John's Loco Workbench - More Projects Begin...

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The SD39 is varnished and awaiting reassembly so, time to decide on what old relic gets resurrected next

Option 1, scruffy but working Walthers SW1:
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Option 2, another Kato SD40, another fictional repaint but better this time, a SP SD40 being a gap on my roster:
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Option 3, (inspired by a YouTube video of SP passenger operations in the late 1960's) a unused undecorated old Athearn FM Trainmaster which has sat undisturbed in its box for probably forty or fifty years.
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Sunday mornings project is breathing life back into this Walthers SW1. Clearly it has been well used but then stored for a very long time.
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I managed to get it apart easily enough, there are a couple of handrails missing which will need replacing, the bell has gone walkies and the horn is bent.

The chassis took quite a bit of persuasion to get going but it is running now:
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The wheels and probably the gears all need a hard clean however.
 
Sunday mornings project is breathing life back into this Walthers SW1. Clearly it has been well used but then stored for a very long time.
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I managed to get it apart easily enough, there are a couple of handrails missing which will need replacing, the bell has gone walkies and the horn is bent.

The chassis took quite a bit of persuasion to get going but it is running now:
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The wheels and probably the gears all need a hard clean however.
From remembering several decades ago, the driveline goes from the motor to the rear truck, then through a couple of really fragile ear connectors to the front truck. Those little connectors are a point of failure, and I'm not sure if replacements are available.
The one you have "could" be the updated version, but from what I see, probably not. So, be careful with them, after all this time, those pieces could go "poof" very easily.
 
House moving repairs to my two SP SD9's was undertaken this morning before they became the first locos to enter my new engineering shops section which is still under construction:
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There is another wreck on its way from ebay but more of that towards the end of the week hopefully.

I have decided the FM Trainmaster is next, an unused undecorated Athearn Blue Box example complete with the familiar yellow paper envelope of small parts!

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The chassis had a seized driveshaft at one end, now sorted. I may change out the motor though as the current draw is mind boggling high!
 


The FM Trainmaster now takes a back seat until parts for the lights and number boards arrive. There is one other project supposedly being delivered later today but I am off to work soon do it won't be looked at until tomorrow now.

I do have another cheap battered Matchbox Jeep Gladiator to restore though which will be my weekend project:
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Ah one of my other hobbies! I don't restore but I do have a small collection, many mint boxed, some well loved, and a few in between. The variations in them are fascinating.
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This is the project I have been mentioning, it arrived late yesterday and has just been unpacked.

The story here is that the previous owner detailed and repainted a Proto 2000 SD9 as SP 4378. Then one day it had an accident, nosedived off a shelf (taking a Cotton Belt hopper car with it) and crashed.

The smashed remains were offered on ebay, I made an offer which was quickly accepted and here it is...
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Carefully packed with all the bits that have become detached all bagged.
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I thinks it's repairable, I have tackled wrecks worse than this!

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Even the freight car involved in the crash was included!
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For the wrecked SD9E, the chassis is the first job:
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The accident impact resulted in he short hood end bogie retaining clip popping off and the resultant loss of the drive shaft.
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Removals of the weight and circuit board screws to release the weight at this end meant I was able to reinstate the drive shaft and the clip before screwing it all back together again.
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During the dismantling, the missing short hood end number boards glazing piece reappeared which means i think i have all the pieces!
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A big tray is essential:
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And as an aside, the Cotton Belt hopper is back together too:
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Does the dynamic brake part just pop off? Or did the previous owner cut it to make an access hole?
It just pops off (like the old Athearn Blue Box GP's for example).

It's back on now:
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The 'camels hump' is a (probably).Details West part that just needed gluing back on so working from the top down, the roof is back together.

The number board glazing and light fittings are back on:
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The handrails amazingly are all there and unbroken, just needed popping back into place. They will need paint though.
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