PaulToghill Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I have the super detailed Hitachi Class 395 'Chris Hoy' and the White Olympic version also. With a full length six car train traction can be a problem with the tyres slipping and loosing grip. I have discovered that if you replace the other untyred wheelset on the power bogie with a set with traction tyres then the wheels don't slip and stick to the track like glue. They also fit the cheaper Railroad versions also. The wheelsets are available on Ebay from Peter's Spares for around a fiver: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331782678175 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Now you are relying on the dummy bogie for most of the pickup, but if it works ok for you then good tip. I'm going the other way and replacing tyres with solid wheels on Class 56 and 90, sacrificing traction for improved pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 The tyred wheels have a groove to take the tyre. You may well find the tyres on the other wheels will slip off eventually. It might be better to find out why the wheels slip. Are the other coaches free running or are the wheels binding. One their own they should travel a long way with a gentle push. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 WTD, just a very gentle reminder to re-read the OP. He changed the whole wheel set for one supporting traction tyres i.e with ones with the groove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Yes you're right, didn't notice that. My advice still stands though. Best to find the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozwarrior Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Interesting as I have a set plus the extra coaches and it runs beautifully but will remember ths if anything changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulToghill Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 I have found out also that these motors eat traction tyres for breakfast. My fix has worked on two of my Class 395s without any loss of power pick-up. Two of my white Javelins have power pick-up problems with the extra traction tyred wheels fitted though. I will have to investigate this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poliss Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I don't see how the motor could affect the traction tyres. Could you be more simplicit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Neither do I poliss. Are you running the train very fast all the time? You will have power pick up problems if you fit extra traction tyres, you are insulating the wheel. It needs metal to metal contact with the track not rubber to metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 The reason it eats traction tyres is probably because they are being overtaxed and therefore stretch. Imagine the wheel trying to 'climb' up the inside of the tyre as it grabs the track to pull the train forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowse101 Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Dragging up a 2016 post, but I've only just got this set and I'm finding the single motor bogie is suffers from significant slippage on even the slightest of gradients.Saw the additional traction tyre solution, but don't want to sacrifice pickups. Ideal solution would be to add a motor to the dummy car and for a consist.The dummy frame is different though, so I cant just buy a motor. Anyone know which models share this 395 design so I can search the spares section on ebay for a power car I can swap bodies on? Anyone done this? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Depends which Class 395 you have.I have the early Blue Rapier with Noddy couplings, and simplistic circuit boards whereas the later variants have more sophisticated couplings and improved hi-level circuitry.All the couplings are carried by the various bogies so you need to find the right units. You should pull the various service sheets (345 & 357) to compare parts as I know the Blue Rapier was a minefield trying to fing out which wheels went with which bogie on which car, when I got rid of the horrible plastic wheels.. This article explains my upgrade of this early model, which may help.http://www.halton96th.org.uk/article9.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowse101 Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Thanks! It's the Hornby Visitors Centre train pack (https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/south-eastern-class-395-hornby-visitor-centre.html) service sheet 345B I think. The frame isn't listed as a part as far as I can tell.I actually have the Blue Rapier set at the moment, but I'm selling it because I assumed the Hornby Visitors Centre would be an upgrade. The Blue Rapier actually runs better and the lighting is better. I'm running the HVS train pack version with the extra two coaches, but even so, it shouldn't be struggling this much.I wonder if the London 2012 power car shares the same frame design. It's listed in the service sheet and there's one going on ebay, but it seems to have the wrong type of couplings which makes me nervous.I'll try adding a bit of weight over the bogie, otherwise I'll order another set of traction tyre wheels from Peter's Spares and see if I can get away with fewer pickups. It shouldn't be this hard to fit a second motor though, why not just share the same frame design for both cars and have a bogie without a motor in one of them??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Spare Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Have you checked that all the non-powered wheelsets are free-running? As Rob says above, check the two service sheets and your unit to see whether the Blue Rapier and Javelin bodies and underframes look to be interchangeable. If you buy the Blue Rapier power car, the conversion will still need some modelling: the Javelin coupling will need to be mounted on the rear of the Blue Rapier underframe and the seat unit will have to be modified. And I think you will need to purchase the power car pcb for motor control as well as the motor bogie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowse101 Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Thanks. I'm going to go down the weight and traction tyre route. I've also bought some spare bogies with pickups. If I'm getting pickup issues then I'll try to fit pick ups to the coaches and feed a wire between the coach and the motor. This set will never be broken up so I can live with the wire. I may also try coach lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 The problem with coach lighting is the early version had no internal visible detail and blacked out windows, so precious little point in lighting the insides up.The later versions did have seats and clear windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now