Best Rolling road

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junctionmad

Best Rolling road

Postby junctionmad » Fri Nov 16, 2018 12:10 pm

I asked this on rmweb then thought this might be a better place

Leaving aside cost , Whats the best rolling road , Multi gauge , self contained, strong , well made and rigid

thoughts ?

regards
Dave

David Thorpe

Re: Best Rolling road

Postby David Thorpe » Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:10 pm

I've got a Bachrus series 50 rolling road which is adjustable to fit gauges between 11 and 23 mm. I'm very pleased with it. However, Bachrus has now closed which probably accounts for many former suppliers now being out of stock. If you can find them you'd need a Series 50 stirrup set and saddle set.

DT

David Knight
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby David Knight » Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:49 pm

I have a Bachrus 50B that I’ve used for everything from HO to O for at least ten years or more. Never any problems as the construction is sturdy but as David says they seem to have stopped manufacturing. Possibly a second hand version might be available?

Cheers,

David

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Jol Wilkinson
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby Jol Wilkinson » Fri Nov 16, 2018 4:27 pm

Kevin at Coastal DCC used to stock Bachrus but now lists the DCC Concepts model so I would think that is a good replacement.

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Tim V
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby Tim V » Fri Nov 16, 2018 10:47 pm

Bachrus for me as well. Covers 18.83 down to 9.42mm.
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

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grovenor-2685
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby grovenor-2685 » Fri Nov 16, 2018 11:32 pm

self contained, strong , well made and rigid

Neither the Bachrus or DCC Concepts are really self contained or rigid, both are designed to sit on a length of track and get their rigidity from that.
Other than that either look to be good. no personal experience however, I have a set of the original Studiolith/Exactoscale ones but have rarely used them.
Regards
Regards
Keith
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Jol Wilkinson
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby Jol Wilkinson » Sun Nov 18, 2018 9:36 am

Having had a look at the replies above I did a little more "reflecting". I have the NLA Bachrus unit and a Rolling Rails one. The downside of the otherwise excellent Bachrus rolling road is that bit doesn't sit on Code 75 chaired rail too well, possibly being designed for coarser track systems.

I had bought the Rolling Rails one first;

http://www.rollingrails.co.uk/

It is gauge specific and in some ways better than the Bachrus. At the time I bought it there was a ball race roller option, but I opted for the standard and cheaper brass rollers. That was a mistake as they took a lot of "running in" and still aren't as free as the ball races on the Bachrus.

There are other 4mm rolling roads available, seemingly very good according to reviews, but suitable only if you model in "00 scale".

One option might be to make your own;

https://www.hmrg.co.uk/techtops/rolling.htm

This site shows a 7mm one but as the text says, could be scaled down to 4mm.

Elsewhere there has been a generous offer to the Society from Andy R regarding the DCC Concepts version.

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=6123

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Will L
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby Will L » Sun Nov 18, 2018 1:02 pm

I've had very mixed experiences with rolling roads. I've had two different designs over time and neither was successful for me in the long run. This was perhaps to do with the way I tried to use them. Mostly I was testing bare chassis in the early stages of construction. This means the chassis is very light and unless the rollers are very free running, your chassis will climb off the them. I would not buy again unless I found a ball race version and I was sure it was extremely free running. If what you need it for is testing complete locos at full running weight it will probably be Ok but if the road isn't free running they will still climb off.

For those who are wondering. I now test the bare chassis held in the air 'till it runs, then run it in on a ordinary bit of track with an immovable stop at the end and let the wheels spin. The completed locos are tested the same way, on the basis that if your loco can't spin its wheels when movement is obstructed, you’re risking a burnt out motor.

David Thorpe

Re: Best Rolling road

Postby David Thorpe » Sun Nov 18, 2018 3:24 pm

My experience of my first rolling road, the Rolling Rails one, mirror those of Jol. Like him I got the one with the brass rollers and like him I never got them to run freely. It was effectively useless.

The Bachrus one was a great improvement in that the rollers run freely and it does what it's meant to do. I don't have the problem with code 75 chaired track because I use the Bachrus on a length of Programming Track which is separate from my layout and has the track soldered to PCB sleepers (no chairs). Even on chaired track I've found it works fine though you do have to position it carefully on the track. As for Will's experiences that rolling roads don't deal well with newly built light chassis, he's quite right but i usually get over that by putting a lump of lead on the chassis.

DT

junctionmad

Re: Best Rolling road

Postby junctionmad » Mon Nov 19, 2018 12:24 am

Thanks chaps

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grovenor-2685
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby grovenor-2685 » Mon Nov 19, 2018 1:31 pm

Regards
Keith
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Enigma
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby Enigma » Mon Nov 19, 2018 4:51 pm

Will L wrote:For those who are wondering. I now test the bare chassis held in the air 'till it runs, then run it in on a ordinary bit of track with an immovable stop at the end and let the wheels spin. The completed locos are tested the same way, on the basis that if your loco can't spin its wheels when movement is obstructed, you’re risking a burnt out motor.


Exactly what I do as well. You do, after a while, get some hollows in the rail though! A bit of weight at each end helps. I use an old large steel nut or two.

Morgan1
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby Morgan1 » Mon Nov 19, 2018 6:29 pm

May I suggest you look at scalefour news number 180. Colin Porter offered a ball bearing unit for each pair of wheels. His drawing is extremely useful. I am not sure if they can be bought now but I made 3 units with ball races as shown. Instead of mounting them on a piece of track I used two lengths of aluminium. They work extremely well.
Paul

junctionmad

Re: Best Rolling road

Postby junctionmad » Wed Nov 21, 2018 12:46 am

Thanks for everyone’s opinion

Dave

andrewnummelin
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby andrewnummelin » Wed Dec 05, 2018 6:50 pm

I was intending to purchase the Bachrus system, but as these are no longer available I bought some from DCC Concepts. I have however made a slight modification to them, having them separately wired rather than relying on contact with track. I've described my new set up in a different thread:
https://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6035#p64826.
Regards,

Andrew Nummelin

radfordino
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Re: Best Rolling road

Postby radfordino » Fri Jan 04, 2019 12:00 am

Why not build your own?

See photo below for an example of my own rolling road.

15465587669161892402168983679161.jpg

Bearings were from SMB bearings who were happy to take a small order, spec was 3mm id 6mm od (or similar, my memory is a little hazy).

I've used a little copper clad and square section to set the distance between, but there is also a K&S U-section and rectangular box which can be used to create the saddle and support rail. Something around 5/32" channel and 1/8th box section seems familiar.

I cannot claim any originality of the idea, I copied it from Brian Foster (3mm modeller) of NMDRM, whether the idea was his originally I'm unsure...

Brian's example used the K&S box sections screwed to a nice laminated block of MDF (or chipboard?). Mine uses an etched cradle of my own design.... as my scratch building skills ain't there yet.

15465596920648225987341376441813.jpg

Hopefully this may give someone some inspiration, my apologies for dodgy smartphone based photos.

Neil.
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