Another Kline Hudson gets the works! Tales from Harmon Shops

@Engineer-Joe posted:

Way too quiet! Shouldn't those old steamers make more fuss?

Very nice. Wish I could send you a Challenger that is geared way too low.....

Thank you Joe, ....I’ll take the “ way too quiet” as a compliment, ......that means I’ve done my job!.....at least y’all ain’t sayin “ hey what’s that crazy squeaking sound?”

Pat

So I took this apart for the 4, no 5, no sixth...... again. Each time was an issue that needed attention. Last one was something rubbed on my tach tape causing a clicking noise and some erratic running at slower speeds. Might have an issue with the smoke unit too. I've never had such good smoke volume!

It will have to come back apart one more...... again. Urrggg!

Please ignore that SFe bare steamer there. It has nothing to do with this post.

It will get NYC paint and maybe look just like another Niagara?

Very nice! Smooth runner. I like the consist too. And your layout. Bravo. ( Not bad for a Hudson *wink*)

@harmonyards posted:

Update on Larry’s Hudson,....1st test run, no sounds or smoke, so far so good starting a long train, ....it can be longer, this is what I could grab quick for a test run,....I have a small issue with the lead truck traversing switches ( it wants to jump up) so I’ll tackle that next,.....that’s minor compared to things that can go wrong!...but this is why we test, test & more testing!...not disappointed at all so far!..

Pat

The little R3385 in the factory K-Line chassis would have spit it guts out trying to move that train. For anyone wondering there's no comparison. This modification will put the stock K-Line Hudson to shame.

@Will posted:

Very nice! Smooth runner. I like the consist too. And your layout. Bravo. ( Not bad for a Hudson *wink*)

Thanks Will!...still got a ways to go on Larry’s Hudson, ...one small little hiccup to work out of the front truck, and then we’ll add some goodies to bring her to life!...

Pat

She sure runs smooth!!

There’s one thing that really stands out when your watching the hudson pulling the long freight consist on Pats beautiful layout, the really beautiful scenery, landscaping, stations, roundhouse area, so realistic. I’ve always thought, scenery is the stage, the trains are the characters, and the Kline Hudson is the star performer. Thank you Harmonyards, great workmanship. I really appreciate the time and thoughts your putting into this locomotive. Keep the pictures flying. Happy Railroading Everyone

@harmonyards posted:

Update on Larry’s Hudson,....1st test run, no sounds or smoke, so far so good starting a long train, ....it can be longer, this is what I could grab quick for a test run,....I have a small issue with the lead truck traversing switches ( it wants to jump up) so I’ll tackle that next,.....that’s minor compared to things that can go wrong!...but this is why we test, test & more testing!...not disappointed at all so far!..

Pat

Didn't get to see that last night, but definitely a great thing to catch this morning. Gotta love how quiet it is with the smoothness of the cars not making hardly a sound. I think I have a few squeaky ones at home somewhere, lol.

Pat,

Are you going to make those red marker lights on the tender where they can be turned off while pulling a train?

@Big Jim posted:

Pat,

Are you going to make those red marker lights on the tender where they can be turned off while pulling a train?

I’d like to Big Jim,....that’s on my list of pet peeves!...Larry’s tender is still stone stock as delivered,.....I know it’s still not correct to do this, but at least just let em’ light up in reverse and that’s it,....that’s always bugged the crab apples out of me too!...maybe Pete or John would have a solution we could implement...

Pat

You can just wire the markers into the rear light connections. They will be off in forward.

Pete

Update on Larry’s  Kline Hudson, ....tonight, Larry gets ( as promised by me) a much better looking headlight assembly .....we’ll ditch the toy like lens in favor of something a little more fitting for such a well detailed Hudson,.......I’m not sure if I’ve posted a step by step on how I make reflectors and lenses, so we’ll side bar on this thread and do a little headlight happier 101,.....we start by saying goodbye to the lens borrowed by Louis Marx & Co., and we size up what the cavity looks like,...fortunately, the Kline headlight bucket is pretty well made, so we don’t have to mod it, or discard it,....Lionel’s we discard, and start over with a PSC part,....making the reflector, I choose the appropriate sized bowl in my doming set and use sheet brass as my reflector material.....I wanna say this is a hunk of .010 but I’ll verify that, ....I’ve played around with thinner brass, but during the rest of the process, I find the thinner material is easier distorted, and hard to keep a pretty bowl shape while making the reflector,......as you can see on the blank, I want to see it begin to part with the sheet, but not all the way yet,.....working while it’s still somewhat attached to the sheet is a whole lot easier......while it’s still sitting in the die set, I’ll begin a hole set for the bulb,....no magic here, stick out your tongue and pop it one time with a tiny centering punch,....if I’m off, just toss it and beat out another till I’m happy,......then, drill a hole slightly smaller than the bulb, and sneak up on the hole size with a fine bit on a dermel ....we’ll purposely set the bulb back a wee bit, so the cross light will get to the number boards and illuminate them.....now that the piece is formed and the hole is prepped, I can take my shop sheers ( fancy scissors) and trim out up to but not past the parting line,....now that it’s been severed from the sheet, I’ll dress up the faced edge on a disc sander,...could just lay a piece of sand paper on a flat surface and rub it back & forth, but I like the sounds of machines running..☺️......after we test it for fitted net , and the set back is where I want it, away from the lens lip, ....it’s time to flow in the molotow chrome paint, ....actually puddling this on yields far better results than trying to use the pen and color, ...flow on a puddle, and swish it around till the reflector is covered,....we’ll let that dry for a good while, and then mount everything.....we’ll wrap that up in the morning and post up a finished pic,....

Pat

@Norton posted:

You can just wire the markers into the rear light connections. They will be off in forward.

Pete

Figured you’d have the solution Pete, ...that’s what we’ll do,.....

Pat

And lose that lousy freight train Pat! ...........................

@RickO posted:

And lose that lousy freight train Pat! ...........................

I promise, we’ll do the last test and video with a passenger consist,.....the freight drag was already on the main, so I just stuck Larry’s Hudson ahead of it,.....look at the bright side, in the video, you can see I bumped a Mohawk for the assignment 😉

Pat

@RickO posted:

And lose that lousy freight train Pat! ...........................

I mean yes, but also I have seen that Hudsons would get put on a local for a break in following overhaul so seems appropriate.

I launched mine off the shelf railroad when I didn't have the bridge in. Replaced the headlight with one from PSC which, I have yet to install. Only been 5 years.

Harmonyards is making great progress, the headlight is going to be so beautiful, and I’m so proud of his workmanship. Amazing. I think the idea of the tender marker lights going off in reverse would be neat, but not an issue with me. I feel so fortunate that the headlight will look real.  The headlight bulb wasn’t on during the demo drive, but the train ran so smoothly it wasn’t noticeable. This is such a fun project to watch, I’m so glad there are a lot of folks looking at Pats creative work. This is mind blowing quality craftsmanship. Stay tuned, it just gets better and better.  Thank you Pat. Happy Railroading Everyone

Nice work. Where can I get a forming block like you have to make the headlight rings

@Norton posted:

You can just wire the markers into the rear light connections. They will be off in forward.

Pete

Probably the best option. I wish the CC had more options for lighting functions but oh well.

@cocker posted:

Nice work. Where can I get a forming block like you have to make the headlight rings

That French store, Harbor Freightage’....😁

Pat

Wow, time flies when your having fun, the upgrades to my hudson look great. I am getting anxious to see more pictures of the headlight, the front truck issue being resolved and the Gunrunner smoke upgrades, it’s so exciting. Oh, it’s going to be great. Pat, what’s next on your agenda for the hudson 5343? Merry Christmas to all and Happy Railroading Everyone.

@harmonyards posted:

That French store, Harbor Freightage’....😁

Pat

I think that is where I got my set.

@leapinlarry posted:

Wow, time flies when your having fun, the upgrades to my hudson look great. I am getting anxious to see more pictures of the headlight, the front truck issue being resolved and the Gunrunner smoke upgrades, it’s so exciting. Oh, it’s going to be great. Pat, what’s next on your agenda for the hudson 5343? Merry Christmas to all and Happy Railroading Everyone.

Soon, very soon for more pics and progress, ....we had to wait for lovely USPS to drop off your upgraded sound package from John,....we just received that box the other day,.....no fault of John, ....he shipped it out prompt as prompt can be, .....we’re rolling along now!...watch for the updates Larry!...

Pat

Thanks Harmonyards for the update, yes, USPS is slow this time of year, very understandable. It’s so Thrilling, your workmanship is simply amazing. Stay safe, stay healthy.

Leapin Larry

@harmonyards posted:

Soon, very soon for more pics and progress, ....we had to wait for lovely USPS to drop off your upgraded sound package from John,....we just received that box the other day,.....no fault of John, ....he shipped it out prompt as prompt can be, .....we’re rolling along now!...watch for the updates Larry!...

Let's say it was out of my hands right away, but that was the last prompt action taken for the shipping!

@leapinlarry posted:

Thanks Harmonyards for the update, yes, USPS is slow this time of year, very understandable. It’s so Thrilling, your workmanship is simply amazing. Stay safe, stay healthy.

Leapin Larry

Heck, John had the order ready and kicked out the door before I finished paying him,.....he pinged me with tracking before I hit send,....😄.....and not just “ tracking number provided” .....it was USPS in possession,.....they just took the possession part to an unhealthy level,....🤪

Pat

Waiting for the demo before I put my preorder in. I have extra money from a 2-8-0 that got cancelled

@RickO posted:

Waiting for the demo before I put my preorder in. I have extra money from a 2-8-0 that got cancelled

🤣🤣🤣....unfortunately, all preorders still go through Pete, .......good news though, ....I’ve heard from a reliable source named Lou ( Lou1985 ) that Pete is accepting reservations for the 2021 season,.....

Supplies are limited, operators are standing by, act now,

Pat

No that's not right @harmonyards. Pete only does Commodore Vanderbilt Hudsons 😉.

@Lou1985 posted:

No that's not right @harmonyards. Pete only does Commodore Vanderbilt Hudsons 😉.

Moguls Lou, Moguls. Maybe with a Consolidation thrown in.

Pete

@Norton posted:

Moguls Lou, Moguls. Maybe with a Consolidation thrown in.

Pete

Careful Pete, he’s a sneaky underhanded Cicero thug,....😆

Pat

@Norton posted:

Moguls Lou, Moguls. Maybe with a Consolidation thrown in.

Pete

That's just recently 😉.

You're the Pittman swap Commodore Vanderbilt guy. No plain J1e Hudsons like Pat.

Update on Larry’s Kline Hudson,....we’re getting to the good stuff!,..,last time we checked in, the CC was installed, and the only issue was the lead truck, ....we’ve resolved that issue with just slightly smaller pilot wheels,...the large pilot wheels were just catching on too many things, and given I know what Larry’s track consists of, this just made sense, now it tracks great, and Larry won’t have any operational issues when he gets it home,...the new set of pilot wheels are still larger than the OE Kline, so that’s a plus!..problem solved,...we finished up the headlight, fired it up for testing and reinstalled the light fixture, ....note how perfect the glow is, just can’t get that from a LED!...NO SiR!....we were very careful in positioning the bulb to catch the side number boards, even a little better than the factory did,...again, result!....turning out attention to cab details ( I promised Larry I’d do some nice upgrades) we’ve fired the two stiff shirts that previously inhabited the cab in favor of some fellas we’ve hired from the MTH squad, .....they were jobless, so they were quite happy to fire up anything, ....given their former employer decided their services were no longer rendered.......( the fireman said he’d be happy on a Marx ) .....before they took their places, we did some fine detailing of gauges and knobs and added the cab curtain details as I promised,..... next on the agenda is to fit the deck, test that operation, test tether swing on such tight gapping, then install the final round of electronics,.....she’s come a long way from a stock Kline,.....

Pat

Now, that is truly a black beauty(just an iron horse now). Love the cab crew, great they get to work again. I've always sort of wondered about the evolution of cab crew and how silly they used to look. Nice to see some life in them. I remember the pure dark blue of old cab figures, or even no cab crew at all. Who's operating that???? lol. Looks grand.

Very nice work. I'm impressed.

BTW were you the person who suggested I swap out the Allegheny's front wheels to smaller ones to prevent shorts?

Now put some diesels behind her and lets haul some trains!

@harmonyards posted:

note how perfect the glow is, just can’t get that from a LED!...NO SiR!....we were very careful in positioning the bulb to catch the side number boards, even a little better than the factory did,...again, result!

Pat, we have to get you up to speed on the newer LED's, I get great results with LED headlights.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Pat, we have to get you up to speed on the newer LED's, I get great results with LED headlights.

LED's are all too bright for a steam era locomotive. All of my older "grain of wheat" steamers look much more realistic.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Pat, we have to get you up to speed on the newer LED's, I get great results with LED headlights.

I’m up to learning anything new, .....perfect thread to showcase an LED headlight upgrade John, feel free to post some up, .....dazzle away!....the floor is yours sir!..

Pat