WHAT’S ON THE WORKBENCH AT THE MOMENT

After years of procrastinating I finally got around to upgrade my 20 year old K-Line Hudson thanks to a few rare rainy days here.

It got a new larger motor, yet to be tested for tractive effort plus 4 chuffs and fan smoke.

Four chuffs achieved by replacing the two lobe cam with a 4 lobe, my preferred method when possible.

And the result.

Pete

Norton has me thinking that my K-Line Hudson should be upgraded like this.....and not sitting on a shelf in my office, not having run in probably ten years or so.

It's too good looking of a model for that fate, me thinks.

@Berkshire President posted:

Norton has me thinking that my K-Line Hudson should be upgraded like this.....and not sitting on a shelf in my office, not having run in probably ten years or so.

It's too good looking of a model for that fate, me thinks.

Mine is in the waiting line to get upgraded with Pat aka Harmon Yards along with the Lionel Vandy tender version.

@SIRT posted:

Finished...

Really fast work Steve .

Usually being fast doesn't compute with the quality of the work done................................you don't fit that model sir.        Great job as usual .

@SIRT posted:

Finished...

Outstanding!  Great looking cars and wonderful weathering!   Have you made any videos detailing your weathering process?    Would love to get more information on your procedure and materials (washes, etc.) that you use.   Thanks!

Cheers, Dave

Started a project to convert the K-Line speeder to command control, for this one I am going to try to stuff sound into it as well.  I tried to make the cavity large enough to fit the ERR Mini Commander II in as well as the ERR RailSounds Commander.   I'll be using the gas powered doodlebug sound set, it seems the most appropriate for a small track speeder.

Here's the complement of boards and the speaker that will be used.

From all appearances, it seems I can fit them in.  It will be a tight fit, but I can interleave the components and generous use of Kapton tape for insulation will assist in that effort.  I may end up removing some connectors and hard wiring to the PCB pads, yet to be determined.  The speaker will be mounted to the inside of the cab with some sound holes before I glue the last panel in.

I also trimmed all the excess leads off both boards to minimize their height as much as possible.

Since the seats were too large and an integral part of the frame, they were chopped off and will be replaced with seats and suitable O-scale sized figures to drive the speeder.

My thinking is to paint it yellow for M.O.W. as that fits in with any road name.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Started a project to convert the K-Line speeder to command control, for this one I am going to try to stuff sound into it as well.  I tried to make the cavity large enough to fit the ERR Mini Commander II in as well as the ERR RailSounds Commander.   I'll be using the gas powered doodlebug sound set, it seems the most appropriate for a small track speeder.

Here's the complement of boards and the speaker that will be used.

From all appearances, it seems I can fit them in.  It will be a tight fit, but I can interleave the components and generous use of Kapton tape for insulation will assist in that effort.  I may end up removing some connectors and hard wiring to the PCB pads, yet to be determined.  The speaker will be mounted to the inside of the cab with some sound holes before I glue the last panel in.

I also trimmed all the excess leads off both boards to minimize their height as much as possible.

Since the seats were too large and an integral part of the frame, they were chopped off and will be replaced with seats and suitable O-scale sized figures to drive the speeder.

My thinking is to paint it yellow for M.O.W. as that fits in with any road name.

WOW John. That's tight. Keep us posted.

Bob

@ToledoEd posted:

After finishing replacing the main smoke motor in my VL Hudson 700E, I've turned to the last of my collection needing attention.  The Acela set.  I'm starting with the non-powered engine #2029.  Pantograph motor does not run.  Either it has settled on a 'dead spot' Gunrunner John identified, or I need to replace it. Fortunately I have a motor and motherboard for that unit.

I just finished 'fixing' this unit.  I replaced a Pantograph motor and the Panto PCB Board.  When I opened up the shell, I noticed one of the motors was missing a screw...see Pic 1. I tested both motors and they ran fine. So, I suspected it was the PCB. So, I just replaced both units and, as you'll see in the video below, it fixed the problem.  However, since that motor is missing a screw, and as you can see in Pic 2, it secures that thing which holds the mechanism which raises and lowers the Panto... I'm going to see if that was the problem after all  The mechanism stops because that piece that keeps the rod stable and straight bends.  So, when I get the right screw, I'm going to reassemble all the old parts and test whether that missing screw has the cause of the problems.

Also, as I looked back at threads regarding the Pantos, I saw some confusion about prototypical Pantograph position. The video answers that question as well.

Pic 1 missing screw

Screw goes here to secure the device holding the rod secure

A fellow club member brought me another MTH subway set to convert to LED strip lights.  The conversion was completed this evening for this six car set. 

This is some raw video I shot of this interesting set BEFORE the conversion.  Apparently, the backstory is that MTH asked for an MTA license to produce this graffiti set and MTA refused because it objected to the graffiti theme; hence, the absence of the MTA logo on these cars.  Whatever, it's a colorful set.

@RSJB18 posted:

WOW John. That's tight. Keep us posted.

Bob

Got the basics wired and ran my first test.  No lights as they get added after the shell gets painted, but the sound was better than I thought from the tiny speaker.

Working on my Menard's Autoracks, they have some wobble from the factory:

Each car also had at least one if not both couplers that would not stay closed, so I went to the MTH parts website and bought 8 diecast trucks. I figured this won't only help with the wobble but would add some weight to the bottom of the cars.

So the first thing to do is separate the chassis from the car to remove the trucks.

There are 4 screws at each end and 2 screws in the center spine:

Then they separate:

To remove the trucks you have to drill out the rivet:

Then since the screws I have won't fit inside the post it had to go!

Since I was making a tighter fit of the trucks to the chassis I installed a grommet in the chassis and then installed the new trucks with the 3mm screws I had.

The ride height is the same as the factory trucks, this means it will still go around 027 curves:

Test run was perfect! No couplers opened and the wobble has all but been eliminated!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Got the basics wired and ran my first test.  No lights as they get added after the shell gets painted, but the sound was better than I thought from the tiny speaker.

That's awesome John. Gives me hope that I could squeeze everything into a K-line Plymouth. Have you every tried?

Bob

Purchased a Lionel TUG-OF-WAR 6-82107 as not working.  Usually with these type of units I've found that the issue is with the grease hardening and preventing the mechanism from moving.  When I removed the back, I was surprised to see a broken gear.  A search for replacement parts turned up nothing that was available.  So, I purchased a bag of assorted gears from Amazon for $5.00.  I found the correct size, bored out the hole with a drill bit to fit the shaft and I was in business.

@RSJB18 posted:

That's awesome John. Gives me hope that I could squeeze everything into a K-line Plymouth. Have you every tried?

Bob

The K-Line Plymouth is on my "to-do" list.  I figure I'd have to replace the huge smoke unit with one of the small MTH units, either the HO one or the O-scale whistle smoke model.  Then I might have room for the Mini-Commander 2 in the front hood and the sound board in the back.  I've fixed several Plymouth engines, so I do kinda' know my way around them.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The K-Line Plymouth is on my "to-do" list.  I figure I'd have to replace the huge smoke unit with one of the small MTH units, either the HO one or the O-scale whistle smoke model.  Then I might have room for the Mini-Commander 2 in the front hood and the sound board in the back.  I've fixed several Plymouth engines, so I do kinda' know my way around them.

Smoke in a diesel is not a must have for me. I'd take it out if necessary. The stock smoke unit in the Plymouth is a good one though.

I've had the front hood off a couple of mine ( I only have 6) The K-line boards are squeezed in as-is.

My grand plan is to make this from one.

Some rainy weather provided some motivation to return to the bench.    Completed construction of two hopper cars. This involved soldering up and placing some activation levers. Two more to go before the four get washed and primed.   

Heading up north today to rail fan with three of my 3-rail buddies. We will visit the Lake Superior RR Museum in Duluth and the Wisconsin Great Northern RR Museum in Trego, Wisconsin. Trego is the current home of the Mark Twain Zephyr. Will check out the Zephyr rebuild progress and also enjoy a couple train rides and a dinner train experience during the next few days.

Cheers to all,

Dave

Had to repair the new to me weaver GP38-2 Magma loco. The bottom sprocket on the chain tower was cracked, once I replaced that turning it by hand revealed there was a bind in the axle transmission. Replaced the geared axle and now it runs smooth!. I'm happy I had left over parts from when I rebuilt my weaver RS.

A couple of C-Liners being bashed into shape.

This finally left the workbench. Started out as a Lionel NYC caboose. You can pick these up fairly reasonable. I wanted a Rutland caboose with 4 windows. Cutting the extra windows was tedious. I used Scale City windows which are fairly close but not a lot of room for error. This particular early caboose had a higher cupola. I used one from an Ambroid kit. It has the right look. Just has 3 side windows rather than prototypes 2. It was a metal casting that had pretty much the right contour. I JB Welded 2 studs to it and used a basswood wood sheet painted black to hide the lack of an interior which was snugged down with a couple of nuts. The NYC and Rutland had 4 boards for the roofwalk. I’m guessing Lionel got it right on their pre war version as Williams brass reproduction features 4. The molded in boards don’t sit very high of the roof. I split some old Weaver walks and glued them in place. The other tedious project was forming new handrails from some phosphor bronze wire. New brake wheels were added.

What got me started on this project was some 3D printed trucks on eBay that looked to be correct for this early version. Archbars with a leaf spring. Well I got the trucks to work. They appear to be on steroids as far as wheelbase and width. I used Atlas pickup rollers with a slight mod to get them to sit higher. Seeing the trucks are plastic. I needed a ground wiper. I was able to tweak the stock Lionel one to fit after drilling to holes to line up with the Atlas mount. I used Tomar LED Adlake lamps. The finish on the trucks is a little crude. I know nothing about 3D printing but they seemed well made for the price. From normal viewing distance none of this is noticeable.
Decals are from Tichy Train Group. I don’t know if I’d do another one. But it’s nice to have a different version on the caboose track.

@Dave_C posted:

This finally left the workbench. Started out as a Lionel NYC caboose. You can pick these up fairly reasonable. I wanted a Rutland caboose with 4 windows. Cutting the extra windows was tedious. I used Scale City windows which are fairly close but not a lot of room for error. This particular early caboose had a higher cupola. I used one from an Ambroid kit. It has the right look. Just has 3 side windows rather than prototypes 2. It was a metal casting that had pretty much the right contour. I JB Welded 2 studs to it and used a basswood wood sheet painted black to hide the lack of an interior which was snugged down with a couple of nuts. The NYC and Rutland had 4 boards for the roofwalk. I’m guessing Lionel got it right on their pre war version as Williams brass reproduction features 4. The molded in boards don’t sit very high of the roof. I split some old Weaver walks and glued them in place. The other tedious project was forming new handrails from some phosphor bronze wire. New brake wheels were added.

What got me started on this project was some 3D printed trucks on eBay that looked to be correct for this early version. Archbars with a leaf spring. Well I got the trucks to work. They appear to be on steroids as far as wheelbase and width. I used Atlas pickup rollers with a slight mod to get them to sit higher. Seeing the trucks are plastic. I needed a ground wiper. I was able to tweak the stock Lionel one to fit after drilling to holes to line up with the Atlas mount. I used Tomar LED Adlake lamps. The finish on the trucks is a little crude. I know nothing about 3D printing but they seemed well made for the price. From normal viewing distance none of this is noticeable.
Decals are from Tichy Train Group. I don’t know if I’d do another one. But it’s nice to have a different version on the caboose track.

Dave, ….when I grow up, I can only hope to poses your skills,…..great work buddy!!

Pat