 Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Enough of this pricking around with powering your A class. Buy an Atlas/Kato HO Scale RSD 4/5 and slap it underneath. It'll be the best runner in your fleet. Has anyone done this? I assume there's a bit of chopping involved..... Quote
Glenderg Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 I thought people would be discussing drugs when I saw the thread title. Rich, Chuckles Quote
UP6936 Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Bachmann USA do an Alco S2 switcher in HO for a reasonable price that looks to me like a decent candidate for a C Class chassis. Bogies aren't a mile away in shape and the battery box is a close enough shape too Quote
Garfield Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Has anyone done this? I assume there's a bit of chopping involved..... Nope, it should fit just fine. Quote
irishthump Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Nope, it should fit just fine. Looks a bit long to me; too much space between the bogies.... Quote
Warbonnet Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Looks a bit long to me; too much space between the bogies.... They're all going to be compromises, but it would be better than a Railroad Deltic. Quote
Glenderg Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Just buy the dang thing. It's perfect, compensated axel/bogie arrangement and all. All wheel drive, pickups, lights and central flywheel motor. Great at slow running too. Quote
Kirley Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 [ATTACH=CONFIG]16246[/ATTACH] Now that's an interesting picture, a plasticard A Class! Quote
irishthump Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 They're all going to be compromises, but it would be better than a Railroad Deltic. No argument there.... I have one and I'm not too impressed with it. I replaced the traction tyres with metal wheels so it now picks up power on all wheels, added a load of weight and it still would'nt pull the skin of a rice pudding! Quote
Noel Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Looks a bit long to me; too much space between the bogies.... What seems to matter is the length of the chassis (i.e.: distance between the front axle and the rearmost axle of the two bogies). The bogies are shorter than A class hence the larger gap between them (i.e. the three axles of each bogie are closer together). This loco chassis is centre flywheel drive to both bogies so should outperform the toy Hornby's by a country mile for smooth slow running. Quote
irishthump Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Looks a bit long to me; too much space between the bogies.... Actually that one in the picture is too short - it's a bleedin' N gauge model! Quote
Noel Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 Actually that one in the picture is too short - it's a bleedin' N gauge model! No prob just put it in the microwave for 2mins on medium power and it will enlarge Quote
Glenderg Posted December 10, 2014 Posted December 10, 2014 What seems to matter is the length of the chassis (i.e.: distance between the front axle and the rearmost axle of the two bogies). The bogies are shorter than A class hence the larger gap between them (i.e. the three axles of each bogie are closer together). I hope you're not comparing the wheelbase of the rsd 4/5 to the a class, because we're talking about a model here, not the prototype. The H0 version of the rsd 4/5 matches with a scale 6 inches to the 00 chassis, and they both run, effectively, on the same track. I'll take a photo of the chassis beside the A class drawings tomorrow for you. It might give a bit of clarity to the matter and put the question of "what to stick under an A Class" to bed once and for all. Quote
Weshty Posted December 10, 2014 Posted December 10, 2014 Can I suggest the Hornby 31 class, central can motor all wheel drive. Needs major hacksaw work, but great runner and powerful, will cost about stg£90-110 or the railroad version Hornby R3067 Class 31 Diesel c.£60 Quote
Glenderg Posted December 10, 2014 Posted December 10, 2014 I've emptied the stock box, and taken as many orthographic, or as close as, photos to help. Most are Lima pancake jobs, so I'm not sure what the current Hornby innards are of these. You'll have to google/debate the pro's and con's of each, but most are cut n shuts - never an ideal solution. *When I say "perfect alignment" it does not mean so. The bogies on the A-Class are trimount, and no RTR manufacturer allows for the offset arrangement of the central axel. The central one is shanked to one side. Deltic chassis as used under the Sulzer - almost right, needs a cosmetic sideframe, and hornby version wouldn't pull hot snot - see Kirley's trials with it on his WB. Yank thing - SD9? - Easy to cut and shut, no weight, will need cosmetic sideframes, perfect alignment. Class 50 Hoover - cut and shut job, needs cosmetic sideframes, perfect alignment. Pulling power questionable. Class 47 - same as above Class 50 Class 31 - Bogie is far too big - sorry Des On the positive, the sideframes are good if you wish to go slightly oversized. Altas RSD4/5 Chassis - very slightly underscale, but front to back axles are correct, trimount bogie present, no cutting required. Central tank is die cast metal, so unsure how one would deal with it. Warbonnet tells me it's relatively easy to DCC these elderly, but powerful chassis'. I hope that does something to inform this debate. Richie. Quote
Garfield Posted December 10, 2014 Posted December 10, 2014 Altas RSD4/5 Chassis - very slightly underscale, but front to back axles are correct, trimount bogie present, no cutting required. Central tank is die cast metal, so unsure how one would deal with it. Warbonnet tells me it's relatively easy to DCC these elderly, but powerful chassis'. I hope that does something to inform this debate. Richie. Nice post, Richie... should put an end to all the speculation! Re. DCC-ing the Atlas chassis... it's a simple process of removing the circuit board and dropping in a Digitrax DH165A0 decoder. Quote
Weshty Posted December 10, 2014 Posted December 10, 2014 Wowza!! Someone sticky this posting. Great research there Richie. I'd forgotten how over size the 31 is, but if you push them out to the buffers a bit, they don't look too bad. Quote
aclass007 Posted December 10, 2014 Posted December 10, 2014 A class 31 chassis in my A class...... Quote
Warbonnet Posted December 10, 2014 Posted December 10, 2014 The Railroad 31 would have the same 5 poll motor of the Railroad Deltic. It is a smooth runner but without traction tyres lacking in pulling power. The modern 31 they do is excellent running wise although expensive. However, some have had chassis rot and expansion issues. As a result you can sometimes buy the guts cheap on eBay for a few quid and scratch a chassis for it. I bought one a while ago to slap into a Lima 31. Atlas chassis is usually cheaper and an even better runner with less work to do so it would always be my choice. That's just my opinion though. Quote
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