Bergs (Minimodels) Sydney Electric Cars - Bogies 2

I have rearranged the mounting for one of the bogies of the power car to allow some side-to-side rocking motion. This resulted in better running and power pickup on my layout due to the superelevated curves. Unless you have superelevated curves, this modification would provide little benefit.

The modification was not as difficult as I had first thought. First, I removed the existing bogie mounting bracket (Part No. 30 on the exploded diagram included with the set.)

I determined that the required height between the top of the bogie frame (not the top of the gear tower) and the underside of the floor was 3 mm.

I cut a rectangle of 1 mm styrene the same width as the bogie frame, and attached it to the top of the bogie frame with 2 x M1.4 screws (slightly larger screws could be used also). I drilled and tapped a 2-56 hole in the styrene for the new bogie pivot screw. I glued a smaller piece of styrene to the underside of this piece to give greater thickness for the tapped hole. On the top of the main piece, I glued 2 small strips of 0.5 mm styrene, approx 1 mm wide x 2 mm long along the longitudinal centre line, either side of the tapped hole. These provide a raised centre section so the bogie will be able to rock slightly from side to side.

I cut another rectangle of 1.5 mm styrene to fit under the floor in the vicinity of the bogie area, and also attached it with M1.4 screws screwed into the floor below. I drilled a 2.3 mm hole in the centre of this piece for the bogie pivot screw, and countersunk the hole to suit a 8BA countersunk head screw. (This fits fine into the 2-56 tapped hole - the threads are almost identical.) The countersunk screw head provides clearance for the drive shaft to the bogie. Part of this rectangle will need to be cut away to provide clearance for the gear tower, as per the existing "keyhole" shaped cutout in the floor.

When the bogie is attached to the new bolster with the 8BA screw, the car (and coupler if using body mounted couplers) should be at the same height as before. The bogie should be able to rock from side to side, as well as fore and aft, to accommodate all track conditions.

Tips:

1. I used Evergreen black styrene sheet so I didn't have to paint the new parts. When assembled, they blend in nicely with the original chassis parts.
2. When tapping the 2-56 thread, don't run the tap all the way through so the screw is slightly tight in the hole. This will prevent it from unscrewing.
3. Save the original bogie mounting bracket in case you ever want to return the car to original condition. Apart from the small holes for the M1.4 screws, there are no irreversible changes to the bogie and floor.