Lionel CV Hudson collaboration with Alex M. Tales from Harmon Shops

Looks good Pat!!  Alex is certainly up to the task at hand!  You are right, I have received the fruits of their labors and/or advice from Alex, John, Pete, and George during the 9 years I have been on this Forum!

As an aside, I just paid for a K-Line Hudson which is on its way to the Butler, Pennsylvania shop for an evaluation before contacting you and taking a number!  😉

@Mark Boyce posted:

Looks good Pat!!  Alex is certainly up to the task at hand!  You are right, I have received the fruits of their labors and/or advice from Alex, John, Pete, and George during the 9 years I have been on this Forum!

As an aside, I just paid for a K-Line Hudson which is on its way to the Butler, Pennsylvania shop for an evaluation before contacting you and taking a number!  😉

Copy that Mark,…we’re still stocked pretty good to do Kline Hudsons,…..so you’re ok,….I’ve got two on the bench now,…..Chris’s Hudson we’ve turned into a pulling monster beings the task he needs it to do……I’ll be able to start speeding up these jobs once the season winds down at the day job,…..it’s been murder, I’m can though, finally see my retirement coming ahead !…..16 months ……and I’ll be haunting the forum every day,……god willing and the river don’t rise!…😉

Pat

Always nice to see real work being done.

Pat, what is the reason for the large brass piece extending back towards the motor? (in the first 2 photos)

Mark in Oregon

@harmonyards posted:

Copy that Mark,…we’re still stocked pretty good to do Kline Hudsons,…..so you’re ok,….I’ve got two on the bench now,…..Chris’s Hudson we’ve turned into a pulling monster beings the task he needs it to do……I’ll be able to start speeding up these jobs once the season winds down at the day job,…..it’s been murder, I’m can though, finally see my retirement coming ahead !…..16 months ……and I’ll be haunting the forum every day,……god willing and the river don’t rise!…😉

Pat

Congratulations on the countdown to retirement!   I’ve been retired a year and a half and got a lot done on my layout last winter.  I sandwiched that between two surgery recoveries!  😄😄

@harmonyards posted:

BTW, Alex is on the top shelf of his game, he answers his emails quickly,  and has the game plan laid out …..for repair work, that speaks volumes!….we’re lucky to have Alex, John, Pete, & George on our side!…those cats are all wizards!!….

Don't forget about that Pat fellow.....he does O.K.....

@Strummer posted:

Always nice to see real work being done.

Pat, what is the reason for the large brass piece extending back towards the motor? (in the first 2 photos)

Mark in Oregon

Mark, that bracket is for a place to mount a tach sensor and route all the wiring up and over the motor, thus, it’ll keep the wiring from getting tangled up in the driveline,…it’s a connivence part,….😉

Pat

@RickO posted:

Don't forget about that Pat fellow.....he does O.K.....

Thanks Rick!…I can only hope to be as good as those cats some day,…..pretty sure I wear my buddy Pete out bouncing ideas off his noggin’ …..someday I’ll be able to devote all the live long day to building locomotives, but right now, that pesky 4  lettered word gets in my way,….w-o-r-k…

Pat

Yeah, there is a KLine Hudson sitting here that I have to get packed and email someone named Pat to work on that and my 763 Hudson with the Vandy tender. This weekend is wind down weekend for me. One trip to the train store and I get to relax. So I should be able to get things squared up to start emailing Pat at some point to figure out all the in's and out's. Shouldn't be any electronic swapping other than make 4 chuffs, smoke unit upgrade, that sort of stuff, unless Pat suggests other things. Guess we'll get to that soon.

Hello everyone,

First i will say it was an absolute pleasure working with Pat, he kept me informed all the way through  with the work he was doing. His work is top notch. I agree with everyone, we are lucky to have guys like Pat, Gunrunner John , Pete,  George, and others  around. Never too old to learn something from these great guys !

The CV Hudson was fun to upgrade, Customer's request was... pull the Pullmor, install the powerful Pittman, Electric RR cruise commander, ERR Medium steam sounds, GRJ Super chuffer and chuff generator, custom fan driven smoke unit , and the 50mm Lionel fatboy speaker.

Once Pat did his magic with the motor exchange, i took over and finished her up, it now is a top notch engine with all the goodies !

I will post a video shortly of it in action

Thank you all for your kind words !

Thanks, Alex

Now that is something to look at. Great work you two. Hurrah hurrah!

Holy Commodore Vanderbilts Batman!….great job Alex!!….man that thing pounds the ground!…….hot on the tails of that CV, we’ve got Dave’s Mohawk to do a collaboration on!…it’s a whole new ball game quiz kids, stay tuned!…

Pat

Holy Commodore Vanderbilt's Pat? What's funny to me, is I should have said that being that I have quoted Robin most of my life for some reason. Maybe it was all those Batman reruns I saw as a kid? Or maybe just my humor.

Yeah, Mohawk action coming, woohoo! That guy Dave really needs to get that back bedroom cleared to build that layout he was talking about. Someone needs to kick his behind, either that or stop time for him. Plan on tackling the treadmill on Sunday, that is dismantling it.

That really is great, Pat and Alex!!

Alex and Pat collaborations, throwing in some GRJ equipment, boy we're in for some real treats now.

I still have to send mine in!!

I always wanted one of these engine but the Pullmor and 1 cpr always had me walking away.  Great job guys!

great work all.

Pat, I can't help but let my eyes wander across the bench to see what else is on deck for work. Your a busy guy.

@coach joe posted:

Alex and Pat collaborations, throwing in some GRJ equipment, boy we're in for some real treats now.

I can’t agree more, Joe!!

@Engineer-Joe posted:

great work all.

Pat, I can't help but let my eyes wander across the bench to see what else is on deck for work. Your a busy guy.

Yeah he is. I got a few I have to send him, plus I have to get with Alex on another few that I want him to do that don't need motor swaps like Pat is doing for my Mohawk which we'll see soon.

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

Yeah he is. I got a few I have to send him, plus I have to get with Alex on another few that I want him to do that don't need motor swaps like Pat is doing for my Mohawk which we'll see soon.

Sounds like Pat is busy enough that he won’t get to mine until we’ll after he retires!  That’s quite alright, I’m a latecomer to the game

@Engineer-Joe posted:

great work all.

Pat, I can't help but let my eyes wander across the bench to see what else is on deck for work. Your a busy guy.

Thanks Joe,….yeah I’ve got quite a bit to do,….the day job has been a real clock bandit, …..stealing all my time,…I’ll get caught up on the trains once my season winds down,….right now 12-14 hour days tend to leave you beat at the end of the day,….and only one day off makes you a zombie on Sunday,…

Pat

@Mark Boyce posted:

Sounds like Pat is busy enough that he won’t get to mine until we’ll after he retires!  That’s quite alright, I’m a latecomer to the game

Ain’t that bad Mark, …once you’ve made up your mind to do it, go ahead and get in the line, ……I still have plenty of parts to do the Klines, but it’s not a lifetime supply,…..counting what’s here, and what I know is coming ( like 3 more not including yours ) there’s still enough to do 10 at the most until MTH parts comes back to life and I can gather up chassis ,….as far as what’s all here, I plan on having it all done by late summer,…I don’t wanna become “ that guy” …🤣🤣🤣

Pat

9433? Should have stuck a CPR in it so the thing can do burnouts

@Lou1985 posted:

9433? Should have stuck a CPR in it so the thing can do burnouts

There’s no doubt that CPR is ferocious, …huh buddy??..but alas, ain’t gonna fit in the Vandy’s….

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

There’s no doubt that CPR is ferocious, …huh buddy??..but alas, ain’t gonna fit in the Vandy’s….

Pat

I take it there is less room in a CV than in a standard J1e?

Seeing one of the classics like that CV Hudson chuffing and sounding realistic is a joy, I have always passed on the older units once had a sample of the ones I wanted for display.

What does a custom pittman install run?

@Lou1985 posted:

I take it there is less room in a CV than in a standard J1e?

No, look at the pic of the chassis upside down in the shell,….the 9433 is a shoe horn fit,…but TBT, the 9433 does just fine…

@Ron_S posted:

Seeing one of the classics like that CV Hudson chuffing and sounding realistic is a joy, I have always passed on the older units once had a sample of the ones I wanted for display.

What does a custom pittman install run?

You can PM me for more details Ron, that’s something better discussed off-line…

Pat

@Mark Boyce posted:

Sounds like Pat is busy enough that he won’t get to mine until we’ll after he retires!  That’s quite alright, I’m a latecomer to the game

Well, he is. We had talked one evening about something I was looking at. Pat was extremely busy because it was the short week scenario messing up work for the both of us. Go in before the sun comes up, get home when the sun is setting, that type thing. All and all I should have a minute this weekend to talk over some details and get them out the door maybe next week.

@harmonyards posted:

Ain’t that bad Mark, …once you’ve made up your mind to do it, go ahead and get in the line, ……I still have plenty of parts to do the Klines, but it’s not a lifetime supply,…..counting what’s here, and what I know is coming ( like 3 more not including yours ) there’s still enough to do 10 at the most until MTH parts comes back to life and I can gather up chassis ,….as far as what’s all here, I plan on having it all done by late summer,…I don’t wanna become “ that guy” …🤣🤣🤣

Pat

Pat, the word is it will arrive Friday.  I have a train all lined up to see what it can do on my 4% grades, and then I'll get in touch with you.

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

Well, he is. We had talked one evening about something I was looking at. Pat was extremely busy because it was the short week scenario messing up work for the both of us. Go in before the sun comes up, get home when the sun is setting, that type thing. All and all I should have a minute this weekend to talk over some details and get them out the door maybe next week.

Go in before the sun comes up, get home when the sun is setting in July!!!  Yes, I have had those experiences!  Weeks on end of seven 12-hour days with an hour drive each way.  I'm glad I was in my late 30s then.  I would die if I had to do it now!  Later on, it was short stints of long hours. 

I think the real moral of the story here is. With all of the mechanical and electronic talent on this forum. There's no reason someone should have to settle for a shelf queen.

Sure, it isn't free, neither is a "brand new"/"updated" version of said locomotive either.

The advantage to the upgrades here is the pride and passion of the guys doing the upgrades, i.e. refining the driveline etc. Dialing things in.

This is something that doesn't happen on an overseas production line.

How fortunate we are as hobbyists , that this talent is a mere email away. I'll hazard a guess that these emails get responded to much faster than the cs of the manufacturers.

I'll take another guess that the repair turnaround time isn't much longer either.

@RickO posted:

I think the real moral of the story here is. With all of the mechanical and electronic talent on this forum. There's no reason someone should have to settle for a shelf queen.

Sure, it isn't free, neither is a "brand new"/"updated" version of said locomotive either.

The advantage to the upgrades here is the pride and passion of the guys doing the upgrades, i.e. refining the driveline etc. Dialing things in.

This is something that doesn't happen on an overseas production line.

How fortunate we are as hobbyists , that this talent is a mere email away. I'll hazard a guess that these emails get responded to much faster than the cs of the manufacturers.

I'll take another guess that the repair turnaround time isn't much longer either.

Thanks again for all the kind comments Rick,…..I do indeed put a lot of pride in the things I engineer into being,…..actually, I kinda over engineer it. I treat each one to the unique task the owner would like to see it do……within reason of course,..😉…..I think Pete put it best??…..Difficult we do straight away, the impossible takes a little while longer,..

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

Thanks again for all the kind comments Rick,…..I do indeed put a lot of pride in the things I engineer into being,…..actually, I kinda over engineer it. I treat each one to the unique task the owner would like to see it do……within reason of course,..😉…..I think Pete put it best??…..Difficult we do straight away, the impossible takes a little while longer,..

Pat

That last bit sounds like Scotty from Star Trek. "The warp core is trashed, it'll take 3 months to get it back up to par. I'll get it running in an hour."

The real take away from seeing the work done by either Alex, Pat, or whomever really puts a smile on our faces, especially those like me who when I open up electronics, stuff blows up(not really, but you know what I mean). Watching videos Alex sent me describing what he did to get my Niagara working, seeing Pat's description of the work involved and how things will come out, chatted with Gunrunner John at York about stuff he does, just makes me appreciate what you all do(and anyone else I missed).

Everyone remember the Big Boy wire mess Alex had to fix, right? It's good to know if you're in for an upgrade, blew up your engine, or tricking it out like nobody's business, you're in good hands.

Hats off to you all(or yawl).

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

That last bit sounds like Scotty from Star Trek. "The warp core is trashed, it'll take 3 months to get it back up to par. I'll get it running in an hour."

The real take away from seeing the work done by either Alex, Pat, or whomever really puts a smile on our faces, especially those like me who when I open up electronics, stuff blows up(not really, but you know what I mean). Watching videos Alex sent me describing what he did to get my Niagara working, seeing Pat's description of the work involved and how things will come out, chatted with Gunrunner John at York about stuff he does, just makes me appreciate what you all do(and anyone else I missed).

Everyone remember the Big Boy wire mess Alex had to fix, right? It's good to know if you're in for an upgrade, blew up your engine, or tricking it out like nobody's business, you're in good hands.

Hats off to you all(or yawl).

I agree, although I should know something about electronics after 45 years of it, but the mechanical part messes with me.  Hats off to "yunz or yinz" is the way we say it in these parts, Dave!! 

@Alex M posted:

Once Pat did his magic with the motor exchange, i took over and finished her up, it now is a top notch engine with all the goodies !

For shame teasing that disabled Pennsy M1 with a completed, Pittman powered streamliner like that! LOL 😂

Awesome job guys!

@rplst8 posted:

For shame teasing that disabled Pennsy M1 with a completed, Pittman powered streamliner like that! LOL 😂

Awesome job guys!

That's a beautiful weathered Weaver Pennsy M1 that just needs a new smoke unit. I wish i had the time to repair it lol

Alex

Alex is always busy. No matter what though, the end result is fabulous.

@Alex M posted:

That's a beautiful weathered Weaver Pennsy M1 that just needs a new smoke unit. I wish i had the time to repair it lol

Alex

Alex, is that one that needed the smoke funnel?..or was that a turbine you were working on?.

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

Alex, is that one that needed the smoke funnel?..or was that a turbine you were working on?.

Pat

Hi Pat,

The smoke funnel you made for me was for the Turbine , This Pennsy M1 needed a full smoke unit.

Alex