Arrived today from ABC, two 26:1 helical gearboxes with Cannon EN22 motors long awaited but looks like Brian is now able to ship out his huge backlog of orders brought about by a supply shortage from last year. So now I can complete the BR Standard Class 4 build and make a start soon on the Caprotti 5 but not before the Cravens parcel car is completed and some more work is done on the Leek station build.
Sweet ...... I would have thought 26:1 a little low, but hey what do I know, I still need to finish my first loco Paul
Only going on Brian's recommend due to the smaller wheel diameter of the Class 4, he said it would suit the 5 as well but the driving wheels are the same size as the Brit at 6' 2" and the Brit has a 30:1 ratio box fitted.
I must admit I probably over gear the loco's as it's not as if I have a long enough run for them to realistically get to full speed, whereas if I run them at a higher rpm, they are less likely to stall, especially if they have a flywheel fitted as well (still old school mechanical rather than electronic flywheels are my preferred option, both if space and cost allows. Many years ago I saw some of Chris Pendlentons (sorry if I've got Chris's surname spelling wrong) P4 LNER Pacifics with a flywheel that filled the tender. It took approx 6ft to stop, but smooooooth running was amazing. Paul
If i remember correctly ive bought a 40:1 ratio box for my West country. I tend to overgear my locos as they will never run at mainline speeds. I currently only own about 6 foot of track anyway! If i ever build a layout it will only be an end to end shed scene or something similar so i try to get the locos to run smoothly and dont worry about top speed