Shortening Lionel Drawbar Project

Nice job, looks way better. Great write up.

@Oscar posted:

Nice job, looks way better. Great write up.

Thanks

Great work buddy!   I attempted this once and honestly just walked away at some point and never came back to it.   Great job.  I'll have a few of these cut in no time.   What did you used specifically to re solder the draw bar and did you have to prep it first.

@jeremy ferrell posted:

Great work buddy!   I attempted this once and honestly just walked away at some point and never came back to it.   Great job.  I'll have a few of these cut in no time.   What did you used specifically to re solder the draw bar and did you have to prep it first.

Thanks. I used flux, think wire solder, and mini butane torch to heat everything up so I could feed the solder. I did prep the surface getting it down to bare metal using files and fin sand paper.

I’ve shortened the drawbar on my semi-scale PE Berkshire, simply by drilling another hole using a Dremel. There’s no tether on this loco. It greatly improves the appearance and still negotiates O36 curves, with the option to use the original hole for O27

However I have also taken to using the tender from a 4-4-2, the modern plastic “air whistle” tender. This has a much shorter drawbar, and its small size suits this “traditional sized” loco well. This tender also negotiates O27 curves 

had you thought of a falling plate between loco and tender on your Big Boy? 

Nicely done Sid. I do a lot of these. I do have shrink wrap but usually try to reuse the existing one by using a needle nose pliers to spread the shrink wrap and then pull it off. Doesn't always work without tearing it but worth a try especially if you don't have any.  On the tender side yours isn't too bad but some stick out further. I measure how far the slot is from the end of the tender beam and shorten it by that amount so the slot still is visible when looking straight down. Too short and it becomes difficult or impossible to put the engine drawbar in the slot.

I am able to solder them together with just a 35 watt pencil iron. First tin both sides after removing the black, then hold them together and heat until the solder melts.

Pete

Good job, I'd have also used shrink-wrap.  I have all sizes up to 3", so I'm sure I have black that would fit. 

Wow, that does look great.

@Norton posted:

Nicely done Sid. I do a lot of these. I do have shrink wrap but usually try to reuse the existing one by using a needle nose pliers to spread the shrink wrap and then pull it off. Doesn't always work without tearing it but worth a try especially if you don't have any.  On the tender side yours isn't too bad but some stick out further. I measure how far the slot is from the end of the tender beam and shorten it by that amount so the slot still is visible when looking straight down. Too short and it becomes difficult or impossible to put the engine drawbar in the slot.

I am able to solder them together with just a 35 watt pencil iron. First tin both sides after removing the black, then hold them together and heat until the solder melts.

Pete

Nice. Thanks

@Rockershovel posted:

I’ve shortened the drawbar on my semi-scale PE Berkshire, simply by drilling another hole using a Dremel. There’s no tether on this loco. It greatly improves the appearance and still negotiates O36 curves, with the option to use the original hole for O27

However I have also taken to using the tender from a 4-4-2, the modern plastic “air whistle” tender. This has a much shorter drawbar, and its small size suits this “traditional sized” loco well. This tender also negotiates O27 curves 

 

had you thought of a falling plate between loco and tender on your Big Boy? 

I have thought of putting a plate, but never tried.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Good job, I'd have also used shrink-wrap.  I have all sizes up to 3", so I'm sure I have black that would fit. 

I will probably go to my local hardware store or go on Amazon and buy a bunch of sizes. I mainly have small stuff for wiring.

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

Wow, that does look great.

Thanks

@Sid's Trains posted:

I will probably go to my local hardware store or go on Amazon and buy a bunch of sizes. I mainly have small stuff for wiring.

I visit eBay and get an assortment much cheaper than Amazon or the local hardware store.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I visit eBay and get an assortment much cheaper than Amazon or the local hardware store.

Ok. Sounds good.

Possibly an alternative to soldering would be to use JBWeld to glue the pieces together rather than going through the comparatively lengthy and complicated process of soldering. 

@breezinup posted:

Possibly an alternative to soldering would be to use JBWeld to glue the pieces together rather than going through the comparatively lengthy and complicated process of soldering. 

Soldering isn't that hard and lengthy, but JB weld or epoxy would probably work.

Soldering is much faster actually but if you use JB Weld make sure its the original slower setting version and not JB Kwik. The latter has half the sheer strength of the original.

Pete

I suspect either version of JB-Weld would be more than sufficient for this task.  I've used the JB-Kwik on stuff and it's quite strong.  If I'm really concerned about the strength, I use the standard JB-Weld, but usually I grab the JB-Kwik, it's so.... quick!

When shortening a draw bar by overlapping the ends, after the epoxy has dried or the solder has cooled, I drill and tap a hole for a 2-56 screw through both pieces. That will hold if even if the epoxy or solder fails.