@gunrunnerjohn posted:This is what I use for my workbench chair, pretty comfy.
John:
Where did you get the chair? How high off of the ground does the seat extend? Is there a maximum weight capacity for the chair?
Thanks for any information you can provide.
@Junior posted:@Norton....
Really, REALLY nice work on your conversion! Is this engine postwar? I've been thinking about converting one of my postwar Turbines (681) to a DC can motor w/ERR electronics. My conversion would be a tad easier considering the 681 doesn't chuff; just a constant roar fo steam and smoke!
I would greatly appreciate it if you would provide sources for the DC can motor and drive shaft linkage. The mounts all appear to be custom; made by you.
This engine was made in the late 1990s and had a separate driveshaft with worm.
I believe your 681 has the worm machined into the armature shaft. The motor is a Pittman 56 mm purchased from Lionel. Also a bit large for a 681 as a good portion would extend beyond the cab.
You would be better off finding a modern turbine that already has a DC motor. Williams and MTH made them and maybe Lionel on their PWC series. Then you could add ERR directly and not modify your Post War engine.
Pete
@Randy Harrison posted:John:
Where did you get the chair? How high off of the ground does the seat extend? Is there a maximum weight capacity for the chair?
Thanks for any information you can provide.
Paste this into Google, and it'll find it at Amazon. It's gone up around $30 since I bought it, but still only $123.
Office Star DC Series Deluxe Breathable Mesh Back Ergonomic Drafting Chair with Lumbar Support
Seat height 24" to 34" high, max weight 275 Pounds.
@Norton posted:This engine was made in the late 1990s and had a separate driveshaft with worm.
I believe your 681 has the worm machined into the armature shaft. The motor is a Pittman 56 mm purchased from Lionel. Also a bit large for a 681 as a good portion would extend beyond the cab.
You would be better off finding a modern turbine that already has a DC motor. Williams and MTH made them and maybe Lionel on their PWC series. Then you could add ERR directly and not modify your Post War engine.
Pete
Good point. There’s also the option of my installing an ERR AC Commander, but I haven’t had good luck with those. I put one in a postwar F3. The board was screwed to the frame. It ran okay (no cruise) but the board generated so much heat the frame’s tank (where the board was screwed to) got really warm! The engine was pulling a dummy and 5 passenger cars; so not that big of a load.
I ended up having the Pulmor motors replaced with DC can motors and put in a DC Commander w/Cruise. It runs really nice now.
@Junior posted:Good point. There’s also the option of my installing an ERR AC Commander, but I haven’t had good luck with those. I put one in a postwar F3. The board was screwed to the frame. It ran okay (no cruise) but the board generated so much heat the frame’s tank (where the board was screwed to) got really warm! The engine was pulling a dummy and 5 passenger cars; so not that big of a load.
I ended up having the Pulmor motors replaced with DC can motors and put in a DC Commander w/Cruise. It runs really nice now.
This is a Williams Turbine. The motor is a Mabuchi RS385 typically used in small engines and diesels. Its considerably smaller than the 56mm Pittman and still fills the cab.
Pete
@gunrunnerjohn posted:Paste this into Google, and it'll find it at Amazon. It's gone up around $30 since I bought it, but still only $123.
Office Star DC Series Deluxe Breathable Mesh Back Ergonomic Drafting Chair with Lumbar Support
Seat height 24" to 34" high, max weight 275 Pounds.
John:
Thank you VERY much! This is better than other options I have found that cost much more. Now, there is one of these in my future whether it be me purchasing it soon or trusting Santa Claus to deliver one under my tree.
I measured, and the drafting chair John has is too tall for my table. I have been looking at the desk chair alternatives, and will find one to ask Santa for like Randy.
Lighted Baggage Car with interior project. Baggage car is an add on to the LionChief Santa Fe SuperChief set. It is unlit. But the trucks are the same as the lit coaches but without the pickups.
The pickup roller was available from Lionel, but the outer wheel pickup strip was not (except for the mounting screw). Made my own from .003 phosphor bronze sheet (.005 would be better but couldn't find any). Did both trucks.
Floor insert was made from 1/16" polystyrene sheet with a wooden scale floor pattern printed on card stock and glued to the styrene with 3M Super77 Spray adhesive.
Made the light strip from same styrene sheet with holes that lined up with the LED mounting posts on the roof that get attached with black #2-28 self tapping screws for plastic. Cut two 3 LED sections from a roll and stuck them on opposite ends of the strip. A ZH-2P connector is the interface.
Bought two sets of "O Scale Luggage Cart Suitcase set Platform Accessories Multicolor" from an Ebay vendor. 24 pieces of luggage altogether. They already had a base color so I used various permanent marker colors to shade the textured part of the luggage then used the markers for the hinges, handles, etc.
Some wire routing under the floor.
I used one of the Greg M's PCB's that I had Osh Park make for me two years ago, soldered the components on it, tested it, mounted it in the center out of sight and it looks like this:
Completed baggage car on the track.
John
John:
Your passenger coaches are looking to be great. Also, thank you for the lead on the O scale luggage. I have been looking for good luggage for years. I just bought 4 sets.
@Randy Harrison posted:John:
Your passenger coaches are looking to be great. Also, thank you for the lead on the O scale luggage. I have been looking for good luggage for years. I just bought 4 sets.
Thanks Randy.
John
I bought a Lionel 17213 Susie-Q boxcar a couple of months ago. I thought it would be a great place to put a couple of hobos riding the rails inside. But, I wanted a bit more so I cut a wooden barrel in half, hollowed it out, painted the outside gray to mimic a metal barrel, and painted the inside black. I drilled 2 small holes at the base in order to run the wires from two flickering orange LEDs I bought from Evans Design. The tricky bit was adding a collector to the car. Luckily, Train Tender Jeff had all the parts I needed, but it still took some 'adjustments' in order to have them securely attached. I used one of GRJ's lighting modules to provide as uninterrupted current as possible to the lights since I did NOT want to add a collector to the other truck. I used some Arrista hobo figures, and some miscellaneous crates and boxes I bought from the bay in order to fill out the inside (and also cover the wires). I put some white cotton on top of the flickering LEDs to hide the bulbs and give the illusion of smoke.
I'm sure a lot of y'all could really have done a much better job, but I'm pleased enough with this. I certainly picked up a lot of good skills for working with models.
Nice! Really creative. Could I entice you to post a short video? Would love to see it in action!
Will do, but it'll be tomorrow or Sunday.
IT looks like the hobos have totally commandeered that Susie-Q car! Well done!
@Mark Boyce posted:I measured, and the drafting chair John has is too tall for my table. I have been looking at the desk chair alternatives, and will find one to ask Santa for like Randy.
Raise the desk! Cut 4 pieces wood to size of desk legs. Length, width, and height. Use a couple good size dowels in each leg. Drill into the desk legs bottom, measure and match to the extension blocks. Insert and glue dowels into the desk legs, and spread glue around on the desk legs then put glue into the extension blocks, tap the blocks onto the dowels. Allow to dry the glue and stain the blocks to match the legs and desk. It will work, I've done it before when I was a school Custodian and we needed to raise a wooden teacher's desk for a tall teacher. Teacher thought we found a higher desk for him!😁
@Gary P posted:Raise the desk! Cut 4 pieces wood to size of desk legs. Length, width, and height. Use a couple good size dowels in each leg. Drill into the desk legs bottom, measure and match to the extension blocks. Insert and glue dowels into the desk legs, and spread glue around on the desk legs then put glue into the extension blocks, tap the blocks onto the dowels. Allow to dry the glue and stain the blocks to match the legs and desk. It will work, I've done it before when I was a school Custodian and we needed to raise a wooden teacher's desk for a tall teacher. Teacher thought we found a higher desk for him!😁
Thank you! I thought about putting something under the desk legs, but didn’t think about making it permanent. It would be so much safer doing it the way you suggested. That’s great that the teacher thought it was a higher desk! 😄
I tried to record the glowing effect numerous times with different settings on my iPhone 13 camera. On the video you simply cannot see anything glowing, but the glowing/flickering effect is very perceptible to the eye. I saw no reason to post the video since it looks just like the photo.
As I said, I used 2 flickering orange LEDs from Evans Designs. I bought 3 and would have used them all, but I accidentally destroyed the third one.
@texgeekboy posted:I tried to record the glowing effect numerous times with different settings on my iPhone 13 camera. On the video you simply cannot see anything glowing, but the glowing/flickering effect is very perceptible to the eye. I saw no reason to post the video since it looks just like the photo.
As I said, I used 2 flickering orange LEDs from Evans Designs. I bought 3 and would have used them all, but I accidentally destroyed the third one.
@Junior I used the flickering fire kit from Evans for a burn barrel. It's a great addition to any scene.
Bob
How many LEDs did you have in there!
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