QUOTE (Manxman1831 @ 19 Jan 2009, 00:28)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Some extremely interesting models being shown and discussed.
Tom - I think the train guard on the action shot is about 5ft 6in tall. So working from that the loco is only about 8ft high! One of the originals was in South Kensington for years with a trailer - not there now since the big clear out at the Science Museum.
Hey Manxman, some impressive deduction there! The original tunnels were only 10'2" diameter, and according to
this link the locos were 2.62m in height, so that's about 8'7".
At an open weekend last summer at the LT Museum's Acton depot (
thoroughly recommended -
next one's in March) I searched high and low for these two vehicles, in fact that's the main reason I went. Thinking "it can't be
that small" I asked a volunteer and found out they were displayed at the Covent Garden museum after its massive refurb. A trip with my tape measure, camera and best pleading tactics is planned, but I want to spend a whole day if I'm paying a tenner to get in.
QUOTE (34C @ 19 Jan 2009, 00:30)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Since of its' nature this would be a scratchbuild, P4 would seem sensible. If you are going to this much trouble, may as well be near dead scale. The short wheelbases of both loco and train bogies should present few difficulties; and no outside rods and other awkwardness to accomodate thanks to electric traction. The simple power solution would be to use a motor bogie of which there are many designs in both RTR and kit form. However, luminaries of the P4 world such as Ted Scannell will probably have yet better designs to hand, with compensation for greater reliability. Have you had a look around
http://www.scalefour.org/map.htm already?
They would be very small models though, given the restricted size of the prototype. S scale would give them more impact: at a glance they might well then be taken for 4mm models.
http://www.s-scale.org.uk/main.htm
Hello 34C - thanks for the suggestions. I completely agree that getting into full-on scratchbuilding like this justifies the dead scale approach -- having shed the blood and sweat forming and soldering brass, 16mm gauge would just add the tears! Yes, I have perused the Scalefour website and it's an excellent resource, and I may well join. Call me a masochist, but I love the idea of building my own track from the ground up! When you mention motor bogies in "RTR and kit form", and "better designs ... with compensation", do you mean a whole chassis with drive incorporated?
S-scale does sound compelling (another good site), as indeed they are going to be very small. Following on from the link in my reply to Manxman, they work out at 34.5mm high at 1:76, against 40.9mm at 1:64, which is quite a difference. However, the 'in at the deep end' effect will be keenly felt even with P4, let alone the 'totally from scratch' regime of S. I'd like to be able to rely in part on the better off-the-shelf 1:72 offerings, then I can concentrate limited time on items like this loco. Mind you, the whole idea of '1/64 of an inch on your metal rule equals one scale inch' does rather appeal, rather than the mentalness of '4mm/1ft' - convenient, but sometimes perverse!
So I'm assuming brass is the best way forward for the body, or it certainly seems right (says he, who's
never used brass before). Right? Wrong?
Cheers,
Tom
