Why, oh why, are there no 0-4-0 locos in n-gauge? Since mini shunting layouts seem to be among the most popular formats in our hobby, you'd think one of the manufacturers would grasp the nettle and provide a suitable engine. I recognise the challenge of fitting all the necessary gubbins (*technical term) in a small body, but still - given the popularity of little engines in the modding/kitbashing/scratchbuilding area - there ought to be a decent market?

I'd pay good money for a Peckett, Baguley-Drewry, or Hunslet and I'm sure others would too. And these engines represent the root, the very DNA, of railway locomotion. Those beggars in 00 and 009 gauges are pretty well served, so why not us?

Rant over!

You are correct Pete, just had a quick shufftie on the inter web and found these,

From this,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/N-Gauge-Ibertren-Cuckoo-0-4-0-With-Smoke-Generator-/391721342608

To this,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GRAHAM-FARISH-1109-ARNOLD-KIT-BUILT-0-4-0-MANNING-WARDLE-SADDLE-TANK-LOCO-SULTAN-/111294554700

Not brilliant is it....

Quote from: PeteW on March 08, 2017, 02:23:46 AM
Why, oh why, are there no 0-4-0 locos in n-gauge?

None in British N maybe, off the top of my head I can think of this slighly unprotoypical Japanese one: http://www.katomodels.com/n/pocket_line/

and sure I've seen some German/continental ones from the likes of Minitrix.

Personally I have no interest in these, but given that the NGS is doing an 0-6-0 Hunslett diesel, maybe there's some potential in the crowd-funding route?

The problem isn't fitting the technical gubbins in; it's getting power to those gubbins.

I've built a couple of pugs using the Shapeways print & Japanese chassis, and the main issues are (obviously) the short wheelbase, but also the lack of weight to push all 4 wheels down into contact with the track. Think about it - there's a small amount of vertical play in the axles (there has to be, otherwise they wouldn't turn). This in theory also helps to keep the wheels in contact with the track, but in reality means that, due to the lack of weight, only 3 wheels are in (electrical) contact with the rails at any one time. Even the tiniest spec of dirt or dust on the track or one of the wheels will render it completely stationary.

As you go down in scale the problem gets worse, so the above isn't much of a problem in OO gauge (2x the size means 8x the volume, so plenty of room to add weight).

Even if the Pug body was cast metal, there's so little of it that it wouldn't make much difference either. The only way round it in N is to add additional pickups to a truck permanently wired to the loco.

Having said that you can get 4 wheels to work, but it takes a lot of time, a lot of patience, and in my experience a lot of swearing, too. 6 wheels gives you more of a fighting chance, and is really the practical limit in N for most people, IMHO.

I'm currently running a Farish class 108 and 2 Dapol M7's that only pick-up on 4 wheels and do not experience any worse operation than power units with more wheels picking up the power.

Dodger

Don't know what an M7 is, but certainly the 108 will have far more weight bearing down on each wheelset than you could get with a small 0-4-0 loco


Paul

The newer Farish 101/108 dmu's have split axle current collection on the non-powered motor bogie.

Izzy

I too would like to buy British Outline 0-4-0 and 0-6-0 industrial locomotives. While there are a few useful 0-6-0s about, the Farish J94 springs to mind, I'd dearly love to be able to run a Hunslett, Peckett or Manning-Wardle on a branch or industrial line.

Thank you all for the interesting responses. I admit I hadn't considered the powerfeed issue, but if the 'cute' Japanese model that Railsquid linked to runs as well as most Katos are reputed to (no personal experience) it suggests that the problem is not insurmountable. And there have been a number of European models in 0-4-0 that again, reputedly, run pretty well (if you can find a good one).

It was an evening-long trawl through eBay looking for a suitable donor that prompted the OP. I'm pretty confident in my modelling abilities to consider kitbashing something even remotely prototypical. But I have no confidence in my ability to source the parts and build a powered chassis. I've looked, and looked again, at the Kato 11-103 chassis, which obviously works well for 009 models but seems a bit on the large side for anything in N.

As Byegad points out, there are several 0-6-0s - I've just bought a Farish J94 myself - and away from the steely gaze of MrsW there are a couple of 04 diesels in my eBay watch list. But my next investment really must be some track. An immobile engine on the desk and some imagination can only take you so far  .

You can get the Kato pocket line series in the UK:

http://www.topslotsntrains.com/topslotsntrains/final.asp?ref=Kato-Japan-10-502-1-N-Scale-POCKET-LINE---MINI-CONVEX-RED-FREIGHT-TRAIN-&id=11799&manufacturer=%27KATO%20N%20Gauge%27

They do run well for their tiny size 

@PeteW

Cheers John.

Quote from: scotsoft on March 08, 2017, 01:15:51 PM
You can get the Kato pocket line series in the UK:

http://www.topslotsntrains.com/topslotsntrains/final.asp?ref=Kato-Japan-10-502-1-N-Scale-POCKET-LINE---MINI-CONVEX-RED-FREIGHT-TRAIN-&id=11799&manufacturer=%27KATO%20N%20Gauge%27

They do run well for their tiny size 

@PeteW

Cheers John.

That if they get any in they've been out of stock for about 18 months.

Dodger

Quote from: dodger on March 08, 2017, 01:20:09 PM

Quote from: scotsoft on March 08, 2017, 01:15:51 PM
You can get the Kato pocket line series in the UK:

http://www.topslotsntrains.com/topslotsntrains/final.asp?ref=Kato-Japan-10-502-1-N-Scale-POCKET-LINE---MINI-CONVEX-RED-FREIGHT-TRAIN-&id=11799&manufacturer=%27KATO%20N%20Gauge%27

They do run well for their tiny size 

@PeteW

Cheers John.

That if they get any in they've been out of stock for about 18 months.

Dodger

I did not spot that, thanks for pointing it out 

Cheers John.

A glimmer of hope, instantly crushed

Quote from: PeteW on March 08, 2017, 02:02:38 PM
A glimmer of hope, instantly crushed

A bit more research indicates this version: http://www.katomodels.com/n/chibiloco/ is due for release this month. It might be directly available from: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10113309 (though they do something funny with their links so I can't check that from within Japan).

Thanks, but after a bit of reading around it looks as though those little Katos are powered by a motor in the carriage, not the loco itself. Which obviously rules them out of a shunting role. It would be helpful to many of us, I'm sure, if we could get that confirmed or refuted.