Vinny's shed
I like making wooden rolling stock in 16mm because you can use lovely solid pieces of timber and Vinny's Shed is no exception. Designed to be the maintenance vehicle for the line, it has gone through a few changes to it's drive system. Initially plastic wheels and gears and a motor with an elastic band pulley. Later, this was upgraded with a Mashima motor and reduction gearbox in/under
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the cab, with a delrin chain and sprocket drive to rear wheels. The plastic wheels were changed to metal tyres. The chassis was then rebuilt so that the drive train and wheels could be accessed easily. The infrared control system took up most of the open storage area, but a load of junk would have hidden it.
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At this point, Vinny's shed hadn't run on the revived layout. The old infrared control system was still fitted and could have been used, but the success of the DelTang r/c system dictated that another receiver be purchased. When it arrived, the I/R components were stripped out and the diminutive R/C unit wired in. The original plug/socket was retained to allow removal from the motor/shed and a new on/off slide switch fitted in the floor. For initial trials, the R/C unit was positioned so that the aerial was vertical, but it will be laid down, out of harms way, under a tarpaulin. There was a small amount of vibration at 'high speed', which could only be put down to the brass flywheel securing screw. As the R/C transmitter has adjustable inertia, the
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flywheel will probably be left off, leaving more room in the cab. Only now, on its first run, did it occur to me that real-life lack of rearward visibility meant that the shed should only run forwards. Is that a problem? There is a turntable. The body has also been given a spray coat of Oxford Green, although the first coat was more blue than green. It looked a lot better with a second coat. The roof was also sprayed black, but the grain of the plywood was very visible. A sheet of fine emery paper glued over the plywood solved the problem. Maybe some couplings now and then we can shunt!
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