WHAT’S ON THE WORKBENCH AT THE MOMENT

Working on rewiring American Flyer wide gauge motors. The biggest problem are the wheels especially when removing without distorting them. 

Looks familiar Alex. Also working on a Niagara. Mine is getting a four lobe cam and the other usual upgrades, cab curtains, cut bar chain, new rod bolts.

Pete

Now those are rod bolts.  Nice.

Did you do all that; or aftermarket?

Somewhat of bit larger scale, these are from the 0-4-0 Vulcan steam lokie our preservation society in Ashley acquired a little over a week ago. Not sure where these parts go, but I'm sure we'll figure it out when we begin our restoration assessment. Not too bad for 105 years old!

I buy the allen heads and drill the dimples. I wanted a look closer to the prototype.

Pete

Hi Guys   I haven't posted in awhile because I am so busy   Just wanted to post a picture of what I am working on

@bluelinec4 posted:

Hi Guys   I haven't posted in awhile because I am so busy   Just wanted to post a picture of what I am working on

 

LOL! Same here! Our local craft brewery burned down the day after Memorial Day. They are still brewing and selling their beers at a weekly farmer’s market. Saturday morning I wake up and go to market to support they’re rebuilding efforts. This gets repeated every Saturday!

Have missed your lay-out updates!

Redball342

I'm working twice as hard as Ben!

Well among the other things that have kept me busy other than trains is ....working on the Workbench! Lol

  Finally have all my parts bins in one location 

Al

@Norton posted:

Looks familiar Alex. Also working on a Niagara. Mine is getting a four lobe cam and the other usual upgrades, cab curtains, cut bar chain, new rod bolts.

Pete

Got a part number for those allen screws? Might come in handy for something.

Lou, the screws are M2.5 x .45 allen flathead stainless. I got mine from McMaster Carr but any industrial supplier should have them. Lionel used 10mm (4), 14mm (2), and 17mm (2) long screws. I got 10mm and 16mm and cut the 16 to get 14mm.

Pete

@Norton posted:

Lou, the screws are M2.5 x .45 allen flathead stainless. I got mine from McMaster Carr but any industrial supplier should have them. Lionel used 10mm (4), 14mm (2), and 17mm (2) long screws. I got 10mm and 16mm and cut the 16 to get 14mm.

Pete

 

Thanks. Are those the same size as MTH Premier side rod screws?

Here is what is currently on my bench getting its decoder tweaked: SS 3rd Rail T3.  It just got a TCS WOW501, 4X Tang Band spkrs, extra weight and warm white LED,s.

@Lou1985 posted:

Thanks. Are those the same size as MTH Premier side rod screws?

I don't know but would bet the thread size is the same as your SF Northern.

Pete

@Norton posted:

I don't know but would bet the thread size is the same as your SF Northern.

Pete

 

Was hoping the thread size is the same. Don't currently need any rod screws but spares are always welcome, especially for future projects.

Great topic!  Good to see the old steamers renewed and upgraded!

This Williams Pacific is getting a TMCC upgrade, cruise, sound, Super-Chuffer, Chuff-Generator, coupler, all LED lighting, etc.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

This Williams Pacific is getting a TMCC upgrade, cruise, sound, Super-Chuffer, Chuff-Generator, coupler, all LED lighting, etc.

 

Wow,  I just bought 5 Weaver Boston & Maine Pullman Bradley coaches and was looking for something to pull them with.          j

Well, you'll have to negotiate with my customer as this one isn't mine.

I'm working up my gumption to strip one of my MTH Southern PS4s.     Some of the B&M  P class had an Elesco feedwater heater and bear some resemblence to the Southern PS4.     j

Suck it up John, get out the paint remover.

Finally got around to repairing some stuff I've had for a loooooong time. Many years ago I drove a box truck for Goodwill thru the city streets of Madison, WI, to pick up donations on house calls. Much to my pleasure, folks would often donate a box full of Lionel trains! So I loaded them in to the truck, then when back at the plant, I made my way with an armload of trains to the pricing dep't and took home some more goodies!

So that's my way of saying I just unpacked a box with two 2046W tenders, a 234W tender, a 2026, 671, 229 and a 2020 steamer, plus a couple of tank cars that look especially nice. These were the pick o' the crop in this box - got quite a few more boxes that I'm looking forward to going through! I'm in heaven!

Walnut shells, roofing granules, painters tape, spray bottle, scenic grass, ground foam and a gallon of elmers glue. 

Sadly these just hit my workbench. The wife recently decided we needed new dining room furniture. Now there is no hutch/buffet, so these 4 buildings have no place to be displayed anymore. Guess they'll just get boxed and packed away. 

Alex, good to see you posting again, we missed you!  

Rod

A prototype signal board for Atlas.

Lou N

Ran into the first time I couldn't fit my Chuff-Generator on the motor in the standard mounting.  The clearance around the motor in this Williams brass Pacific is just too close to allow it to fit.  Fortunately, last year I was thinking about a situation like this and made a little board that just has the flywheel sensor to make things smaller.  I could fit my mini-sensor board under the driveshaft and just mount the Chuff-Generator remotely.  First time I've had occasion to use the little board, but now I'm glad I thought of it back then.

John, that is just amazing. One thing my late uncle used to say before started some jobs, "Let me think about this one for a bit before I start tearing stuff apart." He would see stuff coming a mile a way most times(unless someone mistakenly did something to mess up what he was going to work on).

Lots of good stuff in here, Alex did up my Niagara a while ago, good to see more of the bits that go into it.

Really like the dimples you're putting in the rods Pete.

Can't wait to more of what's in the works.

Still have the Hamm's brewery from the article on building kits in this months OGR. Don

Lionchief Plus Mikado...smoke unit issues...the fan works, but no smoke, so guessing the heating element is the problem. Think I’ll be ordering a new replacement smoke unit? Anything I should be checking before I do? Ideas are appreciated.

I would take a meter and check to see if the element is getting voltage. 

@UKE KAT posted:

 

Lionchief Plus Mikado...smoke unit issues...the fan works, but no smoke, so guessing the heating element is the problem. Think I’ll be ordering a new replacement smoke unit? Anything I should be checking before I do? Ideas are appreciated.

No need to buy a complete unit. Its either the resistor or the circuit driving the resistor. Do as Rod suggested and check the resistor. Also turn the sound off and see if you can hear the fan running.

Pete

Wife request forced me to clear my workbench of trains and build a pair of walnut bedside tables she asked for last year.  Two hobbies, but only one workbench.  I need to make another workbench eventually.

Continue work on (2) Caboose kits. 

I have several undecorated cars: harriman baggage, 50' cushion underframe boxcars, a tank car, and a wood single sheathed boxcar to paint and letter.  I will not be able to get to any of these projects until November, but here is some of the art work that is still in progress.  

 Sure great to see what everyone is up too and the cleanliness of their work spaces.

  I have made progress on my work bench area and thought I would share my progress.

 Power cords from all the different tools were a constant problem, so I picked up a couple of electrical boxes from Home Depot and built a useful power bar that was compact and out of the way to compliment the new shelf, which will hold a hair dryer, Dremel tool, soldering gun and cordless 3/8” drill.

    I had some 1/2” MDF board in the garage and made a shelf for screwdrivers/power tools  and 2 stands for a drill bits.
   Still lots of parts sorting to do with all the misc bits from projects of the past.

  Hopefully, I will soon get back to my GP7 conversions to Kadees/fixed pilot and started on my recently acquired Atlas GP9 s

Al

 This probably does not deserve to be in this thread as what's going on in my makeshift workspace is just a glorified tire change. But the set of which this unit is part has no fewer than 12 traction tires and getting them all off and on as a practical matter requires removing the body shells:

This is an MTH UP coal turbine 3 unit set (ALCO lead control unit, turbine B unit and tender). In fact this was a conversion of the first conventional Protosound version to PS2, which was done for me by Mike R. and Phil when they were still with TAS. In fact as you might be able to tell from the photo, this conversion put a second sound system in the B unit, which is so much better than the latest and almost certainly last MTH PS3 version that only has sound in the lead unit. I remember it was Phil who suggested installing the extra sound after he took it apart. 

4 motors, 10 powered axles and 3 smoke units call for occasional heavy duty maintenance although this engine, known to my family as "Ol' Smoky" for obvious reasons, is generally only run on ceremonial occasions:

In all the years I have had this, I think I have only had both the powered units apart 3 times and the first of these was right after I got it back from the conversion, when the B unit simply would not start up at all. That turned out to be shipping damage as the front mount of the B unit PS2 board had cracked and the main wiring connector was dislodged. My Heath Robinson repair got it running and it has been reliable ever since.

It does rumble around the track like a giant dinosaur and I have no problem with the fact that the prototype was a failure, largely because trying to burn pulverized coal damaged the turbine. 

(P.S. All evidence of recreational beverages, bottle(s), glassware etc. was removed from the vicinity before the photo was taken!)

You guys are amazing.

3D printed some yard lights