Percy and the bad drivers

The question of tolerance continues to interest me. With those loose connecting rods, how tolerant is Percy of misalignment of the wheels, or uneven crankpin eccentricity? It turns out, Percy is not only tolerant, he’s indifferent! I didn’t have a front axle with the original crankpins, P87 wheels and the gear printed on, and so […]

Percy and the crankpins

On disassembling Percy, the first surprise was how loose the connecting rods were on the crankpins. I’d read, and have probably reiterated, that the finest line is the one that separates running clearance from slop. I’d always imagined that where crankpins are concerned, it really mattered. I’ve now tried four different crankpin sizes in Percy’s […]

Percy P87

As amazing as it may seem, my 3D printer can actually print Porto:87 wheels that sort of work. Not only that, but a Mod 0.5 20-tooth gear downloaded from Thingiverse printed successfully and runs as well! I wouldn’t expect the wheels to hold the track at speed through a turnout. And the spur gear is […]

Replicating Percy

By using 3D printing, I should be able to save time in my experiments with Percy. That in turn means I will be able to learn more in the same length of time. Indeed, I should be able to run so many experiments, that I can afford to change one variable at a time. The […]

Deconstructing Percy

I was a bit worried, as I offered the Phillips-head screwdriver up to the three screws on Percy’s coverplate, that I would find the two axles were driven by a gear train, the connecting rods coming along just for show. That would defeat the exercise, or at least require further testing to ensure Percy could […]

Percy to the Rescue

If it wasn’t obvious, I’ve been in a funk since discovering that 622 will not run after painting. In my heart, I know the solution will ultimately involve a new set of drivers, as attempting to fix the ones that are there will surely destroy them, and it’s unknown if I could ever put them […]