Paul Moss
Thanks for coming back to me Ian,
I had some time on my hands on Sunday so pushed ahead with the conversion following your original method by re-using the Ultrascale wheels & axles with original gears, carefully filing back the wheel spigots to provide a bit of float and also trimming back the brake hangers.
I took a flyer on the amount of float and ended up with around 2mm of overall float which I tested with a bit of EM flexi track formed into a tight ‘S’ on a piece of scrap timber and it performed very well with no binding or problems.
I’m relatively new to EM gauge having spent the last several years working with finescale N Gauge (code 40 rail etc), and I’ve learnt how to convert RTR freight and coaching stock to EM, plus become a whizz at setting them up with reliable 3mm S&W couplings, although loco conversions have been limited to dropping in pre-made Ultrascale wheel & gear sets until now….. however, I now have the confidence to go further and explore beyond just Ultrascale products!
All in all, I’m really pleased with the end result (and the fact that I didn’t buy a lemon that would be tricky to convert!), plus I learnt a few things and boosted my confidence, so a sincere thanks to you for your original post and the follow up, its all really helpful thank you.
Kind regards
Paul