Click here or use the menus to see how to motorise the 1/64 th scale (5 mm / foot) Corgi tram with a Tenshodo motor bogie for two-rail or live overhead operation.

The wheelbase of a Corgi tram is 30 mm so there is not a Tenshodo motor which fits exactly but the ones above are near enough not to be noticed. The motor fits quite well but does raise the ride height of the tram by about 1 mm.

The photo shows a repainted static Corgi Sunderland District trams which was motorised and photographed for use here. As it had already been dismantled, the rivets have been replaced by screws.

Early Tenshodo motor bogies had the worms driving straight cut plastic pinions on the axles. This gave a weak point at the bottom of each tooth on the pinion which often split through to the axle resulting in lost drive.

The worm and pinions were redesigned with skewed teeth to overcome this problem but the worms were only pressed on to the shiny motor shaft without any positive location.

With continued use, the worms can move along the shaft until they eventually touch the plastic casing. Click on the picture, the link or follow the menus for a description of how to correct this relatively common problem.

Click here or use the menus to see how to motorise the Corgi tram with a Halling Vario for two-rail or live overhead operation.

As the wheelbase of a Corgi tram is 30 mm, the Halling Vario chassis is near enough not to be noticed.

The photo shows a modified and repainted Corgi Sunderland tram which has has already been dismantled and so the rivets have been replaced by screws as shown.