American Chassis 2

The chap from whom I bought mine remarked that the model Shop in Bodmin could not sell these chassis because they were too cheap - hence he obtained the last of what had become clearance items. To get this performance I would hack and slash all day!

So they run OK then? What do you reckon about the idea of putting one under a Hornby HST?

Adrian

There seem to be quite a few of these amazingly cheap American locos about, with Bachmann-Spectrum listing many at less than £30 new, and Shrewsbury Models also having some from another manufacturer. All it needs is some enterprising body to work out bogie centres and wheelbase along with wheel diameters... If the bogie centres were way out, it might (depending on the design) be possible to hack the universal drive shafts and 'chassis' to fit the body, rather than vice-versa. This is the path I followed when using Hornby Class

Hmm. Sounds like it might be worth a try.

Adrian

"Adrian B" wrote

Pick up a used class 24 or 25 on eBay and use that.

John.

The one I have is Co-Co but no doubt the sages know of a Bo-Bo version. I am still trying to find sources of data.

Almost without exception chassis for American H0 scale Bo-Bo locos have wheels that are to small and to close together for UK 4mm scale locos. Same goes for Co-Co locos as well. The PA class with a long wheelbase could just be used for a class 37 or 50 if you fitted larger wheels, the slightly short wheelbase is only noticeable under close scrutiny. See for the sort of work involved. Now that the bogies from the Hornby class 50 are available as spares for a very reasonable price there is no longer any point in using the American chassis. For Bo-Bos anything you need for UK locos can now be sorted from the Bachmann or Heljan range. Buy secondhand to get your chassis to modify and sell on the bodies you don't need.

If you want your HST to have a prototypical speed range forget the Class 25 mech, go for the class 158 DMU mech. they are smooth powerful and fast.

Keith

"Adrian B" wrote

Hi Adrian,

I've just taken a used Bachmann class 25 (fitted with a TCS A1 decoder) in part-exchange. The loco body is dead rough, but the chassis appears to work well - although I've not tested the decoder.

Yours for GBP20.00 (plus postage) if you want it.

John.

Adrian,

The Hornby model is such an awful model when compared with the (still not perfect) Lima version (if you can get them) that I personally wouldn't bother with it!

Graham Plowman

Adrian B wrote:

"Adrian B" wrote

Another possible option would be the Bahn Conversions replacement chassis. I don't know what the cost would be though!

For details see