GeoffBristol

yes - I tried with body on and no chimney screw - and it was quieter ? Also - with screw in and lightly tightened, better ? I thought on foam - and settled for now on a block of foam with a hole in that presses over the chimney screw - then compresses a bit when tightened. Also - saves the screw falling out the body when you forget its in there and boucing on bare floorboards - and ending up nowhere near where you dropped it ! Just have to be careful with any foam above the brush wires. A good adhesive for hard plastic is standard decorators caulk - not sold as an adhesive - but acts well as one. Sticks well to shiney hard surfaces - but peels off when needed ! It's also very cheap at £ 1.30 a 350ml tube and is acrylic based. Its very effective on foam and polystyrene - and also track and cork.

I have temp fixed it with a little wheeze for now - fashioned a new pin from a brass Ba cheesehead bolt - filed the head to fit the recess - then filed the sides to accept the upper valve arm slot - then put the nut in place of the screw. I then soldered the nut to the bolt. The filed it down to a slight dome head. Will not come apart - but one side of the rods can be easily inserted while still attached to the wheels. It is possible to attach the entire wheelset and rods to the front cylinder block - then drop them into their slots ( with open anxle boxes ) - but fiddly ! What I would like to know - why are these engines so quite when they have no body on - and so noisey when its attached ? I have tried way to dampen them but both I have are the same - and nothing seemes to work.

Thanks - the stripped one is indeed very shiney plastic and totally bare of all lines logo no's - and i sort of like it like that ! I rebuilt it and had a disaster tightening the valve gear screw - it sheared off ! So am now looking out for a donar wheel - or just the pin, as they come out easy enough witht he wheelset split. I am sharing a motor between the two as I pinched one for a nice little saddle tank I recently aquired. I have seen a black one today with the early crest - hunting for cheap wrecks for a spare motor and wheel etc. I could have bought a new one when I was 6 ! This forum seems to have changed layour for the worse - so have had a job finding your replies ? - I only found them from my activity menu button. I could not find my original post at all ?

I have two R 59's - both black and seemingly quite early - but they have different valve gear details. The above ( loose arm from the one I have in bits ) - has a cranked shape - and a simple top connector - whereas the lower has a flat arm and more complex slotted upper connector ? Also - the central drive wheel has a counter weight section moulded in - the other has a plain spoked drive wheel. The main one here has a single spacer between the rods ( hence shorter connecting pin ) - the other has two spacers. This other engine matches the service sheet 1st Jan 1959 - showing two spacers - s.2014 - and plain spoked drive wheel - x . 82 - and the valve upper arm looks the same ? Do I take it that is the early engine - and the main one in this pic is later ? I have one in bits as the drive wheel was loose on the axle and the quartering seemed out - so in working on both I noticed the differences ? I would like to date the one I have shown here intact - with the late crest. Did any of these come with the early crest - as the other is unlined and unmarked for some reason. The service sheet I have says 'addendum 1st Jan 1959 - so I presume the sheet was earlier than that ?

ok - update its out ! - it did look in remarkably clean and pristine condition - so I do not think its ever been out. Chassis paint was jamming the lugs. Nice engine - let down somewhat by tender wheels ?

I have just got B12/3 - with the X03 motor ( plastic drive cogs ) - just giving it a general workover - but the motor will not pull out ? All my X04 type motor just lift off - but this wont ? All screws out etc - but it will not easily lift off the drive cog. The motor is loose - but will not disengage from the drive. Don't want to force anything if I am missing something here ? Its R150 - 8509 running no.

ok - actual specs for leds as supplied - green - 3.2 vf - 25 mA I tested a single led through 150 R @ 5v and my cheapo meter was reading 10-20 mA - so about 15. I expect if I checked the 4 gantry array it would be about 60 mA or so. simple but quick circuit ( negs common return ) - 2 resistors to 2 parallel pairs. +5v----------------o-------------150R ---------------o------------led 3.2 vf -25 mA ------------led -------------150R- --------------o------------led ------------led This is not overpowering the leds but is not dimming them enough. I realise now they can be well over resisted and still be quite bright ( ie I now fit these leds as singles with 500 R.) The gantry was wired this way as it has back to back pairs of leds and pairing them worked best. I generally fit single resistors to each led. But here I am in a different scenaro of adding extra resistance to the supply wire - its this wattage that I am after ? I can work out what wattage those 150 's need to be as I have a figure for forward volts of 1.8 v to work with. On the above - if I want to add a 300 R on the 5v supply - whats the wattage needed for that resistor ! - and how do you get to that figure !

Yes but I want to know what the wattage would need to be for any resistor added ? ie - if I like it with a 300 R on the supply - how do I kinow what wattage its happy with ?

I am wanting to add a resistance to the supply wire of a parallel array of four green leds light on a gantry - in order to dim it down a bit. A present it is supplied with 5v via two 150 R resistors ( one to a pair of leds ). Two sets of four - as twin outputs from a spdt point-bar reed switch. The leds are green 3mm - 3.3 vf - 20 mA - standard stuff. It is the resistance wattage that confuses me ? I have no current value differential to multiply by - unlike the rating for the 5v supply to 3.2 vf ? Am I essentially multiplying the amp figure by zero - for wattage calculation ? With the gantry wired - it is easy to add a restistor to the common supply 5v of the reed switch - then both sets of outputs are dimmed. The value of the resistance can be experimented with ( I have a wide range ) but most are 1/4 watt and some 1/2 watt. One set is always on - so its not a brief duration for heat loss etc ?

I'm familiar with most glues - both traditional and modern - but recently have been using ordinary decorators caulk ( white Soudal ) as an adhesive ? I was filling out rough scenery base layers with cardboard and paper etc and realised how well it functioned as an adhesive rather than a caulk for joints. Its cheap as chips - dries fast - and has an uncanny ability to stick to anything - inc gloss paint, plastics etc. Its sticky on application - so grabs nicely. Add to that - when dry - its the consistancy of rubber - and can be cut easily with a knife to rework things. Its exceptionally good for bonding peco track. Holds firm - but releases when needed - and glues cork well. And - best of all - its £1.60 for a 300ml tube !

Thanks - I'm a bit vauge when it comes to AC ! My combi I tried today on an old peco surface motor that was attached to a point I aquired. I was trying to get the base plate off the motor ( like a 3mm plinth I suppose to accomodate cork upstand ? ) It was not parting and I was sure it should be designed to be removeable - anyway - I ended up opening the unit and taking it to bits. The base was in fact firmly glued - off now. The innards are interesting - very small coils and tube - with inner loose metal bar - which operates a tiny metal pivot. It fastened back together ok temp and works - but it didn't really like coming apart. Will glue it tight now I know it working ok. Hence I experimented with my combi 16 v ac output - no cdu - green to one and touch red or black to other. Fired fine both ways. I was worried I had stuffed it as the pin inside is very shallow until the unit is tight closed up. . The cdu I was planning on was Modelling-Electronics mk3 double. I'm looking at ten maybe pm1's inc a few surface peco and pm2 with up to three max switched at once.

If I utilise a 19v dc transformer to feed a cdu - rather than ac - does it matter which way around is neg or pos ? Most diagrams seem to show ac imput as unmarked - only cdu output marked as + or - ? ie - the combi I have shows unmarked output terminals on 16 ac. The separate dc supply has a 2.4 amp rating ( basically an old dell laptop block ) @ 19v dc.

Found the sheets - the difference in shape is shown between x.366 versions 5a/5b - the shank is narrow all along - both with later coupling.

Thanks - will look those up. I bought a pair recently on ebay - as I had an engine needing one. They had the later couplings - but still had the rubber inserts, I noticed one was cast differently - thin all the way along to wheels - whereas all my others are thick - narrowing at the fixing screw ( heavier ? ) I have two engines - both black br with early crest/ solid wheels - so 6 trucks - one with a smashed end. Lucilky the eye was still screwed to the base so had its liner. All of them have a the large hole with a liner ?

Does anyone know a source for the hard rubber insert in the pony truck pivot fixing hole ? They can tend to fall out - hence get lost - and the fixing screw without the washer is too loose to run properly. I didn't notice one was missing until I ran the engine and the rear end was all over the place. Luckily I had a spare as I aquired the engine with a broken pony. Easily bodged - but it needs to be just right for the pony to flex properly ? I can't find a service sheet with the pony on it for a part no ?