DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

I've had this one lying around since last week, but hesitated to show it until I'd have a second one like it (which I still have yet to make). Anyway, it's about time I started doing good rolling stock after the new saddle tank. What better way to start than with a good ol' Stroudley like four wheel coach? The body was made in a different way than I've been used to, with the ends and sides being glued flat next to each other and folded after the glue set hard enough. The saddle tank on the loco was also put together the same way, which I found highly practical. The windows were cut out with knives, and one side turned out smoother than the other due to the second knife being better suited. There should be eight doors and not six and the middle sections aren't equal, as are the windows themselves. But wait, there's more...



This coach was originally made to hold one of my spring based chuff mechanisms, with a random piece of aluminium as an amplifier. However, I thought stretching the other end onto the amplifier (with the spring directly under it) would help give the right volume/reverb, but it didn't. After I gave up trying to get it to work as I wanted, I ripped out the amplifier and replaced it with proper seats. Only the metal cam still remains on the rear axle, so I haven't completely ruled out bringing the spring back (stretched from end to end like it should've been). Unlike my previous coach interior, the seats are actually wide (and high) enough for figures to sit in them. The Funny Zoo Tour passengers weren't really kept in mind when the walls were made, but just happened to be the perfect height for the windows. Had I made my own figures like them, the whole coach would've had room for 18. Only the doors aren't fully in line, at least not on both sides.



Oddly, this shade of dark blue was achieved by painting over a turquoise marker on acrylic olive green. For access, the roof isn't connected in any way and will just slide or fall off. Only two skewers are (loosely) holding it along the sides. The buffers are cardboard circles with hot melt glue at the ends, with the housings being the narrow tips of thick skewers. I feel like I ruined the livery by adding that sloppy gold trim and it looked a lot nicer without it. Might just paint over it when making the second (brake) coach. I already prepared a second chassis without the chuff mech, as well as the upper portion and the smaller board the seats will be on.



The last three times I motorised the black friction gearbox, I incorrectly assumed the low speed (on its own) necessarily added more torque. What I didn't take into account was I could've added a fourth gear where the flywheel was and connected it to a bigger one, which is also what's really shown in the video I linked as an example. I glued two gears together and used a nail for the shaft to make it fit in the holes. Without the motor, the gear train still "behaves" as if the flywheel is there but will stop sooner due to the plastic gear(s) being lighter. It actually made it strong enough to move a 190g bell, so it should have little to no trouble pulling various lengths of trains.

Apart from minor derailments and slipping, I think it ran somewhat OK. While 9V would give the perfect speed for it IMO, it didn't look too bad running on 5V (USB) knowing how powerful it became. Too bad I ignored the fourth gear when I made the side tank and the diesel electric.



I then tried replacing the worm gear on the motor with a crown gear, which (as before) greatly increased the speed even with one battery. However, repeating the bell test revealed the torque hadn't been affected and it could still pull the same weight. I also replaced the big half of the custom gear with a thicker one to reduce "swinging" on the shaft. Only the motor had to be repositioned for the crown gear to mesh. Very pleased to have found just the right gear train for my own locos. I might reconfigure the chassis to make the gearbox vertical like I did with the red side tank.

The worm gear would still be good for slower machinery like cranes, stationary engines, turntables or wind/watermills. It depends on the type of gear on the motor itself.