Dapol Wagons

[Dad-1]

Just to confirm what I've said, this is a reversing train of 21 wagons.
some 7 are of Dapol origin, the Milk tank, the Bauxite gunpowder van, a 5 plank open. These were all RTR although the last two
were un-painted to allow me to finish as required. Then there are 2 sets of 2 x 16 ton minerals from Dapol kits. On an earlier test
the tanker gave some trouble as the coupling at one end was still sagging slightly. Now fixed and this did many laps at this speed
without any problems.

https://youtu.be/mYQx0HUnFvk

Many of the others are from Kits, mostly Parkside.

IF you have wagons with the old large D couplings and are mixing with modern narrow tension-lock types you can expect trouble. In
all cases where stock once had the old couplings these have been removed using a razor saw and replaced with Parkside PA34 mounting
blocks that take Bachmann narrow tension-lock couplings.

Geoff T.

[Fearnboy]

Many thanks to you all for taking the time to respond, I will take on board your tips and hints. I am slightly surprised with the differing flange depths having now compared some Hornby truck wheels to the Dapol, so will change a few and see how I get on. It's good to know that weight is not necessarily the answer.

[muggins]

... the functional measurement which is from wheelback one side to flange root the other side.

Sorry if I'm being a bit dense here, but why is this the "functional measurement"? Why not wheelback to wheelback or flange root to flange root?

[Dad-1]

Bigmet does say that flanges are of differing thickness and profile.
Obviously if you measure from the dumb side with a back to back gauge you are
obviously NOT setting an accurate gauge where flange thickness differs. A thicker
flange will increase your gauge.

Normally this is not a problem as the actual very small differences are absorbed by
the slack. IF you have a critical wagon then you need to be aware, in the same way
that most rollingstock with 3 rigid axles will become a problem on all but gentle curves.
That's why all my 6 wheel milk tanks have flanges filed off the centre wheel set.

Geoff T.

[muggins]

Bigmet does say that flanges are of differing thickness and profile.
Obviously if you measure from the dumb side with a back to back gauge you are
obviously NOT setting an accurate gauge where flange thickness differs ...

Thank you sir. I guess Bigmet's observation about flange thickness/profile variation didn't really register because as an ex-toolmaker, I wouldn't have expected two wheels on the same axle to show significant variation. But hey, if the manufacturer can get away with it and it makes no odds to most folk most of the times ...

[Dad-1]

Hi Muggins,

The best thing is wheelsets tend to be magnetic and althought this doesn't affect the
operation of Kadees where you use the above sleeper magnets it plays havoc when
you've used hidden underboard magnets.
I then found that a few (random) Dapol wagon wheelsets were non-magnetic stainless.
O.K thought I, a quick word with Dapol to buy some. The truth is they had no idea what
their wheelsets were made of - neither did they care. Obviously they are made in China
and so long as the dimentions were to specification they were happy. A wiley chinese
factory owner will buy up 'bargain' materials where they can, obviously some spare
stainless must have been around !!

Geoff T.

[muggins]

...The truth is they had no idea what their wheelsets were made of - neither did they care ...

Hah! Sounds about right to me, after the conversation I had with them a year or so ago about the wheels on one of their coaches. It was that conversation, on top of the coupling droop, which decided me to never again buy Dapol.

[Bufferstop]

It was that conversation, on top of the coupling droop, which decided me to never again buy Dapol.

Never say "Never again", you'll soon run out of manufacturers

[DAVID S.]

Hello,I also have a large number of Dapol wagons to all of which I have added extra weight.Being in the Motor Trade I have access to alloy wheel balance weights which I personally find ideal.For instance,a box van would get an extra 10 grams added to it,5 grams either end,larger wagons 25-30 grams distributed evenly.Simply take the body off,cut you desired weight to your requirement,and, as these weights are stick on,off you go!

[End2end]

IF you have wagons with the old large D couplings and are mixing with modern narrow tension-lock types you can expect trouble. In
all cases where stock once had the old couplings these have been removed using a razor saw and replaced with Parkside PA34 mounting
blocks that take Bachmann narrow tension-lock couplings.

I have replaced older Dapol chassis's with Dapol WCHASS10 chassis's to have small tension locks on my rolling stock but can I just ask, is there a step by step guide somewhere for doing the conversion using the PA34's?
Thanks
End2end

[Bigmet]

... the functional measurement which is from wheelback one side to flange root the other side.

Sorry if I'm being a bit dense here, but why is this the "functional measurement"? Why not wheelback to wheelback or flange root to flange root?

Flange root to flange root is a functional measurement, relating to gauge.

Wheelback to flange root is the functional measurement for checkrail action, as the checkrail acts on the back of the flange.

For neither of these measurements can 'back to back' be an adequate substitute, unless flange thickness and profile is standardised. But 'back to back' is very easy to measure...

[Dad-1]

Hi E2E,

My conversions tend to be what one may call "On the Hoof", in other words rather unplanned.
One of the few examples I have shows 3 Lima Horse & Groom vans, one in original wide coupling
form, one with it sawn down to a stump. The other where I've probably used two small strips of
plasticard to get the right height each side of the cut stump. Then used either full depth PA34
mountings, or just slightly sanded to get the right height.



It's difficult to measure the required depth and by now I've developed a good eye and based on
previous experience. Where I'm keeping most of the two PA34 ridges I hold the mounting with
coupling in place with some BlueTack to try against one of my 'Standard' wagons



Other times I remove, for most Dapol Kits you take off the ridges and stick directly onto the round
moulded coupling mountings under the floor.

Hope that gives some idea of how I do it ?

Geoff T.

[Bufferstop]

For neither of these measurements can 'back to back' be an adequate substitute, unless flange thickness and profile is standardised. But 'back to back' is very easy to measure...

Measuring the gauge flange root to flange root, or on the rails "gauge corner to gauge corner" is very much more difficult, as you are measuring the distance between two compound curves. The thickness of the flange can be accommodated by the extra width of the tyre in model form.