Folks,
I have begun a second Mason Bogie. My first one was eventually powered by Fletch's laser-cut chassis and it runs well. In the forum archives is my log describing that build. I am one of the few to have received a chassis from Barry so decided to work on another locomotive. This time I'm building option 4 - long tender (to hold the Airwire and sound systems) and Congdon stack (because I love them). I had already accumulated most of the commercial parts to ease the way.
At this point it appears exceedingly unlikely that anyone will receive a chassis from Barry, whether they paid for it or not, due to the long period since he has responded to inquiries.
The chassis from Barry that I received leaves much to be desired. A number of holes were either not drilled or were drilled in the wrong location (based on Fletch's drawings). The axles are not square to the chassis leading to a pronounced tilt of the boiler and a chassis that is not actually parallel to the track. The only real fix is to remove the axles and to bore out the axle holes for bushings. Without my late lamented machine shop, that's not feasible. A friend milled down the lower chassis extrusion so at least the boiler will set horizontally. I also had to loosen up the fit of the rods to the wheels to eliminate misalignments and bindings.
Andy
I have begun a second Mason Bogie. My first one was eventually powered by Fletch's laser-cut chassis and it runs well. In the forum archives is my log describing that build. I am one of the few to have received a chassis from Barry so decided to work on another locomotive. This time I'm building option 4 - long tender (to hold the Airwire and sound systems) and Congdon stack (because I love them). I had already accumulated most of the commercial parts to ease the way.
At this point it appears exceedingly unlikely that anyone will receive a chassis from Barry, whether they paid for it or not, due to the long period since he has responded to inquiries.
The chassis from Barry that I received leaves much to be desired. A number of holes were either not drilled or were drilled in the wrong location (based on Fletch's drawings). The axles are not square to the chassis leading to a pronounced tilt of the boiler and a chassis that is not actually parallel to the track. The only real fix is to remove the axles and to bore out the axle holes for bushings. Without my late lamented machine shop, that's not feasible. A friend milled down the lower chassis extrusion so at least the boiler will set horizontally. I also had to loosen up the fit of the rods to the wheels to eliminate misalignments and bindings.
Andy