Model Engine Works: January 2021

There is a really nicely modelled Atlas Editions Bern steam tram and coach out on sale at the minute, which with a little careful conversion makes a very detailed steam tram engine and coach set for 009 modellers. The main additions are a Kato 11-110 chassis to motorise the steam tram engine and a set of Peco G-106 bogies. There are also a set of Peco GR-103 NEM pockets and some 1mm Plasticard to form some new interface parts to put it all together. The good thing about this is, if done carefully no intricate painting would be needed to get a really detailed pair of models.

The main difficulty with this conversion is the dismantling of the two models. I found that some parts were glued together more affectivity than others. This can cause some breakages as the plastic used is quite delicate. I found that the worst areas were the railings on both the tram and coach, which broke in several places.

I will start with the coach as that is the simplest and a good starting point to get a feel of the conversion. I removed the wheels, dummy bogies and couplings. The metal used to form the floor of the coach is quite soft and can be cut with a razor saw. The couplings are held on two small metal tabs under the end beams. These need to be cut off in line with the underside of the floor.

The steps are formed in quite thick plastic and to allow enough swing on the couplings it is a good idea to reduce these on the backside, and soften the inner edges. I ended up having to re-fix one of these as it was not glued on well.

To fit the bogies, I created a new subfloor in 1mm plasticard which fitted between the steps and the break gear in the centre of the coach. I left the original threaded lugs used to fix the coach to the display base in place and drilled two holes in the new base to allow for these. The other two lugs to fix the dummy bogies in place I had to remove. This was done by drilling, using progressively larger drills. Once at the bottom face of the floor I formed a countersink to allow clearance for the free moment of the new bogies.

To mount the Peco G-106 bogies all that is needed is a hole of the correct size, and they will just clip in place. These were formed by drilling a clearance hole larger than the bogies require in the subfloor. A packer is then made to sit below this which has a smaller hole suited to the bogie's clips. This needs to be fairly small and inbound of the wheels which need to swing freely. I glued this in place under the hole in the subfloor, lining it up the two holes, which formed a small rebate above the hole in the packer.

The bogies were adapted to suit the steps, by using a set of the Peco GR-103 NEM coupling pockets and cutting these and refitting them to form a long bar type mount instead of the moulded L shaped arrangement. I then glued this to the opposite end of the bogie to the existing NEM pocket. By doing this it had a long enough reach to work with the steps. It was then just a case of fitting my preferred coupling in place.

With this arrangement the coach should be able to negotiate track curves around 200 to 230mm (8 to 9”) and it is a really nicely detailed coach.

The steam tram takes a little more work to dismantle it. The boiler, funnel and pipework are all glued in place then fitted to the base which has to be removed at the bottom, and the side railings are very awkward to get off without breakage. In the end, I removed the roof and windows above the waistline. This allowed me much better access to the bits, but I still had to carefully break the funnel off the boiler. I carefully saved all the bits for re-assembly later, then using the existing base as a template I marked a piece of 1mm plasticard with its shape. I then marked some centre lines on the new base and added a template of the Kato 11-110 cut out.

Once this is cut out and fits in place OK, some stops to position it is needed on the front and back of the cab. It sits 1mm below the original base and there are a couple of ridges on the ends of the bodywork which gives you a good guide to position the stops. A new floor needs adding above the chassis to make it easier to fit the boiler and pipework back in place. This needs to be a fraction smaller than the original base and is supported on a couple of strips fitted to each side, which are about 5mm wide so the whole floor will be raised up by 6mm. The boiler will need to be reduced by this 6mm also. This is just about level with the existing body sides so does not look much different from the original arrangement.

The one item I could nor repair was the side railings, they were just too brittle small and fiddly to work with. A new pair of railings were made from brass wire soldered together. To make these easier to assemble I formed notches in the 1.5mm poles to allow the 0.7mm handrails to sit in, which were all held in place by Blue tack on a cutting mat, then soldered in place.

Removing the roof first makes the fitting of the internal pieces much easier. I assembled it dry then painted the floor and fitted everything back in place before putting it in the body. The railings I had reformed in brass wire and painted silver before adding to the body. This meant that there were four poles to locate in the holes on the underside of the roof and the funnel to glue back in place with the cab ends.

The couplings are a bit tricky to fit, I decided to add NEM coupling pockets. These need a hole making in the correct place, so I sat the body on the chassis and lined up the coach bogie with the skirts to mark the hole position, drilled a hole and filed it out to suit. The pockets can then be pushed in from the back and glued in place.

The body is a little lightweight with the original base removed, so a couple of strips of lead were added to the new floor and also a bit in the boiler for good measure, which seemed to make a difference.

It makes a really nicely detailed set, and the steam tram goes well with other bits of rolling stock.

Sunday, 24 January 2021

009 Atlas Tram and Coach Conversion