Branchline wheels

[ginger61]

Hi all,
I hope that you ill be gentle with me on this one!!!, Is it possible to widen the Em gauge wheels to p4/s4? I have just joined as i'm ready for the next step!!
Thanks in advance,
Nick.

[Philip Hall]

It is possible, and the wheels will run on P4 track, although there will be less 'play' between the railheads as the wheels are coarser. Martin Goodall has done just this and it works, for him, on his railway and some others. However this is not generally the recommended course, especially for someone new to P4. I suggest you stick to the recommended P4 standards as everything will work with everything else; your trains will happily run on anyone else's layout and vice versa.

I ought to tell you, as a newcomer, (and welcome, by the way) that this subject has been raised in the past and discussed extensively (ie done to death) on this forum. Martin has his own ideas, which work for him, and that's fine. He's an experienced modeller and knows what will work and what doesn't, but I think almost all of us on here and in the Society prefer to stick to the ordinary P4 standards, for no better reason that they have been proven to work over a very long period of time. This would be the way to start - by all means experiment later - but using the proper P4 standards will give you a very good chance indeed of success first time.

Good luck, and we are all here to help you when you need us.

Philip

[LesGros]

ginger61 wrote

... I hope that you ill be gentle with me on this one!!!, Is it possible to widen the Em gauge wheels to p4/s4? I have just joined as i'm ready for the next step!! ...

Welcome to the society. I think you will find us gentle, even when we disagree about stuff. To answer your question in a little more detail: There are "EM wheels" and EM wheels". Martin Goodall has summarised the position on another thread earlier today.
He wrote:

It depends on the wheels.
Wheels made to the RP25 profile won't work on P4 track (as the flanges are too fat).
Romford/Markits EM wheels won't work on P4 track (as the tyres are too wide)
But Ultrascale and Gibson EM wheels certainly will run on P4 track.
Pulling loco wheels out to the P4 BB gauge (17.7mm) is OK if the axles are long enough. Otherwise you will need longer axles, but can still use the wheels.

So there you have it [if Martin had set out the above as clearly in his earlier thesis, there could, perhaps, have been less heat and more light to the subsequent discussions... but that is water long under-the-bridge]

I would agree with Phil's comment about the newcomer adhering to published P4 standards [All published in the Digest Archive, button above]
But, when all is said and done, it is your trainset.
Happy modelling

[ginger61]

Hi.
Many thanks for the replies. I did follow the pros and cons of using the 'em' wheels when guesting!!!! will take the advice on board and basically start afresh.
Once again many thanks.
Nick.

[Philip Hall]

Branchlines wheels are very good indeed so you'll find a ready market for them in EM circles. Or maybe the Bring and Buy at Scaleforum?

Philip