Hornby Class 86 sub axles

[ColinB]

I have been upgrading my old ringfield based class 86 locos to the newer Hornby chassis. I have managed to buy the chassis and all the bits. The issue I am having is the sub axles that hold the gears. Unfortunately, you cannot get the power bogfie complete so I am having to make one out of parts,  so I use the side frames X6413 and the gear set X9461. The trouble is when you order these parts they don't come with the axles for the gears to run on. For the moment I am using the shanks off some 1.6 mm drills, but does anyone know how you get them, they have no part number. I did email the parts supplier where I bought the bits, but so far I have had no response. I  notice the gears for the class 66s do come with axles so why don't these?

[Going Spare]

Only by purchasing a different gear pack which does include them. 

[ColinB]

I did wonder if that was the case. The class 66 ones X9671, contain them and they are quite cheap, so are they the same size? The alternative is to buy some steel and make my own.

[Going Spare]

I can't say for sure but the motor/gears cases are almost certainly the same thickness on all locos so I would have expected the axles to be the same length.  No doubt there is a degree of commonality within the gears themselves so the axles are most likely to be the same diameter as well. 

Hornby's philosophy has always been to supply replacements purely for those components that wear out or are particularly prone to loss or breakage, rather than to cater for those who are building from scratch.

[ColinB]

I can understand Hornby's philosophy but again they are not consistant, why supply axles for one gearset and not for the others. I suppose they might have realised the axles wear after they released the parts for the previous model so included them for the next update. I must admit if someone is replacing a gear it is generally a good idea to supply the axle. You never know what state that might be in and it is a moving part and prone to wear.