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I thought I'd share another command conversion I did, this time on the modern remake of the Tie-Jector.  The stock one requires you put the track trips along the track to start and stop the process, but that seemed like a bore, so I set out to make this command controlled.  One problem is the trips are actually a mechanical process, so a simple electronic control or relay won't do the trick.  I settled on a model airplane servo for the motion control, and found one of the smaller ones available, the only thing that would fit in the spot I had.  A cable control runs from the servo to the actuating arm for the ejection mechanism.  Of course, I removed the existing lever that was used with the track trips.  A small bonus was that I was able to sell the track trips for half the price I paid for the entire Tie-Jector!

 

Next, I had to figure out how to drive the servo, it requires a PWM signal for positioning information.  Since the ERR MiniCommander didn't offer such a capability, I build a small board that housed the PWM signal generation.  That board connects to the servo to provide the positioning.  The circuit also required isolation, so a relay is triggered by the smoke output of the ERR board and that actually changes the PWM signal to start/stop the ejection operation.

 

I added directional headlights and tail lights, a backup light, and a strobe when the ejection is running to complete the picture. It's fun to get the reaction when it starts dropping the ties along the track.

 

Here's the completed project.


 

Here are a few shots of the inside of the unit illustrating how things were mounted and connected.

 

 

 

Tie-Jector Mods N4

Tie-Jector Mods N8

Tie-Jector Mods N9

Tie-Jector Mods NA

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  • Tie-Jector Mods N4
  • Tie-Jector Mods N8
  • Tie-Jector Mods N9
  • Tie-Jector Mods NA
Original Post

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Originally Posted by MartyE:

Nice work.  Very cool.

Thanks.   I'm trying to beat a PRR Speeder into shape now, but there's a problem with the current production MiniCommander boards that causes issues in one motor direction.  I'm trying to get that sorted out with ERR now.  My little speeder is sitting there with everything wired, but I don't have a brain for it.

Originally Posted by Jim D:

I have one of those cars. Did you get it to go in reverse?

Jim D.

Sure, it'll go both ways, it's full command/control, directional lights and all.  I have to say I didn't try ejecting ties in reverse, but since it's a simple oscillating motion, I suspect there would be no problem.  OTOH, why would you want to eject in reverse anyway.

AWESOME!  I added a Mini commander years ago to my Tie Jector car when I designed the Mini Commander board.  I tried to sort out a way to remotely control the ejecting of the ties, and never finished the task.

 

The On/OFF to PWM circuit for a servo would be a great design to share, I could run off some circuit boards for you - probably free.  LMK.

 

The Mini Commanders we tested in the office yesterday all worked well for motor control; I understand you have been working with Ken and he shipped you 2 new boards a few days back.  Hopefully this will fix your issue.

 

 

My PWM circuit was somewhat "simple", since I just needed bang-bang control of the servo to two different positions.  I used a 555 and the relay switches in a different time constant to generate the two frequencies to drive the servo to the two positions.  The resistor values were simply tuned to position the servo to the correct positions to activate and deactivate the ejection mechanism.  I also had to isolate the DC and track grounds as the DC doesn't share a common ground and couldn't be connected.  A little kludgy, but it all worked out.

 

The hard part was getting the mechanical stuff to cooperate in the effort, but it finally fell into place.

 

I'd be glad to share the schematic, here it is.  You may have to view the image in a separate window and then zoom, posting them here they don't come up with sufficient resolution to actually read them.

 

 

Tie-Jector PWM Driver

Edited to include readable schematic.

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  • Tie-Jector PWM Driver
Last edited by gunrunnerjohn
Originally Posted by SantaFeFan:

John, Thanks for sharing, let's connect off-line if there is a desire to offer these to others.

No problem, I'm around anytime.  This circuit is somewhat basic, I just used mostly common parts I had on hand to solve the problem.  I'm sure there are more elegant ways to do this task, but I was after cheap and expedient.  A similar circuit could most likely fit on a smaller board.  In my case, I cut my board to fit the available space and then made all the components fit onto the board.  I started with a TO-92 regulator, but I ended up needing more current than it would supply, so I changed to the TO220 package.

 

I'm guessing the airplane servo would solve a number of issues in accessories, because the little suckers have a lot of torque for their size, I was pretty impressed! Considering the cost of them in any quantity, they make an attractive option for all sort of custom motion modifications.  The interface is simplicity itself, the single PWM stream and power.

The schematic for the PWM generation is above, and the servo I used is a HiTEC HS-45HB.  You'll need the cable and sheath, also the swivel for the control arm that holds the cable.  A small amount of mechanical hacking is required on the actuating arm after you take the trip arm off. 

 

I don't know if you can make this out, it's kinda' fuzzy, but I took a screw and ground it flat and drilled a hole.  That was threaded into the stub of the arm for the ejector lever and the servo cable is connected to the other end.  Obviously for this picture, the support for the ejector cam is missing, I did put it back on before I closed it up!

 

Tie-Jector Mods N3

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  • Tie-Jector Mods N3
Originally Posted by Dave Garman:

John,

 

If you and Jon are going to move forward on this venture, I'm in too!!!!!!!!!

 

Second Option - sell me yours and begin construction on Revision 2 for yourself

 

Best,

Dave

Uhh... I'm not building another one, but you can buy the little board and build one.

 

 

Originally Posted by HOSO&NZ:

Great inspiration, but no electro coupler.

The Tie-Jector when it's ejecting ties has a pretty full load, I didn't see any sense in trying to drag extra cars around.  Besides, the little MiniCommander didn't have any outputs for couplers.

 

Truthfully, I'd like to see a product like the MiniCommander that had a few more output provisions.  The MiniCommander 2 comes close, but you're still short a couple...

Thanks Mike.   It sat on my bench for more than a week while I tried to think of a slick way to activate that mechanical lever with command control.  A conversation with my brother who is heavily into model planes yielded the answer, and it all came together.

 

Once I get the servo working, I realized that there are probably other uses for similar mechanical units.  It's got lots of torque and is totally position controllable.  I just need to figure out how to get position data down the pipe from TMCC.

The Burro Crane is a bit problematic as it has an AC motor and there really is no space in there.  The Ballast Tamper could be done, I don't currently have one of those.  Obviously, I'd pick the remake with the DC motor.  I haven't looked to see how they drive the tampers, it sounds like just a switch.  I don't know about the outer ones that they say are "manual", those might be a problem.

 

Here I have a one of a kind.  The PE Lionel would not produce.  It is factory TMCC and RS 4.0 with Cruise.

 

I blundered into a JR Berkshire that already had TMCC and RS.  I guess Lionel made a few TMCC versions in some of the upper end sets.

 

So I went about looking at transplant surgery.  The JR berk with TMCC was a series 1 engine so it had the smaller engine.

 

My Conventional PE is a series 2 with larger motor.  I wanted to keep the larger motor, so I reviewed how the TMCC brackets were mounted and drilled and tapped for mounting the new TMCC brackets in place of the old.  I also had to modify the series I weight (which is lower profile to handle the DCDR).  I had to open it to fit around the wider Series II motor.  I replaced the DCDR with Cruise board which is an easy fit in the Berk.

 

The tender frames are very similar, I just had to elongate the RS tender mount holes to match up to the PE shell.  I also drilled a centerline hole an slotted with a file to handle the tether.  You need to use the RS tender because of the remote coupler.  The truck is different than the conventional PE tender truck.

 

Turns out I like the black truck frame look better so I transplanted the black pilot and trailing truck to the engine.

 

I was going to transplant the wheels for the black drive, and this is were I ran into a subtle difference between series 1 and series 2 engine blocks.  The bearings are slightly different and did not fit right.  So in the end I kept the gray drivers.

 

The  PRR engine I transplanted from has gray trim, so it actually look great with the PE gray trucks even though the drivers are black.

 

Last item was installing the antenna wire.  The PE Conventional berk comes with the same insulated hand rails.  All I need to do was solder the antenna wires to the handrails and it was done.  The Berk shells transplant without mod.

 

I kept the original smoke since it actually smokes and puffs well, and I am not a big smoke user.  My TMCC PW style smokers work well in command with a very nostalgic look.

 

The cast PRR tender fit on to the PE whistle tender frame with some small mods.  Elongate the holes, and also trim the corners of the tender frame as there is a slight difference at the front end of the shells internally.

 

Now a TMCC/RS Cruise PE Berk, and a Conventional/Whistle PRR Berk.  

 

WHen I did this I only desoldered the motor leads and the trail truck ground wire.  I removed the electronics and switches etc it total and moved over.  Even kept the tie wrap attached.  G

Attachments

Images (7)
  • IMG_0455: PE with Antenna wire transfered
  • IMG_0456
  • IMG_0457: Difference in Frames
  • IMG_0458
  • IMG_0459
  • IMG_0460
  • IMG_0461: Difference in Weights
Last edited by GGG

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