Well, after plenty of testing the old K’s wheels have given up the ghost The non-powered end worked fine but the powered axle to middle rod gave me endless grief. I even had to remake a couple of the rods as I’d reamed out the crankpin holes too much in an effort to make things work.
I actually managed to get the whole chassis to run smoothly in one direction. Reversing involved either a clank or at least a long pause in rotation.
Eventually the crank pin on one of the driven wheels worked loose. The plastic surrounding the pin broke away terminally – I’d already glued it back in place several times but this wasn’t enough. I suppose these wheels were at least 30 years old so they had done pretty well really.
The pin may have been the cause of the problem. Certainly the fact I was beyond relying on the K’s D-shaped axle holes wasn’t helping. Unfortunately these give up after a few uses and become round so the automatic quartering doesn’t work.
I need new wheels. About a month ago I ordered a set of Gibson wheels from Mainly Trains but they are still awaiting delivery from the manufacturer. The good news is that the death of the Romford wheel is greatly exaggerated. A perusal of the new Markits Catalogue showed they were back in production. I couldn’t get a 15mm 10 spoke (problems with the pattern maker and the new mould) but a set of 14mm one has been ordered. I know they are a scale 2 inches under size, but who’s counting ?
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