Subject:
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Re: New British Class 50 'Hoover' in Large-Logo Blue Livery
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Thu, 2 Dec 2004 20:53:24 GMT
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Viewed:
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1970 times
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In lugnet.trains, John Neal wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Mark Bellis wrote:
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Here’s a new British loco in 8mm:1ft scale.
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<snip>
Very nice, Mark. Big! :-d~~
I have a question about the scale. It appears to be 8 wide, which would
imply to me to be more like 6.4mm:1ft. Are you going solely by track gauge
for scaling, or width of the loco? I would guess that that loco you’ve built
prototypically is around 10 feet wide; wouldn’t a loco built in 8mm:1ft in
LEGO be ten studs wide? (which would be 1 stud = 1’)
Just curious and always looking to engage the enlightened;-)
JOHN
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Big...and reliable!
I go primarily by track gauge, which at 37.66mm is as near to 8mm:1ft or 1
stud:1ft as 16.5mm track is to the HO scale of 3.5mm:1ft.
The British loading gauge is smaller than the US one. The maximum width (of the
W6 gauge from 1968) is 9’3”. The actual maximum width of a Class 50 loco is 9’
1.25”, but 9-wide is just as difficult as 5-wide for 6-wide modellers or 7-wide
for 8-wide modellers, so I use a basic body width of 8 with the option of
handrails and grilles protruding beyond that. If I think it’s necessary to
widen a particular model I can revise it later - the great advantage of using
Lego! Perhaps when jumpers in all colours are available from S@H!
If this engine were in 8-wide scale, the correct length would be 57 studs. The
length here is a 66-stud body plus buffers for a 68’5” engine. There’s quite a
difference in length between 8-wide and 8mm scale!
If I were building US trains, a boxcar is 10’5” wide, so I’d use a 10-wide body
plus trimmings.
I usually make the length more accurate, to the nearest foot, since an odd
length is easier to cope with than an odd width. Besides that, the overhang on
these locos is greater than scale because the bogie centres are where the motor
pins are, which is nearer the end of the loco than the actual positions.
Therefore it’s useful to save 0.5 stud of width. I think I usually have to
build the fuel tanks slightly too shallow in order to clear feed wires and
switch lever frames. I already use gear racks instead of the yellow levers on
motorised switches to allow more overhang clearance:
Some off-the-shelf models in other scales are less accurate than that (e.g. the
Bachmann ‘OO’ Class 37 diesel loco is too short), so I’m allowed 6” here or
there :-)
I’m surprised there isn’t a greater following in 8mm:1ft scale Lego trains,
since that’s closest to the track scale. The extra hurdles (space out curves
with straights, articulate bogies, double up motors) are not that difficult to
overcome, apart from the space required!
It was back in 1996 that I first thought “surely real trains are wider than
this?” and did the first experiments with my 12V track. Over 8 years I’ve built
up quite a shed-load of engines :-) and spent oodles on changing to 9V and
building two exhibition layouts (16’x12’ and 8’x6’). My plans are even more
ambitious - fully scenic 16’x12’ looped-eight double track layout with
prototypical slopes and fiddle yard under the station.
I’m experimenting with US prototypes, and I have some 8mm scale engines under
construction: A Santa-Fe F7 (10-wide body, 2 motors); a northern 4-8-4 with
model team wheels and full valve gear; and a 3-bogie BBB-wheeled Shay with
working transmission. Sadly, completion of these is not expected any time soon!
8mm:1ft scale is great for trying to put in the technical working details that
just don’t fit in smaller scales.
Also curious and always looking to enlighten the engaged ;-)
Mark
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: New British Class 50 'Hoover' in Large-Logo Blue Livery
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| (...) <snip> Very nice, Mark. Big! :-d~~ I have a question about the scale. It appears to be 8 wide, which would imply to me to be more like 6.4mm:1ft. Are you going solely by track gauge for scaling, or width of the loco? I would guess that that (...) (20 years ago, 2-Dec-04, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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