WHAT’S ON THE WORKBENCH AT THE MOMENT

Getting all the Chrome parts ready for the bath cleaner and than off to re-chrome

263e with 260T

e-unit install complete

before I got my hands on her

Update almost finished just have touch-up to do

@RSJB18 posted:

Re-started my S2 project......and then re-stopped........

The CEO was otherwise occupied today so except for a small detour to the MIL's house to hang a drape, I had some time at the bench today. Some mid-afternoon rain helped the cause as well.

I did the truck assembly, installed the frames, pilots, pick up wires, and Lionel electro-couplers.
Speaker and prog/run switch went into the fuel tank and the tank was installed.

I wired up the motors and tested them, again all is moving in the right direction.

Then I took a good look at the Cruise-commander and railsounds boards and the a aforementioned stop occurred. It doesn't look like the boards will fit under the small narrow hood of the S2...... I tried various arrangements but even if I could fit the boards, forget about connecting any wires. I even considered putting the RS board in the cab but then the engineer and conductor would have to run the train from the back porch.

So unless I'm missing the obvious then I may drop back and punt on this engine getting an ERR upgrade and might try a Flyer-chief or Lionchief board.

At least I got to see it move.....

To be continued......

Bob

Sorry for being so far behind, life has gotten in the way.

Question for you Bob, I don't know anything about boards and when I open an engine up my heart starts to race and I began to sweat! But if the boards are to wide for the shell, I have never seen this but is there any reason you can't put them in on there side? Just asking for a friend! LOL

Got the decals complete on both. The road name lettering is too small on the U-boat. The decal set is made for full scale size locos, so they don't work out right on a semi-scale loco. The shells need a little touch-up work and cleaning, then clear coat. The caboose should be done soon. I still have to mask and paint the loco trucks, which won't be easy because everything is staked and riveted together, so it will be a while before the loco is ready for service.

@Mike D posted:

Got the decals complete on both. The road name lettering is too small on the U-boat. The decal set is made for full scale size locos, so they don't work out right on a semi-scale loco. The shells need a little touch-up work and cleaning, then clear coat. The caboose should be done soon. I still have to mask and paint the loco trucks, which won't be easy because everything is staked and riveted together, so it will be a while before the loco is ready for service.

Mike those look great!

Its not glamorous work but cutting the legs off of “people” and fitting them into a Disney toy monorail that goes around my amusement park. Ive also upgraded the motor to run better than the Disney provided one thanks to another online forum recommendation.  

Don't mind the layout, I have a LONG LONG way to go.

@pault posted:

Its not glamorous work but cutting the legs off of “people” and fitting them into a Disney toy monorail that goes around my amusement park. Ive also upgraded the motor to run better than the Disney provided one thanks to another online forum recommendation.  

Don't mind the layout, I have a LONG LONG way to go.

Pault - nice work. I have that Disney set too that I want to run over my carnival area. What motor upgrade did you do?

@Sean007 posted:

Pault - nice work. I have that Disney set too that I want to run over my carnival area. What motor upgrade did you do?

Thanks! The Disney forum I read is below. It mentions needing a new worm gear but the motor that came fit just fine in this blue stripe monorail set, I just pulled it off the old motor worm gear and slid it onto the shaft of the new motor. The motor itself, I couldn't find the one they talk about due to age of the post but I found its newer model. Cant beat $8 from Amazon, its one of cheapest train board upgrades I have ever done! Simple solder job. I tested it with the AA batteries before putting the monorail engine back together.

Forum - https://forums.wdwmagic.com/th...motor-thread.667834/

Amazon Motor Link - https://a.co/d/9dtqSZa

I originally liked the Blue Stripe Disney monorail because except for a very small WDW logo, you have no idea its Disney unless you run the monorail with sound. I don't because the sound of my trains in the basement is borderline deafening. For my trains to run underneath the monorail, I cut a 2X4 into 4 inch sections and bought some small bricks off of Amazon. The wife helped me glue all the bricks onto the blocks. I have to make them pretty with some moss or something else somewhere down the line but I love that one of my train lines goes under the monorail.

Sorry if I'm not allowed to post external links. Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules.

@mike g. posted:

Sorry for being so far behind, life has gotten in the way.

Question for you Bob, I don't know anything about boards and when I open an engine up my heart starts to race and I began to sweat! But if the boards are to wide for the shell, I have never seen this but is there any reason you can't put them in on there side? Just asking for a friend! LOL

Hi Mike- I had considered flipping the board but it would be very hard to land the wires once it's in place. Still didn't have room for the railsounds board regardless.

Funny that a PS3/2 stacker board fits.

Bob

@pault posted:

Thanks! The Disney forum I read is below. It mentions needing a new worm gear but the motor that came fit just fine in this blue stripe monorail set, I just pulled it off the old motor worm gear and slid it onto the shaft of the new motor. The motor itself, I couldn't find the one they talk about due to age of the post but I found its newer model. Cant beat $8 from Amazon, its one of cheapest train board upgrades I have ever done! Simple solder job. I tested it with the AA batteries before putting the monorail engine back together.

Forum - https://forums.wdwmagic.com/th...motor-thread.667834/

Amazon Motor Link - https://a.co/d/9dtqSZa

I originally liked the Blue Stripe Disney monorail because except for a very small WDW logo, you have no idea its Disney unless you run the monorail with sound. I don't because the sound of my trains in the basement is borderline deafening. For my trains to run underneath the monorail, I cut a 2X4 into 4 inch sections and bought some small bricks off of Amazon. The wife helped me glue all the bricks onto the blocks. I have to make them pretty with some moss or something else somewhere down the line but I love that one of my train lines goes under the monorail.

Sorry if I'm not allowed to post external links. Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules.

Thanks very much - I will check it out.

@pault, I would love to see your "brick piers".

@coach joe posted:

@pault, I would love to see your "brick piers".

Here you go. It may not have been the prettiest approach but it worked for me so far and it got the monorail higher which is what I wanted. I liked how they turned out even if they probably wouldn't pass any government inspections. The bricks break apart, sometimes just crumble, when putting some pressure on them either by hand or with two pliers. They DO make your hands wildly filthy.

Bricks from Amazon - https://a.co/d/9mPjhcF

If anyone is curious, the fencing is from Hobby Lobby in the fairy aisle near all the fake plants and moss packages.

Nice job on the piers, Paul!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Nice job on the piers, Paul!

Thank you. I would love to learn how to weather and make look more realistic like some members are really good at. I think that would really make them stand out. Baby steps.

@pault, MArk said it already, the piers look great.  Thanks for the link, we got some new building materials.

@coach joe posted:

@pault, MArk said it already, the piers look great.  Thanks for the link, we got some new building materials.

Thanks I appreciate it. Took a summer break on the layout with all the house projects (but still buying trains). Getting back into it with the weather slowing turning and the train shows coming back full swing.

i have the lionel Balloon ride accessory to figure out how to hook up this coming week. Looking forward to seeing that work.

I have been away from the bench and layout much of the past month.    My most recent project of repainting four MTH club cars (Sorry MTH) is nearing completion.    Cars transitioned: 1998 MTH Charter Member box car, 1999 RailKing crane car & 2000 crane tender plus the 2001 auto transport are all being assigned to the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railroad.    The box car is in final color and awaiting decals which are on order.    

I use SCALECOAT II Wash Away to soften and remove original markings.   I found that soaking a piece of paper towel with the solution and laying it on the original markings aided the removal.

Wiping with paper towel and a Q-tip did a sufficient job to ready the car for primer.   I did cut away many cast-in details and added my own wire steps and ladders to some of the cars.   Soap, water and a toothbrush completed the process.

After an overnight dry, I primed and applied coats of finish color. In the case of two colors, I paint the lighter yellow color first.    I do not mask for the second color until several days of cure.    After masking I sprayed a coat of yellow on the margins of the tape to reduce bleeding of the darker color.    Within the hour, I apply the finial color and allow a 24 hour cure before removing the masking tape.    I gloss coated the areas that receive decals followed by a coat of Dullcote over the entire model after the decals are set and dried.     Lucky to find approbate rattle can colors for this project.    Some decals were from K4 and some were printed on my home computer.      

Cheers, Dave

PS:   Mike G:   I dedicate this post to you since you asked for more detail.   I assume that much of what's mentioned here is standard procedure for those who enjoy custom painting.    Also great to see you back in a train room!!    Wonderful start!!    What are your plans for the ceiling and what about heating and Air?    Inquiring minds need to know!   Thanks!

Dave, that’s really nice repainting you are doing!!!  Thank you for the details of the method you are using!

Lubed my Lionel Legacy SW-1200. These are single-motor engines with shaft drives. The universals and gearing make quite a bit of noise which gets more noticeable over time.  Mine started to trip the motor overload so it was due for a trip to the shops.
Not a big fan of this drive system even though these will really crawl.  Twin can motors are much better.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Twin can motors are much better.

Them's fightin' words!    Just kidding Bob, to each his or her own.  But please consider, 2-railers have used drop-down gear towers with shaft drive and individual axle gearboxes for YEARS; that's the standard approach in 2-rail O scale.  Drives from the better makes such as Overland, Central Locomotive Works (CLW) and Weaver are plenty smooth and quiet.  Some of them run on museum layouts for hours a day.  All of 3rd Rail's recent diesels use this type of drive.

A horizontal drive allows a larger motor, larger flywheel(s), easy customizability of the gear ratio, no issues with the two motors starting at different voltages, the potential to have some equalization of the truck for improved operation on uneven track, etc.  It even facilitates a fully-detailed cab!

IMO there's nothing wrong with the fundamental design of the drive.  I think what we have here is possibly another case like the L1 Mikados, where Lionel's execution (engineering tolerances, choice of materials, lack of factory lubrication, etc.) wasn't perfect.  I hope Lionel sticks with this design and improves it to the point of being bullet-proof.  I also hope you're able to get yours sorted out and running to your satisfaction.  Thanks for sharing!

@Ted S posted:

Them's fightin' words!    Just kidding Bob, to each his or her own.  But please consider, 2-railers have used drop-down gear towers with shaft drive and individual axle gearboxes for YEARS; that's the standard approach in 2-rail O scale.  Drives from the better makes such as Overland, Central Locomotive Works (CLW) and Weaver are plenty smooth and quiet.  Some of them run on museum layouts for hours a day.  All of 3rd Rail's recent diesels use this type of drive.

A horizontal drive allows a larger motor, larger flywheel(s), easy customizability of the gear ratio, no issues with the two motors starting at different voltages, the potential to have some equalization of the truck for improved operation on uneven track, etc.  It even facilitates a fully-detailed cab!

IMO there's nothing wrong with the fundamental design of the drive.  I think what we have here is possibly another case like the L1 Mikados, where Lionel's execution (engineering tolerances, choice of materials, lack of factory lubrication, etc.) wasn't perfect.  I hope Lionel sticks with this design and improves it to the point of being bullet-proof.  I also hope you're able to get yours sorted out and running to your satisfaction.  Thanks for sharing!

Not putting the drive line down Ted. Just Lionel's execution of it.

I should add that I bought this engine used and found that the gearboxes were bone dry. I don't know how much run time it had with no grease but it did look like the gears had some premature wear. I probably should drop the trucks and top them off again.
I agree that the lack of can motors allows for a full cab, especially on these short SW units.

As I said, it can crawl at very low speed steps so I do see the attraction of this system.

Bob