7mm Motor/Gearbox for a Peppercorn A1, (Andrews).

[alcazar]

When built, the loco will be used for a depot layout, or a shunting plank.

Motor/gearboxes I'm looking at include Tower Shogun, presently at a very attractive price, Ron Chaplin (now MSC), ABC and Slaters GB30-3M.

Anybody care to comment?
And which of those for a DJH Thompson A2/3? DJH don't seem to do any of their own gearboxes now....

 

[Steph Dale]

How much d'you want the loco to haul? And how will it be operated?

The reason I ask is to work out what motor you need. The gearboxes you suggest are all okay (though I'm not a fan of the Tower units), but I suspect you'll need more grunt than a Mashima can deliver and I suspect even the Canon 1833 might be found a little lacking...

Steph

 

[alcazar]

It's doubtful it will haul much more than a couple of wagons at most, mostly itself. I don't have room for much else.
It will be powered from an NCE DCC system.

 

[Steph Dale]

I'd suggest going for the Canon 1833 in that case. A ratio of around 30:1 will ensure it won't embarrass itself if you ever take it visiting. It's therefore primarily a case of trying to see what will fit. ABC do a useful download on their 'site of gearbox templates. (Can't link as it's a Flash 'site; grrr!)

Worth keeping clear of that Tower unit as you'll probably need a 'large scale' decoder for it, which will also impact the size or number of boosters you need for DCC. The Canon runs very sweetly with a normal HO/00 decoder - the ESU LokPilot would be my recommendation if you're not into sound, the LokSoundv4 if you prefer your trains with noises.

Hope that helps a little. Stand by for other opinions!

Steph