Jimmy, thanks - it was the one that Greg posted that I thought was a bit more useful, as it deals with the wheels rather than the track.
Often the ‘ultra‘ 7 is called ‘Scale7‘, Scaleseven’ or even ‘P7‘. link to their Site.Jimmy, thanks - it was the one that Greg posted that I thought was a bit more useful, as it deals with the wheels rather than the track.
What I noticed here, though, was that there are three standards for 0 Gauge (I knew of two and had forgotten the 'ultra' Scale 7 which I think is the 7mm answer to P4) so we should think ourselves luck with G scale
Well, the objective of this thread was to get some UK opinions on this situation - we achieved that.
grammarist.com
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Have you looked at their 1:32 range?
Would it be possible to get the washers turned down, and fix them on the outside of the wheel rim (leaving the axles at their standard length)?Well, the objective of this thread was to get some UK opinions on this situation - we achieved that.
I started making my own track in the 1950s, and continued sporadically until about 10 years ago, when I ended up in living in an apartment with no layout. Garden Railway Magazine even published an article I wrote about how to make your own points/switches. So I have wrestled with the problem of finescale wheels versus coarse commercial wheels in many scales over the years.
The fact is that if you want wheels with different back-to-back measurements to go through your frog, you need to make the check rail gap small and the frog gap wide. That way your finescale wheels don't pick the frog, and the coarse wheels have room to get through the wide gap at the frog. However, both will drop in to the gap, a problem that LGB solved by putting a runway in the gap for the wheels to run on.
Adding a brass strip along the check rail of an LGB point/switch is a well-known solution if you have non-LGB slightly nicer wheels. (Accucraft come to mind.) However, it doesn't help the LGB wheels - they may bounce over the check or frog guard rails. If you only have 2 different types of wheels, you may be able to get the strip to work for you.
Interestingly, my pal has since tried the "add a washer" solution. I explained why he was seeing derailments with axle hub washers to make the wheels rest on the rails, and he found some larger washers. Note the brass washers to push the wheels further out on the axle, and the outer washer to reduce the back-to-back again.
Unfortunately, even though he now had wheels with a similar back-to-back as the LGB, his flanges are so fine that it still derails on anything other than perfect track.
If you want to read the rest of his saga it is on LSC:
Large Scale Central - Advanced Forum Detail Topic - Request Opinion -- Smallbrook Studio Motor Block
A final note (final for me as I think we've flushed out the issues and thoroughly discussed them.) I did hear from Slaters, and I also had an email from Michael, Mr Smallbrook Studios, both of whom I have done business with in the past, and both companies I completely recommend. Michael did say the 5mm Slaters wheels work fine on 32mm track, but he thought he might be among the first vendor to try finescale 32mm wheels on 45mm gauge axles, and he had heard similar comments from other customers.
My opinion is that the 'Small England' Sm32 wheels are just too fine to use on 45mm LGB track. What is needed is some gauge-3 type wheels with 7mm width and larger flanges. Unfortunately, Slaters doesn't make anything with coupling rods that will fit the Smallbrook chassis.
Not quite there yet. With the benefit of hindsight you can now see that the large washers purpose is not just to restore the back to back, but to emulate the flange depth used by LGB (Thank you Greg). Having fitted a larger diameter washer, preferably in brass ( to make the following easier) you can turn the flange down using one wheel on the axle mounted in the chuck of an electric drill. Ensure the drill is firmly mounted in the jaws of a vice or otherwise strapped down, and use a fine fine against the rotating wheel to create the extended flange profile. Compare to an LGB wheel as you go. The tips of the new flanges will now be the a similar distance apart to those on the LGB wheelsets. On a topical note I don't think the Wright brothers got there at the first attempt; but first train on Mars.....Well, the objective of this thread was to get some UK opinions on this situation - we achieved that.
I started making my own track in the 1950s, and continued sporadically until about 10 years ago, when I ended up in living in an apartment with no layout. Garden Railway Magazine even published an article I wrote about how to make your own points/switches. So I have wrestled with the problem of finescale wheels versus coarse commercial wheels in many scales over the years.
The fact is that if you want wheels with different back-to-back measurements to go through your frog, you need to make the check rail gap small and the frog gap wide. That way your finescale wheels don't pick the frog, and the coarse wheels have room to get through the wide gap at the frog. However, both will drop in to the gap, a problem that LGB solved by putting a runway in the gap for the wheels to run on.
Adding a brass strip along the check rail of an LGB point/switch is a well-known solution if you have non-LGB slightly nicer wheels. (Accucraft come to mind.) However, it doesn't help the LGB wheels - they may bounce over the check or frog guard rails. If you only have 2 different types of wheels, you may be able to get the strip to work for you.
Interestingly, my pal has since tried the "add a washer" solution. I explained why he was seeing derailments with axle hub washers to make the wheels rest on the rails, and he found some larger washers. Note the brass washers to push the wheels further out on the axle, and the outer washer to reduce the back-to-back again.
Unfortunately, even though he now had wheels with a similar back-to-back as the LGB, his flanges are so fine that it still derails on anything other than perfect track.
If you want to read the rest of his saga it is on LSC:
Large Scale Central - Advanced Forum Detail Topic - Request Opinion -- Smallbrook Studio Motor Block
A final note (final for me as I think we've flushed out the issues and thoroughly discussed them.) I did hear from Slaters, and I also had an email from Michael, Mr Smallbrook Studios, both of whom I have done business with in the past, and both companies I completely recommend. Michael did say the 5mm Slaters wheels work fine on 32mm track, but he thought he might be among the first vendor to try finescale 32mm wheels on 45mm gauge axles, and he had heard similar comments from other customers.
My opinion is that the 'Small England' Sm32 wheels are just too fine to use on 45mm LGB track. What is needed is some gauge-3 type wheels with 7mm width and larger flanges. Unfortunately, Slaters doesn't make anything with coupling rods that will fit the Smallbrook chassis.
No. I was trying to flush them out of the woods and make them appear, but thank you for the thought.
You guys never give up. Rhino, thanks for the thought, but I think we would have the same problem. Here's the G1 std:
Actually, no. The big washers were purely to correct the back-to-back after you add lots of small washers to make the wheels actually stay on LGB track. If you look at the photos you can see the washers are the same diameter as the wheels.
Slight misunderstanding I think. I meant that the washer needs to be large enough to emulate the LGB flange height.
Plastic washer?
Because I've used them OK - see the picture in post #26
I guess part of the problem is Slater's not knowing what track standards their customers are going to choose in the narrow gauge field - and that will apply to all scales.You guys never give up. Rhino, thanks for the thought, but I think we would have the same problem. Here's the G1 std:
As Slaters seems to think 5mm is the 16mm standard, why would you expect them to use 6mm for the G1 wheels?
I think new wheels are a better solution - like the Accucraft ones I gave to Eric, or re-using some LGB wheels he already has.
I was checking the gauge-1 wheels on Slaters website and I happened to notice that they are to 'fine' scale standards - which means 5mm width.
Greg, you are overthinking this. If the wheels are 40mm back-to-back and metal, then they are no different from LGB metal wheels in the possibility of causing a short. Clearly if you were intent on using washers as Eric tried, you would file the outer rim to the right diameter and the washer and flange to the correct back-to-back. However, as I said, trying to file 4 wheels to similar profiles on a drill in a vise is not likely to produce a good result, and why bother as there are so many wheels available that will work without washers or filing.
Please thank Eric for giving it a go. It's been a learning experience for all of us.