Ryan's M3 medium

[cantankrs]

Originally Posted by Ryan

Interesting pics Alex, are they sentinel bogies used on a large gantry?

Don't know about a gantry. You couldn't use the complete bogie on a gantry cos the gantry would tilt backwards and forwards.

Notice in the pics that there seems to be a difference between the wheels on the bogies and the wheel on its own. The bogie wheels appear to have seperate rims with tyres (a la Lee/Grant) whereas the single wheel has grooves in the rim presumably for the rubber to be molded straight onto the wheel (something like Bren Carrier wheels). I read somewhere that the Australian Sentinel tyres were inferior to the American Lee/Grant tyres, having a habit of failing under use.

Also we picked up what I thought was a Lee/Grant bogie in Victoria but close inspection shows that the casting is very similar to the Lee/Grant but 'rougher'. It is not exactly like any of the US made suspension variants I have seen. I initially thought it might have been produced by a different subcontractor - and that may still be the reason, but I think the Sentinel 'evolved' before production got going and wonder if it might be a pre-production Australian manufactured bogie for the Sentinel, or whether it was a locally produced 'replacement' bogie for the Lee/Grants as it has their bolt-to-hull layout. May never know for sure.

Alex