Terrier Chassis - Episode 4

Having produced a free running chassis at the end of the last session, I had to disassemble it in order to add the 'Simpson Spring Pickups'. These are pieces of fine phosphor bronze wire, acquired by straightening out some unwanted N gauge coupler springs. They are soldered at one end into holes in the chassis and pass behind each bearing so they will rub gently on the axles with the absolute minimum frictional force. The axle muffs need to be shortened to make room, and must have smooth ends so as not to catch the wires.

Once the six pickups were fitted, the chassis was cleaned in an ultrasonic bath. Small balls of White-Tac were pushed onto each side of each bearing and the chassis was then sprayed with Halfords matt black. Once dry, the White-Tac was removed.

The wheels, gears and con-rods were fitted again. After tweaking the quartering for a while, the chassis was once again free running.

Sorry the photo is confusing, the gears are driving the front axle of the locomotive, but I did not think about it when setting up the photo.

The next job should be to fit the motor, but instead, I wanted to see how much work will be required to fit the Dapol footplate. Having dismantled the Dapol Terrier, and removed the motor and its cage from the footplate, it was obvious that not much work is required. I had to remove some plastic from the rear of the front sandboxes, and file a little of the front spacer PCB on the chassis for the plastic clip to fit, and then the footplate went onto the chassis. The gears were catching on the footplate, so a little filing was needed there. Unfortunately, it looks like the footsteps will have to be removed to make room for the con rods and crank pins, and remaking them may be a bit tricky. Also, more of the footplate will need to be removed to fit the motor, but on the whole, it looks promising.