Can someone please provide some assistance on how to do pilot conversation, wheels have already been replaced with 2 rail ones.
Any help you be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance, Frank
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I would go into search . There is a ton of stuff on what you are looking for.
While I did not convert my two MTH fixed pilot locomotive projects to 2 rail, the process would be similar. I created spacers for both of these locomotives, added some detail, used sheet styrene to fill in the gaps on the coupler pocket, and repainted both of these. I used a metal blade on a compound miter saw to chop the lobster claws off the truck blocks.
The F40PH wass pretty straightforward even if I sacrificed a little prototype fidelity on the steps. I should fix that one day.
This conversion is a little trickier. When I cut off the couplers, the truck balance got thrown off. I tried to compensate by putting all flanged wheels in the truck block as the third set was blind. It has never been a great runner, but still a nice display piece if nothing else. The challenge with this one is that I have to remove the pilots and full-length handrails to remove the shell to access the battery. I should get a BCR for it. However, this was a more accurate conversion. My spacer on the pilots was a thickened sheet of styrene that I cut on a jig saw.
While I mostly purchase 2 rail locomotives now, none of them have been MTH so I have not had to do any conversions since. However, this is another project I may revisit one day. I have a few other things to fix on it other than mechanical items.
Good luck with your project!
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Many thanks for the reply, fotos helped alot.
Rich Batista's "All About the Trains" video does a nice job of showing the conversion steps necessary for a Lionel SD40. http://www.toytrainsontracks.com/
Here is a post of someone who did the install/upgrade on their set of SD40's. https://ogrforum.com/...onel-s-legacy-sd40-s
Also, what model are you trying to convert?
Thor73 on shapeways has some pilots for different engines that may help you. I have bought them, bought some from MTH, casted my own, and just made shims or spacers to make the stock pilots fixed.
Many posters here have shared their work on different engines.
So I'd have to ask, how good do you want it to look? How much do you wish to spend? Are you willing to do the job yourself?
The above posts are a great start. We need to know what engine you have as asked above.
The fun conversion would be on one of the AGEIR box cabs. I've got that one on the back burner until I can figure a clean way to fabricate six pilots.
@AGHRMatt posted:The fun conversion would be on one of the AGEIR box cabs. I've got that one on the back burner until I can figure a clean way to fabricate six pilots.
It looks like a special coupler box would need to be fabricated that sticks way out of the pilot.
