New Momentum Van for Staple Hill Railway

[James from Devon]

So a big thanks to Mr Bond as I was reading his topic back along about the momentum van for his line and seeing how much it improved the performance with his Millie, I had to have a go making one for my RH Katie. I will probably fit a slomo to Katie in time but for now, I wanted to have a go at a new project and this fitted the bill nicely.

Picked up a Zecar from Amazon which arrived the next day and after a little experimentation with weight I settled on a design and chose another brake van as I have a weakness for them.

I also wanted a longer wheelbase so have mounted the Zecar at an angle on just one axle. The brake van itself follow the lines of the IP MOD stock so is nice and chunky.

A short video of one of the test runs is here and I have now found the source of the annoying squeak!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj6_N3ixhGc

Here are some pics of the build:

Roughing out the chassis



New axleboxes



Zecar fitted with swift sixteen wheels and mounted on the chassis



Zecar freewheel axle used to mount the non wheel end. Dummy IP axleboxes added to chassis.



A couple of boxes to hold the lead weights were made using scrap plastic



Filled with right amount of lead from the tests



Then filled with casting resin to stop the weights rolling around



The next few pics are of the body coming together








The rivets are made from plastic half round "jewels" used for scrapbooking, they come from Hobbycraft and are about 99p for 100...tweezers and superglue keeps them in place



I need to finish the paintwork and add some detail like steps, lamp, handrails and some good weathering and will add some more pics when I do.

Thanks for reading this and hope you like the post.

Jim

[tom_tom_go]

Looks good James, if you can get the wagon and loco connected with a fixed link rather than with hook and chain you will get better start/stop results.

SSP slomo for your loco is the ultimate though, wish the Lady Anne version was ready!

[Keith S]

Personally I like being able to see between the frames on my locomotive, like one can on a "real" locomotive. While the slomo is indubitably of higher quality than a "Zecar", I feel that the momentum effect is more realistic when it is the train, rather than the locomotive, that has the momentum.

Wherever one puts it, however, there is no doubt that a geared flywheel is the best way to make live-steam trains look more realistic. Either way, it might turn out in time that greater crankpin and rod "bushing" wear will be the price to pay on Roundhouse locomotives. With the momentum device in a wagon, you have the option to use it or not, depending what railway you are on.

Your brake van and indeed your railway itself are very nice. Obviously you pay a lot of attention to detail.

[James from Devon]

Personally I like being able to see between the frames on my locomotive, like one can on a "real" locomotive. While the slomo is indubitably of higher quality than a "Zecar", I feel that the momentum effect is more realistic when it is the train, rather than the locomotive, that has the momentum.

Wherever one puts it, however, there is no doubt that a geared flywheel is the best way to make live-steam trains look more realistic. Either way, it might turn out in time that greater crankpin and rod "bushing" wear will be the price to pay on Roundhouse locomotives. With the momentum device in a wagon, you have the option to use it or not, depending what railway you are on.

Your brake van and indeed your railway itself are very nice. Obviously you pay a lot of attention to detail.

Thanks Keith. I had thought about rod / bush wear and I guess time will tell that one. Also take your point about the weight being in the train. In order to get the loco working previously I had to run longer trains that would possibly have been prototypical but this was a pleasure to use. I am not too worried about seeing between the frames on this one as she is destined to get running boards and other detail which would hide it....still deciding about a slomo!

[James from Devon]

Looks good James, if you can get the wagon and loco connected with a fixed link rather than with hook and chain you will get better start/stop results.

SSP slomo for your loco is the ultimate though, wish the Lady Anne version was ready!

Cheers Tom, Great idea about the fixed link, I think I can fabricate something up for that...

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

Wonderful stuff James, Looks as if it performs well!