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All my loco kits are sold complete except for couplings. All outside frame loco kits can be built to any gauge from 12mm to 16.5mm, inside frame kits only to gauges where axles are available, usually 12mm, 14mm and 16.5mm. Some kits include jigs for assembling coupling/connecting rods and for quartering the wheels where required. Assembly is by tabs and slots and all screws, bushes, motor, gearbox, wheels and axles are included.

Some outside frame kits and Power Bogies can be adapted to suit 10.5 and 9mm gauges by using a different gearbox, although the wheels I supply are to 4mm standards and may not suit your track. Its best to email and ask.

Although most of my kits require soldering skills, you don't have to be an expert, beginners have bought my kits and produced good results. The trick is not to look at the whole job which will seem daunting, but to take it in stages. Each stage will be a lot easier to tackle if you only concentrate on that and think about the rest later. Use 145 solder for the main body assembly and higher temperature electrical solder for the chassis and smaller parts.

If you have any problems with the instructions CDs, the full instructions and more can be downloaded from my other site set up specially for downloads. Click on the DOWNLOADS button below to go there. These are also available to anyone who wants to look a kit over before buying it.

DOWNLOADS

The turner who makes my wheels and pulleys is selling his business and the buyer is not going to be much use to me for some time as he is new to this sort of work. Also the plastic gears I have been using may be cheap and plentiful but are not brilliant in very small chassis. A solution was needed and after failing to find anyone in the UK wiling to do it, I commissioned the parts I needed from 2 companies in China.

The gears are 0.4 module with a center to center of around 5mm, the gear having skewed teeth to match the worm. The holes are 2mm for the axles and layshafts that I use but can be sleeved down to smaller sizes if required. The finish is superb and a test build ran perfectly first time.

The pictures show the gears loose and as fitted in a Henschel DG26 chassis. These are pre-production samples and a small adjustment of the worm hole is required plus the 4mm length will be increased to 6mm. The pulleys are so simple that no samples were sent, they will go straight into production.

I ran out of 10.5mm wheels, which is when I found out that I couldn't get more. The manufacturer I chose already makes HO wheels for the American market, mine are similar but RP25 code 110 with the thickness reduced to 2.5mm and both wheels are insulated on plastic bushes. I asked for brass axles and the wheels to be supplied loose, this is because I use blind steel axles in my power bogies but do get asked for brass pinpoint axles by Kadee users. The manufacturer insists on supplying them as a complete package.

The wheels are steel and they arrived blackened which I didn't ask for. Fortunately this blackening conducts electricity so will not need removing, on the axles its a benefit as brass axles look awful unpainted. The upper picture shows 2 sets as supplied and the bottom shows the new set at the back, my regular wheels in the middle and a set of Gibsons nearest the camera for comparison.

Gears, pulleys and wheels should be available by the end of January and will be standard replacements in my kit and RTR chassis as well as available loose.

I got distracted by soldering stations whilst searching for something on a Chinese website, which reminded me that my Soloman was about at the end of its life and I cannot get any more bits for my spare Maplins one. This one caught my eye and I bought one to try. Made by W.E.P of China, it is a 60W iron with temperature variable from 90 to 420 degrees. It comes with a solder reel holder, not in the pictures as it doesn't fit my reel, a brass shavings tip cleaner, 5 different bits and the fastest warm up time I have ever seen, 0 to 360 degrees in about 20 seconds. It also does not cool down at all in use, even with a large bit on a big joint. It has a sleep function that automatically lowers the temperature after 10 minutes standing unused and a temperature lock switch to avoid accidental adjustments. It also comes in very impressive packaging, which is unusual for China as they tend to prefer jiffy bags with everything bunged in loose.

I was so impressed that I will import and sell them if anyone wants one, also spare bits which come in packs of 11 for £10.

Prices are 60W Soldering Station - £42.00, with 11 extra bits - £50

I have recently found a new N20 motor (10/15) from China, this one is nicely finished in black, is 12 volt, has a double ended 1mm shaft and is lower revving than the ones I was using previously. It also has horizontal screw holes so will fit most currently available gearboxes. It will become my default motor for power bogies and kits that use a small motor and also for sale, picture below.

Also recently found is a rather nice 12 volt 5 pole open frame motor with a skew wound armature and double ended 1.5mm shaft. It measures 10 x 14 x 24mm and is a very nice runner, smooth quiet and powerful. Its about the equivalent of the old H13 I think it was called, can't remember the maker. The only down side is no screw holes so I need to find a way of mounting it, currently it can only really be used with loose gears and stuck down with bath sealant, 1980s style. I'm working on it.

A friend asked me to print a basic chassis based on the Corris 2 plank wagon and also used with no body and cross timbers for carrying large slate lumps. The end cross beams are deep enough to take most types of coupling and I am looking at fitting a standard NEM pocket. Available with an inside bearing unit for 9, 10.5, 12, 14 or 16.5mm gauges and discwheels of 8.5 or 9.5mm diameter, 10.5mm will also fit but will very slightly foul the floor, 4 small notches required.

I thought bodies would be easy enough to draw so I copied the 2 plank, invented a flat and extended the ends of the flat up to rounded tops. For slate quarry use the flat and 2 plank can be used as they are and a bare chassis with added wooden strips for block carriage. For estate use all 3 would fit in nicely.

The pictures show a chassis with 4 of the inside bearing units, they can be glued in place or held by Blutak to leave them removable. Re-gauging is easy as I can supply the units loose to any gauge. The bodies just glue onto the chassis. All parts are printed in HIPS and assemble with solvent.

Any wagon complete with wheels (8.5 or 9.5 or 10.5mm) - £8.00 each

Extra bodies or chassis £4, inside bearing units £2.

The WD body also works well on this chassis, same price if you want one

At Swanley I prepacked 2 sets of 3 wagons, one in 14mm and one in 16.5mm and sold them for £15 a pack. I can still offer these but at £18 a pack. I can offer 16.5, 14 or 12mm and now have a narrowed chassis for 10.5 and 9mm. I keep 16.5, 14 and 9mm on the shelf packed as one of each type but can do any combination to any gauge, thoughit may take an extra day or two if I don't have the bits to hand.

I have recently been negotiating with Simon Dawson for use of his WW1 wagon prints, Simon's products go under the name of Recreation 21 and are currently produced by Shapeways but are too expensive to make into kits, the D would have to retail at £50. The plan is that he will rework the drawings so they are compatible with a home printer, I can then print them myself and make them into complete kits to sell at a more reasonable price. All wagons can be any gauge from 16.5 to 10.5mm.

The main issues are the sides being too thin, gaps between the planking and the bogies are too narrow for pinpoint axles. Simon will adjust the drawings and I have already created inside bearing units to go under the bogies.

Some of his range is shown on the left, second is the D type with 2 body styles available, third is the C type with the older style wooden bogies and fourth the A type which comes in 4 variants. Also available is the B type, which is a lengthened A, the E type bogie well wagon, F type bogie flat well wagon, the H type water tank wagon and the ambulance van. The top picture is a Pechot stake wagon, the stakes need to be added from wire.

The grey ones are my prints, with several random gaps in the planking where my printer couldn't cope. It was pointed out to me at the Surrey area meeting that these would make great run down wagons, they are small enough for O9 and not very specific so they can be used anywhere. All 4 versions are shown so if anyone wants some decrepit wagon bodies, I can print them to order at £4 each.

I hope to get these into production later this year, although it is unlikely that I will be able to print the tank wagon or ambulance van.

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Locosnstuff

Welcome to Locosnstuff for 7mm Narrow Gauge

Website spring clean

My Kits

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News

Error in Narrow News 177

New Gears and Wheels

Soldering station

Motors

Found on Shapeways -(search O 16.5 skip)

WW1 wagons so far

Corris style wagons

Forthcoming kits

WW1 WD wagons

Locos n Stuff is owned by Mark Clark at 12 Adelaide Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 4NJ

I can be contacted at borsig1958@gmail.com anytime or 01634 575081 before 8pm