Gaiety N2 - driving wheels

Removing the couplings rods was a lot easier than expected, the rivets holding the rods in place were simply levered out using a small screwdriver and a pair of fine tweezers;

These could then be cleaned up and labelled R and L. The rods look like they were stamped out from sheet judging by the way the rear is burred, and the holes are sloppy on the rivets.

I removed the rearmost wheels with a GW Models wheel puller, and again labelled them L and R;

I'm not sure if it is necessary to label each part, but it seems to be good practice.

After removing the remains of the rear insulating bushes everything was thoroughly cleaned, first with Muc-Off (a degreaser used by mountain bikers) then with soapy water and rinsed under the tap before being left out in the hot sun to dry;

New insulating bushes were turned from Acetal rod and fitted;

And the chassis re-assembled;

Quartering was done by eye.

The left rear driver had a pronounced wobble, so the chassis was stripped again and the offending wheel removed. I turned up another bush, but left it undrilled. Then the wheel was mounted in a chuck and the bush drilled in situ;

With everything re-assembled yet again there's still a wobble, not as bad as before but still irritating. I suspect the axle might be slightly bent, this was the wheel that was hanging off when I bought the loco. However, the chassis runs ok with the motor refitted so I'll live with it for now although I may come back to it later.

I have tested the chassis on a length of Peco's finest with leads attached to the brush holders, it runs ok for its age although it's better running forwards than reverse. But as it doesn't have a front coupling and I'm not into shunting I'm not too worried.

Here's the chassis re-united with the body;

The next jobs are to refit the pick-ups and sort out the pony truck.

Paul.