WHAT’S ON THE WORKBENCH AT THE MOMENT

Chris I will have to take a look. Thanks for the information.

Finally wrapping up my PC BEEP/ Flyerchief upgrade. Got the wiring finished and stuffed under the shell.

I had a measure twice, cut once moment. I had the board mounted above the motors but realized that the motor driver board was too tall to fit. I reconfigured everything and wound up putting the board on it's side. Not ideal but it works.
After saying one too many times- I need to get a roll of Kapton tape, I did. Found it at Micro-Center. I don't want anything to short against the weights.
Sorry but I forgot to take pix before final assembly but trust me- everything fit- barely. Getting the wiring dressed in with enough of a service loop is challenging. MTH had the right idea with the spring contact pads on the shells for lighting.
The board has a cab light output so the engine has: number boards (from track power), and directional headlights.
Front and rear elecro-couplers and sound.
Thanks to Pete @Norton who did a FC board in a BEEP recently and provided some guidance along the way with the couplers.
I also discovered that there's a 3rd type of plug on these boards. I bought JST-ZH plugs which work for most of the inputs, but several of the plugs, for chuff, etc, are slightly smaller than the ZH. I'm not using them but to the eye they looked the same.

This is set up so that I can duplicate the lighting and speaker in other BEEP shells and put them on this chassis.

I'll post a video when I can.

Bob

Bob, it sounds like you did a great job.  I am not seeing your photographs, though.

Bob sound like a lot of work! I am glad that it turned out good and everything is working fine!

Merry Christmas to you and the family!

P.S. Also no photos, but the Image Not Found looks AMAZING!

@Mark Boyce @mike g.

I reloaded the photos.

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

Bob

Bob, now I see the photographs!  You did a great job fitting everything in and managing the wires too.

@RSJB18 posted:

Finally wrapping up my PC BEEP/ Flyerchief upgrade. Got the wiring finished and stuffed under the shell.

I had a measure twice, cut once moment. I had the board mounted above the motors but realized that the motor driver board was too tall to fit. I reconfigured everything and wound up putting the board on it's side. Not ideal but it works.
After saying one too many times- I need to get a roll of Kapton tape, I did. Found it at Micro-Center. I don't want anything to short against the weights.
Sorry but I forgot to take pix before final assembly but trust me- everything fit- barely. Getting the wiring dressed in with enough of a service loop is challenging. MTH had the right idea with the spring contact pads on the shells for lighting.
The board has a cab light output so the engine has: number boards (from track power), and directional headlights.
Front and rear elecro-couplers and sound.
Thanks to Pete @Norton who did a FC board in a BEEP recently and provided some guidance along the way with the couplers.
I also discovered that there's a 3rd type of plug on these boards. I bought JST-ZH plugs which work for most of the inputs, but several of the plugs, for chuff, etc, are slightly smaller than the ZH. I'm not using them but to the eye they looked the same.

This is set up so that I can duplicate the lighting and speaker in other BEEP shells and put them on this chassis.

I'll post a video when I can.

Bob

Yep Bob I would probably Break it! LOL

Merry Christmas

Can't keep a busy bench empty for too long so after a quick clean up from the BEEP, I'm jumping back into the MTH S2 that's been languishing.....

If you remember, I was planning an ERR install but the boards wouldn't fit.

So I punted and picked up another Flyerchief board. Lionel doesn't have a S2 in Flyer so a Baldwin VO-1000 ran a close 2nd.

I fabbed a mount for the board.

Power and motors are ready to go. Need to build the lighting.

Bob

I have a few MTH 2-10-0 decapods in various roadnames. I love the engine, a well proportioned locomotive with great detailing.

One drawback on the Shawmut and the Erie versions, was the exaggerated rear tender beam. Some MTH versions have the short deck while most have the exaggerated long deck that tends to detract from the overall all look of the engine.

I happened to be looking through some auctions of the 2-10-0 and saw a 2 rail version with the short, correct rear pilot beam. I searched the model number and discovered that a few versions of the MTH engine had the correct rear beam.

It turns out, that both tender beams were still available from MTH. The parts list showed two types, the long and short versions. I ordered a few of the shorter beams, as well as a few of the shorter electro-couplers, that would match the installation of the short beam. Here is the comparison…

The shorter beam required a shorter coupler…

The “after” view…

A much better look and more correct for my Erie and Shawmut Russians.

The parts are in the website. Only the Santa Fe rear short beam is available now. Part number: GA1140053A…

Tom

@Krieglok posted:

I have a few MTH 2-10-0 decapods in various roadnames. I love the engine, a well proportioned locomotive with great detailing.

The “after” view…

A much better look and more correct for my Erie and Shawmut Russians.

Th

Tom

The tender looks much better Tom. Any idea why MTH uses the long deck? Is it prototypical?

Bob

More time at the bench this afternoon...did some shelving re-org in my shop too. I found 6 old gallon paint cans that rattled when I shook them......don't think that's normal??????

My MTH S2 build is cruising along. I built the front and rear lights today and installed the front ones. The rear will go in soon.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

The tender looks much better Tom. Any idea why MTH uses the long deck? Is it prototypical?

Bob

Hi Bob.

It is a bit of a mystery as MTH produced both for various models. There doesn’t seem to be any logic to the applications other than maybe 3 rail vs 2 rail engines…

Tom

Bob and Tom,

I recall reading the long deck isn’t prototypical, MTH just screwed up.  The early models had the long deck until MTH corrected the mistake.

John

@Steam Crazy posted:

Bob and Tom,

I recall reading the long deck isn’t prototypical, MTH just screwed up.  The early models had the long deck until MTH corrected the mistake.

John

That sounds good to me! I was lucky to find some of the later, short platforms in the parts site…

Tom

HO scale:

Just got another Kansas City & Gulf GP7 into paint. Weathering is next.

Andre

@laming posted:

HO scale:

Just got another Kansas City & Gulf GP7 into paint. Weathering is next.

Andre

assume this is a before and to be-after shot...... almost too pretty to weather.

Bob

More work on the MTH/Flyer-S2 upgrade. I had everything done....or so I thought.....rookie mistake, I reversed  polarity on the lighting. I've swapped everything and tested. The rear headlight isn't working but I think I damaged the wiring making it fit into the bracket.
I'll take it out and test and repair.

Power side is good. The board sync's to the app and moved forward/reverse.

Also got the crew back into the cab.....they are none to happy with the yardmaster at the moment.......

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

More work on the MTH/Flyer-S2 upgrade. I had everything done....or so I thought.....rookie mistake, I reversed  polarity on the lighting. I've swapped everything and tested. The rear headlight isn't working but I think I damaged the wiring making it fit into the bracket.
I'll take it out and test and repair.

Power side is good. The board sync's to the app and moved forward/reverse.

Also got the crew back into the cab.....they are none to happy with the yardmaster at the moment.......

Bob

Those stinking yardmasters have forgotten what it's like to be out here in the cab in the cold!!    Easy to make mistake, Bob!!

@RSJB18 posted:

assume this is a before and to be-after shot...... almost too pretty to weather.

Bob

Thou assumest correctly.

Haven't decided to what extent to weather the 427 just yet.

It will look quite used and worn, but still getting the job done.

The condition of my KC&G engines is intentional so as to reflect the bankrupt/reorganizing aspect of my Kansas City & Gulf theme, circa autumn of 1964. Most of the roster are still wearing their original paint schemes they left the factory with. For the 1st generation engines, that could be anywhere from 12-16 years or more, depending on the unit.

Andre

Great work guys! I know at this point in my Model RR Life I wouldn't try either wiring or weathering! But you guys make it look easy!

@RSJB18 Nice to see you working still on the stuff on your bench! You might want to slow it down as you don't want an empty bench! You need a place to hide the incoming purchase! LOL

@laming Andre Nice paint and weathering! I am sure when you get to the point where you think you have enough weathering you will know!

Keep up the wonderful work!

I have been playing with this for the past few weeks. I bought it years ago but it was a very poor runner, drew a lot of current and overheated. I was going to relegate to Roundhouse scenery. Then stopped at friend’s home who has a few Weaver Diesels that he has upgraded and they run like a watch. He turned me on to a few vendors that sell upgrade parts.

Finished up this weekend's Atlas 2R MP15DC project tonight by installing the Mopac spark arrestors and painting the handrails.  This was originally a dummy unit that had its internals swapped with a running model, along with a Soundtraxx Blunami 4408 EMD-2 decoder, CurrentKeeperII and 27mm dia. Mega Bass speaker.  Original LEDs were reused with some bridge rectifier assemblies from Evan Designs.

~Tim

These WERE on the workbench a while ago.  I installed firecracker antennae and super uplifting spark arrestors on some locomotives.

Nothing.....been a long time.....

Got my MTH S2 assembled and on the rails tonight.

Videos and more pix to follow.

Bob

Very efficient Bob, and now to see how long it lasts. Hopefully, not too long.

Oh Bob don't say it's so! You better get something now to fix or something new just to set there so it looks like you have something on the bench! If you don't have something the CEO will find something for you!

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

Very efficient Bob, and now to see how long it lasts. Hopefully, not too long.

@mike g. posted:

Oh Bob don't say it's so! You better get something now to fix or something new just to set there so it looks like you have something on the bench! If you don't have something the CEO will find something for you!

Thanks guys....no worries- I'm sure this will be a temporary condition. The CEO has determined that it's time to take the Christmas Tree down so that means the trains have to get put away too.

I have a scenery project in mind that I may tackle next.

Bob

Bob, the S2 looks great!  I’m sure it runs great too!

@RSJB18 posted:

Thanks guys....no worries- I'm sure this will be a temporary condition. The CEO has determined that it's time to take the Christmas Tree down so that means the trains have to get put away too.

I have a scenery project in mind that I may tackle next.

Bob

Bob that's good news! Scenery is a good project plus it will keep you moving forward!

Ugh…the last step to finishing the layout is to either get this Bowser turntable working smoothly, or drop the money for a new Millhouse River one.  The weight of the pit has warped the edges of the top, so I think I’ll use steel L brackets.  I need to make a good motor mount, too—the old one was a hillbilly block of wood, and it had lots of backlash.  At least it has the Millhouse River upgrade.

@RIRocket posted:

Ugh…the last step to finishing the layout is to either get this Bowser turntable working smoothly, or drop the money for a new Millhouse River one.  The weight of the pit has warped the edges of the top, so I think I’ll use steel L brackets.  I need to make a good motor mount, too—the old one was a hillbilly block of wood, and it had lots of backlash.  At least it has the Millhouse River upgrade.

Is that 1/4" plywood or Luan being used to hold up the turntable?

If so, try some 1/2" baltic birch plywood, cut in the same size.   

Here's the final assembly pix and video of the shake down run.

Bob

@Berkshire President posted:

Is that 1/4" plywood or Luan being used to hold up the turntable?

If so, try some 1/2" baltic birch plywood, cut in the same size.   

Seems to me it’s more than 1/4”.  I’ll have to measure again.  At any rate, I’m unmotivated to un-nail the whole pit to redo it.  I’m hoping the L steel will work.

After many weeks in the box, a family Christmas in the Cook Islands and, of course, jet lag, I finally got around to bench testing my new MTH-WTIU.   Happy to report that on the bench it preformed well.   No issues with my iPad not finding the wifi signal.   During the process I was alerted that a new upgrade is available but I chose to delay that for another time.  Spent the afternoon adding eight MTH engines and two lash ups to the new WTIU.    It was also a good time to grease and oil the fleet.     For me, the new year has had a great beginning!!

Cheers to All!!

Dave

@RSJB18 posted:

More work on the MTH/Flyer-S2 upgrade. I had everything done....or so I thought.....rookie mistake, I reversed  polarity on the lighting. I've swapped everything and tested. The rear headlight isn't working but I think I damaged the wiring making it fit into the bracket.
I'll take it out and test and repair.

Power side is good. The board sync's to the app and moved forward/reverse.

Also got the crew back into the cab.....they are none to happy with the yardmaster at the moment.......

Bob

I confess I did not review 50 + thread pages but is there a reason to use a flyer chief board in this case and the beep, not an o gauge lion chief  board? Thanks.

@hokie71 posted:

I confess I did not review 50 + thread pages but is there a reason to use a flyer chief board in this case and the beep, not an o gauge lion chief  board? Thanks.

Yep.....electro-couplers.....flyer boards have them lionchief don't at this level.

Lionchief didn't add ec's until the +2.0 series. And these have speed control which would be difficult to retrofit on an older loco.

I wasn't aware of the difference until Pete @Norton did his BEEP.

Thanks for asking....👍👍

Bob