Converting to hex

For many years, I’ve maintained a small stock of screws. They come in an array of shapes – countersunk, cheese-head, round-head, the oh-so-Canadian fillister-head, and hex. I never stocked the hex-headed ones because I didn’t have the appropriate tools to turn them. The trouble with most of these screws is that they have a simple […]

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 […]

How fast does it go?

“How fast does it go?” my friend Andrew cheekily asked when I posted those photos of 622 a month ago. At the time, I’d not powered the engine on as I was up to my elbows in the Railway Modellers’ Meet. Since then, virtually all my hobby time has been consumed either by wrapping up […]

Sharing progress on 622

The Railway Modellers’ Meet has been under way since the beginning of the month. Since that first Saturday, we’ve met every Thursday for more clinics, virtual layout tours and our famous Meet the Modeller sessions. I had hoped to have 622 ready for Meet the Modeller last year, and alas, it is not even complete […]

Glazing 622’s windows

Somehow I’ve been convinced that true modellers glaze windows with real glass. I’m not sure if it’s really better; the passenger car has plastic windows, and they look fine to me. However, there is no doubting that when you tell anyone – even a non-modeller – that the windows are glazed with glass, they are […]