WHAT’S ON THE WORKBENCH AT THE MOMENT

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

Randy that’s an exceptional job and thanks for the insights. My efforts are directed towards Reading equipment and PRSL when I can find them. Thank you.

Jay

@Tranquil Hollow RR

Jay:

Thanks for the kind compliment. My layout, due to space constraints, is rather "old-school". It has tighter curves and we run "semi-scale" locomotives with selectively compressed passenger cars. The only PRSL P-70 coach models were full scale and would not work for me. I like MTH RailKing\Rugged Rails passenger coaches. They are well detailed and include interiors rather that the old-style window silhouettes. The prototype P-70 coaches had the older clerestory roof but were not heavyweight coaches. They had 4- wheel trucks. The closest that I could get to the look of the P-70 in MTH RailKing was their Madison style, heavyweight coaches with 6-wheel trucks. So, my PRSL coaches are going to be heavyweights, much to the disdain of rivet counters everywhere (and we have a few in the PRSL Historical Society). Below are photos of the prototype exterior of the coach I am emulating, the interior of a prototype PRSL P-70 coach and my interior.

The posters at either ends of the of the model interior are reductions of actual Pennsylvania RR ad posters for service to the New Jersey seashore. Lighting for the coaches is being converted to LED.

I would like to photos of your modeling. So, please post some.

You have a great body style with interior....what about Lionel "Baby Madison" 4 wheel trucks not quite PRR 4 wheel trucks but better than 6 wheels

Ed Samsen

It looks great, Randy!

@Ed Samsen posted:

You have a great body style with interior....what about Lionel "Baby Madison" 4 wheel trucks not quite PRR 4 wheel trucks but better than 6 wheels

Ed Samsen

@Ed Samsen

Ed:

Thanks for your kind words and suggestion.

I don't know that the 6-wheel trucks are even PRR style. The MTH O27 heavyweight coaches come painted and lettered in more than a dozen different road names. The actual coach is exactly the same no matter what the livery.

I did have this borderline brilliant idea of ordering a set of MTH 4-wheel passenger trucks for their O-27 streamlined passenger coaches assuming that MTH, to save money on tooling, would use the same chassis for both coaches. Well, silly me. The trucks for the streamlined coach have a shorter coupler than the Madison and the hole to mount the 4 wheeled trucks is not in the same place as the Madison mounting hole. Drilling a second hole will not work because the two holes slightly overlap. So, 6-wheel trucks it is!!!!!!

Been working on a battered Lionel 253 for the last few weeks. Cosmetically, the main problem was that most of the tabs holding the end pieces onto the body shell were broken. I'm not one for stripping original paint, but a solder job was the only permanent solution contemplated, and that required some or all of the paint to be removed. Tried a number of suggested recipes for paint removal, but ended up using a chemical stripper (another thing I'm not real fond of). That got about 99% of the paint off, so we got the shell soldered back together this week and a test fit back onto the frame (which will just get a good polish):

A bit more bending/straightening was required to get it to fit back onto the frame, and it's a tight fit, so some concern that the stress might pop the solder...we'll see. It'll get some rough handling during the next step (a final cleaning to remove the last bits of paint, then a thorough wash to remove absolutely every trace of chemical stripper) so a good test of the repairs. Presuming everything holds, it'll be off to the paint booth.

A big thank you to my solder-master friend for the work. I'd have burned a hole through the sheet-metal trying to do this.

PD

Cleaned up my workbench this morning and my assistant now using it.

Missing is a container of "Kitty Treats"

Haven't had much train time lately. Honeydoo's have kept me busy.

I got a a few hours at the bench this afternoon and was able to bring life to my first of two MTH S2's that I'm working on. I bought the PS3/2 stacker boards a while back and had installed them, but several of the wires were too short and had to be extended. So the soldering station and the heat gun were warmed up and the work began.
I had to extend one set of wires from the pick ups- so I took the factory splice apart (wire nuts are very bush league), and replaced them with proper soldered splices.
Next was the front motor. Instead of doing 2 splices, I removed the wires from the motor and extended them from the harness.  Could they make the wiring tabs on these can motors any smaller????
Finally, I installed the new speaker and wiring harness. The electro-couplers need to be checked. The rear has a short and chatters when power is applied, and the front doesn't work at all.

I put the engine on the track and SLOWLY brought up the power. NO MAGIC SMOKE!
The engine didn't react to my RC, but it worked in conventional. After getting the speaker installed I was able to reset the boards and now it works with my RC.

Still more work to do, and I need to get the birds nest of wires under control.

Bob

Very nice Bob!

@RSJB18 posted:

Haven't had much train time lately. Honeydoo's have kept me busy.

I got a a few hours at the bench this afternoon and was able to bring life to my first of two MTH S2's that I'm working on. I bought the PS3/2 stacker boards a while back and had installed them, but several of the wires were too short and had to be extended. So the soldering station and the heat gun were warmed up and the work began.
I had to extend one set of wires from the pick ups- so I took the factory splice apart (wire nuts are very bush league), and replaced them with proper soldered splices.
Next was the front motor. Instead of doing 2 splices, I removed the wires from the motor and extended them from the harness.  Could they make the wiring tabs on these can motors any smaller????
Finally, I installed the new speaker and wiring harness. The electro-couplers need to be checked. The rear has a short and chatters when power is applied, and the front doesn't work at all.

I put the engine on the track and SLOWLY brought up the power. NO MAGIC SMOKE!
The engine didn't react to my RC, but it worked in conventional. After getting the speaker installed I was able to reset the boards and now it works with my RC.

Still more work to do, and I need to get the birds nest of wires under control.

Bob

As the esteemed Dr. Frankenstein exclaimed, “It’s Alive”. You have soo much more patience, and talent, than I.

Jay

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

As the esteemed Dr. Frankenstein exclaimed, “It’s Alive”. You have soo much more patience, and talent, than I.

Jay

That's Fronkenstein........

@RSJB18 posted:

That's Fronkenstein........

Haha. In that case I'm Igor

Pardon me boy is this the Transylvania station?

Experimenting what I asked Walter M to do a long time ago....

I just had to do it. Change my Rolling stock to kadee couplers. All new rolling stock is getting the scale look. Those big huge ugly monster claws just destroy a good looking car. Plus coupling goes so much smoother. No more banging cars together I just am in love building trains in my new yard.

My Forney StdGauge GP style loco is finally moved up on the to do list.

Upgraded my Williams J class with adding a cab unit from a Lionel workhorse J class. Perfect fit and it covers that can motor. Added firebox glow as well. Added classification lights to the tender. Yes, the outside lights are red, and clear in the middle. This one also got a MTH ps1 smoke unit, and a postwar front pilot that looks much better.

looks great! Do you have a video of it smoking?

Here ya go. This was before the other upgrades.

@Jim M Sr posted:

Dallas Joseph,

Realy nice looking job Jim.

Where do you get your decals ?  🤔  They look great.

Thank you.

I made the decals from pictures I found on line. Copy and paste into “Word” then adjusted the size. Used ink jet printer, so they had to be sealed before wetting and applying.

Engine numbers on the side are dry transfers.

Jim, 

I'm intrigued by your custom decals. Do you also make your own dry transfer decals?  I'd be interested in more details and advice explaining how you make them (and seal them), and maybe showing pictures of the process. 

Why?  My family homesteaded in central Nebraska (just outside of Eddyville), but the farm was on the Union Pacific branch line that ran from Kearney NE, out to Callaway NE. So, I grew up in the final days of that line before it was decommissioned in the late 1980s (I still have the crossing sign from our road).  That line originally started out as the 'Kearney & Black Hills Railway' in the late 1880's and was then absorbed by UP later on.   The line started out with a couple of 4-4-0's, and then transitioned into several Baldwin 2-8-0s (w/ Vanderbilt tenders).  My dream is to model this branch line (before becoming UP) but would need to make my own decals and your guidance would be really helpful (knowing I'd be taking liberties with my own interpretation of lettering/imagery on locos and freight as aren't many detailed pictures from this era.)   The other problem I have is finding good loco prototypes in O or S Gauge in a condition to where I won't feel guilty altering them from the original build.