SSM UP E-8 numberboard modification

Nicely done!  Yes the number boards are brass. 

Hit them with a new marker and they look better. Still a little gap showing, but at normal viewing range nothing shows...remember the camera tells all.

I prefer the look, as it looks more prototypical. Couldn't happen without a great model to start with and these are great models.

BH

well nice. The number boards appear to be small  the MP  T&P plans call for 9" high letters and 4 digets is not long enough. What do we do with the god awful cab light/head light brightness. My units were set up using Decoderpro. Might be able to adjust brightness.  Sound needs to be reduced 50% or it will blowyou out of the room.

BB

Nice job Butch.  I have a MoPac unit and need to rotate the headlight and the Mars light units 90 degrees.  Any idea when you had yours opened up as to how well seated the lights are?

Thanks...gregg

I have the same problem with my UP units and that is my next project.  Whatever glue was used to hold the number boards in, was used sparingly and presented no problem. A couple of sharp (but easy) raps and they popped right out. Don't try to beat it out, it just required a little finesse. 

I'm hoping after carefully removing the clear plastic headlight lens, I can carefully use a large punch with a piece of rubber or ??? between the casting and the punch and use the same sharp rap technique.  I also need to look a little closer at the light board set-up, as all lights are hard wired (great idea regardless of relocation issues) and only allow minimum movement......hopefully they can be rotated 90 degree without an issue. The wiring is very heavy duty and stiff, so carefully rotating them should do the trick.  

I've thought about this and with all the comments and whining about incorrect details or wrong era details (I'm guilty too), I really think SSM needs to be manufactured all future models in "As-Built" configuration and let everyone add what they want.  It's a lot easier to add a detail, than it is to remove it and cover up the mounting holes (generally).  

As long as the basic bones are correct and the models have no major glaring size or shape issues, I think most modelers will be happy with them in this configuration.  

BH

Bob Harris posted:

well nice. The number boards appear to be small  the MP  T&P plans call for 9" high letters and 4 digets is not long enough. What do we do with the god awful cab light/head light brightness. My units were set up using Decoderpro. Might be able to adjust brightness.  Sound needs to be reduced 50% or it will blowyou out of the room.

 

BB

That is one reason I thought changing from yellow to black on the surround of the number boards would help.......and it did IMHO.  I've compared (visually) the looks of these boards (now) to many UP photos I have of prototype E-8/9 locos and they are so close I can't call it.  Very happy with the results. 

Haven't run mine, so can't comment on head and cab lights.  If the cab light is a LED (haven't looked), a simple cover or overpaint should be an easy fix. LED's give off no heat so that issue is eliminated. I believe they make a clear colored paint for LED's that will change the color value if you don't like what these came with. 

BH

The 2 rail models have QSI Titan decoders.  The various lights and sound levels can be individually altered by changing CV values.  It's relatively easy to make CV changes using a QSI Programmer or JMRI decoder Pro software.  It takes a little more effort to do make the CV changes with a DCC system directly as QSI uses indexed CV's to control the level and functionality of the several lighting ports - but doable.

The wiring for the lights looks MUCH NEATER than the F7s. A lot easier to work on I'm sure.

I agree Doug, this wiring system is ingenious.  No more spaghetti harnesses to work around.  Two quick disconnect plugs and the shell can be removed and reinstalling is equally simple. Not even sure what the back plug is for, since it goes up to the roof and then returns to the QSI board without being attached to anything. 

BH