Could 0.8mm check chairs be used with 00-SF?
@Bunchie3174
Hi Ian,
This is where I get bad-tempered.
Of course you can use 0.8mm check chairs for 00 models.
But it won't be 00-SF. it will be something else. Names have a meaning, and in the case of
00-SF it means 16.2mm track gauge with 1.0mm flangeways.
It's just
not fair to beginners to say something like "I use 00-SF but with 0.8mm flangeways". That's how we get so much muddle and confusion in track standards which drives beginners nuts.
If you want to experiment with 0.8mm flangeways in 00 that's great. It would be good to see the results. But you must, must, must invent your own
name for it, and not call it 00-SF. How about
00-XF? Extreme-fine.
What did you have in mind for the track gauge? I would strongly recommend reducing it to
16.0mm so that existing EM profile kit wheels running on 00-SF will run on it unchanged. The check gauge would remain the same at 15.2mm (check gauges available from C&L) and the back-to-back remains the same (14.6mm max for kit wheels). It would be possible to mix 00-XF and 00-SF pointwork on the same layout, provided you can accept the much increased minimum radius, and no use of RTR wheels. In effect 00-XF would be "EM-SF minus 2".
If instead you go for 16.2mm or 16.5mm track gauge with 0.8mm flangeways, all bets are off and you are on your own. Stuff you build and run on there won't be interchangeable with any other, friends' rolling stock or layouts, etc. But it's your layout, you can obviously build whatever you wish. Provided you give it its own
name and don't cal it one of the existing gauge names.
The narrower flangeways of 0.8mm would obviously look even better than 00-SF, and you could if you wish use up any P4 wheels you have on hand, providing they are wider than 1.9mm. Set them to 14.8mm max back-to-back for P4 wheels.
If you enter your dimensions in Templot, you would be able to build 3D plug track to those dimensions. This is what
00-XF at 16.0mm track gauge and 0.8mm flangeway would look look like:
The significant improvement in appearance is created by having the flangeway gap narrower than the rail head in the prototype manner, instead of wider than the rail head in all other 00 standards.
If you have 3D printers you could create the above for real to see how it looks. Plug track does the gauging, so you wouldn't need to find 16.0mm track gauges.
p.s. I'm still working on the missing crossing chairs for plug track. I'm aiming to complete the project at the same time as HS2.
cheers,
Martin.
Search
Thanks.
