Hornby Wheels

In message , Jack writes

Hi Jack

Have you considered making the pickup strip bear against the back of the metal wheel?

It does not then matter whether or not the wheel is insulated.

The Hornby wheels may come in packs of ten but they are so much cheaper than other makes that a couple of spare axles is not a big consideration.

Regards

Hornby wheels are both insulated from the axle. To make an electrical contact, you could use conducting paint as sold for printed circuits.

When one considers the difference between the distance around an axle and the distance around a wheel rim one can see that the increase in friction is considerable.

Lima wheelsets are 25mm across the axles whereas most UK wheelsaets are

Of course Lima wheels are 11mm diameter which is wrong for everything, including European HO. The difference in wheel spacing is so small that only moving the one wheel in or out produces almost no visual effect, even though it makes a big difference in running qualities. The only use I have found for Lima wheels is to spray them rust colour and use them as junk behind the wagon repair depot or as wagon loads.

Greg.P.

Bill Campbell wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@bacam.demon.co.uk: Hi there,

Thanks for your reply.

I did consider the back of the wheel but it looks more difficult to achieve than glueing or screwing a strip of phosphor bronze to the base of the bogie and bending it to the axle.

I wasn't complaing about the price of the wheels it was just that 8 or 12 in the set would have been more logical.

Regards

Jack

Well if you want to re-wheel a set of 5 coal wagons with spoked wheels the pack is good, maybe it is just a case of it suits some better than others. Simon G

If you buy Two packs. Unless coal wagons are two wheeled ...

"Lobby Dosser" wrote

Hornby wheels come with 10 axles per pack (i.e. 20 wheels) so they are quite good value and would be sufficient for 5 coal wagons as Simon suggested.

Riddles

For creating pickup that do not drag the coach too much I use the old style Bachmann wheels that have solid metal wheels seperated by a plastic shaft. Each of the wheels has a 2mm stub axle behind the wheel which is perfect for running a pickup from. I have fitted coach lighting on my entire stock and a 6 coach rake can be drawn up a 1:20 slope with ease (mind you the loco is heavily ballasted!). Using these wheels it is possible to have pickups from both axles on the same bogie.

Sadly I do not think you can get these types of wheels any more, which is why I have lots of spares both spoked and 'disc brake.'.

In message , a. p. k. torry writes

Hi again

Replica Railways and MB Models both have had these on their exhibition stands in the past so may be worth enquiring.

Regards

But only two and a half bogie wagons or coaches, or one and two thirds six axle dining or Pullman cars. Twelve axles per pack would be more useful.

Does all Hornby rolling stock have the same diameter wheels?

My mistake. I thought the OP said 10 Wheels.

Most have 12.6mm diam wheels. Hornby also sells 14.1mm wheels. I needed the larger ones for my Hornby ex-Dapol LMS 12-wheel dining car.

See discussion here: