Garden Railway Forum

I made a very similar extension for an MFA 918 motor for a Castle Harlech I did back in 2020. I made the shaft on the lathe in brass with a grub screw to hold it to the motor and made an idler bearing holder for it to run through. Unfortunately no pictures of the underneath I made and sold the loco for a good friend (who is no longer with us). No idea what the family are doing with all his stock as he had a house full (biggest collection I have seen) but I am sure it will turn up for sale somewhere at some point as they have no interest in any of it.

This was it, the chassis was full metal including some rather fiddly brass steps and the body was all plasticard.

This is almost a finished locomotive now so I thought it was worth another photo and some video. So the photo first:
The painting is finished apart from the "No 4" which goes above the makers plate, and the Prince of Wales' feathers over the name. The crew are created using "Make Human" "Sketchup" and "Blender". The caps were created in sketchup, and added to the figures heads in Blender. The clothes that are available in MakeHuman are very limited so for the first time I have added jackets by wrapping "Milliput" epoxy putty around them. Not that easy to do (certainly easier with "FIMO" modelling clay) so I'm not entirely satisfied with that. However the locomotive works:

Video of it can be found by following the link:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/04rrtprw ... mgo90&dl=0

It is running on my workshop test track pulling and pushing a long rake of goods wagons (and a couple of coaches). I think that has enough power to haul a sensible load up my railway.

Trevor

That seems to pull and push very well, have you added additional weights?

-steves- wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 11:39 am That seems to pull and push very well, have you added additional weights?

No extra weights - it is just the weight of the resin prints which are quite thick. I have used 3mm thick panels for the removable body wherever the thickness is invisible, to try to minimise distortion. The battery pack is 5 AAA batteries - so there isn't even a heavy battery in it. It is amazing that that tiny motor can push that load.

Trevor

I was going to comment on its hauling capabilities. Really surprising you've not had to add additional ballast. Is it a 6v or a 12v motor?

Rik

ge_rik wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 7:56 am I was going to comment on its hauling capabilities. Really surprising you've not had to add additional ballast. Is it a 6v or a 12v motor?

Rik

It is a 6 volt motor.

Trevor