trawling through Ebay and other sites I see the Tomytec chassis look very similar in construction, some have more than one bogie size, does anybody know if the bogies can be swapped between chassis, or if they are available as separate items; also can te chassis be shortened at all?
I'd like a 15M chassis with 8' bogies, currently on Ebay there are no 15M listed, I checked the list elsewhere on this forum and there is a 15M listed but with 7' bogies.
Do I go for a 16M chassis and shorten it (if poss) a 14M and lengthen it, also do I buy any chassis with 8' bogies and swap bogies?
I had a look at Modelbahn who stock them, but their prices are nearly twice Plaza Japan on Ebay so they won't feature on my shopping list! I don'tmind waiting a few extra days.
(I feel an LSWR steam railcar coming on!)
Hi Mike
Have a look here and see if anyone does the size you want without hacking it.
http://www.trainweb.org/tomix/ChassisDim.htm (http://www.trainweb.org/tomix/ChassisDim.htm)
Think your after a TM-07?
Regards
Russ
Thanks Russ, but already looked there: yes Russ, having rechecked measurements and working on distance between bogie centres the closest to what I need is the TM-07.
Some tomix (and other Jap chassis) can be shorted, some can't so easily. It depends on the version. In some cases the chassis ends can be clipped off easily without affecting the chassis construction, on others if you chop bits off the equilibrium of the original chassis can be affected, spoiling the running quality.
On the Kato Budd railcar chassis the bogies can be inverted with a bit of modification, slightly varying the wheelbase. Some of the Japanese chassis even have adjustable bogies, actually designed to be moved to slightly adjust length.
Quote from: Dorsetmike on October 12, 2013, 05:13:44 PM
I see the Tomytec chassis look very similar in construction, some have more than one bogie size, does anybody know if the bogies can be swapped between chassis, or if they are available as separate items; also can te chassis be shortened at all?
The Bachmann/Farish class 170/158 chassis are designed especially to be able to adjust the bogie positions. It's quite easy to form a standard 46' 6" bogie centres chassis (for 63' stock) and the bogie wheel-base and wheel size are larger and closer to British types than the Tomix stuff.
H.
I'm looking to a 1906 LSWR steam railmotor, 52' 7" over buffers and 41' wheelbase - 33' between bogie centres and 8 foot bogies, would the Farish chassis cut down that much? So far the Tomytec TM-07 has correct bogie wheelbase but is 5mm too long the TM-10 has 7 bogies but is only 2mm short. In an ideal world the bogies and chassis would be available separately so I could get a TM10 chassis and a pair of 8' bogies.
Quote from: Dorsetmike on October 13, 2013, 11:58:38 AM
I'm looking to a 1906 LSWR steam railmotor, 52' 7" over buffers and 41' wheelbase - 33' between bogie centres and 8 foot bogies, would the Farish chassis cut down that much? So far the Tomytec TM-07 has correct bogie wheelbase but is 5mm too long the TM-10 has 7 bogies but is only 2mm short. In an ideal world the bogies and chassis would be available separately so I could get a TM10 chassis and a pair of 8' bogies.
For the Farish one you'd be better off using a modern chassis like the class 101 or 108 DMU I think. Those have a motor bogie and a pickup bogie so are quite easy to adjust lengthwise and at 57' initially you don't need to tweak it too much. Axle spacing is for 8'6" so not far off.
Biggest problem with the Tomix ones is the wheels are a scale 2'6 or so while most UK stuff is 3' - 3'6 (H13 is I believe 2'9 which is quite odd)
The new style class 101 DMU chassis is also arranged with the motor slightly offset from one end (to leave the guards door clear) which might be sufficient that you can stuff the motor in the railmotor end of the unit and leave the (doorless) front cab clear. Likewise as it's not full length you can keep the gate doors on the bodyside clear.
The Tomix chassis wouldn't leave the lower part of the gate clear but the gates would hide most of it and it ought to fit below the window. Also unlike the Farish one you can get closer to the real bogie look with inside frames.
Tricky one.. stretch it to fit the chassis or use slightly underlength bogies.