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I used to have three . I painted 2 C&NW yellow ends and gren sides and sold them years ago now I wish I hadn't.
I changed a few things in the drive on all three , the one I kept just had a better motor I got that was a new open framed motor from a KMT or something like that but the point is the motors that came with the Box Cabs I have were not very good ones. Mine were bought many years ago and I have looked today and saw one that the fellow on you tube removed the shell and it has what looked like the same motor used in the Atlas S-2 the ones made in Austria . Same motor that Walthers used in their SW1 and H10-44 units.
What I did was replace the cast flywheel with an Athearn brass flywheel and used a u-joint instead of the plastic section of tubing they used and and found a brass gear for the motor that meshed with the small brass gear they have just at the top just above the larger drive gear that below becomes the connection the the drive shafts for each truck . I did all this to not only make it quiet but to bring the speed up just a bit using a bit larger brass instead of plastic gear on the old motor shaft and also to align the motor . what ever I did it worked out perfect.
I when many years ago to roundhouse's factory to buy a few shells and used them to build a few other longer box cabs and one I even used the shell with panagraghs on the roof and had cut the frame just a bit and used a can motor and Athearn F7 trucks > I still have the frame and shell and motor with the flywheels and the other shell are difficult to explain so I need to take photo's to show you . One I made to be a unit like NYC used as a electric 6 axle truck and I came very close but all I have now is the brass frame and shell all there and the motor I used Athearn 6 axle trucks and a-line E unit sideframes to simulate the unit. I amde another that had foru 4 axle Athearn trucks all powered but it did not make turns well di I suppose to Having power trucks to claose together.
So I want to finish and paint the one I have left , they made all sorts like the track cleaner one and a box cab all using the smae frame and drive but there seems to be a few different front window variations. the one I have now I think was a track cleaner version with the doors front and rear and the smaller front windows with the panes the other shells don't have the doors in the ends and have larger windows with no panes and I have seen some with 2 different front windows. I sold the two like I said but can't recall what the front and back had . Lost all my photo's when my old computer crashed. These little box cabs are heavy and can pull a lot .
I want to make one of the longer ones I made back into a BB truck setup and re-do the one I made electric back into a stock unit all except I don't have any trucks so i guess that's out .
I will get some photo's up asap if anyone is interested that is.
I saw 4 of those old Tyco & Model Power Boxcab shells on Ebay the other day for a top bid of $20.00. I see them every once in awile. I sold 2 last year for a small amt. One of them was a track cleaning car. I use to have 2 metal 1's made by Roco from the 60's.
I love them, and the climax. they both used the same chassis. Which really wasn't that good. What I have done on both is mount the Boxcab and Climax shell onto the Bachmann 44 ton switcher chassis. It 's remarkably simply.
I love them, and the climax. they both used the same chassis. Which really wasn't that good. What I have done on both is mount the Boxcab and Climax shell onto the Bachmann 44 ton switcher chassis. It 's remarkably simply.
That's what I read people using the Bachman 44 tonner drive.
I played around with mine mostly to get them quite and smooth running . It is possible . What I also did was remove the crappy Cross that was connected to the trucks main drive shaft with the two brass wron gears and replaced them with the cross drive shaft part that comes with the old BB Athearn F7 and inside the large drive gear I placed a section of an Athearn Motor brush spring between the two MDC half shafts so the drive would have a bit of tension because what I saw was the cross couplings would rattle if they didn't pop out on turns. Mine is real quiet and smooth now . That cast flywheel and the plastic tubing that connected the flywheel to the motor were part of the noise as well . Everything was in a bind . I was always going to make a different setup inside that large main drive gear instead of the way they made it with the inside having that one large cross shaped opening but there is not much room and NWSL drive shaft ends if you use the ones that fit the metal shaft always seem to split if you use the ones that are cast onto the short plastic shaft they are fine . I used that setup on a Walthers SW-1 once before they came out with their own drive to replace that rear truck plastic tubing.
I see the one you have in the photo looks like it is the one version of the shell that they used for the track cleaner model . I had a few of those but never liked the track cleaner idea and you can build them either way. For a time all they had available was that version.
I always looked at the box cover and they had one that must have been a special one because the roof mounted radiators look nothing like the model nor do the exhaust stacks . I made my exhaust stacks out of brass tubing and used the next size brass tube to fit as a ring on top the added screen mesh and to me they look much better than the stock stacks . I'll need to take a photo because it's difficult to explain. The one I still have is the shell just like yours where the headlamps must be glued on rather than the cast on ones on the other shell that has no front or rear door and no step under the headlamps but instead two smaller steps on each side of the door. I could never decide on which shell I liked better and just can't recall what the ones I painted C&NW were I think they were all the same like yours and later I had to go drive to MDC in southern Calif to buy about 5 shells that I used to make two long units splicing two shells together and one I have here that is still the stock shell with the cast on headlamps and no doors on the ends and larger end windows without the four panes . I do know one of the frames and drives came from a climax but I never liked the way that thing looked , I got all of mine way back in the early 70's. All I ever saw back then were the track cleaner shells and perhaps that's all they had back then. They didn't even offer an un-dec model that I ever saw. I think it was right around the mid 80's that I got the shells from MDC right when they were changing the RS3 drive away form the old Athearn drive they used to use . They had a show case with the old RS3 frame modified with brass bolsters and new trucks that looked like the ones P2K came out with it was their proto-type for the new frame and then they moved to Arizona right after that.
I know I have another MDC Box cab frame and I found one set of truck parts and I never toss things out so the other truck must be around here somewhere.
With ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL of that said and I know I can really go on and on I do feel it is a great idea using the Bachman drive. I at this point really wish I could just get another frame complete and build another and if not I will go with one to the long shells and brass frames I built and different trucks.
I know they are not so good like others here produce . I don't have that great of a camera .
The top photo shows the shell and the different stacks I made and the brass bell and brass vent .
The lower photo shows part of what I did to the drive . I also used NWSL nickle wheels . I am sorry the photo's are not clear. No matter what I try since the flash is on the very left of the camera I cannot seem to get great photo's it's a cannon power shot A-10 an old model and I had a cheaper fuji and it worked so much better. I have to read the manual again I must be doing something wrong . I have not used this camera much since 2004 for ebay . It has the close up setting which I use and other settings that I can't recall what they are. It even has a zoom lens but still the cheaper Fuji was much better and much easier just slide the lens cover away and shoot and everything came out wonderfull .
I have two powered by Bachmann Underground Ernie chassis ( www.ebay.co.uk will find them) - be careful which you get as some are battery models and some are push-along! You'll need to unscrew the waggly eyes mech, and make a new plasticard chassis to fit around the mech and inside the shell - Glue some lead sheet inside the roof to give it weight. Pick-up is on both bogies, but drive is to one axle on one bogie
I hope you all realize that this thread dates those of us who remember these and even worse, liked and used these. I think I still have a couple of these somewhere in my boxs of stuff. Hope the mice haven't eaten everything.
Great to see Bob Boudreau here. I always liked his articles.
I looked at how you built the box cab . Amazing work . Did you make the pilots and everything . Man just making the radiators is the most amazing part as well as the rivits.
these are some photo's of one NYC electric Box Cab I made
I was trying to just come close to the NYC electrics . I used Athearn 6 axle trucks but used the sideframes from A-line products for EMD E units which are not the trucks shown in these photo's.
I used two MDC Box Cab shells and the rest is all handmade from brass stock that i cut and soldered .
The entire power trucks and front porches are on one main pivot but they are able to pivot individually so it can make an 18" rad.
The only brass parts I did not make are the panagraghs those I bought somewhere.
I know they are not so good like others here produce . I don't have that great of a camera .
It has the close up setting which I use and other settings that I can't recall what they are. It even has a zoom lens but still the cheaper Fuji was much better and much easier just slide the lens cover away and shoot and everything came out wonderfull .
Say Blue It seems fthe problem your having it taking the pictures, as in the upper one, is that your too close to focus on the subject. This is evidenced by the fact the wording written on the box behind your subject, 'Athearn GP38' came out perfectly sharp while the flywheel and gears are blurry. You just need to move back a little further from your subject.
Remember the rule in photography. 1/3 of your depth of field [area of sharpness] is in front of your subject and 2/3's is behind it.
Also the closer you move toward your subject the shallower your depth of field is going to be, so if you can shoot in aperture priority mode and choose the smallest aperature [highest f stop #22 or 27 or? your camera allows] and stay back about 1 to 2"s more and you should see a big difference.
Also, take several shots to ensure you get a good one and delete the rest.
Hth
Say Blue It seems fthe problem your having it taking the pictures, as in the upper one, is that your too close to focus on the subject. This is evidenced by the fact the wording written on the box behind your subject, 'Athearn GP38' came out perfectly sharp while the flywheel and gears are blurry. You just need to move back a little further from your subject.
Remember the rule in photography. 1/3 of your depth of field [area of sharpness] is in front of your subject and 2/3's is behind it.
Also the closer you move toward your subject the shallower your depth of field is going to be, so if you can shoot in aperture priority mode and choose the smallest aperature [highest f stop #22 or 27 or? your camera allows] and stay back about 1 to 2"s more and you should see a big difference.
Also, take several shots to ensure you get a good one and delete the rest. Hth
I have to look into that, I'm not certain my camera has any control over the F-stops I know it has a close up setting and all sorts of other settings that I can't recall what they do . I was used to 33mm SLR cameras and those you could focus but still there was a depth of field to consider and I had lots of lenses to use. But I can see what you are saying and it does seem like I am just to close . I do take a few photo's of each shot yet they all seem to be to close for the camera and I don't know how to use the cameras computer program to fix things or if they can be fixed that way. Somehwere around here is the cameras manual if I could only find it . I just wanted to get the detail to show . It does have a zoom feature but I think it's an electronic zoom.
I've only had one power one, The MDC kit I bought back in the late '70 as I recall and has their standard larger open frame motor in the kit and is a 'Track Cleaner' as well!
It went together fine and with minor adjustment runs very slow with all the stock parts and lubrication and produces it own diesel sound at no extra cost which I like. I did weight the interior roof section with led to gain more traction to pull a dummy box cab up my steep grades for double cleaning.
I also had access to Cal-Scale brass lights and bells and changed those to enhance the units.
Many years back I was also at Model Die Castings Original location in Hawthorn Calif. as my Father, God rest his, had a small business a couple of doors down from them and think at the time they were taking pictures and measurements of what seemed like the 0-6-0 they produce.
Your welcome Blue,
In taking your shots probably you need to use a macro setting usually designated by a flower symbol, but again every camera/lens combo has it limitations. Experiment with yours and you'll get it down.
Probable take three or four different shots of the same subject up close and moving back about an inch each time and see where you get the best sharpness and maybe even move a bit farther away try.
A photo program won't totally correct something that out of focus such as the flywheels and gears I doubt.
I hope you all realize that this thread dates those of us who remember these and even worse, liked and used these. I think I still have a couple of these somewhere in my boxs of stuff. Hope the mice haven't eaten everything.
Great to see Bob Boudreau here. I always liked his articles.
Steve , I guess it does dates us just a few decades back , more than I would like to remember.
I wish they would come out with another Box cab with an updated drive. Something make in the US . Of course I have no idea if MDC still exists as a company.
I hope that all the neat kits I remember aren't all gone. The last time I was in a friends shop it seemed everything was going to RTR. I have a lot of old kits stashed but I still have my MDC RS3's (2 in my own roadname) and a little 060 switcher that used to see lots of operation. I was always more into kitbashed loco's and rolling stock.
