The BNR (another way)
Re: The BNR (another way)
The workshops have made some further progress on the 43XX. First the remains of the old gear spindle were removed and a hole drilled through the chassis where the previous spindle was.
Some 2mm stainless steel rod was then inserted into the hole to provide a new spindle for the gear. The chassis was reassembled for a test run, but the wheels kept locking up. It was initially thought that the wheels had gone out of quarter, but they looked OK. On closer examination it turned out that one side of the chassis had expanded slightly due to mazak rot.
Another railway kindly sent a spare chassis block to the BNR workshops, but the shipping company somehow managed to snap the ends off the chassis blocks during transit! In desperation BNR staff superglued one of the chassis blocks back together and reinforced it with JB Weld. The chassis was reassembled and the loco remarkably runs! Having said that, it is not the smoothest of runners and may be suffering from overheating. The loco department have consequently decided to put the 43XX on light duties and will in the longer term look into adapting an alternative chassis.
Some 2mm stainless steel rod was then inserted into the hole to provide a new spindle for the gear. The chassis was reassembled for a test run, but the wheels kept locking up. It was initially thought that the wheels had gone out of quarter, but they looked OK. On closer examination it turned out that one side of the chassis had expanded slightly due to mazak rot.
Another railway kindly sent a spare chassis block to the BNR workshops, but the shipping company somehow managed to snap the ends off the chassis blocks during transit! In desperation BNR staff superglued one of the chassis blocks back together and reinforced it with JB Weld. The chassis was reassembled and the loco remarkably runs! Having said that, it is not the smoothest of runners and may be suffering from overheating. The loco department have consequently decided to put the 43XX on light duties and will in the longer term look into adapting an alternative chassis.
Re: The BNR (another way)
Wow. Your workshops certainly try out ideas for repairs.
Something I am thinking of... Is it a possile that all mazak will rot eventually given enough time? Mind you, plastic does break down so the likelihood ones loco bodies will still be in one piece by then....
Something I am thinking of... Is it a possile that all mazak will rot eventually given enough time? Mind you, plastic does break down so the likelihood ones loco bodies will still be in one piece by then....
Modelling On A Budget ---》 https://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/F ... 22&t=52212
- Bufferstop
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Re: The BNR (another way)
It's the presence of lead in the mix eventually causes the rot. Early Dinky toys were the first to show it, samples of which that avoided the lead are still as strong as when they were produced pre WW2. It was the need to produce reliable castings for the War Ministry the started the investigation and found the answer. The problem now is modern day contractors who aren't scrupulous about the mix.
Growing old, can't avoid it. Growing up, forget it!
My Layout, My Workbench Blog and My Opinions
My Layout, My Workbench Blog and My Opinions
Re: The BNR (another way)
In an attempt to resolve the rotten chassis issue with the Mainline 43XX, workshop staff have been picking up poorly Airfix and Mainline 61XXs as potential chassis donors. As always with the loco department, things have got slightly out of hand and a barely used Mainline model was picked up at a good price. Despite the loco being noisy enough to wake the dead, the operating department quite liked the loco's power and mechanical simplicity. They therefore persuaded management to keep it as is.
Two more damaged 61XXs were acquired along with a more attractive black Hornby body. The body was missing buffers, buffer beam hooks and had a loose tank vent. Workshop staff fixed these issues with parts they had in the depot, they also managed to restore a barely used non-running chassis and have created a second 61XX.
The only remaining problem is a very common one with these locos and that is the floppy rear couplings on the trailing truck. This is caused by the failure of a small piece of plastic to hold the top and bottom of the truck together to grip the couplings.
Workshop staff cut off the protruding bit of plastic and drilled a hole right through the rear truck.
A self tapping screw was then inserted into the lower hole which pulls the assembly tight together.
The black Prairie is also pretty noisy but runs well and is able to take even the heaviest trains up the steep gradients on the line. The remaining parts will be kept for spares and possibly used to reinstate the 43XX, although a replacement Bachmann chassis has now been sourced.
Two more damaged 61XXs were acquired along with a more attractive black Hornby body. The body was missing buffers, buffer beam hooks and had a loose tank vent. Workshop staff fixed these issues with parts they had in the depot, they also managed to restore a barely used non-running chassis and have created a second 61XX.
The only remaining problem is a very common one with these locos and that is the floppy rear couplings on the trailing truck. This is caused by the failure of a small piece of plastic to hold the top and bottom of the truck together to grip the couplings.
Workshop staff cut off the protruding bit of plastic and drilled a hole right through the rear truck.
A self tapping screw was then inserted into the lower hole which pulls the assembly tight together.
The black Prairie is also pretty noisy but runs well and is able to take even the heaviest trains up the steep gradients on the line. The remaining parts will be kept for spares and possibly used to reinstate the 43XX, although a replacement Bachmann chassis has now been sourced.
Re: The BNR (another way)
Heavy Bank Holiday traffic and slippery rails caused by oil deposited on the track from recently serviced locos, meant that double heading was called for. BNR No's 2 & 8 work very well together and can take 6 coaches up the steep gradient on the mainline without slipping. The only other steam option was the Ivatt 2-6-2 or the 9F.
Re: The BNR (another way)
The imported German loco (no. 8?) is looking very smart in BNR blue!
- Bufferstop
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Re: The BNR (another way)
There might be something in your theory that all Mazak will eventually rot might have something in it. I would tend towards there being a degree of dimensional instability, rot just being an extreme case. My involvement with it was a stepper switch, a real piece of Heath Robinson design which had at its heart a nylon toothed wheel pulled around by a solenoid rotating in a diecast chassis. Between the die-casting with its problems, the nylon cracking and expanding, and the referbishment centre's faith in a quick bath in Arklone followed by blast of compressed air to fix anything I developed a real hatred for anything that put those two materials into close proximity. Trying to take a thou of a nylon bush using an electric drill and wet and dry is a solution of absolute desperation.
Growing old, can't avoid it. Growing up, forget it!
My Layout, My Workbench Blog and My Opinions
My Layout, My Workbench Blog and My Opinions
Re: The BNR (another way)
Thank you . It was a rather complex project, which took much longer than anticipated. The original chassis was not the greatest design and so a Bill/Ben one had to be transplanted in.pete12345 wrote:The imported German loco (no. 8?) is looking very smart in BNR blue!
Re: The BNR (another way)
Seismologists have detected earth tremors and it is anticipated that parts of the BNR's line between the existing stations will see significant damage. Plans are therefore being drawn up to rebuild parts of the line with slightly shallower gradients and to serve an additional settlement at Pewsley. The line's notorious sharp curves will, however, remain due to constraints imposed by the terrain . A long planned connection to the island's Ore Quarry and an associated unloading bridge are also to be installed. Non-essential rolling stock is being put into storage to prevent damage.
As always with earthquakes the exact date is hard to predict and services continue to run on the existing line in the meantime.
As always with earthquakes the exact date is hard to predict and services continue to run on the existing line in the meantime.
Re: The BNR (another way)
G'day Gents
Every Railway, deserves an extension.........
manna
Every Railway, deserves an extension.........
manna
EDGWARE GN. Steam in the Suburbs
Re: The BNR (another way)
if you have the room, if not a nice Helix from the loft to the garden would also class as an acceptable extension.manna wrote:Every Railway, deserves an extension.........
Re: The BNR (another way)
The line has two Heljan Class 16 locos which were very nice runners, but the situation has gradually deteriorated. Both locos have been getting sluggish with more and more power needing to be applied to get them to move. The same thing happened to the line's class 15 a few years ago which resulted in some of the electronic components going up in smoke. Rumours have been circulating about the factory applied lubricant becoming stiff on the class 16s over time and so further investigation took place.
Initially workshop staff added some thin oil to the motor bearings. The gears were also accessed and oiled by removing the bogies baseplates. This unfortunately didn't make much difference. Eventually it was decided the remove the bogies, completely strip them down and investigate. Trying to remove and dismantle the bogies is not for the feint hearted. It's like some form of very fragile Rubik's Cube. Once dismantled, a very sticky lubricant was found throughout the gear train and so it was hardly surprising that the loco was struggling to move. The gunk was removed with electrical contact cleaner and paper towels. The bogies were then reassembled and oiled. Trying to get the bogies back in and connecting them to the motor via the cardan shafts took a considerable time. in fact workshop staff very nearly abandoned the project at this point .
The line's Class 23 also appears to be getting a little sticky in operation, but the works don't fancy tackling any more Heljan bogies any time soon! Management have therefore decided that in future motive power will be sourced from other manufacturers and the Hornby Class 29 has been reprieved .
Initially workshop staff added some thin oil to the motor bearings. The gears were also accessed and oiled by removing the bogies baseplates. This unfortunately didn't make much difference. Eventually it was decided the remove the bogies, completely strip them down and investigate. Trying to remove and dismantle the bogies is not for the feint hearted. It's like some form of very fragile Rubik's Cube. Once dismantled, a very sticky lubricant was found throughout the gear train and so it was hardly surprising that the loco was struggling to move. The gunk was removed with electrical contact cleaner and paper towels. The bogies were then reassembled and oiled. Trying to get the bogies back in and connecting them to the motor via the cardan shafts took a considerable time. in fact workshop staff very nearly abandoned the project at this point .
The line's Class 23 also appears to be getting a little sticky in operation, but the works don't fancy tackling any more Heljan bogies any time soon! Management have therefore decided that in future motive power will be sourced from other manufacturers and the Hornby Class 29 has been reprieved .
- Bufferstop
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- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 12:06 pm
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Re: The BNR (another way)
Now that you know about the viscosity of the gunk, the problem is half solved. With a new one wash out the gunk whilst you can and introduce light oil to replace it. A couple of syringes one with alcohol and one with light oil, then pump it in whilst it's running with its wheels in the air.
Growing old, can't avoid it. Growing up, forget it!
My Layout, My Workbench Blog and My Opinions
My Layout, My Workbench Blog and My Opinions
Re: The BNR (another way)
Thanks Bufferstop, I'll pass that on to the workshop team, it might reduce their stress levels .Bufferstop wrote:Now that you know about the viscosity of the gunk, the problem is half solved. With a new one wash out the gunk whilst you can and introduce light oil to replace it. A couple of syringes one with alcohol and one with light oil, then pump it in whilst it's running with its wheels in the air.
Re: The BNR (another way)
A couple of videos of the BNR have now been uploaded to Youtube. The camera work is not the greatest . It was hoped to produce some more, but the SQ11 mini cube camera died after 3-4 days .
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHU8vy ... tmICJ0rAsA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHU8vy ... tmICJ0rAsA