A spot of G3

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Thanks for the advert Steve!

Richard, if you want to know more send me a PM and I'll call you for a chat. There are other suppliers in Gauge 3 and several manufacturers are dipping a toe in the water, so I'd be very happy to chat about my experiences and give a (fairly) unbiased view.

This Troublesome Truck kept the original underframe which has steel solebars and a curious 9ft 3in wheelbase. Another way is to fit a complete new underframe. Scratch building solebars and headstocks is not hard, but the bits are available for wooden solebars and 9ft wheelbase if you prefer.

All the bits obviously add to the cost, but its still not an expensive model. For another comparison of costs, check out Slaters' website and compare their G3 wheels to G1. They don't list G3 at all on the website, but download the price list and its all in there.

Mike
 

AndyB

Western Thunderer
Here's a Troublesome Truck with a complete underframe replacement in progress.
Solebars and headstock are just laminated plasticard.
Axleguards are from Williams Models (Midland pattern but they suit RCH well). Ellis pattern axleboxes will be from the same source along with buffers and couplings.
Crown plates are my etches, washer and coupling plates cut on the pantograph mill - all with etched nut detail added.
Wheels will be the original Bachmann, on new 4mm steel axles
TT new underframe.JPG TT uf parts.JPG


Andy
 

JimG

Western Thunderer
Just a question about G3 track. Is there any two rail electric operation? If so, are steam locos with non-insulated wheels allowed on - with two rail power off. :) Or do electric powered locos use batteries and radio control with no two-rail track provided?

Jim.
 

AndyB

Western Thunderer
Just a question about G3 track. Is there any two rail electric operation? If so, are steam locos with non-insulated wheels allowed on - with two rail power off. :) Or do electric powered locos use batteries and radio control with no two-rail track provided?

Jim.

Jim,
Two rail electric is in use by a few, but I think that the majority of electric users are going for battery power and r/c these days. I stand to be corrected on the following by my G3 colleagues.....
I know of one semi-outdoor end-to-end which is 2-rail, then of the 4 G3 layouts on the exhibition circuit two are 2-rail and 2 are battery with r/c. I'm not sure the owners of any of these would welcome steam operation as they are all 'scenic', as per 4mm, 7mm, etc layouts - not resistant to condensate and steam oil!
Steam locos are generally run on roundy-roundy type tracks (outdoors), and I'm not aware of any of these being 2-rail electrified at all. So live steam and battery power happily coexist on these lines.
Hope that answers your questions.
Andy
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
As Andy says, there is 2-rail in G3 Jim, but not much. With so much more space available and batteries becoming smaller all the time that is what the majority of people use, especially outdoors where voltage drop and that sort of thing can be a problem for 2-rail. There is a large end to end exhibition layout which has hosted one of its helpers' live steam GWR moguls from time to time, even though, as Andy says, live steam is currently mainly used on continuous circuits. I can't think of any other 2-rail lines.

Most battery powered locos I have seen will run for several hours without recharge, which is more than most people want, so there's not much advantage in 2-rail for us. In fact, as a convert from smaller scales I am amazed at my own changing views. I would not have believed that battery power could be preferable to 2-rail, or that brass rail may, in some situations, look better than "silver-coloured" rail, but in the larger scales both can be true!

Mike
 

JimG

Western Thunderer
Andy,

Thanks for that. On a battery/radio control loco with all metal wheels, is the practice to insulate the wheels or axles so that it can run on any track, or leave the wheels uninsulated and avoid two rail layouts.

Jim.
 

AndyB

Western Thunderer
Jim,
Again, I don't think there is a single answer.
The cast wheels on my 1F kit (from GRS) are insulated, and I believe Mark Wood will provide insulated wheels on request. But largely it is down to the owner / builder to decide, based on where he/she thinks they are most likely to run. For the running options that I'm most likely to use, I wouldn't bother with insulation.
With all these questions, anyone might think you were being tempted to dip a toe in the G3 water .......!;)

Andy
 

geoff_nicholls

Western Thunderer
Mark Wood supplied the wheels you see on my avatar fully insulated, as I'd originally planned to keep my layout 2 rail powered. However as soon as I had the first loco powered by RC and batteries, I stopped bothering with 2 rail. The only downside is having to make sure there are charged batteries in the controller as well as the loco. AA batteries seem to drain quite quickly.
Mark will also do insulation on one side only, if you wish.
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
The weather held out yesterday and the first big get together of the G3 calendar took place :) Its a good sized circuit this one with three continuous running lines plus various sidings, loops and engine storage area.

AM15 1 Station area.jpg

Despite the generosity of space, G3 engines consume it at a rapid rate

AM15 2 On shed.jpg

In the middle of the circuit was a small gazebo with a table for items for sale and old engines, or more precisely, bits of old engines. With an average age of about 100, you can't fail to be impressed by the engineering and casting skills present then.

AM15 3 old bits.jpg

My favourite was Abergavenny

AM15 4 Abergavenny1.jpg

AM15 5 Abergavenny2.jpg

There was plenty of tea and cake on offer too, a perfect accompaniment to watching a variety of engines make their way around

G3 Dee, scaled up from the G1 book but fired on gas.

AM15 6 Dee.jpg

A half inch scale Super D fired by coal

AM15 7 Super D.jpg

A coal fired Patriot

AM15 8 Patriot.jpg

A Royal Scot, Royal Legion, based on the frames on 'Fury' (clearing condensate before going out for a run)

AM15 9 Royal Scot.jpg

A 2800, just bought but never run

AM15 10 2800.jpg

A lovely little coal fired Manning Wardle built by Roger Marsh. It didn't run yesterday unfortunately, but it should get some fire in its belly next weekend.

AM15 11 Roger Marsh Manning Wardle.jpg

A gas fired Mogul with owner built coaches

AM15 12 Mogul.jpg

An excellent day out overall, I met a load of new people and spent all day talking and watching trains. Unintentionally, I missed out on the electric engines, examples of O2's, Terriers and Panniers all ran round the inner loop all day, I'll do better next time...
Steve
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Any more pics of the slightly hidden shunter ?.
This is the best I can do for you Steve - given it is an oddly proportioned 08 in a sea of interesting stuff I'm afraid it garnered very little of my attention span.

AM15 13 08 thing.jpg

That Brighton J tank looks lovely, I'd happily give it house room!

£1500 was the asking price and its one of only two that are known about so far. I'll happily pass your details on to the owner if you like Steph :)
Its missing a handpump and a pressure gauge from a cursory inspection, I've no doubt you could get it working though - be both a great project and a shelf resident.

AM15 14 Abergavenny3.jpg

Steve
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Another weekend, another G3 get together :)

A smaller garden this time round, but none the worse for it by any means. The diameter of the outer circuit was around 29' with a running length in the region of 130'. Its been up for about 15 years and has blended nicely into the garden now (or the garden has blended into the railway depending on your point of view). All the track is built the old school way from individual chairs nailed into sleepers.

SM1 Garden View 1.jpg

Looking back the other way

SM2 Garden View 2.jpg

It followed a very similar set up to last week with a table in the middle for showing things off

SM10 Something Old.jpg

Derwent is a SME Bronze medal winner

SM3 Derwent1.jpg

and so is all of the stock it pulls behind it. The builder is not scared of giving it a boiler full of steam either, it runs very well indeed.

SM4 Derwent2.jpg

The same owner brought his Dee along again

SM5 Dee1.jpg

and gave me running lessons on it with his Pullman coaches running behind.

SM6 Dee2.jpg

There was a second rake of Pullmans too, 12 wheel this time and running behind a scratch built Battle of Britain

SM7 66 Squadron rake of 12 wheel Pullmans.jpg

A Jubilee waits for her turn

SM8 Jubilee1.jpg

And gets to run in the rain as a result

SM9 Jubilee2.jpg

To complete the usual fuel types, the layout owner fired up his meths loco

SM11 LNER440.jpg

and she sauntered gracefully around the line towing a pair of coaches

SM12 LNER440.jpg

It was another good day out - an endless supply of tea with helpings of cake in the afternoon to round things off nicely. Just two more weeks to the next one :)

Steve
 

Neil

Western Thunderer
I like the light and shade in the final photo, but my favourite loco has to be the careworn example on the table. It looks a bit SECR round the spashers, but beyond that I've no idea what it is.
 

adrian

Flying Squad
It looks a bit SECR round the spashers, but beyond that I've no idea what it is.
A curious example certainly - again I've no idea what it is. With the cylinder location and driving the rear axle it has shades of a Crampton/French loco but beyond that I don't know. It may well be a freelance design - perhaps destined for a fictional location?
 
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