Page 46 - Rail Express - September 2019

MODELLING

Weekend project: ‘Rudd’

coupling cams

The second weekend
project forthis month

finishes off theLima
Mk.2f project featured
in REM184,byfitting

close coupling cams
taken from Hornby‘Rudd’

ballast wagons.Theycan
be used on manyother

models too!

¬ What does the Hornby‘Rudd’ and
Lima Mk.2 air-con coaches have in
common?Close coupling cams!

infrastructurevehicles of the time, including EMUs and
TOOLSAND theyare rebuilds of redundant revenue bogie wagons too. In the
MATERIALS: wagons, this time, the HTV coal hopper second of twoweekend

■ Sharp scalpel. fleet being the wagons concerned. projects forthis issue
■ Various tweezers. The models produced by Hornbyare of REM, some tinkering
■ Cross-head jeweller’s screwdriver. generallywell received by modellers, with close coupling cams taken from
■ Steel ruler. despite the overlythick sides of the HornbyRudd wagons produced some
■ Pin-vice and micro-drill set. Rudd and Clam models. Theyare interesting results.
■ Steel rule. equipped with the same well modelled
■ Solvent cement. HTV derived underframe and close Coupling cam considerations
■ CA glue. coupling cams which come fitted Each coupling camassemblyisfitted
■ 20-thou black styrene card. with quite afierce spring. In practice, to the wagons with three cross-
■ 60-thou black styrene card. models with short underframes do head screws making them simple to ¬ Rudd, Clam and Tope wagons have
■ Parkside Models PA34 pocket not need close coupling cams and remove.The underside of the wagon short underframes, making close coupling
mounts. experience with the Hornbymodels underframe secures the moving cam mechanisms unnecessary.
■ NEM-362 coupling pockets. has demonstrated this time and again coupling arm moulding in place, so care
with the wagons workingthrough tight is needed to avoid losing the arm when
curves without the close coupling cams removing the assembly. It is fitted to
ORNBY’S mini-rangeofmodern actually doing anything useful. the wagons immediatelybehind the
ballast wagons which comprises So, can theyberemovedand putto headstockswith the NEM coupling
Hof the ‘Rudd’, ‘Tope’ and ‘Clam’ is a better use?Some tinkering has shown pocket correctlypositioned relativeto
very useful collection forlate1980s and that theywillfitcoaching stock well, theheadstocks. The arm is short as
1990s modellers, with manyexamples with thehandful of Lima Mk.2f coaches aresult, which means that theymust
of the full-sizewagons surviving well being used to test the idea. Theycan also be fitted to the recipient model as
into the Privatisation period. Like many be adapted to suit almost anyproject tight to the rear of theheadstocksas
possible.
When used on longer vehicles such
as coaches,beaware that the relatively ¬ The coupling cam assemblies shown
short arm means that the coupling removedfromthe wagons. Note howthe
cams will not be effectiveoncurves underside of the floor is shaped to retain
of less than second radius. Alonger the moving coupling arm moulding.
coupling bar or other couplings maybe
needed to prevent buffers from locking.
Having said that, the gapbetween the
gangwaysstill closes up dramatically
compared to using the original
couplings. In commonwith projects like
this one, some experimentation soon
establishes what can be achieved.

Preparing the underframe
With the Lima coach underframe
separated from the coach body,use ¬ Acoupling cam assemblyisplaced
¬The cams areeasily removedbyreleasing the cross-head screws (A). Note the NEM the coupling cam assemblytowork on theunderframe to see howitwill
coupling box(B); coupling arm moulding and its fins referred to in the article (C) and out wherethe hole to accommodate fit behind the headstocksand the
centring spring (D). the moving coupling arm needs to modifications needed to fit it.
M14 RAIL EXPRESS Modeller September 2019 Supplement No. 185