Swing link suspension

[cParticipant @c]

Has anyone expereince of David Hudson’s swing link suspension system as applied to 5in. gauge ground level track?

[cParticipant @c]

[Kerrin GalvinParticipant @kerringalvin72662]

Hi xtoph,

   I have been building a pair of ride trolleys to Davids design for a while now, well not quite to his design as I’m making mine dual gauge & for ground & / or raised tack. Progress has been a little slow as other things always seem to get in the way!!

 I have had them out in “test” mode….ie only the frame & wheels & a lump of wood to sit on. Watching how the wheels move & the smoothness of the ride was an eye opener…David really got it right.

  I tested one axel on the club track, giving it a push & watching how it self centered & how quickly it did this was amazing.

  If I was looking to build trolleys from scratch, Davids design would be it

 

Cheers Kerrin

[VersabossParticipant @versaboss]

Could you (xtoph and/or Kerrin) please give a hint where I can find the description/plan for this ‘swing link suspension’?

Greetings, Hansrudolf

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Vol 190 ME 4189 onwards to 4207, 8 parts in all

[Kerrin GalvinParticipant @kerringalvin72662]

Hi Hansrudolf,

   The plans are available from Dave Nobel, web address below

 

      http://www.davenoble.co.uk/

 

See his catolouge, the last page.

He has either the driving trolley or the passenger trolley versions, I choose the passenger version as a driving trolley, basiclly I have used 4 wheel driving trollies & found that unless the track is very well built they find the spots that cause them to derail, 8 wheels gives a bit more stablity…….anyone else brave enough to own up to being on balance point on one rail trying to get the otherside down while going around a curve??

If you are going to build David Hudson design, Dave Nobel has the rubber blocks, used instead of springs ( easiest place to get them as they are to David H’s spec, ie not off the shelf). He also has the nylon cups etc that house them. I built my own cups not hard to make in nylon, the cones I made from steel as that was what was spec’d on the drawings, Dave N supplies in nylon now.

 

Cheers Kerrin

[cParticipant @c]

Thanks for your reply Kerrin.

I have been more than satisfied, over the past few years, with my two axle driving car to my own design using David Hudson’s principles and Dave Noble’s suspension components,

as has a friend with his built from a Dave Noble kit.

Our co-operation over the last few months has produced four 5in. gauge passenger coaches for ground level track use,

each with two two axle bogies, again using David Hudson’s principles;

they give a very comfortable ride.

But, recent experience has suggested that they are more likely to de-rail when carrying adults rather than children, confirming our thoughts that the loaded centre-of-gravity is too high; David’s original design was after all, for raised track use. The seat height is currently some 480mm above rail level, and we are thinking of taking this down to something around 300mm. Any thoughts?

Regards – Chris.

 

[Kerrin GalvinParticipant @kerringalvin72662]

Hi Chris,
Great photos, I guess you have built along the lines of David H original design as per the series in the Model Engineer.(just had a closer look &see your latest ones are 4wheel bogie along Davids new design) I have spent many an hour reading & thinking about what David wrote. When I read his last one & the new design I decided to build them.
David’s article covered the delay caused by passenger weight as he was of the opinion that hi center of gravity & body mass caused our size railway issues……I think we have all seen this one way or another! As you are now.
Can I ask what sort of weight is your bogie frame? David built his trolleys quite heavy, mine are a lot heavier than I my original idea. Have you thought about putting weight down low maybe on the bogie or inside the body, say lead, steel, or maybe bottles of water as a cheep quick trial to see if it helps!
As I said before I’m building mine dual gauge, as flapping arms rapidly to try & get the trolley back on all 8 wheels was a heart stopping experience, Most ground level tracks here in N.Z. are multi gauge so having 5″ locos but running 7 1/4 trolley’s I felt was the way to go, but still can run 5″ if required
Hope this of some help, I would be very interested in how you get on, if you like contact me off list.
Cheers. Kerrin

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Anyone know which issues the design for the bogie verison was in?

[Kerrin GalvinParticipant @kerringalvin72662]

Hi Duncan,
Kwil posted the M.E volumes up the page posted on 29/8/10 volumes 4189 atlernate issues to 4199, part 8 came out in issue 4207.
The first 7 of the articles cover building a 4 wheel driving trolley in the form of a “Lowmac” wagon. The article has pictures of the 8 wheel bogies David produced for his home club to this design. It shows how he linked the bogies to produced an 8 wheel trolley
The last article introduced his finial design for an 8 wheel trolley, this is quite different & the one i’m building.
Hope this helps.
Cheers Kerrin

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Thanks for the info, don’t know why I didn’t spot it earlier, old age I suppose

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