WHAT’S ON THE WORKBENCH AT THE MOMENT

@RSJB18 posted:

Sorry to hear about the coupler Joe. Zinc rot takes no prisoners.....

I've turned all of my MP-15 3-chime horns into 2-chime. The horns are too tall to clear my upper level so the RSJ&B shops modified them.

I have one or two Plymouths with faulty marker lights. Haven't dug into them yet. Keep me posted.

Bob

Wow that's really tight clearance if the three chime won't fit.  The 5 chime sits higher than the three chime but I couldn't resist a little customization.  If I get around to a planned extension with an upper level I'll have to keep vertical clearance in mind.

@RSJB18 posted:

Joe- some good ideas in this thread.

Also- The markers on your engine are different from all of mine which have two lenses.

Bob

I'm almost to the point to work on the markers so I'll definitely check out that link.  As for the markers being different, what you're seeing in that photo is the base.  The three sided lanterns have been broken off and what's left of the light bulb is barely sticking out.  I got two lanterns from Trainz but the are without lenses.  I need to make a trip to Michaels or Hobby Lobby to see if I can find some red and green jewels that will serve as lenses.

K-Line Plymouth NYC No. 34 progress.  As previously posted bent and missing handrails had been replaced and it was time to replace the large operating couplers with scale couplers so this little critter could pull the train it came with.  The scale draft gear for theses Plymouths is different than any other scale coupler draft gear even K-Line by Lionel's own scale coupler part number 6-22369.  Luckily Bob, @RSJB18, had a set.  One coupler was broken but would look okay on the front and the other would go on the back to connect to the train.  Well that coupler broke too but Our friends at Trainz.com, the current repository for K-Line spare parts had K-line HO metal couplers that were just what I needed.

Step one, replace broken couplers.  Check

Step 2 remove foot boards to remove and replace lobster claws.  Wait, not on the front end, which apparently took the brunt of some sort of collision.  Foot board was snapped off, as were the front markers, missing ladder rail and bent handrail.  Luckily the screws were still in place.

Scale coupler in place

New, white foot board from NYC No.80 spare parts lot had won last year.

New front coupler, foot board and handrails

Before photo of the rear coupler.

New rear coupler and footboard

@coach joe posted:

K-Line Plymouth NYC No. 34 progress.  As previously posted bent and missing handrails had been replaced and it was time to replace the large operating couplers with scale couplers so this little critter could pull the train it came with.  The scale draft gear for theses Plymouths is different than any other scale coupler draft gear even K-Line by Lionel's own scale coupler part number 6-22369.  Luckily Bob, @RSJB18, had a set.  One coupler was broken but would look okay on the front and the other would go on the back to connect to the train.  Well that coupler broke too but Our friends at Trainz.com, the current repository for K-Line spare parts had K-line HO metal couplers that were just what I needed.

Step one, replace broken couplers.  Check

Step 2 remove foot boards to remove and replace lobster claws.  Wait, not on the front end, which apparently took the brunt of some sort of collision.  Foot board was snapped off, as were the front markers, missing ladder rail and bent handrail.  Luckily the screws were still in place.

Scale coupler in place

New, white foot board from NYC No.80 spare parts lot had won last year.

New front coupler, foot board and handrails

Before photo of the rear coupler.

New rear coupler and footboard

Nice work Joe! If I ever get something like that it's nice to know between @RSJB18 Bob and you will have all the answers! 😀

It looks great, Coach Joe!!  Nice work!

@coach joe posted:

K-Line Plymouth NYC No. 34 progress.  As previously posted bent and missing handrails had been replaced and it was time to replace the large operating couplers with scale couplers so this little critter could pull the train it came with.  The scale draft gear for theses Plymouths is different than any other scale coupler draft gear even K-Line by Lionel's own scale coupler part number 6-22369.  Luckily Bob, @RSJB18, had a set.  One coupler was broken but would look okay on the front and the other would go on the back to connect to the train.  Well that coupler broke too but Our friends at Trainz.com, the current repository for K-Line spare parts had K-line HO metal couplers that were just what I needed.

Step one, replace broken couplers.  Check

Step 2 remove foot boards to remove and replace lobster claws.  Wait, not on the front end, which apparently took the brunt of some sort of collision.  Foot board was snapped off, as were the front markers, missing ladder rail and bent handrail.  Luckily the screws were still in place.

Scale coupler in place

New, white foot board from NYC No.80 spare parts lot had won last year.

New front coupler, foot board and handrails

Before photo of the rear coupler.New rear coupler and footboard

You certainly do some nice work Joe, the couplers are perfect for this application.

Gene

Thank you all.  I got lucky on this one.  Don't ask me why I bid on the Plymouth parts auction last year, maybe to convert one of the Plymouths I had to NYC but I did so I had most of the parts needed and it's a good thing Bob kept those scale couplers when he swapped them for full size operating couplers.  Now to figure out the marker light issue.

I got around to doing my Culvert Loader today.  The control room was a lot easier to work with than the Culvert Unloader since the room on the loader is on the base, not on a raised platform.  Unfortunately the walls on the loader are shorter so I couldn't hide the LED lighting regulator, so I left that out.  When I was putting it back together I decided to leave the frosted glass on the back wall, only putting clear plastic (windows) on the front.  Also, I saw that there was light bleed so I masked the area under the window.  I liked it so much I went back and did the same to the unloader.  I'll probably put some desk or something in the loader since there is so much empty space there.