Project Completed!! 10/4/15--My First Fixed Pilot & Scale Coupler Conversion...

Joey,

 

Welcome to the dark side filled with a bunch of, Oh No-s, followed by a great deal of satisfaction as you work through things.

 

Looks great, look forward to seeing it painted.

 

Ron H

Thanks, Ron.  You did a great job of summing up in one sentence what I've experienced so far on this project!  I will be posting more progress photos soon.

Great start.

Hi Joey.....

     Very cool project on this locomotive. Your photos are very well done and tell the story.

Gary

• Cheers from The Detroit and Mackinac Railway

Nicely done.

Painted up and it will look right as rain... and then time to weather... 

Thank you Spence, Gary, Matt & J Daddy!  J Daddy, you are absolutely correct...I will be weathering this engine after the conversion is completed.

Updated 9/26/15:

 

Here are some more progress photos as of this morning.  As you can see, both pilots (front and rear) are now "fixed", the large pilot openings have been filled in, foot boards extended, Kadees installed and both ends have been sanded, primed and painted.  Whew!!

 

The Tru-Color "Jersey Central Deep Sea Green" paint is very glossy, so next up is the application of a flat, clear finish to blend the old (original) and new paint finishes together...and then I can begin the weathering process.

 

Very nice Joe. I love scale couplers and fixed pilots. 

Don

Thanks, Don! 

 

Updated 9/30/15:

 

Latest progress photos.  Front tarp constructed and installed, windows masked and the weathering process is now underway...

 

Joey,

 

Looks great!

 

Dave

 

Hanging that tarp ..... VERY cool!

 

(You do a great job with those old CNJ engines!)

Thank you very much, Dave & Matt!  More photos to come later today or tomorrow...

Nice work joeyA!    You're doing what I want to do to some of my engines someday!

 

What did you use to fill the space between the pilot and the frame, squadron putty?

 

Keep up the good work and continue posting progress pix, along with any other projects that you start like this.

Thanks, Tom!  I made the spacers out of sheet styrene.  I had to "laminate" a few sheets of varying thickness to get the exact measurement needed to fill the space.

 

After laminating, I used the locomotive frame and pilot as templates to draw the basic outline of the spacer, then cut it out.  This was followed by lots of sanding.

 

After the spacer was installed, I THEN used plastic putty to hide the seams/joints the best I could...followed by a lot more sanding after the putty thoroughly set-up (dried)!!

Looks great Joey...and will look even better once the weathering is done. Fixed pilots are so much work, but sooo worth it when it's all done.

Thanks, LOS!  As I told you recently, your scale-coupler work and "how-to" videos--along with Mario's (Central Fan)--have provided me with the inspiration to finally try this, so your comments are very much appreciated!

This question ids for anyone, does this modification affect the turning radius of the engine? My smallest radius is O54.

Don

Nicely done, not sure how I missed this earlier.

 

 

Nice Job Joey!

 

Ron

nice workmanship

Thanks, 86TA355SR, Ron & 69nickey!  Don, the short answer is "Yes"...at least in this case anyway. 

 

The long answer is that there are several steps you can take to minimize the negative impact on turning radius.  Earlier in this thread I mentioned the amount of work involved in this project, and that one thing seemed to lead to another. 

 

By working (and re-working!) the truck block, truck sideframes, locomotive frame and Kadee coupler boxes, I was able to make this engine run on O-42 track.  It may even handle O-36 or O-31, but I don't have any of that on my small layout to give it a try.

Nicely done. I watch laidoff sick's PFE conversion - now I need to figure out where to get all the components, make the jig. I gotta watch the video again

Joey,

It looks great! I love the SW-1.

 

Malcolm

Thank you PSU & Malcolm! 

 

Here are a few of the most recent photos.  Trucks, frame and pilots are now weathered.  Almost done...just a couple finishing touches to do!

 

Update: 10/4/15...Photos of Finished Project!!

 

 

Here are a few photos as a final reminder of what CNJ SW1 #1010 looked like BEFORE the conversion...

 

It looks great Joe! Now it needs some cut levers.

Don

Looks excellent slowly you are moving to 2 rails, is just matter of time.

great job!!
Andre.

 

Thank you Don and Andre!

EXCELLENT! Love the weathering and the curtain.

 

Malcolm

i cut all my kadee pins when I was 3 rail, because in some cases was touching the center rail a little, not enough even to stop the engine or even hesitate, but the springs were fried, both of them, so use plastic gearbox or cut the pins.

Andre.

Nicely done.

Thank you very much, Malcolm & Matt!

 

Andre, I was thinking about installing some of the Kadee delayed uncoupling magnets when I build my new 3-rail layout.  Would cutting the Kadee pins off prevent the magnets from doing their job?

Don't cut the pins off if you are switching!

 

Coupler height is critical for proper operation.

 

 

If you're couplers are the correct height, the pins will not touch the rails. Sometimes the pins on the 800 series couplers need to be bent upward even when the couplers are the correct height. If you are using the 700 series, the pins have been bent at Kadee. You will notice a small shiny spot at the end of the pin where they put it in a machine or something to bend it up just a tad. They did not do that to the 800's, hence needing a little bend sometimes.

 

No pin, no uncoupling with magnets.

 

Also be very careful when putting paint on the couplers if your are going to use them for switching. The paint effects their operation. I stopped painting couplers if I knew I was going to switch with that equipment. The stick, not to say real couplers don't stick once in awhile  but it just becomes a hassle.

What laidoffsick say is true if are you using the magnet for uncoupling don't cut the pin.

 

I did for aesthetic too.

 

Andre.

Thanks LOS & Andre.  I appreciate your input as I'm still trying to learn about this scale-coupler thing!

Very well done Joe!!!

 

Alan

Thanks, Alan!!

Wow, excellent work. I hope to be following in your steps soon. I have placed kadees on a few cars but looking forward to tackling a engine.  Nice weathering and all the little add on detail you did. Nick