WHEEL INSTALLATION GUIDE

Swapping the Deltic wheels over is a straightforward process, but modellers should be made aware of a couple of potential pitfalls. The brake chains have to be released from the bodyshell first on both sides of each bogie sideframe moulding before removal.

The mouldings are attached with clips at the sides as well as the ends and they are tricky to remove. Care must be taken not to disengage the bogie pivot clip which is also the cover to the bogie gear tower. Clipping it back into place is simple enough, but reaching it under all of the electronics within the model takes a lot of time and careful dismantling work.

The new wheels do not have any lubricant on the axles or gears. There is usually enough in the bogie frames to transfer an effective amount, using a micro-brush, to the gears and axle bushes. The ‘OO’ gauge wheels are carefully stored in case they have to be reinstated in the future.

1: The Deltic wheel sets are secured in place by the outside bogie frame mouldings. Before unclipping them from the bogie inner frame, release the brake chains from the body.

2: The four side clips indicated by the red arrows are very tight and require some gentle persuasion to disengage. The remotest rough handling may unclip the bogie pivot plate which is also the gear tower cover. It keeps the bogie secured to the pivot moulded in the chassis.

3: Once removed, the wheels can be seen, slotted but not clipped in to the inner bogie frame. The use of brass axle bushes is good engineering practice which reduces wear on the inner frame.

4: The axle bushes are not clipped in the bogie inner frame and consequently, the original wheel sets simply fall out. The new ones are dropped in place and moved from side to side to check that they are free to rotate. The current collection pick-ups are adjusted for optimal contact with the wheels.

5: A little lubricant is applied to the bushes and gears before the plastic frames are clipped back in place. The first run was on rolling road saddles to test for tight spots and any unusual noise from the mechanism suggesting that the model is not correctly set up.

6: The Deltic shares track with another recently converted locomotive for testing and evaluation. The new Accurascale wheels were very nicely made meaning that the Deltic took to the ‘EM’ gauge mainline without any need for fine tuning. Normally, some time fettling a newly converted model is usually part of the conversion procedure.