michael
Involved Member
No such thing as too much fun
Posts: 78
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Post by michael on Jun 20, 2008 23:40:56 GMT
I have bought a 3.5" gauge Juliet. I would like to know if I can use it with a 5" gauge driving truck. The club track is dual gauge. I'm concerned the assymetric pull might cause the loco to derail. Will it work or not?
Michael
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Post by baggo on Jun 21, 2008 0:20:54 GMT
Hi Michael. Has the driving truck a single point of attachment for the drawbar or is it adjustable for different gauges? If it only has a fixed attachment for 5" gauge then you may have problems, especially with a light loco like Juliet. A lot of trolleys have the drawbar attachment point adjustable to cater for different gauge engines and so keep the 'pull' more or less in a straight line. The trolley I built has the attachment point adjustable in both vertical and horizontal planes:  John |
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michael
Involved Member
No such thing as too much fun
Posts: 78
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Post by michael on Jun 21, 2008 0:37:42 GMT
Hi John,
I don't have a truck yet so have to buy/build something. There does not seem to be much in the way of 3.5" bogies available. Therefore I was considering getting a set of 5" bogies from Ride on Railways and weld up my own frame.
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Post by stantheman on Jun 21, 2008 5:26:10 GMT
As previous comments suggest, have a 'pull' point that is adjustable for either gauges. From experience I would certainly go for the 5" driving truck idea, the risk of derailment, if built to take an offset pull, is far outweighed by the stability given by a broader wheel base.
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Post by stantheman on Jun 21, 2008 5:29:55 GMT
John..Just noticed from the picture there is a 'cycle' speedometer fitted. Did you have this recalibrated or do you do simple conversions during use...I have looked at using one but was not sure about the recommended wheel diameters. Bit different using one designed for a 26" wheel against a 4" diameter.
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Post by Tel on Jun 21, 2008 7:15:23 GMT
They do it all the time here - 3 1/2" driving trucks or passenger stock are really frowned upon.
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Post by Shawki Shlemon on Jun 21, 2008 7:33:36 GMT
The offset attachment points works well ,I had one like that , no problems at all , actually sitting on 5" carriage is more stable than 3.5"G .
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cotswold
Part of the e-furniture
Still testing the water
Posts: 307
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Post by cotswold on Jun 21, 2008 7:47:01 GMT
I have bought a 3.5" gauge Juliet. I would like to know if I can use it with a 5" gauge driving truck. The club track is dual gauge. I'm concerned the assymetric pull might cause the loco to derail. Will it work or not? Michael As others have pointed out, all that need concern you is the line of the coupling link. It should be on the centre-line of the loco and parallel with the line of the rails when viewed from above. A solid link is preferable and if there any significant difference in height between attachment points it should be both solid and cranked. |
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Post by baggo on Jun 21, 2008 9:35:59 GMT
Stan, The speedo I fitted has a set up facility to match the wheel diameter and I presume they all have this as they are designed to work with different sized wheels. It's a simple process which merely needs the wheel circumference in cm entering into the speedo after pressing a few buttons. Although the speedo can display in imperial or metric (mph or km/h) it seems to need the circumference in cm only. My truck wheels are 3.5" diameter so the circumference of them is approx 28 cm. I found that the actual figure needed some tweaking to get accurate results, possibly because the speedo is not really meant for such small wheels and the calibration is possibly not exactly linear at small diameters. I checked it by rotating the wheels, say 200 times and checked that the recorded distance 'travelled' was correct. I altered the circumference figure until it was more or less correct. Another way is to do a number of circuits on a track of known distance and check it that way. I did have a few problems at first as it seemed to be reading far too high. I eventually discovered that the reed switch was being operated twice per revolution of the wheel instead of just the once! The reed is strapped to the steel swinging arm of the suspension and the steel was affecting the magnetic circuit. Moving the reed solved the problem.  The idea of fitting it was so I could keep a record of miles covered and running time, just for a bit of fun. You can also see how fast you are hurtling round ;D |
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Post by stantheman on Jun 21, 2008 9:48:21 GMT
Thanks for that info John, sorry to Michael for deviating away from his original thread. Just one last point, any indication of the, dare I say it, 'brand name'. I have looked at these in one well known out of town superstore, they keep having 'bargains' on their shelves along with the saying 'every little helps', but the packaging defies any inside information. Without buying and possibly wasting hard earned cash there is no other way to find out suitability apart from personal recommendations for the best buy.
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Post by baggo on Jun 21, 2008 13:24:44 GMT
Mine is a 'cheapo' one made by Blackspur. I bought it off Ebay for about a fiver a few years back. It's original use was for a homemade anemometer.
It gives speed, average speed, distance traveled, and elapsed time, all of which can be reset back to zero, and total accumulative distance traveled, which isn't reset unless you remove the battery or it goes flat!
John
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Post by stantheman on Jun 21, 2008 14:36:09 GMT
Thanks John, will experiment!
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