Bob Allison
Remove the wheel sets from the chassis but don’t remove the wheels from the axles. Then for each wheel in turn:-
- Support the back of each wheel on something flat and solid – I used an old brass angle, half inch x half inch x eighth inch thick with a notch for the axle.
- Gently tap the centre of the axle downwards with a flat-ended rod, less than axle diameter. Keep checking back to back until it has increased by half the required widening.
- Repeat for the other wheel
- Add split washers to pack out from the side of the chassis and replace in the chassis.
I have only done this for an inside cylinder 0-8-0 and am a bit surprised that folks have got away with it on east coast pacifics. Perhaps they don’t mind missing footsteps or large lumps carved out from the back of the cylinders. Propietary locos often have a thick washer to bring the centre of the con rods out to the cylinder centres – it may need replacing with a thinner washer. Clearance between the leading crankpin and back of slidebars/crosshead is another potential conflict – some careful measurement will be needed before going down this route.
A couple of general observations:-
- A loco converted this way will look, from sideways on, exactly like the original proprietary model. For me, I would begin to wonder why I went EM Gauge in the first place, but other folks may feel differently.
- Such quickie conversions definitely won’t run on Pendon style track, as discussed on the other thread.
Bob