Anyone able to give me a guide as to some basic dimensions for 009 gauge. In particular what's a typical loading gauge (W x H) and when laying tracks in parallel what's the recommended distance between track centres?
Also I've been hunting all over the webs and whilst there appears to be shed loads of loco body kits for this gauge floating around most appear to require obsolete or hard to come by N gauge chassis, anybody in a position to recommend manufactures who also supply chassis?
There are no standards for 009 - it's a variable scale guage ratio which alters depending upon the prototype being modelled. Basically, if it looks right, then it is right.
Yes, that's what I sort of thought, I was just wondering if there was any "typical" distances. Appreciating of course that quarry/mine tipplers will be little wider than the track whilst passenger carrying stock may be nearly as wide as standard gauge stock.
009 being entirely new to me I'm just looking for a little guidance before I commit.
John is basically right - if it looks right, then it is right! Passenger stock isn't necessarily anywhere near the width of standard gauge stock - it depends on the prototype. If I were you, I would look at all the information on various protoype narrow gauge lines you can find until you find a "style" that suits you, then base your layout on that. Do you want to model a generic North Wales railway, or a skip line in Kent, or a mountain railway in Switzerland? You need to get the "feel" of what you want to model, and that feeling builds up by looking at all the options! You will then find that the actual loading gauge or distance between tracks just sort of falls into place. I model the Festiniog Railway, and this has a different feel to the Talyllyn, for instance, or the Vale of Rheidol, or the NWNGR, or the BVZ Zermatt Railway. Please, please, please don't build a rabbit warren!
Have you looked at the 009 Society?
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If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you might like to consider the Fine Scale Narrow Gauge Study Group This is the P4 of narrow gauge, with a preponderance of components filched from the 2mm Scale Association! See my website...
Well what I have in mind is something along the lines of a quarry/mineral line (certainly some form of "bulk industrial" ... say timber) to be the line's reason for existance that runs through the outskirts of a small market town down to an interchange at a standard guage station. I have around 8' x 3' at one end, around 18/20' to the outer limit of the standard gauge station and around 6/8' for the interchange (also built on 3' boards). The whole narrow gauge being elevated around 8 to 6" above the standard guage line for most of it's length.
To ambitious?
The other option is plan "A" where I simply have a small standard gauge terminus in place of the narrow gauge.
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Yes, didn't find much in the way of technical info though.
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I've visited your site before, *very impressive work*. I already tend to re-wheel my stock (mainly using Gibson wheels) ... certainly "new builds" all have "finescale" wheels but I'm not going to go down the route of handbuilding track ... not at this stage anyway ... whatever gauge combination I settle on I'll simply have to much to lay ... I might have to handbuild a few points/crossings but that's a different matter. Cheers anyway :-)
009 covers all forms of narrow gauge and Welshpool stock for example is far larger than Ffestiniog stock. If you want a cheap loco the Ertl Thomas The Tank Engine range offers possibilities together with a Farish chassis - see
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Mike Parkes snipped-for-privacy@mphgate.removetoreply demon.co.uk
Speaking for myself I don't have to much of an issue building kits (or even doing simple scratch builds) per se in order to get what I'm after, what concerns me a little is that many of the available loco kits appear to be optimised for a particular RTR chassis and these chassis tend to be (a) quite expensive in themselves and/or (b) as rare as teeth on a hen.
Having said that the scale/gauge combination appears to offer a lot of possibilities, I've done some sketching over the course of the day and as the boards are already done (
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) I spent an additional hour or so mocking up an idea or two so I think I'm sold ...
... am still concerned over the chassis/body kit issue though.
I have been well pleased by Fleichman N Gauge chassis, bit pricy but they run well and handle 7.5 inch radius curves with no problem (even the big engines). Cut off top of cab, cut strip of metal from baked bean tin, bend to produce inverted U, holes front and rear for windows, solder rectangles to lower sides leaving small gap between for access, attach to existing body using 2-part epoxy or Milliput.
I think the others have covered the vagaries of track gauges. To put into real world perspective, I've been on meter gauge stock in Switzerland which felt as big as some UK standard gauge stock. At the other extreme, some Welsh quarry prototypes are tiny; its amazing the crews didn't loose their heads on the clearances.
I think Backwoods Miniatures supply chassis for some (all?) of their kit designs.
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They are similar in constructional difficulty to a typical **quality** etched 4mm scale standard gauge kit. And also similar in fidelity when finished; so a long way from many of the 009 cast-metal kits which wizz about on commercial N gauge chassis. (I don't know if they offer versions for finescale narrow gauge as discussed by Paul Boyd. )
Therefore, expect it to fit together, make use of the right materials, tab and slot construction. But the builder needs to be able to wield a soldering iron, to cut out etches accurately, file off tabs, fold things (a door hinge helps, and a lot cheaper than a Hold&Fold tool), etc. Rather more work than a few bits of whitemetal and Uhu (or Araldite), but a better result.
Their Bagnall looks rather sweet, I'm tempted by one once the current Scalefour standard gauge loco is finished.
- Nigel (who occaisionally builds a kit to Scalefour standards as a break from scratchbuilding in 2mm :-) )
They don't offer this standard specifically - you are left to your own imagination as to how to do it! The kits as supplied do perform very well when built to 009 standards because they aren't based on wizzy N-gauge chassis. I would agree with Nigel in that these are the Malcolm Mitchell or Martin Finney of narrow gauge kits.
...when you feel like something huge to model! I'm concurrently rebuilding a GWR 14XX chassis to P4 standard, and it feels massive compared to a bogie for a Double Fairlie with a smidgen over 5mm over the frames - even smaller than 2mm scale. (I have actually bought a 2mm scale kit which might turn itself into a mini-layout sometime - I'm not just filching the Associations parts for nefarious uses!!!)
they come complete with wheels, gears and motors (another pet hate of mine is "incomplete kits"). They don't look particularly cheap but on the other hand there's more than enough variaty to cover anything I might want to build. Thanks for the pointer.
I've recently finished my first brass engine, the 'X2' class Peckett 0-6-0ST from Mercian Models
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(I'll post pics of my effort when I get the chance), of course mine's British Scarlet instead of GWR Green and is still awaiting lettering ("Wilson's Engineering") and a final coat of paint but even if I say so myself it doesn't look to bad ... and it stays on the rails. :-) I presume that the techniques are going to be similar.
Out of interest, what's recommended for couplings? I'm definitely going for a mixed gauge layout now and in terms of operating I see the narrow gauge stuff primarily being kept in semi-permanent rakes with only the engines, brakes and a few vans needing to be coupled/un-coupled on a regular basis. Clearly I can use 3-link/screw or even wire and loop for the rakes but I was wondering what would be best for the remainder ...
If you're OK building one of those, then you'll be OK with a Backwoods Miniatures kit. I have four-ish on the go, and you'll find they go together beautifully. Although they're not cheap in terms of pounds, shillings and pence, you get an awful lot for your money. The kits are really worth more....and don't forget, they really are complete down to the last nut and bolt - no extras except solder, paint and transfers.
Now you're asking! I lot of 009 people I think still use Bemo couplings, which are fine as they go, but a bit on the chunky side. No delayed uncoupling either. Personally, I would recommend either DG or B&B couplings, which are compatible with each other, and are relatively easy to set up. There is also the MBM coupling that I don't know much about, and another interesting one is the MBD coupling from BH Enterprises as reviewed in the May RM. I haven't tried these, but probably will. All of these offer delayed uncoupling (not sure about the MBM though), and they are all remarkable cheap! Perhaps I should mention that you should go for the "N-gauge" version of any of these couplings.
Available from a handful of commercial outlets, and DG are available from the maker and the 2mm Scale Association shop (members only).
An old design by Mike Bryant who was doing product development for the 2mm Scale Association in the early 1980s. Sort of upside down minature tension-lock (hornby OO) in brass with a counter weight under the vehicle to close it. Magnetically operated, though it does not have delayed action. I believe its still around through N gauge sources, but cannot think of a good reason to recommend the MBM over the DG or BB unless you need compatibility with an existing rolling stock fleet.
Mark Fielder has cut down the 2mm/N version of the DG for Nn3 modelling, so its possible to make it a bit smaller.
Paul Windle makes a refined, etched brass version of the Bemo coupling which can incorporate delayed uncoupling. It is, I believe, available from Parkside Dundas or direct from Paul.
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