Your latest acquisition

[Walkingthedog]

It’s Howards fault I changed to O. Kept pointing out the O gauge stuff to me at Milton Keynes.

[teedoubleudee]

As this is a thread for latest acquisitions here is my latest.
A Trix SBB C5/6 ( 2-10-0) DCC sound.
And for TWD some more Narrow gauge locos from my collection.



Colin.

Very nice Colin, and thank you for sharing a pic of those delightful NG locos.

From my time on this (and previous version of this) forum it appears the main interest of members is approx. 80% 00, 10% 0 and 10% N gauge layouts. Which is fair enough given their size restrictions and availability of products generally. But Narrow Gauge in all of it's various sizes hardly, if ever, gets a mention which is such a shame as they are always popular at shows I have attended.

[Walkingthedog]

Perhaps both of you could post a few articles on the subject to whet our appetites.

[Bandit Mick]

I’ve been tempted by narrow gauge and always enjoy layouts at shows. I like the free lance anything goes nature of many of them. Due to space restrictions I would go for 009 but what puts me off is the speed at which many of the locos seem to have to run. Perhaps the latest models out no longer have this problem.

[Mountain Goat]

Depends how much space one has, as my locos and rolling stock will turn on a 2ft wide board and one of the restrictions to any scale and gauge are the couplings and the stock one is attempting to run. If I recall correctly when I was onto H0e as 009 RTR was not available back then, while I could go down to turn incredibly sharp with one of my H0e locos, with the couplings and the other locos and stock I ended up needing 2ft wide boards... The same width that I use in 7mm scale narrow gauge... But in 7mm scale narrow gauge I do have an advantage in that I can add more weight where a similar little 0-4-0 loco in 009 one would be a bit more restricted so one would need to run a little faster to compensate.
Better quality of manufacture does add to better running, but there are limits as it also comes down to tread width, rail width or contact area and the weight of the loco itself as no matter how good the pickups are, it is about the wheel to rail contact area which is why the much larger G scale can go over rails that smaller scales would not entertain (And this is without any of those extra plunger pickups some G scale locos have).
I would say though that a basic Hornby 0-4-0 with the heavier body kit that a 7mm NG conversion offers along with additional weight (Please ask as not all conversion kits add a lot of weight) does somewhat improve the rail to wheel contact though one should not expect the impossible.
Tension lock couplings can do fairly tight curves, especially if only one hook is used per vehicle, but ideally it is better to use something else. I have seen kadees used on a 7mm NG layout just 18 inches wide. My own couplings would probably do that just about though one needs to keep to pretty short wheelbase waggons to do that. My 2ft wide layout is designed to take chassis where the wheelbase in 00 would be that of a typical B.R. brake van which are usually described as long wheelbase. No way could I take a 00 gauge 4 wheel ferry van round my curves!
If one wants larger locos and stock than I run, then I would recommend a 3ft wide board width using 1st radius curves. I think if one wants those large American narrow gauge locos one may need 4ft to turn them in I would assume! Though the Shays do turn very sharply so may actually do it in 2ft, but don't expect a typical American ten wheeler to do that!
I keep to short wheelbase 0-6-0's and 0-4-0's for my locos and if I have a bufferbeam that due to its overhang needs a bit of accomodating, I build a wider coupling drop loop for it so it will accomodate my sharp curves.

The 009/H0e route does have the advantage of more ready to run availability though mostly at well above 00 equivalent prices.

If one is on a budget, I would recommend 0-16.5 though just due to the vast availability of all sorts of secondhand H0 and 00 donor parts which are donor locos and bits and pieces that many 00 and H0 enthusiasts tend to not need which can be an absolute Godsend for a budget concious 7mmNG modeller!

One thing one may take advantage of in the H0e/009 route is that I noticed that due to the narrow gauge nature of "Anything goes", it is a lot easier to mix the two scales of H0e and 009 together without them standing out so much as they would do if one mixes 00 and H0 together, and unlone H0 and 00, they also (As far as I have seen) share the same standard coupling type. (I do think it is a compromised coupling, but at least they are all of the same standard so will work together).

[Bandit Mick]

Lots of useful info and tips there MG. Would definitely like to have a go at a micro in 7mm NG some time in the future. For me, thinking of an unusual theme would be crucial. All the best with your endeavours.
P.S Any chance of some photos to get the creative juices flowing?

[sandy]

I know it is old but it is never used new in box and runs lovely. No rail marks on the wheels. A SH Early BR black 2P. Was tempted to buy it from a piece in last months RM magazine.

[Walkingthedog]

Perfect condition. Very nice.

[hunslet]

Another SBB new acquisition.
Trix Fc 2x3/4 "Kofferli" , ancestor of the famous "Crocodile"



Mention has been made of 7mm scale for narrow gauge.
This is a Marklin Minex loco which is described as "0m" scale and runs on 16.5mm standard Markiln track.
The system was only produced for 2 years from 1970 and was not popular so dropped.
Pictured with a normal H0 scale Marklin loco.



Colin.

[Mountain Goat]

Another SBB new acquisition.
Trix Fc 2x3/4 "Kofferli" , ancestor of the famous "Crocodile"



Mention has been made of 7mm scale for narrow gauge.
This is a Marklin Minex loco which is described as "0m" scale and runs on 16.5mm standard Markiln track.
The system was only produced for 2 years from 1970 and was not popular so dropped.
Pictured with a normal H0 scale Marklin loco.



Colin.

Strange. Are you sure you don't mean 0e? 0e is 7mm narrow gauge that runs on 16.5mm gauge track. 0m (If I am not mistaken) should be wider as scaling down to H0 scale narrow gauge, H0e is 9mm and H0m is 12mm gauge which represents metre gauge lines, so 0m should be a gauge somewhere midway between 16.5 and 32mm and I would guess would be around about 22 to 24mm gauge width? (I would need to look it up).

Ah. 0m is 22.5mm gauge. 0e is as I mentioned 16.5mm gauge.

A nice looking loco you have there.