Thomas is a useful little engine

[DGE-Railroad]

One morning, Thomas was dozing peacefully in Tidmouth sheds when he heard a cough. He blinked awake to see the Fat Controller eyeing him up thoughtfully.

"Hello Thomas", said the Fat Controller.

"Hello Sir" yawned Thomas. "I wasn't expecting to see anyone today. It's my day off. Do you need me to help out?"

"You could say that Thomas" replied the Fat Controller. "How do you feel about a nice new coat of paint?"

Whilst Thomas beamed happily, the Fat Controller whipped out a posidrive screwdriver and removed half a dozen screws. Five minutes later Thomas was aware of somebody levering his boiler off.

"Mwhjjhhhhh!!!" screamed Thomas as by this point he'd lost his face.

"Shush" soothed the fat controller as he removed a ton of un-necessary gearing that moved Thomas' ridiculous swivelling eyes and were therefore adding friction to the drivetrain.

As Thomas sunk into oblivion he as faintly aware of the Fat Controller whistling a catchy theme tune and the unmistakable smell of Tamiya paint as his wheels were painted.

The Fat Controller studied the photograph he held in his podgy hand and smiled in satisfaction. "I have plans for you Thomas", he said ominously. "Oh yes...I have plans for you"

 

[DGE-Railroad]

Before a lynching mob arrives at the door, I should mention that my son's Thomas remains untouched and has, in a fit of remorse, been treated to an LED upgrade.


According to my calipers and some 57xx measurements, Bachmanns cheery little model seems very close for a 1:32 scale in terms of driver diameter and spacing! Hence the unwitting guinea pig

 

[Chris Vernell]

The Fat Controller studied the photograph he held in his podgy hand and smiled in satisfaction. "I have plans for you Thomas", he said ominously. "Oh yes...I have plans for you"
View attachment 279357

QUACK!

 

[DGE-Railroad]

QUACK!

They should have made him...

 

[Gavin Sowry]

QUACK!

I'll echo that..... woops, hang on, duck's quacks don't echo.

 

[Rhinochugger]

One morning, Thomas was dozing peacefully in Tidmouth sheds when he heard a cough. He blinked awake to see the Fat Controller eyeing him up thoughtfully.

"Hello Thomas", said the Fat Controller.

"Hello Sir" yawned Thomas. "I wasn't expecting to see anyone today. It's my day off. Do you need me to help out?"
View attachment 279353
"You could say that Thomas" replied the Fat Controller. "How do you feel about a nice new coat of paint?"

Whilst Thomas beamed happily, the Fat Controller whipped out a posidrive screwdriver and removed half a dozen screws. Five minutes later Thomas was aware of somebody levering his boiler off.
View attachment 279354
"Mwhjjhhhhh!!!" screamed Thomas as by this point he'd lost his face.
View attachment 279354
"Shush" soothed the fat controller as he removed a ton of un-necessary gearing that moved Thomas' ridiculous swivelling eyes and were therefore adding friction to the drivetrain.
View attachment 279355View attachment 279356
As Thomas sunk into oblivion he as faintly aware of the Fat Controller whistling a catchy theme tune and the unmistakable smell of Tamiya paint as his wheels were painted.
View attachment 279358
The Fat Controller studied the photograph he held in his podgy hand and smiled in satisfaction. "I have plans for you Thomas", he said ominously. "Oh yes...I have plans for you"
View attachment 279357

Wot, a pannier tank without swiveling eyes

 

[PhilP]

Wot, a pannier tank without swiveling eyes

Have these on me!

 

[Flying15]

Before a lynching mob arrives at the door, I should mention that my son's Thomas remains untouched and has, in a fit of remorse, been treated to an LED upgrade.
View attachment 279369

According to my calipers and some 57xx measurements, Bachmanns cheery little model seems very close for a 1:32 scale in terms of driver diameter and spacing! Hence the unwitting guinea pig

Thomas is ideal for surgery
Here is a reconstruction based loosely on the actual re creation of the Donald and Douglass loco characters
The real thing is a Hunslet (J94) rebuild Into a tender loco

 

[DGE-Railroad]

The mock-up looks a bit wrong. I’m trying to figure out why.
Thomas has been on a diet to lose weight off his hips and get him a bit more proportioned in the beam.

I think the wrongness may be the lack of continuity at the base of the smokebox, the blue/grey chassis colour and the chassis sides/ rear overhang all of which are still to be sorted and contribute to an ‘on stilts’ look

Here he is mid-transformation

And here is todays printed effort - a backhead!

 

[dunnyrail]

The mock-up looks a bit wrong. I’m trying to figure out why.
Thomas has been on a diet to lose weight off his hips and get him a bit more proportioned in the beam.

I think the wrongness may be the lack of continuity at the base of the smokebox, the blue/grey chassis colour and the chassis sides/ rear overhang all of which are still to be sorted and contribute to an ‘on stilts’ look

Here he is mid-transformation
View attachment 279585

I think the proportions of the Cab and Tanks look ok it is the rounded footplate at the front, they were straight on a pannier. Get that sorted and you will be well on your way.

 

[DGE-Railroad]

I think the proportions of the Cab and Tanks look ok it is the rounded footplate at the front, they were straight on a pannier. Get that sorted and you will be well on your way.

Thanks Jon
Yes, the drop above the front bufferbeam is a challenge. I need to straighten that out.

 

[DGE-Railroad]

A small amount of progress has been made.

Having multiple projects on the go, makes for slow headway on EVERYTHING

 

[DGE-Railroad]

A little more progress on Thomas, no Duck...er.. Thuck?

Other than the mech, this is now pretty much z 3D printed project so probably belongs in that forum

After a good bit of pondering over the main deck/frame of the original Thomas I just wasnt happy with it, do it's been ditched in favour of a printed replacement.

The splashers are hollow to let it sit a bit lower over the the wheels and hanging points used (circled) to pick up the original gearbox mounting screws.

To get sufficient clearance for the comparatively low boiler, the top gearbox screw was removed (circled) but it doesnt seem to have affected the rigidity of it and there are now no gears in this part anyway.

The rest of it is all printed now. Im just tweaking the footplate to use existing fixing screws in the cab and it can get painted and all go together

 

[PhilP]

To my eyes, the Thomas - family sit a little high over the wheels /motion?

This should be a great improvement.

PhilP

 

[Paul M]

Thuck?

Definitely not

 

[DGE-Railroad]

Looking a bit piebald but definitely on the home straight. I’m waiting on the Railpro module and a speaker before finalising everything.

I’m debating whether or not to try to fit the low-hanging brake frame that holds the brakes. It’s tricky as I’ve realised Bachmann have made the crank web a bit oversized which means the rods are moving through a larger arc than they should, which in turn makes clearing the brake frame impossible unless I oversize it a bit.

The frame itself is quite a defining feature once you notice it and I’m wondering whether it will look obvious that it’s missing

 

[dunnyrail]

I ran up brake rigging on my Red loco that has a Piko chassis, made from thin brass soldered up and fitted to pins with part holes in the chassis was well worth the effort and does not touch the wheels. Perhaps though the Bachmann Chassis is somewhat more wobbly? Admittedly mine were inside the wheels but the issues of side play are equally valid. You can see what I did in post #6. And yes I think that you will probably be unhappy without them!

Red Battery GRS Pecket Loco Conversion using Fosworks and NiMh Batteries with My Loco Sound.

I bought this loco for around £145 back in October 2020. I had been involved with suggesting the price to a lady that had asked us for some values and as nobody appeared to be interested I took the opportunity to buy it as I thought it looked rather nice. It is a Piko 0-6-0 Chassis with what I...

www.gscalecentral.net

 

[DGE-Railroad]

I ran up brake rigging on my Red loco that has a Piko chassis, made from thin brass soldered up and fitted to pins with part holes in the chassis was well worth the effort and does not touch the wheels. Perhaps though the Bachmann Chassis is somewhat more wobbly? Admittedly mine were inside the wheels but the issues of side play are equally valid. You can see what I did in post #6. And yes I think that you will probably be unhappy without them!

Red Battery GRS Pecket Loco Conversion using Fosworks and NiMh Batteries with My Loco Sound.

I bought this loco for around £145 back in October 2020. I had been involved with suggesting the price to a lady that had asked us for some values and as nobody appeared to be interested I took the opportunity to buy it as I thought it looked rather nice. It is a Piko 0-6-0 Chassis with what I...

www.gscalecentral.net

Thanks I think you're right. After a night sleeping on it and then reading your thread, I think it's the right thing to do.

There is a fair bit of side-to-side movement which I guess I could limit if I need to. I'll try putting together a frame that will allow clearance as-is and see how it looks...
Out with the styrene bar!

 

[DGE-Railroad]

Thomas' poor old gearbox has undergone a bit more surgery. The Railpro module needs 11.1v, which starts to raise a few battery challenges in the smaller locos. Ive opted for a compact little LiPo I had laying around for this build - a departure from my usual Li-Ion approach.

The best place for any battery was going to be up front; a space wasted by a section of now-empty gearbox casing. After a swift application of Mister Saw, there is now enough space for the battery pack. Once the 9-pin connector arrives, it can all be wired together. In the meantime, the transformatuon to Duck has been helped with a liberal dollop of paint. A few more details need to be applied and it can have its maiden run

 

[Paul M]

I want one