Enigma wrote:...But - I have been lured by the idea of CSB and have a couple of HL Pannier chassis to build. I'm sure that a compensated version would be a lot quicker and simpler - but I'll have a go
While I know when you use an unfamiliar it can seem more complicated than the method you are used to, having built both I would content that a CSB chassis is non more complex than a simple compensation and significantly easier to do than more complex compensation systems.
billbedford wrote:It really doesn't matter how many people found the introduction of Flexichas an inspiration, the fact remains that the majority of people who build loco kits do not use the system. ...
I accept that is probably true, and it certainly true if we exchange the work "buy" for "build". I take it we all except that less than half the kits that are bought ever have any attempt made to build them
...It is a commercial imperative any manufacturer of loco kits that they should be able to be built rigid...
Also true, I'm sure, form the point of view of the manufacture.
...using the traditional three rod method of squaring the frames, and all the evidence is that that is the method that the majority use.
Now I think we are drifting apart, While I'm happy to accept that many people faced with a chassis kit decide they can't manage to do anything more complicated than build a rigid chassis, whether the bulk of the ones who actually do start construction set out and buy the bits 1/8 silver steel rod I am rather less certain.
There is a more to be said on this but its getting late. perhaps tomorrow.
jon price wrote:...I don't know what amount of play there is in real steam locos, but our most sophisticated systems appear to allow .5mm either way.
When I first asked myself this question I was surprised to find that the 0.5 mm either side was in fact a fair approximation to common practice on the prototype
A travel of 1mm is 3" in full sized. Are main line steam locos built to cope with 3" jumps in track height? We put a lot of effort into suspension, but perhaps that effort would be more productive if it went into track that didn't have 1mm steps in it?
As Keith pointed out the issue is not steps in the track, it the degree of twist in the track across the length of the loco which is a great deal more subtle and harder to quantified or even spot. Many do try to avoid the problem by building perfectly flat track, which is certainly doable, if rather easier said then done. But then they discover that changes in level and even track super elevation are a feature of the prototype they would like to have on their layout.