Shunter on a tight radius curve?

Pjlons83 · October 02, 2018, 06:30:59 PM

Hello all,

On my layout planning thread I've been asking about what to run on a tight flexi-track layout (around 4" radius). The consensus seems to be an 0-4-0 but There aren't many around. There was also a suggestion of an 0-6-0 with the centre wheels removed or flanges filed. I don't mind this but it's not ideal.

After much internet and eBay searching I came across some nice little Lima diesel shutters that only have 4 wheels. Does anybody know or ever tested if one of these will run on a tight radius curve? From the photos I can't properly see the wheel arrangement and from the side view they appear quite "fixed". I'm sure there's enough play for normal cornering but is there enough for a tight radius?

For £30 it's probably worth the gamble but wondered if anyone had any ideas first?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks
Paul

Bob Tidbury · October 02, 2018, 06:39:17 PM

The Lima shunters were very much over scale ,more like three mm than N gauge and they were very fast ,not much good for slow shunting manoeuvres ,the only Lima loco that was nearly N gauge was their version of an electric loco but that would be far to long for a very small layout and just wouldn't look right on tight curves .One of the Farish O3 or O4 shunters would suit you much better.
Bob Tidbury.

PLD · October 02, 2018, 06:45:02 PM

If its one of these
http://www.goinglocomodels.com/product/lima-d2790-diesel-br-blue-shunter-n-gauge-pre-owned/

simply avoid - horribly crude mechanism 80% chance it wont run, the other 20% have two speeds 'Max' and 'stop'...
body resembles nothing british and is way over scale you may have clearance issues.

Pjlons83 · October 02, 2018, 06:52:42 PM

Quote from: PLD on October 02, 2018, 06:45:02 PM
If its one of these

I'm glad I asked now because it's exactly that!

Quote from: Bob Tidbury on October 02, 2018, 06:39:17 PM
One of the Farish O3 or O4 shunters would suit you much better.
Bob Tidbury.

Thankyou. I'll have a search and see what I can find.

port perran · October 02, 2018, 07:02:31 PM

Just a thought.
Does it have to be a diesel?
If not, would a Dapol 0-4-2T cope on those very tight curves?

Pjlons83 · October 02, 2018, 07:21:26 PM

To be honest it doesn't have to be anything. I'm wide open to suggestions. The main thing for me is something that will just run!

If I'm completely honest I don't even know what all the numbers mean. I know it's something to do with how many wheels and how many are driving etc... but other than that I have to keep googling it to work it all out!

port perran · October 02, 2018, 07:29:55 PM

Try this.
It's 0 front bogies, 4 driving wheels and 2 trailing wheels hence0-4-2.
They are lovely little locos.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/223162513403?chn=ps&ul_ref=https%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F710-134428-41853-0%252F2%253Fmpre%253Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%25252Fi%25252F223162513403%25253Fchn%25253Dps%2526itemid%253D223162513403%2526targetid%253D520181215099%2526device%253Dm%2526adtype%253Dpla%2526googleloc%253D9061007%2526poi%253D%2526campaignid%253D1464305199%2526adgroupid%253D59704400547%2526rlsatarget%253Dpla-520181215099%2526abcId%253D1139116%2526merchantid%253D113747387%2526gclid%253DEAIaIQobChMIu9OKprHo3QIVLZPtCh21gQjKEAQYAiABEgLw_PD_BwE%2526srcrot%253D710-134428-41853-0%2526rvr_id%253D1689321294895%2526rvr_ts%253D360980b61660aad6c712814efffb9f8a

AlexanderJesse · October 02, 2018, 07:30:42 PM

Quote from: PLD on October 02, 2018, 06:45:02 PM
If its one of these
http://www.goinglocomodels.com/product/lima-d2790-diesel-br-blue-shunter-n-gauge-pre-owned/

simply avoid - horribly crude mechanism 80% chance it wont run, the other 20% have two speeds 'Max' and 'stop'...
body resembles nothing british and is way over scale you may have clearance issues.

and with the long wheelbase it requires bigger radiuses.... I have two of them ... 50% failure rate

ntpntpntp · October 02, 2018, 07:37:48 PM

The old Lima things are poor, as has been mentioned already.

Does it have to be British N? There are some lovely small continental N diesel shunters, the Köf types made by Arnold, Minitrix and Ibertren (the latter now out of production).

Arnold Köf II, Ibertren Köf III, with old Farish 08 for size comparison

There are also some slightly larger 0-4-0 diesels by Minitrix and Arnold.

There some really small Japanese shunters by TGW, though I have no experience of those.

What about small steam locos? Again Arnold, Fleischmann, Ibertren, Minitrix all offer (or have offered) them.

Need some more info on exactly what type of loco you want for your layout?

zwilnik · October 02, 2018, 07:39:52 PM

Are we talking the Kato super tight radius curves? In which case the old Minitrix T3 0-6-0 goes round those quite happily. The only real issue I found with most stock on those was that longer wheelbase wagons would easily buffer lock unless they had really long couplings.

Pjlons83 · October 02, 2018, 08:10:01 PM

Thank you for the replies. Not Kato; it's even tighter than that. I have 245mm to play with so it will be around 5" radius max.

The layout scenic are not set in stone but there will be an English industrial building in the centre that the siding sits alongside. Imagine the kind of train that did (or still does) deliver wagons and containers. English would be the ideal and if I could choose anything it would be steam but it is absolutely "rule 1" and it's just a bit of fun so I'd take reliability over geographic and age specific detail.

If it can do a full loop and back one wagon into the siding then I'd be very happy whatever it looked like. If I don't like the colour of what I find then I may even paint it and brand it as an imaginary private company delivery train.

ntpntpntp · October 02, 2018, 08:22:53 PM

Quote from: Pjlons83 on October 02, 2018, 08:10:01 PM
English would be the ideal and if I could choose anything it would be steam but it is absolutely "rule 1" and it's just a bit of fun so I'd take reliability over geographic and age specific detail.

How about this little thing, the Koppel loco by TGW? I don't know if these are actually any good.
https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10383037

Lazy-Ferret · October 02, 2018, 08:34:11 PM

I don't know how good these are, but I have a similar problem to you, as my layout will have tight turns, so I was looking at these 0-4-4-0. They could be fun and there are several of these from different manufacturers on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lima-N-gauge-diesel-locomotive-Large-Shunter-D8915/401598071568?hash=item5d811c4310:g:cbsAAOSwIr9bmTh7

There is also this little 0-4-0

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ARNOLD-N-GAUGE-2086-DB-CLASS-335-167-3-MAROON-DIESEL-SHUNTER-LOCOMOTIVE-OS2/192663983738?hash=item2cdbab167a:g:GgQAAOSwespbo1Yh

ntpntpntp · October 02, 2018, 08:42:08 PM

@Lazy-Ferret Don't bother with the Lima bogie centre-cab, it's basically an 0-4-0 mechanism like their small shunter (and just as poor), with the other wheels pivoting on fake bogies.

(This one had its motor removed decades ago and now acts as a dummy double-header)

If you want a V100 style centre-cab like that then I've always preferred the Minitrix above the Fleischmann and Arnold versions.

The little Arnold Köf III is a better model than the old Ibertren one I posted earlier. A bit bigger than their Köf II model.

Pjlons83 · October 02, 2018, 08:56:44 PM

Lots to look at there. Thanks to all. I think it will come down to which one a fancy on eBay on payday!

There's something about the TGW one that just doesn't look right but I can't put my finger what it is. I doesn't help that I work for a company called TGW so that might be putting me off a bit. Lol. I really like the Arnold kof II and the maroon Arnold shunter so thanks again for the links!

How tricky would it be to change the couplings on some of these smaller locos? They all appear to have couplings that I don't recognise.