Member postings for David Viewing 1

Thanks to Ian T for that illuminating clarification on the origin of Gauge 2.

As Ian states, the SME defined the Gauge as 2" in 1899, for which Henry Greenly is given credit.

The UK model railway industry stuck fairly well to this definition although it is sometimes referred to as "50.8 mm"!

Greenly was clear on the issue of scale as 7/16" / ft or 1:27.43 (rounded to 2 DP). However manufacturers were rather less scale concious in Edwardian times than today, and many of Bassett Lowke's 'Scale Models' were foreshortened. Even some Model Engineer Exhibition award winning rolling stock was built using oversize (Presumably G3) components!

However, Gauge 2 models produced before WW1 by James Carson and C. Butcher stand out as being built to true scale. This message was clearly being received in Northampton because the last G2 model to appear before 1914, Bing's "Saint George", was built to a reasonable scale standard. This makes for an impressive model and I've had the great pleasure of running one of these, perhaps for the first time in a very long time, in the last couple of weeks.

Thanks so much for that thread table Nicholas.

British made model locos (for instance, Carson) built before 1914 typically use 1/16", 3/32" and 1/8" Whitworth threads. These are often opened out to BA during restoration which is a pity because screws in these sizes are still produced in UK by EKP (No connection - just a satisfied customer). This is important because many models have been stripped during the 110 years of their existence and the first thing to go missing are the fasteners!

Taps and dies for these sizes are also available - try eBay.

German made models (Bing etc.) made before 1914 seem to use a version of BA, although typically not a good fit with modern hardware. For instance the gauge frame in a Bing loco appears to be held in with 7BA, while the axle stubs are threaded 3 BA. These sizes make practical replacements, but there's room for debate about what the threads actually are.

After the Great War BA seems to have been universally adopted in UK, although I've no idea exactly when.