Paul Willis
@Ray Byde said:
I have a Heljan GWR 1361 class pannier tank I wish to convert to EM. I am thinking of using Gibson ‘P’ class drivers as these are the closest available at present. They are the correct diameter and No. of spokes, albeit not quite perfect in profile.
My main stumbling block is they are designed for a 1/8″in. axle, the Heljan loco has 2mm dia. axles – is there a (simplish!)way to fit a 2mm axle to these wheels? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Ray
Ray,
You could try bushing them. I’ve just checked my big tray of miscellaneous bearings, and I have a number that are 1/8″ OD and 2mm ID.
So I would press them into the loose wheels and slide them onto the 2mm axles. You would then have to loctite or pin the wheel/bush/axle to make sure that it didn’t move after you’d quartered the wheels.
An alternative would be to remove the Heljan wheels from the axle, and the final drive gear from the axle. Then, using a pillar drill and increasing sizes of drills, drill the holes out until they reach 1/8″ in size.
Well, I say that I’d do that. I wouldn’t. Those are about as simple as I think a solution could be using the original axles or chassis. I’d just sell the Heljan chassis and build a new one with 1/8″ bearings and a nice High Level gearbox/Mashima motor combination. I suspect that it won’t take much longer than getting a Heljan chassis conversion like that described above.
Good luck!
Paul