anyone know of a good engineer?

H

hornbeam

Registered
Hi all,

My gauge 3 tram isnt going as well as i'd hoped as there simply isnt the room for the 'railmotor' set up i planned on. So im now thinking of using some frames and cylinders from PPS steam models as used on the mamod. I will be able to get frame spacers from GRS. However the problem is wheels. Does anyone know of an engineer who could regauge some mamod wheels for me? course the biggest problem will be the quartering.

Thanks,
 
Firstly, I would forget the idea of re-gauging old Mamod wheels. The replacement wheels are a different matter though.

The Mamod style replacement wheels supplied by PPS are simply press fitted onto plain axles. Alan has a jig to do it and if you have him the correct back to back (BTB) measurement, he may be able to make up a set of the correct gauge for you. When calculating the BTB, bear in mind that the flanges will be thinner than most 3.5" gauge wheels.

If you already have some replacement wheels, then it is a relatively easy job to re-gauge them yourself. Support one wheel on the jaws of a vice and tap the axle out with a punch (or a big nail). Turn it over and tap the axle out of the other wheel. Get some of the correct size axle (from PPS) and cut it to length (the BTB plus 2 x wheel thickness. Press one wheel on in a vice and then slip the bearings into place (I forgot this TWICE!).

Now comes the difficult bit as the crank pins must be at 90 degrees or "quartered" on each end of the axle. I did this by eye on my Mamod, but you can make a jig to help. Make sure you do them both the same way. Then press the other wheel on with the vice.

If all this fails, then I am sure Tony Willmore of the Rhos Helyg Loco Works would sort it for you.

I hope this helps.

Cheers
Chris
 
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