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I’m Just Gonna Leave This Right Here…

D DanVWOGR Forum Member

I installed ERR’s Mini Commander (smoke & light) and small steam RailSounds kit w/ GRJ’s Chuff Generator, Super Chuffer II, & reed relay in a K-Line Porter steam loco. I modified an MTH PS2 smoke unit to replace the large and poor performing factory K-Line smoke unit. Yes, it all fits with surprisingly little body/chassis modifications. There were some circuit board component placement adjustments due to clearance issues, but not a lot. I have a few internal pics if anyone is interested in seeing them. The shallow round 15mm speaker is mounted where the plastic firebox door was originally fitted. I covered it  with a slightly modified Precision Scale “O” brass boiler front w/ hinged door so it can be opened or closed for effect. The MTH 10K volume potentiometer is mounted under the engineer’s seat pedestal. A Precision Scale backup light was added because, well, why not? I have to finish reinstalling the window glass and a few little detail parts to complete it 100%.

Thanks,

Dan VW.

Special shout out to Gunrunner John for the help with the RailSounds chuff trigger.

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D DanVWOGR Forum Member
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To start, I upgraded the original K-Line dual shaft motor with one I sourced online. I’ve been doing this motor upgrade to Porter locos for some time now. It’s pretty much a drop in replacement with two minor modifications along with pressing the gears on. The rear chassis motor mount pedestal was trimmed off/down leaving .040” remaining. This allows the new motor to sit flat and square to the frame. The motor’s plastic bearing journal had to be trimmed to allow the motor mount to slide over it.
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I designed and wire cut a 9/16” brass flywheel out of .125” bar stock and painted the recesses flat black for the Chuff Generator trigger. Then shimmed and glued the CG down to get the proper spacing as spec’d.
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I removed some material in front of the motor on the upper frame to allow for the Chuff Generator and wiring. The 3 factory motor driver board’s casting bosses had to be filed down flat to allow room for the RailSounds board to fit between the upper frame and boiler shell. These were the only two modifications made to the upper chassis.IMG_5780
The original plastic firebox door was removed and the factory slot was opened up using a Dremel tool and various bits. A majority or the body material was removed first with a step drill bit. Then finished with the Dremel tool. The speaker is 15mm and glued in with 5 min epoxy.
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Kapton tape was used on all circuit boards to prevent grounding to the metal chassis or body. The Super Chuffer II and reed relay sits inverted in the top of the fire box.
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The leads on the 4 capacitors on the Mini Commander PCB were extended to allow them to be laid down flat to create room for the smoke unit. Also note; the JST connector headers were all removed and the wires were soldered directly through the circuit board.
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The smoke unit was, by far, the most modified part of this whole build. The overall height of the smoke unit was reduced by approx. 1/8” and the fan housing was flipped to enable it to fit under the shell. A heat shield/air deflector was installed between the motor housing and heater reservoir to move the airflow towards the top of the heater housing. The factory fan motor would’ve worked but I opt’d to replace it with a much smaller motor to save space. The motor’s shaft diameter is the same as the stock fan motor. The MTH resistor was exchanged for a 27ohm resistor. The smoke outlet had to be moved to the bottom of the smoke unit because it sits high in the shell. All made from brass and soldered together. No issues with putting smoke fluid in or leaking out.
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The shell under the sand dome was opened up using a step drill bit leaving the 2 mounting holes for the sand dome to snap into. I also replaced the 2 factory switches with 1 DPDT switch and wired it for smoke and run/prog functions.
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The wiring may look a rat’s nest but it was all trimmed and cleaned up during final assembly. I did remove all of the electrical plug headers on all of the circuitboards and trimmed off the unused pins. The pins that remained have small insulated plugs to allow for removal if necessary. There isn’t much room for anything else. I had to burp it before fastening the last screw.
Thanks
Dan VW

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Last edited by DanVW
D DanVWOGR Forum Member
@gunrunnerjohn posted:

WOW, I stuck a little tender to haul my electronics, nice job fitting them into the engine!

You can still buy the same board from Lionel parts.

 

GRJ,

I saw your post some time ago and that’s what got the gears turning. I appreciate all of your help and contributions to the hobby. If you recall, I mentioned in my last email that I have something for you but didn’t disclose what it is. If you want, I can send you a flywheel for you to install in one of your own Porters. The CG will fit under the factory K-Line smoke unit. The flywheel will easily press onto the factory motor and give you 4 chuffs per rev. The SCII fits nicely above the factory motor driver board and smoke unit between the sides of the firebox.

🤫 Don’t tell them where the boards are still available!

Thanks

Dan VW

Last edited by DanVW

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Tags: Super Chuffer II, RailSounds, ERR, Chuff Generator, Porter, K-Line
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