Postie delivered one of my birthday pressies today - this superb little J50 which our own Paul Chetter has breathed some life into:




She's an absolute delight shown here in front of Doug's "Bear's End Mill" and the sound project is fantastic - I'll post more on that soon. 

She's remarkably heavy for her size so, given that they were originally "heavy shunters",  I suspect she'll pull well, even on "local traffic" duties. 

One word of caution - your trackwork needs to be good !!  I didn't ask for, and Paul didn't fit, a "stay alive" so, typical of 0-6-0's, she'll pick up every little defect where power might be lost - in particular, she hates my old style double slips which will have to go.  On Maxmill, there are lots of those "defects" that had largely gone un-noticed because all my other 0-6-0's have "stay alive" fitted.

As my trackwork is Code 100, I don't think Peco make an insulfrog double slip but the later style, with finer rail, is far less difficult for her - although it too, is far from trouble-free.  ("Note to self - always use electrofrog pointwork and, if the wiring seems difficult, learn how to do it "!!!)

Another shot at "Bear's End Mill" -

 


To be fair, I had bought this loco (and my earlier Paul Chetter chipped Class 08) specifically for the "shunting puzzle" I'm building where what track there is, will be Code 75 Finescale and there are only 2 points - both electro-frog.

She looks right at home there dosn,t she.


Pete.

Nice! Sound locos…. I dream of sound locos. Not a little envious here!

Marty

C'mon Peter, where's the video quest:

(Looks great)


Ed

Nice loco Peter…..pity it's the wrong colour but I am looking forward to the video

Regarding the double slips …….I am not sure if the geometry is the same but if it is could you substitute Code 75 electro frog slips and use 75/100 transition joiners to connect to the track work?

Cheers

Colour blind John? Most locos were not covered by mildew!!

I had planned to do a short video today but I'm having major problems getting it to run on anything except perfect track - so much so in fact, that I wonder if there's a broken pickup connection or two ……….:roll:

Another problem I've found is that their NEM pocket positioning bears little or no resemblence to NRMA standards when it comes to fitting Kadee couplings. :twisted:    Had they been too high, then I could simply have dropped them using shims but in fact, they're too low, by some way.  I'll check the Kadee catalogue but I don't think even an undershot shank would lift them sufficiently. 

On perfect track and over electrofrog points, and having given the track and wheels a thorough clean, she runs superbly.  She looks good, she sounds fantastic, although I think I might reduce the volume slightly. :roll:   Paul knows my hearing isn't what it used to be, and warned me it was loud, but I think it's maybe just a tad too loud. :thumbs  That's easily corrected via a CV.  I also wonder if there's room for a "stay alive" under the bonnet…….:roll:

I think John, doing what you suggest with the slips will be the way to go - the only problem is, I have 3 of them and, at £35 each, I may just have another look at my track plan to see if there's an alternative…………..:roll:

I'm starting to think maybe this loco isn't destined for Maxmill and it's "less than perfect" trackwork ……..:hmm  As I said earlier, I had bought it with the shunting puzzle in mind so I might just leave Maxmill "as is", and reserve the J50 for the new (and better laid) puzzle…………….:roll::roll:

It's been said many times before that laying track well is critical.  Whilst my trackwork isn't that bad, I know, and admit, it's not perfect but, Mr Hornby, I had expected better performance.   I've certainly learnt a lesson here.  :oops:

Peter ,it might be worth checking with Paul……there is an apostle joke lurking there or maybe I should introduce Mary…..he will have had the body off and no doubt checked the pickups………in any event I would  be inclined to whip the body off and clean the wheels and check the pick up alignment and connection…..you may also want email Tony about his…he seemed pretty happy

Regarding the Kadees:shock:…….it's an ongoing problem that I am constantly fiddling with……in situations like this where the supplied coupler pocket is too low….my solution ,which you might not care for (and does make body removal tricky) , is to remove the coupler pocket and mount the Kadee #18 or 19 directly on the chassis

Couldn't agree more about track work…..if only I knew then what I know now:oops:……..right now I am doing a Ron (Sol) and ripping up track on my dairy site…….6 wheel tankers are very very averse to badly laid points:twisted:

Cheers

John

edited to add emoticons…Ipad puts them in all the wrong places!

She's a little beauty, looks right at home there Peter!
 

Thanks Barney, she does indeed look at hame and, apart from the rather important problems noted above, she really is a little beauty.

John, I have checked the visible pickups and cleaned the wheels, both inside where the pickups run and treads - all looks fine and the 6 pickup tabs are in good contact with the inner rims, but as you say, I can't see inside to check if anything has come loose.

I am e-mailing Paul anyway and will certainly check things with him.  I have strong suspicions there might be something come adrift between Lincolnshire and here because she does stutter or stop at the slightest hint of anything short of perfection.  I can't believe she's designed like that in this day and age.

Does this loco have a compensated chassis, Peter?

I know that my Terrier struggles unless it's on perfectly flat rails.

I don't think so Max but, the more I think about it, the more I'm sure there's something not right.

I did admit to having less than perfect track but it's not that bad and this loco is not coping with it at all.  I'll have a look inside to see if anything has obviously come adrift in transit - you know how the Post Office treats packages …………………….:roll:  It was packed in it's original box and surrounded by those airbags in the larger box but they seem to see packaging as some kind of a challenge - the more delicate they think the contents are, the harder they try to break them.

John, I'll check the Kadees again tomorrow but I'm not sure gluing a draft gearbox directly to the chassis would raise the knuckle sufficiently ……in the NEM pocket, it only just makes contact at the very bottom of the next knuckle.  All the Kadees I fit are checked against the KD height gauge so none are more than the odd millimetre out.  I wonder if Tony uses Kadees ……………? :roll:

Hi Peter

Kadees 17 thru 20 have the fish tails designed to plug into NEM coupler pockets…….when I have a too short problem I cut out the fitted NEM coupler pocket and glue the #18 Kadee directly to the chassis……no draft box

Cheers

John

Peter
My J50 runs perfectly on my Code 100 track and I have fitted a kadee coupler which seems ok. I will pop up into my man cave and check which one I fitted and come back to you.
Regards
Derek

Thanks Derek :thumbs

It's not the Code 100 that's the problem - it runs fine on that (when it does actually run).  The reason I mentioned Code 100 was to do with electro double slips - they only come in Code 75.  Actually, maybe other "Codes" too but not in Code 100.

It will be interesting to see your Kadee fitted.  Mine fits the NEM pocket OK, it's the height that's the problem - regardless of which way up I put the NEM pocket (there's one slightly thinner side on them so flipping them can gain maybe a half millimetre up or down).

I'm not sure I've understood your comments about gluing the coupling direct to the chassis without a gearbox John. :roll::roll:   Doing that would remove any sideways movement on the shank surely …………………:hmm

   Doing that would remove any sideways movement on the shank surely .
yes it does Peter but all still works fine a lot of my old stuff is done that way,
:thumbs;-):cool:
Owen

Thanks Owen:thumbs

In truth there is very little movement of the NEM pocket and the shank doesn't move within the pocket……the key movement is at the fishtail

It's not an ideal solution but it does work when all else fails ……I will try and take a photo of one later

Cheers

Peter, my Bachmann Pannier runs quite well through my Insulfrog double slip even at slow speeds.

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

Postie delivered one of my birthday pressies today - this superb little J50 which out own Paul Chetter has breathed some life into:




She's an absolute delight shown here in front of Doug's "Bear's End Mill" and the sound project is fantastic - I'll post more on that soon. 

She's remarkably heavy for her size so, given that they were originally "heavy shunters",  I suspect she'll pull well, even on "local traffic" duties. 

One word of caution - your trackwork needs to be good !!  I didn't ask for, and Paul didn't fit, a "stay alive" so, typical of 0-6-0's, she'll pick up every little defect where power might be lost - in particular, she hates my old style double slips which will have to go.  On Maxmill, there are lots of those "defects" that had largely gone un-noticed because all my other 0-6-0's have "stay alive" fitted.

As my trackwork is Code 100, I don't think Peco make an insulfrog double slip but the later style, with finer rail, is far less difficult for her - although it too, is far from trouble-free.  ("Note to self - always use electrofrog pointwork and, if the wiring seems difficult, learn how to do it "!!!)

Another shot at "Bear's End Mill" -

 


To be fair, I had bought this loco (and my earlier Paul Chetter chipped Class 08) specifically for the "shunting puzzle" I'm building where what track there is, will be Code 75 Finescale and there are only 2 points - both electro-frog.

 

And WHAT a magnificent layout too !!