Having unpacked my last collection of "goodies" that arrived promptly in the post from the good folks at Trackgang Products, the US flat deck wagon that was amongst said "goodies" has sat untouched since. Until today.

The only reservation that I held about the US was its cast bogies. I had had some minor problems getting the 4-wheel wagons from Trackgang to run smoothly; something that, admittedly, was related more to my abilities than to any inherent problems with the product. I didn't fancy my chances of getting all four axles to line up and run properly on the US, so I put it aside in the hope that a brilliant idea would come to me. This morning I came up with a solution that is satisfactory, cheap, and simple.

Amongst my collection of "spare parts" were a variety of N gauge bogies and wheelsets from a previous modelling life, the remnants of an interest in the railroads of the Land of the Free. Amongst these were several Atlas bogies with nasty rapido couplers. They were the old style couplers without the NEM pocket to switch out the rapido for a knuckle coupler, so I had to by new Atlas bogies with Accumate couplers. Ok, I didn't have to, but it was the easiest solution at the time...

The wheels of the Trackgang models are very nice indeed. I like how they include wheelsets appropriate for each model rather than mailing out one generic wheel for them all– it's a small but nice touch.

The Atlas bogie is only slightly smaller lengthwise than the Trackgang frame – maybe half a mil – and has  a very similar shape about it. The Atlas bogie is also made out of a nice, self-lubricating plastic, avoiding the need to oil or grease the wheels to reduce friction in the axles.

The TG axles are slightly wider than those of the Atlas bogie. Not to worry, the bogie frame is quite thick. the first task was to use a 1mm drill to drill out a hole through the pinpoint in the inside of the frame, and through the roller bearing axle cover on the outside. I did try to avoid doing this, but to get the wheels to roll freely, it was unavoidable. The hole should come out right through the middle of the bearing, so it isn't all that noticeable at any rate.

Using a variety of blades, I then very carefully proceeded to thin the bogie frame at the end, where the axles are to sit, to accommodate the extra width. The frames are thick, and the plastic (derilin, maybe??) is durable and can be safely whittled down to about half its original width without fear of nasty consequences.

At this point I test fit the wheelsets to see how freely they rolled. If they were stiff, I used a sharp pointed blade to bore out the hole from the inside of the bogie. This creates a kind of inverse cone shape that helps locate the axle and hopefully results in a free-running wheelset. It's just a matter of very carefully, and patiently, trimming away until the axle turns freely in the frame.

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The result for me was a pair of smooth-running bogies that looked good with their larger TG wheels. The scale wheels are quite noticeably larger than those of the the original 1:160 wheelsets. You could, of course, just use American bogies without modification if you were not taken with the TG ones, but it would be a shame not to use the excellent wheels provided in the kit.

The best part of this exercise: the cost: $0. I have a few more pairs of bogies that I can use before having to source more. I have always preferred the Atlas bogie/ Accumate coupler combination to the Micro Trains units, and so Atlas is what I have, and what I'll continue to use. It may be possible to use the same exercise to fit the TG wheels to another make of bogie, but I can't comment, not having tried to do so.

I'm fitting the couplers to the wagon itself, rather than the bogie, so a bogie with a rapido moulded on is just fine for this purpose. Cut it off, clean it up, and then start drilling. As nobody really wants rapido couplers, it may be possible to source the one piece bogie/ rapido units second hand from a model shop at very little (or perhaps no, if they like you) cost.

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Hope this is helpful or useful to some of you at least. If I can manage to get my camera to focus close enough, I may get some images up in the next few days.

Happy modelling,

G-J