RETIRED GUY PROJECTS
- Thread starter Kusojiji
- Start date
ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
So my Ge 6/6 came in and it runs like it has a cap in it. I found a video that shows the motor is connected to the chassis via a board that has a SMD device on it. The video called it a fuse, but that makes no sense. So, will do more searching and keep close eye on the throttle.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
BACHMANN COACH LIGHTING
I ordered 3 more coaches to finish out my rake of 5: 1st, composite and composite brake. Already have a 1st and the restaurant car.
Printed out the led strip holders for all 3, which were all different sizes of course. Luckily I got it right on the 2nd try.
First up is the composite brake.
I included a single led for the guard's room.
Since this will always be the last car in the train, I put the tail lamp on it.
I also brainstormed a better pick up system rather than having wires soldered onto something that constantly moves. I am giving this a try with brass strips held in place with a printed holder. Not sure of the reliability or the springiness of the brass strips since I cannot find phosphor bronze that is typically used as pickups.
Finished for today since its time to run some trains and decompress.
I ordered 3 more coaches to finish out my rake of 5: 1st, composite and composite brake. Already have a 1st and the restaurant car.
Printed out the led strip holders for all 3, which were all different sizes of course. Luckily I got it right on the 2nd try.
First up is the composite brake.
I included a single led for the guard's room.
Since this will always be the last car in the train, I put the tail lamp on it.
I also brainstormed a better pick up system rather than having wires soldered onto something that constantly moves. I am giving this a try with brass strips held in place with a printed holder. Not sure of the reliability or the springiness of the brass strips since I cannot find phosphor bronze that is typically used as pickups.
Finished for today since its time to run some trains and decompress.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
Well, I ended up doing the easy one first. The first class coach only has cabin lights so it got done. Actually, I messed up and got the under carriages mixed up so first class got done.
So I glued the pick up holders to all the chassis and let that cure. Then I soldered the wires to the brass strips and glued them on with goop. stupor glue didn't hold squat.
Tested the setup through curves and switches and had to bend the contacts up a little bit as it was too tight. Continuity checks were good, so time to wire up the decoder, program, solder in the caps and all works good.
Both first class corridor coaches completed.
Have the pickups glued for the composite and brake coaches, so will let them cure overnight.
So I glued the pick up holders to all the chassis and let that cure. Then I soldered the wires to the brass strips and glued them on with goop. stupor glue didn't hold squat.
Tested the setup through curves and switches and had to bend the contacts up a little bit as it was too tight. Continuity checks were good, so time to wire up the decoder, program, solder in the caps and all works good.
Both first class corridor coaches completed.
Have the pickups glued for the composite and brake coaches, so will let them cure overnight.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
Finished up the last two coaches, the composite brake and composite coach.
I may add more details inside the guard's room in the brake later. The only thing that I didn't catch earlier is that the guard's room and tail lamp makes me have to run this in the clockwise direction to get the seats towards me vice the corridor.
I know what I'll be running later tonight.
I may add more details inside the guard's room in the brake later. The only thing that I didn't catch earlier is that the guard's room and tail lamp makes me have to run this in the clockwise direction to get the seats towards me vice the corridor.
I know what I'll be running later tonight.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
Found that plastic model cement doesn't work on acrylic, so have some arriving today. Mocked up some stuff and designed and printed a cab for it. The slots in front are for the 6 LEDs. I think reds on the inside, white, then yellow on the outsides.
The kit comes with square lenses.
I also got the motor bogie for it and will have to fit it. The kit is built for a Kato bogie that is not currently on sale.
Will need to figure out the side bolsters to hide all that shiny metal stuff. The Kato truck comes complete. It's the one for my EF510.
The kit comes with square lenses.
I also got the motor bogie for it and will have to fit it. The kit is built for a Kato bogie that is not currently on sale.
Will need to figure out the side bolsters to hide all that shiny metal stuff. The Kato truck comes complete. It's the one for my EF510.
Wow ! Kusojiji, I would need somebody like you, I could then take time to improve scenery, you're amazing.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
That acrylic cement that I bought is hard to work with. It comes with a needle applicator, but it still puts too much out at once. I did some testing on some scrap pieces and the liquid came gushing out. I tried adding it on to a toothpick first, but I think it evaporated before I could get it to the pieces.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
Derby Lightweight DMU DCC installation
Wasn't planning on it, but since I want to run it with other trains, especially my KUMOHA 40, which is DCC, I decided to give it a go. I can always run it on DC if I feel lazy.
Anyway, this thing requires two decoders - an 8 pin in the motor half and a 6 pin function in the other.
The headlights on this set are too bright and too white and the cabin lights are constant on.
First up was the unpowered coach. I replaced the headlight LEDs with warm white units.
Then I cheated and used copper foil tape for the cabin lights. This thing uses brass risers to run power up to the shell where there are two contacts.
The copper foil is isolated from the brass risers by the double sided tape.
Put the shell on and programmed it and all is good to go.
All that's left for this car is to weld the stay alive on and clean up all the wires. After that, the motor car is next.
Wasn't planning on it, but since I want to run it with other trains, especially my KUMOHA 40, which is DCC, I decided to give it a go. I can always run it on DC if I feel lazy.
Anyway, this thing requires two decoders - an 8 pin in the motor half and a 6 pin function in the other.
The headlights on this set are too bright and too white and the cabin lights are constant on.
First up was the unpowered coach. I replaced the headlight LEDs with warm white units.
Then I cheated and used copper foil tape for the cabin lights. This thing uses brass risers to run power up to the shell where there are two contacts.
The copper foil is isolated from the brass risers by the double sided tape.
Put the shell on and programmed it and all is good to go.
All that's left for this car is to weld the stay alive on and clean up all the wires. After that, the motor car is next.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
Derby Lightweight DMU DCC installation PT2
Motor car required an 8 pin. Construction relatively the same with replacing the headlight LEDs, copper foil runners for the cabin lights.
Got it all together, programmed and stay alive installed. I have to install the stay alive after programming as it prevents the ability to program.
Both have the same address so lights come on together.
Now I can run together with my KUMOHA 40.
Motor car required an 8 pin. Construction relatively the same with replacing the headlight LEDs, copper foil runners for the cabin lights.
Got it all together, programmed and stay alive installed. I have to install the stay alive after programming as it prevents the ability to program.
Both have the same address so lights come on together.
Now I can run together with my KUMOHA 40.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
KATO RHB GE 6/6
This thing runs like it has a capacitor in it as there is very little throttle swing before the voltmeter climbs, bad for my light boards in the pax cars.
Took the body shell off and pulled the motor pick up board.
This thing is a resettable fuse. Strange readings with my meter as I don't read a short. With this board out, I read strange capacitance in the chassis, with the lightboards being the only circuit boards left, so I broke out one of my spare light units for this thing.
So this thing has a diode and a snubber cap. It reads 1mF, so I guess that's it. Guess I'll just have to be careful with the throttle.
This thing runs like it has a capacitor in it as there is very little throttle swing before the voltmeter climbs, bad for my light boards in the pax cars.
Took the body shell off and pulled the motor pick up board.
This thing is a resettable fuse. Strange readings with my meter as I don't read a short. With this board out, I read strange capacitance in the chassis, with the lightboards being the only circuit boards left, so I broke out one of my spare light units for this thing.
So this thing has a diode and a snubber cap. It reads 1mF, so I guess that's it. Guess I'll just have to be careful with the throttle.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
Finally got around to installing a headlamp in my Dapol N-scale Pannier. Didn't take any pics of the surgery, but I used a 20K ohm resistor on a 603 warm white LED. I dipped the LED in black paint twice and then red paint 3 times to try to limit the bleed. Then scraped a small hole on the front for the light to get out.
The light is very subdued as compared to my J94 that has a 1K resistor and a 402 LED. I may change the resistor later.
I really need to get a regular camera.
The light is very subdued as compared to my J94 that has a 1K resistor and a 402 LED. I may change the resistor later.
I really need to get a regular camera.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
I bought the Tomix type 3000 rail car. It needed interior lighting.
I used a 5v led strip, bridge rectifier, 1K resistor and a stay alive wtih 440uf caps. Printed out a holder for the LED strip.
Got it all together and it looks fine, but I may change the resistor to 2K.
I used a 5v led strip, bridge rectifier, 1K resistor and a stay alive wtih 440uf caps. Printed out a holder for the LED strip.
Got it all together and it looks fine, but I may change the resistor to 2K.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
RAPIDO J70 LAMPS
Bought this a while ago and it runs bootifully. It's main function was pax and fruit vans. It runs super slow and I use it for shunting since it is quite heavy and surprisingly well with the short wheelbase.
But, since it runs so slow, it can get boring, so to spice things up, I am adding lamps on both ends.
The chassis comes off but requires the couplers to be removed since they go through the cowcatchers. This required the keeper plate to be removed.
Yep, that's a lot of metal. Unfortunately, the body panels do not come off, so have to be creative running the wires.
So I ended up drilling a .5mm hole in the plastic front wall and another hole in the seam between the boiler and floor plate. The wires will be secured to the front wall and across the floor, through the hole into the elex space.
Have one lamp installed and the other one is currently drying.
For the elex stuff, I soldered wires to the socket for the lamps and another to the VCC pad on the decoder. I used a TCS nano stay alive and it works very well with this motor.
This thing came with a speaker that I won't use, so I removed it and printed up a platform for the resistors to hang out on.
I have one side of the stay alive disconnected so that I can program the decoder. Once all is tested and light level adjusted, the stay alive will be reconnected.
Bought this a while ago and it runs bootifully. It's main function was pax and fruit vans. It runs super slow and I use it for shunting since it is quite heavy and surprisingly well with the short wheelbase.
But, since it runs so slow, it can get boring, so to spice things up, I am adding lamps on both ends.
The chassis comes off but requires the couplers to be removed since they go through the cowcatchers. This required the keeper plate to be removed.
Yep, that's a lot of metal. Unfortunately, the body panels do not come off, so have to be creative running the wires.
So I ended up drilling a .5mm hole in the plastic front wall and another hole in the seam between the boiler and floor plate. The wires will be secured to the front wall and across the floor, through the hole into the elex space.
Have one lamp installed and the other one is currently drying.
For the elex stuff, I soldered wires to the socket for the lamps and another to the VCC pad on the decoder. I used a TCS nano stay alive and it works very well with this motor.
This thing came with a speaker that I won't use, so I removed it and printed up a platform for the resistors to hang out on.
I have one side of the stay alive disconnected so that I can program the decoder. Once all is tested and light level adjusted, the stay alive will be reconnected.
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
Was finally able to get the lamps to stick. I tried goop, which is my normal fall to. Even after letting it sit over night, it still broke off. Tried the goop again to hold it, and then put some CA on. After sitting for half the day, I pulled the goop off and it held.
Then it was just cut the wires to size, solder, program, reattach the stay alive, and voila! Now I have lights to keep me occupied while the grass grows. Yep, it is that slow.
Then it was just cut the wires to size, solder, program, reattach the stay alive, and voila! Now I have lights to keep me occupied while the grass grows. Yep, it is that slow.
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)