WHAT’S ON THE WORKBENCH AT THE MOMENT

I realize postwar used the 2 jack panel. Why can't one add the 3jack panel  could be magic electrol or just a 3rd rail jumper....part number should be 201-xx or 1663-xx.  Try Len Carparelli for the magic electrol relay good for both magic electrol and teletype couplers

Had trouble with certain engines coupling with cars on straight sections AND curves .

I began replacing MTH, Lionel and Williams fixed couplers with the MTH articulated couplers .......END of troubles.

This was the last one at the time that I had done sometime ago.  It was a Lionel gondola scrap car.  I had to insert washers with the screws to limit movement of the screws in the trucks . I applied some Locktite Blue to limit screw movement on the washers.

Have a great weekend at the WORKBENCH.  God speed.

@Trussman posted:

Did a little more detailing and lettering on my mow car. Might consider painting the window trim.

Love it Trussman .

Doing these are a lot of fun.

I  bought a cheap spotlight car on the Bay. .......disappointed  ......but I used it for parts on my old one.       I attached magnets on the bottom of this one and decided to have some fun with it.  I added pieces to it and I added a shack instead of removing material as you did .     You have some really neat and looking pieces  on yours. 

Not sure how this will play out but I know I have to get some decals for a road name .

HAVE A BALL sir......God bless.

I'm thrilled to say, nothing!

@ToledoEd posted:

I'm thrilled to say, nothing!

WHAT  !   

@Dallas Joseph posted:

WHAT  !   

I know, hard to believe. But it’s true.  However, the fun will begin as soon as the chips arrive from China.

Couple of things over the past several days. . .

Restored/cleaned/rewired an AMT Santa Fe dome car.  Gave it a a new name because it's my 2nd dome, "Toroperro" (Bulldog).

Building a new coal bunker for a Lionel switcher tender.  This will give me a nicer tender for my 2046 and 2056 Hudsons.

A great looking tender for a Baby Hudson 2046 2056 646 is take a pre-war 2224W  and put a set of postwar 6 wheel trucks under it.  Make wure it has a cast metal whistle in it.  It has applied steps, 6 wheel trucks and the good whistle

@ToledoEd posted:

I know, hard to believe. But it’s true.  However, the fun will begin as soon as the chips arrive from China.

Is that a SLOW  BOAT  FROM  CHINA  Ed ?

@Ed Samsen posted:

A great looking tender for a Baby Hudson 2046 2056 646 is take a pre-war 2224W  and put a set of postwar 6 wheel trucks under it.  Make sure it has a cast metal whistle in it.  It has applied steps, 6 wheel trucks and the good whistle

I've taken a 2226W tender and put a postwar drawbar on it.  That gives me a tender that'll allow Hudsons and Berkshires to haul 2800 series freight cars and prewar passenger cars.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Is that a SLOW  BOAT  FROM  CHINA  Ed ?

I've never seen a fast one!

Just got this one off the bench (actually a TV tray I use while I'm still trying to put my garage together). I have a UP Excursion set that I bought specifically to use with my Heritage Units and Big Boy -- all of which have scale wheels and Kadees. Eventually I'd like to convert all ten cars to scale wheels and Kadees, but the Station Sounds Diner and the generator car may be problematic because they have sensors, so converting the Generator Car to a transition car was the path of least resistance for now.

I have to give Lionel some credit on how they did these cars as it wasn't hard to get this one apart. The kinematic coupler plate is easily removed using the four mounting screws, though getting the spring off the truck was interesting. The Kadee mounting holes are apparently tapped for 2-56 screws, but I used silicone cement to hold a 2-56x1/2" screw in the center to better stabilize the shims. I needed to use a total of seven Micro-Mark shims to get the height right (one cut down to fill a gap between the chassis and the car's end sill. I'm pretty sure  that at least four shims would be required if you used 36" scale wheels in the conversion. Use Kadee #746 Long-Shank Center set couplers.

Kadee End.

In the opening in the truck, you can just make out the pivot Lionel uses for their passenger cars. It causes the car to shift toward the inside of the curve on sharper (O-72 and O-54) curves. The long-shank coupler should give it enough swing to get through the O-81 curves at P&P.

Hi-Rail End

@ToledoEd posted:

I've never seen a fast one!

Roger that Ed.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Love it Trussman .

Doing these are a lot of fun.

I  bought a cheap spotlight car on the Bay. .......disappointed  ......but I used it for parts on my old one.       I attached magnets on the bottom of this one and decided to have some fun with it.  I added pieces to it and I added a shack instead of removing material as you did .     You have some really neat and looking pieces  on yours.

Not sure how this will play out but I know I have to get some decals for a road name .

HAVE A BALL sir......God bless.

Looks good, alot going on for what can be used for track repair.

I used Woodlands Scenics  white roman dry transfer letters for the road name on my mow..

@Trussman posted:

Looks good, alot going on for what can be used for track repair.

I used Woodlands Scenics  white roman dry transfer letters for the road name on my mow..

I ende up with a couple Bs , &s and Os. from my Microscale envelope.        I never had good luck with dry transfers.

After gathering up parts I finally started on my Rutland 4-8-2. Settling for a few basic trademark details to make it look a little more like the prototype. Starting with a NH Mountain from the early 2000’s. Engine features a Pittman so it will be a good runner. I made a cover out of brass that covers up some detailed piping on the factory model. I removed the air pump that resided between the running boards and filled that in with some brass stock. I added 2 long grab irons just above the cab windows. The engine was one of my early weathering projects. Paint will be all touched up and white striping will be added on the running boards edge.
I needed a pilot that featured air pumps. I cut and made up a bracket to mount one from a Berkshire. Some brass screening was added between the 2 shields. A trailing truck from a Blue Comet was also added.

Just wrapped up this PS/3 upgrade, this has been sitting on my shelf for several years, I thought I should get it in a position that I could run it.

Very nice indeed, John!

Thanks Mark, it's my biggest steamer!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Just wrapped up this PS/3 upgrade, this has been sitting on my shelf for several years, I thought I should get it in a position that I could run it.

Really great you have those large curves John.  That thing is huge.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Just wrapped up this PS/3 upgrade, this has been sitting on my shelf for several years, I thought I should get it in a position that I could run it.

John,

That is one impressive engine! Awesome job.

Thanks guys, I do love the big iron, and when I first saw this one I knew I had to have it.   I finally got tired of seeing it on the shelf.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Thanks guys, I do love the big iron, and when I first saw this one I knew I had to have it.   I finally got tired of seeing it on the shelf.

Much better on the rails John. Looks and sounds great.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Much better on the rails John. Looks and sounds great.

Bob

And I wonder how John got it to smoke so well!  😆😆

@Mark Boyce posted:

And I wonder how John got it to smoke so well!  😆😆

Easy Mark, I wished it was a good smoker.

Caboose completed.

One more hopper to go.

This was a pretty easy project.  I bought a Lionel 17302 Boxcar with an ETD.  I was unimpressed with the plastic collector assembly, and the ETD light was a weird color (IMHO).  The cheap plastic collector didn't really hold the center rail well, so the light was flickering a lot.  I took the thing apart and rebuilt the innards.  The purple box shows the wires coming out of the collector and ground.  I replaced the original wires with some Kynar wire, and tried to make the collector a little more responsive.  The green box shows the output terminals for a small on/off switch I put in, and is easily activated from the underside.  The yellow box shows some weights I added to make the car a bit heavier.  The red box shows the LED lighting regulator I bought from Hennings.  That is the key to making the light less 'flickery'.  It is sitting in the modified housing that held a small PCB to make the factory installed LED blink.  I ran the Evans blinking red LED (grey box) from the lighting regulator through the ETD hole.  The ETD (white box) was removed and I have it sitting on the roof.  I drilled out the factory light that was in it, and will use CA to glue in the red LED.  It is super bright.  I will reattach the ETD to the shell, put the shell back on, and chalk up another successful project!

UPDATE:

After putting the ETD back, I noticed there was some light bleed around the back.  I filled the space inside the ETD, around the LED bulb, with some cotton swabs and painted the fluff that was exposed black, to match the unit.  Also, I had to do a lot more work on the poorly designed collector assembly so that it made better contact with the center rail.  I will never buy another car with this type of collector.

I have the models (with a less than perfect paint match).

I found the decals in 1:48 scale. Four sets of discontinued decals.

I found a paint match.

If I only could find the time...

Started on a Labelle Open Platform Observation. This will be heading to the Strasburg when completed.

Pete

Pete, looking forward to the LaBelle build. I have a combine to do at some point. I built a baggage car first. A lot simpler build just to practice on. The hard part is understanding the instructions and sorting out the parts.

Agreed Dave on the instructions. I have a combine to build as well. This will take a while as I don’t spend a lot of time with trains this time of year.

Pete

I've had a beater 2328 Burlington GP7 since I was a kid. I think I paid $45 for it at a show in the late 1990s. I repainted it to Santa Fe zebra stripes when I was about 11 years old. It's been kicking around so I decided to give it a make over. I repainted/decaled it, swapped out the postwar plastic fuel tank for a larger modern diecast tank, installed an ERR AC Commander, Railsounds Commander, and all LED lighting. Way over upgraded, but what the ****. I've had it probably close to 25 years.

Lou....Very nice work. Thanks for showing us.

Richard

@Lou1985 posted:

I've had a beater 2328 Burlington GP7 since I was a kid. I think I paid $45 for it at a show in the late 1990s. I repainted it to Santa Fe zebra stripes when I was about 11 years old. It's been kicking around so I decided to give it a make over. I repainted/decaled it, swapped out the postwar plastic fuel tank for a larger modern diecast tank, installed an ERR AC Commander, Railsounds Commander, and all LED lighting. Way over upgraded, but what the ****. I've had it probably close to 25 years.

Worth the investment IMHO.

Nice work Lou.

Bob

That’s a dandy job, Lou!!

@RSJB18 posted:

Worth the investment IMHO.

Nice work Lou.

Bob

If I didn't already have the model and the electronics I probably wouldn't have done the project. The cost is probably close to buying an already done modern locomotive, if buying everything now.

Fantastic rescue of a beater giving you the road name and color scheme .  Adding the modern electronics is gravy.   Now take a MPC era dummy unit and make a match to go with it possibly adding electronics to that too

Getting near the end of my Std Gauge Glenn FA engine.

STEVE  Your standard gauge FA looks really good. Once it's completed could uou post a picture of it beside some common SG locomotive like a 318 or a 380?   I'm  curious how the Glenn toys items.compare.size wise.

@Pete in Kansas posted:

STEVE  Your standard gauge FA looks really good. Once it's completed could uou post a picture of it beside some common SG locomotive like a 318 or a 380?   I'm  curious how the Glenn toys items.compare.size wise.

Here it is with a 384.

Steve

@Lou1985 posted:

If I didn't already have the model and the electronics I probably wouldn't have done the project. The cost is probably close to buying an already done modern locomotive, if buying everything now.

Anyone can go out and buy a command diesel....

Knowing that you created a command diesel from parts and pieces?????

Priceless! 👍👍

@RSJB18 posted:

Anyone can go out and buy a command diesel....

Knowing that you created a command diesel from parts and pieces?????

Priceless! 👍👍

Excellent point, Bob!!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Excellent point, Bob!!

Coming from the guy who put a mini-commander and railsounds in a BEEP.......yea

Thanks Mark

I'm a glutton for punishment!

@randr posted:

I'm a glutton for punishment!

That does look like a challenge! 😊

@RSJB18 posted:

Anyone can go out and buy a command diesel....

Knowing that you created a command diesel from parts and pieces?????

Priceless! 👍👍

Honestly it's one of several such steam and diesel locomotives in my collection, so it's not all that unique.

Amazing how little time I seem to now have after picking a retirement date and going on 3 months of vacation. Not sure where all the time is going. This project is quite literally what is on the workbench.  All the work, assembly and painting was done in my garage. Its only on the workbench to support it prior to hanging on the wall.  Finally a place to have trains out of boxes where my grand kids, visitors and family can see the rolling stock - me too BTW.

Not happy at all with the primer and the paint not sticking well to the primer coat. I think it will be quicker and easier to rebuild the entire thing than re-prime and re-paint. I'll hang this and live with it for a while before deciding on the next step.  Overall dimensions are 10 feet wide, 4 feet tall and 4 inches deep. Wood is decent 1x4 pine stock. Spacing between shelves is 5 1/2 inches.  I milled track grooves to allow the flanges to ride into the shelves.  80 linear feet of display - now to put rolling stock and engines up there.

@ScoutingDad posted:

Amazing how little time I seem to now have after picking a retirement date and going on 3 months of vacation. Not sure where all the time is going. This project is quite literally what is on the workbench.  All the work, assembly and painting was done in my garage. Its only on the workbench to support it prior to hanging on the wall.  Finally a place to have trains out of boxes where my grand kids, visitors and family can see the rolling stock - me too BTW.

Not happy at all with the primer and the paint not sticking well to the primer coat. I think it will be quicker and easier to rebuild the entire thing than re-prime and re-paint. I'll hang this and live with it for a while before deciding on the next step.  Overall dimensions are 10 feet wide, 4 feet tall and 4 inches deep. Wood is decent 1x4 pine stock. Spacing between shelves is 5 1/2 inches.  I milled track grooves to allow the flanges to ride into the shelves.  80 linear feet of display - now to put rolling stock and engines up there.

Is your disappointment in the paint b/c you can see the wood grain?

Also, do your vertical pieces coincide with your studs?

Building a Labelle Observation. Woodwork is about done. Now to add the details.

Pete

@Berkshire President  The supports are lined up with the studs so I will be fixing them into a solid base.

Regarding the paint. It is similar to trying to paint over an existing high gloss finish or putting oil base over water base. The coating looks great going on, but the surface tension is such that the paint pulls away from the surface leaving gaps in the coating. Second coat does the same thing. I think the water based coating was not compatible with the base. 

Looks ok on the photo but not so much close up. Really, with the shelves loaded with cars, only I would know its there.

I'm finally going to start building my pair of MTH ALCO S2's. I bought both on one of the last Cabin Fever MTH auctions. One engine is a complete dummy (NYC) and the other has most of it's parts, but no shell. The original plan was to build a powered unit and a dummy. As with most things, plans change and I'm now going to build both as powered engines.

I pulled the "more complete" unit out of the box last night to take a closer look at what I have/ need.
The haves- motors, wiring harnesses, lights, etc. I tested the motors and both work.

The needs- boards, speaker, new BCR, smoke unit (optional)

This engine is a PS2- 3V so at least I'm starting off on the right foot. I'm OK with keeping it PS2, especially since PS3 diesel kits are MIA. If I can find the boards, it should go together pretty quickly since all the wiring harnesses are there.

This engine started life as a SOO, it has been sold to the Lehigh and New England

As fate would have it, Beth at Public Delivery recently announced a L&NE custom RS3, which is on pre-order.....

The other engine is a New York Central. This one is just a frame and shell. I picked up a pair of motors from a forum member. Since this is a ground up build, I'll go with ERR Cruise M boards and add my own lighting.

And now the adventure begins.....

Bob

We will look forward to seeing your progress, Bob!

@Mark Boyce posted:

We will look forward to seeing your progress, Bob!

Thanks Mark. Just like my comment about @Lou1985 's GEEP, I enjoy doing this stuff....OK call me crazy......🤪🤪

@RSJB18 posted:

I'm finally going to start building my pair of MTH ALCO S2's. I bought both on one of the last Cabin Fever MTH auctions. One engine is a complete dummy (NYC) and the other has most of it's parts, but no shell. The original plan was to build a powered unit and a dummy. As with most things, plans change and I'm now going to build both as powered engines.

I pulled the "more complete" unit out of the box last night to take a closer look at what I have/ need.
The haves- motors, wiring harnesses, lights, etc. I tested the motors and both work.

The needs- boards, speaker, new BCR, smoke unit (optional)

This engine is a PS2- 3V so at least I'm starting off on the right foot. I'm OK with keeping it PS2, especially since PS3 diesel kits are MIA. If I can find the boards, it should go together pretty quickly since all the wiring harnesses are there.

This engine started life as a SOO, it has been sold to the Lehigh and New England

PS32 board with 3V connectors (currently available from MTH parts) would be an almost drop in replacement. You can load it with a PS3 sound file as well for updated sounds.

@Lou1985 posted:

PS32 board with 3V connectors (currently available from MTH parts) would be an almost drop in replacement. You can load it with a PS3 sound file as well for updated sounds.

Thanks Lou. I don't have a TIU, I use a remote commander. If these boards aren't programmed, I assume I will need to find a local shop/ train friend who can do it for me. Correct?

Ray's Electric train works will sell you a board and preload it with a soundfile of your choosing.

@RSJB18 posted:

Thanks Lou. I don't have a TIU, I use a remote commander. If these boards aren't programmed, I assume I will need to find a local shop/ train friend who can do it for me. Correct?

MTH parts & sales will load the sound file for you if you purchase that option (~$10) when ordering.

@RSJB18 posted:

I'm finally going to start building my pair of MTH ALCO S2's. I bought both on one of the last Cabin Fever MTH auctions. One engine is a complete dummy (NYC) and the other has most of it's parts, but no shell. The original plan was to build a powered unit and a dummy. As with most things, plans change and I'm now going to build both as powered engines.

And now the adventure begins.....

Bob

Bob, I presume that the work will be done at the Pen Argyl Shop.  It's good to know that there are a few other L&NE fans out there!  I can't wait to see progress reports.

@Rapid Transit Holmes posted:

Bob, I presume that the work will be done at the Pen Argyl Shop.  It's good to know that there are a few other L&NE fans out there!  I can't wait to see progress reports.

As mentioned previously, this engine didn't arrive with a shell. I was looking for a suitable shell and thought the red dot in the L&NE logo would go well with the SOO chassis, and save having to repaint it. The reds are close enough for gov't work. Doing some research, the L&NE did own # 612 along with several other S2's.
Since I run north east roads, these will fit in just fine.

Thanks

For quite some time I wanted to make a chain link fence for my layout.

A few weeks ago I bought metal screen, and last week went to Hobby Lobby, bought a couple packs of 1/16" brass rods.

Cut the metal screen into 1 1/4" sections, cut the brass rods to length and height, soldered them together and painted grey. Wire tied the screen to the fence frame. Placed the fence around the motorcycle shop.

The chain link fence looks great, Trussman!!

Received the PS3/2 stacker boards and related parts from MTH yesterday. I had just ordered them on Sunday and they shipped right out. After I placed the order (boards and speaker), I realized that a new heatsink kit was required as well. I wrote to customer service and they were nice enough to waive the second shipping charge and add it to the same order.

I ordered the spec'd 40mm speaker but it doesn't fit in the fuel tank. Anyone have any suggestions?

Bob

Bob, That is certainly quick turnaround on your order from MTH!!

Added the MTH DDA40X to the roster. It came to me as a PS/1 with a dead board. Since I don't run conventional anyway, I upgraded it to Lionel Legacy. Other than the power wires from the pickups, all the wiring is hand assembled, I can tell you there's a lot of wires in a full Legacy upgrade! The shell was a bit whacked up, so those repairs came first, fixing all the mounting posts, removing several internal braces that prevented the installation, and fixing a large chip in the nose. The closest sound board I could find for Legacy was the DD35A. I reasoned that one is pretty close prime mover sounds to the DDA40X. The existing smoke units were converted to be Legacy compatible, and the spring contacts were used to supply all the new LED lighting in the shell. One interesting hitch was the narrow body had trouble fitting the Legacy encoder board on the rear motor. I rounded the corners of the board so the trucks could swivel enough to make my O72 curves without binding. This one certainly won't run on anything smaller than O72! I'd have put the motor on the front motor, but it had the same issue being in the narrow part of the body as well, so I opted for the better performance controlling the rear motor.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Added the MTH DDA40X to the roster. It came to me as a PS/1 with a dead board. Since I don't run conventional anyway, I upgraded it to Lionel Legacy. Other than the power wires from the pickups, all the wiring is hand assembled, I can tell you there's a lot of wires in a full Legacy upgrade! The shell was a bit whacked up, so those repairs came first, fixing all the ,mounting posts, removing several internal braces that prevented the installation, and fixing a large chip in the nose. The closest sound board I could find for Legacy was the DD35A. I reasoned that one is pretty close prime mover sounds to the DDA40X. The existing smoke units were converted to be Legacy compatible, and the spring contacts were used to supply all the new LED lighting in the shell. One interesting hitch was the narrow body had trouble fitting the Legacy encoder board on the rear motor. I rounded the corners of the board so the trucks could swivel enough to make my O72 curves without binding. This one certainly won't run on anything smaller than O72! I'd have put the motor on the front motor, but it had the same issue being in the narrow part of the body as well, so I opted for the better performance controlling the rear motor.

Very impressive John. Full Legacy, dual smoke units too. Can't wait to see the test runs.
Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Very impressive John. ..

right??
and I was happy with a little spray-can upgrade to old tobacco stained lionel buildings

(HO scale)

In the process of painting/lettering/weathering the next two in line:

The above GP7 is to become Kansas City & Gulf #402, the RS-1 will be KC&G #115.

Long process still ahead: Decals, then several layers of weathering applications to reflect a bankrupt railroad trying to reorganize, circa 1964.

Andre

@RSJB18 posted:

I ordered the spec'd 40mm speaker but it doesn't fit in the fuel tank. Anyone have any suggestions?

Bob, I suspect you need a flat 4 ohm speaker, many are too tall for the skinny tank space.  Here's a list of 40mm speakers, see if you find one that's thin enough to fit in the tank.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Bob, I suspect you need a flat 4 ohm speaker, many are too tall for the skinny tank space.  Here's a list of 40mm speakers, see if you find one that's thin enough to fit in the tank.

I actually found a 28mm speaker that is spec'd for these units. I missed it on the parts list when I looked the first time. I measured the tank and thought the 40 would work.....oh well, it won't go to waste.

The bad part is now they are out of stock. Should have ordered it when I looked yesterday.

This is the 40mm

@RSJB18 posted:

I actually found a 28mm speaker that is spec'd for these units. I missed it on the parts list when I looked the first time. I measured the tank and thought the 40 would work.....oh well, it won't go to waste.

The bad part is now they are out of stock. Should have ordered it when I looked yesterday.

Here's a whole list of 28mm 4 ohm speakers that have a maximum seated height of 1/4".

4 Ohm 28mm Speakers 2W to 4W

Found another of my K-line MP-15's that had to be wired in series. A few minutes on the bench and it's all good now.

Bob

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Here's a whole list of 28mm 4 ohm speakers that have a maximum seated height of 1/4".

4 Ohm 28mm Speakers 2W to 4W

Thanks John. I've bookmarked the link.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Very impressive John. Full Legacy, dual smoke units too. Can't wait to see the test runs.

Here you go Bob, the first test run with some revenue cargo.

Certainly doesn't disappoint John.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Certainly doesn't disappoint John.

I think it's a keeper!  I've done a few Legacy diesel upgrades now, I have a Rock Island E8 A-B-A set that I've converted to Legacy, the A units are powered with sound and smoke, and the B-Unit got smoke and sound to make everything look like it is working.  With all three units with sound, it's an impressive sounding consist.

Is that string of tank cars the official test train?

How about a thread title… what’s NOT on the workbench today!!! LOL 😂 I need a vacation !! 😃

@Alex M posted:

How about a thread title… what’s NOT on the workbench today!!! LOL 😂 I need a vacation !! 😃

And I thought having 2 S-2's in pieces on my bench was a lot......

That's quite a pile of engines Alex.

Bob

Oh boy Alex that's a lot of NYC locos on the bench.  Almost looks like Harmon Yards.

Got this from the 'bay:

It came with a horn and one power truck:

So I gutted it and replaced the lionel trucks with a match set of K Line power trucks:

Next will be command control and sound, will be using a Soundtrax Tsunami2  EMD decoder and a 50mm 8 ohm 3 watt speaker.

Should be a real workhorse when completed!

Update: Electronics installed with new LED headlight and 50mm speaker.

Test run:

@Alex M posted:

How about a thread title… what’s NOT on the workbench today!!! LOL 😂 I need a vacation !! 😃

That is quite a bit of work there Alex. I'm glad I didn't contribute to that(yet). I know what you mean by needing a vacation, lol. Hopefully soon, eh?

@Alex M posted:

How about a thread title… what’s NOT on the workbench today!!! LOL 😂 I need a vacation !! 😃

Alex, I'm getting agita just looking at these pictures!! But Alex does such great work..I would love to actually come down and watch once and learn!!!

@Alex M posted:

How about a thread title… what’s NOT on the workbench today!!! LOL 😂 I need a vacation !! 😃

You need to have a turbo mode.

@Cincytrains posted:

Alex, I'm getting agita just looking at these pictures!! But Alex does such great work..I would love to actually come down and watch once and learn!!!

Absolutely, but please read this sign in Alex’s shop ……😁

Pat

In the vein of what’s no longer on the bench are my engines. I went through all of them and…

- Cleaned all wheels/center rollers with a dremel.

- Put in new batteries where appropriate

- Red and Tacky all engine and truck gears

- Light oiled all wheels/center rollers

- Fixed any suspect wiring

- Upgraded suspect speakers

- Installed new tires

- Put in new LEDs where needed

At an hour a day this took months to do. But I’m done and set for quite a while  😅

I’ve been running the same rolling stock for years and the wheel’s really need cleaning. I hate that job. I’ll have to bring out new rolling stock and create a very large workbench.

Here's the process of putting a smoke unit in an MTH dummy E8 B-Unit that was upgraded to Legacy.  I upgraded both powered A-Units to Legacy, so I figured I needed to do the B-Unit as well. I actually had a Legacy B-Unit with smoke that I stripped all the guts from so I could use them here.

Of course, the B-Unit never had smoke or sound, or anything for that matter.  First, I added pickups, easy because the trucks already had provisions for them.  Next I set about actually piping the smoke unit to the holes in the shell.

JB-Weld to the rescue, I rigged a rod through the hole to align the brass tubing that would be my smoke stack connection.  Once the JB-Weld set, I removed the extra tubing.

The holes obviously exactly matched the old Lionel smoke unit, it was also from an E8.  This smoke unit was used as a spacer for the second tube to get the positioning exact.

I also used the RCMC from the Legacy E8, it was handy.

Here's the smoke unit all mounted, works like a champ!

Here's how it was mounted, the two threaded standoffs were screwed to the smoke unit mount, the smoke unit was positioned on the two stacks, then I just reached in and applied JB-Weld to hold the standoffs in place,  This allows the smoke unit to be removed for maintenance.

Not shown is the RS-Lite installation that just connected to the RCMC to give the unit sound as well.

@ScoutingDad posted:

@Berkshire President  The supports are lined up with the studs so I will be fixing them into a solid base.

Regarding the paint. It is similar to trying to paint over an existing high gloss finish or putting oil base over water base. The coating looks great going on, but the surface tension is such that the paint pulls away from the surface leaving gaps in the coating. Second coat does the same thing. I think the water based coating was not compatible with the base.

Looks ok on the photo but not so much close up. Really, with the shelves loaded with cars, only I would know its there.

If I remember right it works better using a oil base primer, letting it dry thoroughly, then using latex paint on top with wood. I think that's how I painted my house and garage back in the day when I could still do it.

Removing incadescent lighting from the new MTH passenger cars and installing LED light strips with the aid of GRJ's modules.I wasn't going to do any decorating in the cars but I decided to throw some paint in them.

Have a fun weekend all.

The paint is a really good idea, makes a big difference.  I may have to get over my lazy streak and paint the interiors of some of my lighting upgrades.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Removing incadescent lighting from the new MTH passenger cars and installing LED light strips with the aid of GRJ's modules.I wasn't going to do any decorating in the cars but I decided to throw some paint in them.

Have a fun weekend all.

These modules are the best thing ever! They're easy to install, provide even lighting throughout the car (when used with LED light strips) and dramatically reduce amperage draw.

I've converted at least 15 passenger cars so far and they all look great!

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Removing incadescent lighting from the new MTH passenger cars and installing LED light strips with the aid of GRJ's modules.I wasn't going to do any decorating in the cars but I decided to throw some paint in them.

Have a fun weekend all.

That’s a good idea Dallas. What was your painting method?

Jay

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The paint is a really good idea, makes a big difference.  I may have to get over my lazy streak and paint the interiors of some of my lighting upgrades.

" getterdone John. "

I agree about the difference .  I only painted the flat green floor and parts of the seats and I used a brush clear coating the original tan colors with a fast drying Krylon matte art fixative to knock down the plastic sheen.  The job went RELATIVELY fast without trying to do an open roof display exercise.

Have fun big J.

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

That’s a good idea Dallas. What was your painting method?

Jay

Painted the floors , walls and parts of the seats with Tamiya XF-5  flat green .   The green on the cap was too bright but the pgreen paint was perfect.

The seats were the original tan plastic.   I brushed  Krylon Matte permanent art fixative  on the tan seats ( sprayed into cup to use ) to knock down the plastic sheen.

The sky dome seating area side walls were done with painting a wide pin stripe type tape with the XF-5 green .  When i tried to slide the tape between the wall and seats it was difficult to stop it from sticking in the wrong place.                I brushed water on the wall and the back of the tape and was able to slide it into the position it needed to be in.  Took a Qtip and pressed the tape on the wall.

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

That’s a good idea Dallas. What was your painting method?

Jay

Forgot to mention Jay......the interior of these MTH cars is removable for easy access for painting.   

R-O-W brass Alco PA (actually an Alco PITA - because it was). 2 motors, ERR Cruise Commander.

Second shot, the Williams FA dummy "tender" - more AC hot/cold pickups and the TMCC antenna (see "brass" PA above). The two units are tethered.

The GM&O had 2 Alco road units that were painted in a solid red, rather than the more common 2-tone red with stripes. I really like this solid look, and I had a photo of each of them - the only known photos of them in their solid schemes, so far as I know.

The white numerals were correct with this scheme, oddly enough.

These numerals should have been white too, apparently (just one B&W photo to go by), but my number set did not match the GM&O "744" standard as well as it did "291", so I went with the right numerals in the wrong color, rather than the other way around. The Dulux color was typical for GM&O diesel numbers in this era, anyway.

291 and 744 may have never run together - I don't know - but this seemed a good idea. I had the locos and the decals. FA's and PA's both pulled freight and passengers on the GM&O at points in their careers, so this MU'ing would do for either.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Forgot to mention Jay......the interior of these MTH cars is removable for easy access for painting.   

Thank you very much for the insight.

@D500 posted:

R-O-W brass Alco PA (actually an Alco PITA - because it was). 2 motors, ERR Cruise Commander.

Second shot, the Williams FA dummy "tender" - more AC hot/cold pickups and the TMCC antenna (see "brass" PA above). The two units are tethered.

The GM&O had 2 Alco road units that were painted in a solid red, rather than the more common 2-tone red with stripes. I really like this solid look, and I had a photo of each of them - the only known photos of them in their solid schemes, so far as I know.

The white numerals were correct with this scheme, oddly enough.

These numerals should have been white too, apparently (just one B&W photo to go by), but my number set did not match the GM&O "744" standard as well as it did "291", so I went with the right numerals in the wrong color, rather than the other way around. The Dulux color was typical for GM&O diesel numbers in this era, anyway.

291 and 744 may have never run together - I don't know - but this seemed a good idea. I had the locos and the decals. FA's and PA's both pulled freight and passengers on the GM&O at points in their careers, so this MU'ing would do for either.

They look great D!…..nice work, …..as usual!…..

Pat

@D500 posted:

291 and 744 may have never run together - I don't know - but this seemed a good idea. I had the locos and the decals. FA's and PA's both pulled freight and passengers on the GM&O at points in their careers, so this MU'ing would do for either.

Hey ' D '  ......I've always tried to make engines and consists consistant looking together but after watching numerous videos of engines running on specific roads there have been enough mixtures of even different road names pulling freight that I wasn't sure of which road video I was on.

@harmonyards posted:

They look great D!…..nice work, …..as usual!…..

Pat

Thanks a lot, especially in light of the quality of work that you do.

A bit of a rainy 4th yesterday in the northeast. I was able to grab some time at the workbench in the afternoon. I got the stacker board installed and started sorting out the wiring. I need to extend some of the wires but everything went in OK.

Bob

Looks like you are moving right along, Bob!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Looks like you are moving right along, Bob!

Thanks Mark. I received my last parts order from MTH today so nothing but making the time to stop me now.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Thanks Mark. I received my last parts order from MTH today so nothing but making the time to stop me now.

Bob

What else could be more important, Bob??   🤔🫡🤷‍♂️

@RSJB18 posted:

A bit of a rainy 4th yesterday in the northeast. I was able to grab some time at the workbench in the afternoon. I got the stacker board installed and started sorting out the wiring. I need to extend some of the wires but everything went in OK.

Bob

That looks very daunting Bob. I would be putting it back in the box and setting it aside.

Jay

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

That looks very daunting Bob. I would be putting it back in the box and setting it aside.

Jay

I might still.....🤣🤣

Hopefully all goes well and the thing lights up and moves when I apply power....🤪🤪🤪

@Mark Boyce posted:

What else could be more important, Bob??   🤔🫡🤷‍♂️

I don't know Mark....want to ask my wife????

🤯🤯🤯🤯

On the bench is the start of a Sawdust burner for my Lionel 464 Sawmill.  Sawmills in the 30s and 40s burned the waste sawdust and lumber in cone shaped burners.

Charlie

@Choo Choo Charlie posted:

On the bench is the start of a Sawdust burner for my Lionel 464 Sawmill.  Sawmills in the 30s and 40s burned the waste sawdust and lumber in cone shaped burners.

Charlie

More on this, please Sir!

John

It has been about a two week project so far and more work to do.  I will post a few more updates as progress is made.  It is a no money cost project and all materials are some where around the shop and garage.  The time put in is another matter, some just looking for stuff.

Charlie

On the Workbench went to Off the Workbench for the Sawdust Burner that receives sawdust from a Lionel 464 Saw Mill.  "Off the Bench" is the name of a local ESPN radio station sports show staring Hester and TeeBob, ex LSU football stars.

Complete details on how the Sawdust Burner was made are below

https://ogrforum.com/...2#176694689110970672

Charlie

The rebuild of an MTH UP #80 Coal Turbine.  It was sold as having a PS/3 upgrade, but what it had was a nightmare tangle of wire, electrical tape, and hacked off wiring with no insulation!  In addition, the two smoke units were totally missing, apparently the person converting it didn't think smoke was part of the conversion!   Basically, the conversion consisted of sound and motor drive.  The only light was the headlight, missing are the MARS light, the number boards, the markers, and the cab light!  Also, the couplers didn't work.

I've replaced the smoke units, fabricated a smoke funnel for the missing one in the lead unit, and gotten the second unit all running.  The second unit ran backwards, the coupler and backup light to the tender didn't work, and of course that missing smoke unit.  It also had all the bare wires just hacked off the PS/3 connector, a generous supply of electrical tape, and a few bare wires as well.  I was actually able to rescue the existing wire harness by removing all the clipped wires and adding a bunch of missing ones and cleaning up all the electrical tape.  Notable feature is that the middle unit has no lighting.

There was no rescuing the wiring harness of the lead unit, so I took the lead unit and striped every wire, mounted the smoke unit, and started on the wiring again.  I'm using the wiring from the F3 unit I converted to Legacy as a base, it's got most of the wires I need, I'll add the missing ones.

That's some project John! Right up your alley.  I'm sure we'll be seeing a video of it running laps around your layout before long.

@coach joe posted:

That's some project John! Right up your alley.  I'm sure we'll be seeing a video of it running laps around your layout before long.

Well, I'm sorting out the new wiring harness now, I'll add the wires for the missing functions, then I can stick it in and see if it all works.

John, I agree with Joe, that will be a nice engine when done.  I have plenty of confidence in you to get everything working well!

Well, it's a wrap!  Here's the coal turbine in full flight!  BOY, is it a noisy set, and it's only at half-volume!  That has to be one of the ugliest upgrade jobs I've tripped over, but that's all behind me now.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well, it's a wrap!  Here's the coal turbine in full flight!  BOY, is it a noisy set, and it's only at half-volume!  That has to be one of the ugliest upgrade jobs I've tripped over, but that's all behind me now.

WOW!

Somehow the train gods knew to send this one to you!

Nice work John.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

A bit of a rainy 4th yesterday in the northeast. I was able to grab some time at the workbench in the afternoon. I got the stacker board installed and started sorting out the wiring. I need to extend some of the wires but everything went in OK.

Bob

I picked up an assortment of 22 ga wire yesterday. Hopefully I can get this engine running soon.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

WOW!

Somehow the train gods knew to send this one to you!

Nice work John.

Bob

Well, given the price that I got it at, I guess I can't complain.  After all, the PS/3 boards were there and all functional, so that's $300+ that I didn't have to spend.  I was going to buy the PS/1 model and upgrade it anyway, and the PS/1 models were going for what I paid or hundreds more!  I also wouldn't have gotten the two PS/3 boards, so all in all, it was still a good deal.  Obviously, it would have been an even better deal if the PS/3 upgrade was done properly and they didn't take the smoke unit parts out! I have a drawer full of smoke units, so I just popped those suckers right back in!

The good side was the set was perfect cosmetically, which is really the key element for me, I can fix the insides.

It runs great, John!!

@Mark Boyce posted:

It runs great, John!!

I think with both units having audio, it's the loudest engine I have, the turbine sounds are insane!  I turned it way down so I could hear myself think!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well, it's a wrap!  Here's the coal turbine in full flight!  BOY, is it a noisy set, and it's only at half-volume!  That has to be one of the ugliest upgrade jobs I've tripped over, but that's all behind me now.

" ONE OF THE UGLIEST UPGRADE JOBS I'VE TRIPPED OVER "

(Beauty is in the eyeof the beholder ) 

Maybe a few resistors in the speaker wiring and some heavier weight oil John.    Looks impressive though .

@Dallas Joseph posted:

" ONE OF THE UGLIEST UPGRADE JOBS I'VE TRIPPED OVER "

(Beauty is in the eyeof the beholder )

Maybe a few resistors in the speaker wiring and some heavier weight oil John.    Looks impressive though .

Well, it looks fine now, but for the lead unit, I had to start from scratch and rebuild everything with a new wiring harness.  I salvaged the wiring harness for the middle unit, but I had to do a lot of work on it.

John, your wiring harness reminds me of making wiring harnesses for a job I had back in the late '70s.  The company I worked for made devices for the automotive industry.  We made 8 prototype fuel injection and idle speed controllers for British Leyland for their MGs.  I was the engineer's assistant, so I had to load 8 double sided circuit boards and make wiring harnesses to connect all the sensors to the controller that we sat on the passenger seat.  It was kind of cool, but another company got the contract, and a bunch of us were canned.  Now, 45 years later, if I could scale down from 1:1 to 1:48, maybe I could be in business.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well, it looks fine now, but for the lead unit, I had to start from scratch and rebuild everything with a new wiring harness.  I salvaged the wiring harness for the middle unit, but I had to do a lot of work on it.

This looks like the times I've opened up a problem child to see if I could find an issue with shorting.........the engine usually ends up being assigned to my boneyard in frustration.    If only a fraction of your knowledge was available to me .....but alas.                                                                                                I don't think you'll have this on the workbench too long John.

( if I could just plug my buzzing non functioning ps3 board into your little finger.............🤔 I could keep another loco on the DCS rails )

@Mark Boyce posted:

John, your wiring harness reminds me of making wiring harnesses for a job I had back in the late '70s.    It was kind of cool, but another company got the contract, and a bunch of us were canned.  Now, 45 years later, if I could scale down from 1:1 to 1:48, maybe I could be in business.

No doubt in my mind Mark.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

I don't think you'll have this on the workbench too long John.

You're right, as you can see above in a previous post, it's off the bench and on the rails.  I had a last minute little alignment issue with the smoke funnel I fabricated, it didn't line up exactly with the smoke unit.  I had to move the smoke unit about .2" to get them working, my calibrated eyeball was out of cal.  I also had to swap the smoke unit for one with slightly longer posts!  Who knew that the diesel smoke units come with about four different length posts, only varying by a couple of mm, just enough to leak smoke like crazy!

I bought a MTH Consolidated engine. In it’s stock form it’s close to scale from what I’ve read and not a bad engine. It’s got PS2 features and runs well. But it still felt a little starter set like.
So I made a few modifications.
- I painted the dials and knobs

- Removed the front trucks and made it an 0-8-0  I read that did occur  

- I painted the side rods “Weathered Steel” from the Rust-Oleum aged metallic line. The inside of the side rods were sanded clean.
- Added glass to the front windows.
- I mixed some brown and yellow acrylics and touched up the bottom half of the engine and tender trucks.
- I then used  water down gray for level 1 weathering (meh results)

- On top of that used school white chalk shaved into a powder. Brush on with a makeup brush.

- Finally dull coated with Krylon flat clear. This ate up most of the white chalk but can be classified as lightly weathered.

Final results aren’t bad for a first time weathering a steam locomotive. Still need to add the engineer figure.

Its not an engine but Ive been cutting the legs off of HO sitting people and last night I populated my Lionel Ferris Wheel. Did a mix of single, double, and triple cars and true to life left a couple cars empty. Happy with the results. O scale people looked goofy sitting in the cars as their heads touched the car roof so HO was the next best option I could find.

Paul, The Ferris wheel riders look happy to be there!!

Steve, the engine looks great with the extra detail painting and weathering.

@Mark Boyce posted:

John, your wiring harness reminds me of making wiring harnesses for a job I had back in the late '70s.  The company I worked for made devices for the automotive industry.  We made 8 prototype fuel injection and idle speed controllers for British Leyland for their MGs.  I was the engineer's assistant, so I had to load 8 double sided circuit boards and make wiring harnesses to connect all the sensors to the controller that we sat on the passenger seat.  It was kind of cool, but another company got the contract, and a bunch of us were canned.  Now, 45 years later, if I could scale down from 1:1 to 1:48, maybe I could be in business.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

No doubt in my mind Mark.

Thank you for the confidence in my skill, Dallas!! 

Afterward our most recent visit to Strasburg, my grandson asked if I thought MTH, Lionel, or someone else made or would make open air cars like Strasburg's. I posted about it, and some good suggestions came back.

I found 3 MTH Pennsy Woodsides, complete, less trucks, on line, and not exact, but passable Premier trucks, and we went to work.

Strasburg has two versions, one with nine openings,the Hello Dolly rebuild, the other with 5 openings.

Still early in the process, here's a sneak peek at the first project

Albertstrains I love your work bench.

Almost done with this little critter. Stripped it down and repainted, replaced e-unit with a Bluenami decoder so it has full sounds now, upgraded lighting to LED's. Did the lettering with a P-touch and my USCG decals that just came in. The road number and the name are from the first Cutter I served on, it was brand new and I am a plankowner of the ship!

Semper Paratus !!!!!  love the coastie switcher

Nicely done Jim M! I am relettering a few MTH woodsides for Strasburg as well. Still waiting on some decals. Stay tuned.

This is a Labelle car.

Pete

@Norton - Thats beautiful. Where do you get your decals from?

@pault posted:

@Norton - Thats beautiful. Where do you get your decals from?

Thanks Paul. Highball Graphics makes most of them. They have them for 89, 90, and most of what you need for at least ten of the passenger cars. I added a few from a Microscale PRR set.

You have to contact them as the O scale ones are special order. HO are catalog items.

Pete

I'm putting seats and passengers in my Rio Grande Zephyr cars. For some reason, Lionel put tables and chairs in these domes. I replaced them with seating from Precision Scale and then used the old dome seats in the lower level. I'm also spraying Testor's transparent green on the windows.

Terry

Too big for my workbench but working on my 8.5 ft bridge. Lots of dowels from HD have been harmed in this process.

@Norton posted:

Thanks Paul. Highball Graphics makes most of them. They have them for 89, 90, and most of what you need for at least ten of the passenger cars. I added a few from a Microscale PRR set.

You have to contact them as the O scale ones are special order. HO are catalog items.

Pete

I use Highball Graphics for both stock and custom decals made from my own artwork.

In addition to a quality product that is easy to apply to models, I find Highball Graphics responsive, fast and affordable. Below are photos of one of my many work-in-progress projects, repainted MTH O-27, Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (PRSL) passenger coaches being repainted and decaled with custom decals from Highball Graphics using my artwork. The decals are the lettering, road numbers and PRSL logos. The window striping is yellow graphic tape.