Thanks Paul, I see that it's effectively a couple of pony type trucks. I think that I have been over complicating mine by actually replicating the radial truck This is as far as I got....
Rob I'm reasonably confident to say yours will be a whole lot better than mine... but thank you for that and all your advice too. I am a "plodder" when it comes to making, I cannot rush things but to me the making process is as good if not better than the owning and operating... although I like that bit too.
In essence Rob that is all Jim designed them as, for the absolute purist I suspect it falls short of the mark but the kit has the option of making them work like proper pony trucks with some of the frame cut away and a dummy piece inserted behind the pony wheel to look like a radial truck. Jim's reasoning is for the loco to work around tight curves in restricted spaces. At Moor Monkton the F5 didn't like going through the turnout side of Peco points but enjoyed full laps of the main test circuit. The points on my short layout diorama are hand built to scale lengths of 1 in 8 and 1 in 9 so I don't have this issue as the points are nearly two feet long. York Paul
Beautiful loco Paul, I started scratchbuilding one in 4mm a while ago but could not get the chassis to run at all. I still have it, but whether I will do any more to it is unlikely. But never say never! Cheer's, Pete.
Keep at it Pete... my motto is it always comes good in the end. I'm a reasonable newcomer back in the model railway world and already encountered issues and stumbling blocks but I always look at the reason why something doesn't work properly. I am sure you will get this chassis operational. York Paul
Pete the thing that drew me to the F5 in the first instance was its look, in many ways the loco carries a resemblance to the North Stafford Class A 2-4-0 tank loco as rebuilt by Longbottom with longer frames as 2-4-2. To me the F5 is a charming engine full of character and epitomizes the rugged late Victorian design, despite the fact I understand these engines were heavy on coal.
Hi Paul, I was prompted to dig out my Shedmaster kit and have a look at the instructions (the etches are well wrapped so I won't disturb them. It too is designed for the pony truck arrangement but Laurie Griffin does make reference to an article he wrote on making Radial truck in MRJ. In the box I found a print out of said article which I have obviously added at some point. I will need to remember it's there when picking up the F8 again since that one will be on the list for completion before starting the F4/5.