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©copyright AM Publishing 2006 |
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Australian Wickham W & W - W. N° 617 |
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Cat Nap |
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One wet afternoon Oct 2003 |
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Ready for Goulburn trip Oct 2002 |
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Ready for Goulburn trip Oct 2002 |
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617 sitting at the Cowra Fun Museums |
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617 sitting at the Cowra Fun Museums |
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Ready for Goulburn trip Oct 2002 |
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Spot the difference? Centrifugal Clutch |
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After Goulburn trip Oct 2002 |
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3801 visits Crookwell Oct long w/end 2002 |
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After ‘05 renovation |
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After ‘05 renovation |
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My Father on one wet afternoon Oct 2003 |
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3801 visits Crookwell Oct long w/end 2002 |
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My Father on one wet afternoon Oct 2003 |
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My Father on one wet afternoon Oct 2003 |
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Our third Trike, W & W - W. No 617. A Type4 Wickham Railcar that was built in Australia, sometime between 1959 & 1962.
When found in the middle of a paddock it was one Wickham that wasn’t re-powered with a Wisconsin engine. It was a rolling frame with a near new gearbox still attached, complete brake system and good wheels and bearings. The body how ever was a right off, all the timber was rotted off and the shield bent beyond repair.
The original plan was to scrape it for parts… then because it could roll, be turned into a trailer... THEN it clicked, all that was needed to do was drive the gearbox, then started the restoration. In July/Sept/Oct 2002 work began. 526 was used as a guide and thanks to a friend we got hold of a Wisconsin S12D engine and a carden shaft. Problem now was finding a clutch. The thinking began (yeah it hurt). The hand clutch the Railway used was a Wisconsin part but now you’d be lucky to find one. The next idea was a centrifugal clutch, this was expensive but the cheapest way out compared to alternatives. An adaptor plate was turned up to bolt the carden shaft to the clutch. This idea works extremely well, it is impossible to stall the engine and minimizes wheelslip. The only negative is it now takes talent to change the High & Low gears while on the move.
Things like the rear “bow”, engine cradle, engine mounts, battery cradle, control box, carry arm hooks had to be fabricated. Actually the rear “bow” and battery cradle were from a another Wickham frame that had a nasty run UNDER a train. New FormPly ply wood was used to replicate the deck kickboards and such. A new shield was bent up for it, made out of 1mm gal tin.
617 has mostly run back to back with 526 at the GCHR.
Over 4 months (Feb-June ‘05) 617 was stripped and sent to the sandblaster, few repairs made, painted, re-assembled, re-wired.
CURRENT STATUS: Operational. |
