Heat and hammering

 

Last week, I mentioned a nice four-wheel wagon I've picked up. The wheels were set to 32mm gauge, but I felt it would be more use to me in 45mm. 

Well, a couple of days ago, I decided to do something about it.

As discussed last time, moving the wheels on the axles was likely to require heat, and that wasn't going to be good for the whitemetal axleboxes. With a bit of levering, the track pins holding these in place were pulled out, and then with a waggle, the axleboxes on one side came away. Fortunately, the glue had aged, and the joints broke. 

Popping the first axle in a vice, and giving the end a tap with a small hammer, the wheel moved. So did the second one, and soon they were set to the correct (41mm) back-to-back. A little superglue run around the wheel/axle joint, and they seemed pretty good. 

The second set were harder work. In the end, I had to heat up the joint with a small blowtorch to get anything to move, even with many, many whacks. Eventually, though, the joint gave up, and they were set as required. 

I refitted the axleboxes with pins, but no glue, and all seems good. The wagon has had a trip around our club track as part of the train, and seems to behave itself. Sadly, it won't fit in the goods train box, so I'm not sure how much use it will get. I do need a small wagons box for the skips. Perhaps it will find a home in there. 

Anyway, a fiver and half-an-hour well spent.