Espeefan's Passenger Car Modeling
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trailrider
Well-Known Member
No doubt, but since the NP and Great Northern jointly owned the C.B&Q, between Chicago and the Twin Cities, it probably depended on the paying traffic and equipment available equipment. NP and GN may have had to re-consist their flagships like the North Coast Limited and Empire Builder in the Twin Cities yards. In any case, Burlington "motors" (E-units) pulled the equipment from Chicago. The interesting thing is that some NP and some GN consists were owned by the Q, and were so marked in the upper corner of the cars, and several trainsets in Burlington stainless steel were owned by each of the other roads and so marked. Until 1969, the Interstate Commerce Commission insisted each of the three roads keep separate books, and considered them as separate railroads! Go figure...
Sometime back it was suggested I move other projects over here. Things that may have appeared in Coffee Shops long past. Not a bad idea actually. Thanks to whoever suggested it (I forget). Since I've moved off the trolleys because of summer and finding the recently acquired sleepers for this train which I need to have done in time for our club's open house next month, I'll move the COSF project first. There will be multiple posts. as there is a large number of photos in the project folder! It all started out with this:
I was in what one of my dear friends and mentors called "The Accumulation Phase". New in the hobby, and knowing not much, many of us buy things because they are pretty, or neat, or just because they're there. Don't ask me what I was thinking. This was in the early 1990's, so no way I'll remember. Probably something like: "SHINY! WANT! So, it came home with me from some train show, and wound up on the shelf. I forgot about it, or at least it went to the back of my mind, in what today I call the "Why'd you buy that, dumba$$?" pile.
Some years passed and I ended up in the basement of a very influential modeler and brass collector with a large home layout. He was getting on in years, and a group of us got together and decided to help him with scenery in an effort to finish his layout. He also was an accumulator, and in addition to the layout work I ended up striking a deal with him to paint brass and be paid with brass models. Seems he had multiples of just about everything. Sound familiar? So in the process of many paint jobs. I saw this:
I remembered that E unit and thought "Hey, it's a start!" and home it came! Mind you I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. I didn't research things in those days, knew nothing about this train, what the project was going to involve, or what it would take to finish. It was just pure euphoria. Working on a huge layout with a bunch of great guys and one of them had a huge brass collection with many "Holy Grail" models in it. I was, you might say, easily influenced! Eventually I ended up with a copy of Kratville's "Union Pacific Streamliners". This is the bible for the City trains. I started learning about things like articulated cars, and how specialized and elite these trains were, and with a little research on what models were accurate and how available they were (or weren't) figured out just how much trouble I was in. I guess I could have stopped right then and got rid of the two models, but when it comes to passenger trains, I never did have much common sense.
I didn't shelve the project, but it did drop several notches down the priority list. Here and there over the years, I would pick up this car or that, and eventually got here:
We'll stop here for now. Things to do!
I was in what one of my dear friends and mentors called "The Accumulation Phase". New in the hobby, and knowing not much, many of us buy things because they are pretty, or neat, or just because they're there. Don't ask me what I was thinking. This was in the early 1990's, so no way I'll remember. Probably something like: "SHINY! WANT! So, it came home with me from some train show, and wound up on the shelf. I forgot about it, or at least it went to the back of my mind, in what today I call the "Why'd you buy that, dumba$$?" pile.
Some years passed and I ended up in the basement of a very influential modeler and brass collector with a large home layout. He was getting on in years, and a group of us got together and decided to help him with scenery in an effort to finish his layout. He also was an accumulator, and in addition to the layout work I ended up striking a deal with him to paint brass and be paid with brass models. Seems he had multiples of just about everything. Sound familiar? So in the process of many paint jobs. I saw this:
I remembered that E unit and thought "Hey, it's a start!" and home it came! Mind you I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. I didn't research things in those days, knew nothing about this train, what the project was going to involve, or what it would take to finish. It was just pure euphoria. Working on a huge layout with a bunch of great guys and one of them had a huge brass collection with many "Holy Grail" models in it. I was, you might say, easily influenced! Eventually I ended up with a copy of Kratville's "Union Pacific Streamliners". This is the bible for the City trains. I started learning about things like articulated cars, and how specialized and elite these trains were, and with a little research on what models were accurate and how available they were (or weren't) figured out just how much trouble I was in. I guess I could have stopped right then and got rid of the two models, but when it comes to passenger trains, I never did have much common sense.
I didn't shelve the project, but it did drop several notches down the priority list. Here and there over the years, I would pick up this car or that, and eventually got here:We'll stop here for now. Things to do!
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
I wasn't sure if i should give a heart or the "laughing and crying" emoji since i know the feelingsSometime back it was suggested I move other projects over here. Things that may have appeared in Coffee Shops long past. Not a bad idea actually. Thanks to whoever suggested it (I forget). Since I've moved off the trolleys because of summer and finding the recently acquired sleepers for this train which I need to have done in time for our club's open house next month, I'll move the COSF project first. There will be multiple posts. as there is a large number of photos in the project folder! It all started out with this:
View attachment 202086
I was in what one of my dear friends and mentors called "The Accumulation Phase". New in the hobby, and knowing not much, many of us buy things because they are pretty, or neat, or just because they're there. Don't ask me what I was thinking. This was in the early 1990's, so no way I'll remember. Probably something like: "SHINY! WANT! So, it came home with me from some train show, and wound up on the shelf. I forgot about it, or at least it went to the back of my mind, in what today I call the "Why'd you buy that, dumba$$?" pile.
Some years passed and I ended up in the basement of a very influential modeler and brass collector with a large home layout. He was getting on in years, and a group of us got together and decided to help him with scenery in an effort to finish his layout. He also was an accumulator, and in addition to the layout work I ended up striking a deal with him to paint brass and be paid with brass models. Seems he had multiples of just about everything. Sound familiar? So in the process of many paint jobs. I saw this:
View attachment 202087
I remembered that E unit and thought "Hey, it's a start!" and home it came! Mind you I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. I didn't research things in those days, knew nothing about this train, what the project was going to involve, or what it would take to finish. It was just pure euphoria. Working on a huge layout with a bunch of great guys and one of them had a huge brass collection with many "Holy Grail" models in it. I was, you might say, easily influenced! Eventually I ended up with a copy of Kratville's "Union Pacific Streamliners". This is the bible for the City trains. I started learning about things like articulated cars, and how specialized and elite these trains were, and with a little research on what models were accurate and how available they were (or weren't) figured out just how much trouble I was in. I guess I could have stopped right then and got rid of the two models, but when it comes to passenger trains, I never did have much common sense.
View attachment 202090
We'll stop here for now. Things to do!
So moving on...as you can see from the stack of boxes I had a pretty good start on the train. All of the "hard" cars. The articulated diner and sleeper, the club car, the baggage dorm, the obs. From here you can use stand ins if you want. At ten cars, well, eight since two are articulated, I felt I had enough to start painting the cars. First some shots of them naked:
The Diner:
The Baggage Dorm
The Observation
You get the idea. As I've said before I had to find trucks for some of these cars which was done between private owners, swap meets, brass dealers, and a few private collectors. That was a pain! As a matter of fact, I happen to have a spare club car I never did find trucks for. I was getting discouraged and a painted club car with trucks turned up at a dealer, and I but the bullet and bought it. Frustrating, but you hit a point where you just want to move on! All cars got blasted, and a bath n the ultrasonic cleaner, as described previously. Painting them isn't really all that hard. Yellow and gray, and all straight lines. I did them in batches of three at a time. I did have to prime paint, as spraying Armour Yellow over brass didn't look right to me. All cars got a coat of Scalecoat MOW Gray first. All cars were baked between coats.
After each batch of cars, I'd go ahead and re-assemble, decal, and test them on the layout. Brass cars can be fussy. You may have to isolate a short circuit, or fiddle with truck clearances, or coupler boxes, and especially coupler height. coupler misalignments are much more pronounced with 85 ft cars than with 40 ft freight cars! Of all the work, decaling was the tedious part. Roughly four feet of stripe per car, That wasn't too bad. It was the "City of" heralds that got interesting, especially around those upper berth windows. Remember, each decal set had one set of heralds only, so a goof here costs you ten bucks. The Kratville book was invaluable here, as there were many photos of the various cars so I could figure out where lettering went. This one was easy:
This one not so much!
On cars with tough window configurations, I made copies of the decal sheets to test fit the letters. Brass or even plastic models aren't always 100% prototypically correct when it comes to dimensions on things like window spacing. Compromises are made for run ability or manufacturing reasons, or the builder goofs sometimes. It always pays to check. Time to go to work! That's all for now.
The Diner:
The Baggage Dorm
The Observation
You get the idea. As I've said before I had to find trucks for some of these cars which was done between private owners, swap meets, brass dealers, and a few private collectors. That was a pain! As a matter of fact, I happen to have a spare club car I never did find trucks for. I was getting discouraged and a painted club car with trucks turned up at a dealer, and I but the bullet and bought it. Frustrating, but you hit a point where you just want to move on! All cars got blasted, and a bath n the ultrasonic cleaner, as described previously. Painting them isn't really all that hard. Yellow and gray, and all straight lines. I did them in batches of three at a time. I did have to prime paint, as spraying Armour Yellow over brass didn't look right to me. All cars got a coat of Scalecoat MOW Gray first. All cars were baked between coats.
After each batch of cars, I'd go ahead and re-assemble, decal, and test them on the layout. Brass cars can be fussy. You may have to isolate a short circuit, or fiddle with truck clearances, or coupler boxes, and especially coupler height. coupler misalignments are much more pronounced with 85 ft cars than with 40 ft freight cars! Of all the work, decaling was the tedious part. Roughly four feet of stripe per car, That wasn't too bad. It was the "City of" heralds that got interesting, especially around those upper berth windows. Remember, each decal set had one set of heralds only, so a goof here costs you ten bucks. The Kratville book was invaluable here, as there were many photos of the various cars so I could figure out where lettering went. This one was easy:
This one not so much!
On cars with tough window configurations, I made copies of the decal sheets to test fit the letters. Brass or even plastic models aren't always 100% prototypically correct when it comes to dimensions on things like window spacing. Compromises are made for run ability or manufacturing reasons, or the builder goofs sometimes. It always pays to check. Time to go to work! That's all for now.
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
Great modeling. I was wondering what temperature do you bake in and for how long. I'll be painting some brass in the near future and would appreciate some imput.So moving on...as you can see from the stack of boxes I had a pretty good start on the train. All of the "hard" cars. The articulated diner and sleeper, the club car, the baggage dorm, the obs. From here you can use stand ins if you want. At ten cars, well, eight since two are articulated, I felt I had enough to start painting the cars. First some shots of them naked:
The Diner:
View attachment 202196
The Baggage Dorm
View attachment 202197
The Observation
View attachment 202198
You get the idea. As I've said before I had to find trucks for some of these cars which was done between private owners, swap meets, brass dealers, and a few private collectors. That was a pain! As a matter of fact, I happen to have a spare club car I never did find trucks for. I was getting discouraged and a painted club car with trucks turned up at a dealer, and I but the bullet and bought it. Frustrating, but you hit a point where you just want to move on! All cars got blasted, and a bath n the ultrasonic cleaner, as described previously. Painting them isn't really all that hard. Yellow and gray, and all straight lines. I did them in batches of three at a time. I did have to prime paint, as spraying Armour Yellow over brass didn't look right to me. All cars got a coat of Scalecoat MOW Gray first. All cars were baked between coats.
View attachment 202199
View attachment 202200
After each batch of cars, I'd go ahead and re-assemble, decal, and test them on the layout. Brass cars can be fussy. You may have to isolate a short circuit, or fiddle with truck clearances, or coupler boxes, and especially coupler height. coupler misalignments are much more pronounced with 85 ft cars than with 40 ft freight cars! Of all the work, decaling was the tedious part. Roughly four feet of stripe per car, That wasn't too bad. It was the "City of" heralds that got interesting, especially around those upper berth windows. Remember, each decal set had one set of heralds only, so a goof here costs you ten bucks. The Kratville book was invaluable here, as there were many photos of the various cars so I could figure out where lettering went. This one was easy:
View attachment 202201
This one not so much!
View attachment 202202
On cars with tough window configurations, I made copies of the decal sheets to test fit the letters. Brass or even plastic models aren't always 100% prototypically correct when it comes to dimensions on things like window spacing. Compromises are made for run ability or manufacturing reasons, or the builder goofs sometimes. It always pays to check. Time to go to work! That's all for now.
200 degrees F or 98 degrees C for 90 minutes. Just below the boiling point of water.
There will be a video or two!I’ve always liked the articulated cars, very cool.
I’ll bet that’s an impressive train when it’s all together!
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
Much appreciated.
Over the course of the project there have been some mistakes and Boo-Boo-s. The biggest was the sleeper Telegraph Hill. This car was in the first COSF as well as the 10th train (this one). There were several mistakes with this car, one nearly catastrophic. The first lesson learned was to read the box:
See the mistake? I didn't, for a long time. Notice that you don't see COLA/COSF anywhere? Just a 12/5 Sleeper and a car number? This turned out to be a problem. More on it later. The biggest problem with this car though was most unusual. I prepped it for paint, painted it:
And baked it. That's when the trouble started:
Oh Crap! This has never happened to me before or since. The nearest I can figure was some previous owner had had this problem and fixed it with low temp solder. I bake below the boiling point of water, and no the wife didn't turn up the oven. The other cars in the oven weren't damaged. Nothing to do but scream and fill up the swear jar. It was when trying to fix this mess that I discovered it was the wrong car. This model was of the car years later when it has been modernized and de-skirted. It has appeared in both yellow and gray, and later in two tone gray. It was incorrect for this train, and it was messed up, so I bought the correct model:
All was not lost as the new model gave me a correct locator guide for the loose chassis rail. Remounting that had been a stinker, because if you don't get it right the car lists to one side. I measured from the top of the wheel wells to the rail and scribed some lines, then got it fixed. That car is now in revenue service on my Overland:
Same car, 20-ish years later in appearance. Note the differences. More of that fun decal work! Note that these cars all came with the grabs loose in a bag, just like Walthers cars used to, back in the days when we all walked uphill to school both ways. The grabs for this car were long gone, so I had to bend my own. That happened more than once. Records on how many of each of these cars were made are spotty, but I believe in many cases only 100 or so were done. They were very hard to find!
See the mistake? I didn't, for a long time. Notice that you don't see COLA/COSF anywhere? Just a 12/5 Sleeper and a car number? This turned out to be a problem. More on it later. The biggest problem with this car though was most unusual. I prepped it for paint, painted it:
And baked it. That's when the trouble started:
Oh Crap! This has never happened to me before or since. The nearest I can figure was some previous owner had had this problem and fixed it with low temp solder. I bake below the boiling point of water, and no the wife didn't turn up the oven. The other cars in the oven weren't damaged. Nothing to do but scream and fill up the swear jar. It was when trying to fix this mess that I discovered it was the wrong car. This model was of the car years later when it has been modernized and de-skirted. It has appeared in both yellow and gray, and later in two tone gray. It was incorrect for this train, and it was messed up, so I bought the correct model:
All was not lost as the new model gave me a correct locator guide for the loose chassis rail. Remounting that had been a stinker, because if you don't get it right the car lists to one side. I measured from the top of the wheel wells to the rail and scribed some lines, then got it fixed. That car is now in revenue service on my Overland:
Same car, 20-ish years later in appearance. Note the differences. More of that fun decal work! Note that these cars all came with the grabs loose in a bag, just like Walthers cars used to, back in the days when we all walked uphill to school both ways.
The grabs for this car were long gone, so I had to bend my own. That happened more than once. Records on how many of each of these cars were made are spotty, but I believe in many cases only 100 or so were done. They were very hard to find!Morning all! in discussions with my son, he mentioned a train he wanted to model: The Southern Crescent. He's a young fella with a wife a mortgage, and two small children, so as you may guess his modeling budget gets a bit thin at times. A couple of years ago I bought him a set of those IHC heavyweights in the Crescent two tone green scheme. It's a pretty train, if not 100% accurate. He had intended to buy a brass Ps-4 to pull the train, but kids and such got in the way. We've all been there! Well, guess what yours truly just happened to have moldering on the shelf? A Ps-4 by United. It's one of the1960 run of the model, not as detailed as later runs, but quite serviceable! I told him he could have it. I had plans for it since it's got a bit of sentimental value, but I'm now at that point where I'm considering downsizing by getting rid of things I'll either never get to, or don't need. His collection would be a good place for this model. A week or two ago he asked me when we might paint the model. Strong hint! I fished it out and looked it over. it's mostly all there. It had initially received a botched paint job, which I had removed in the blasting booth, so yesterday we began. The Southern Green scheme is a bit work intensive. Four colors, and lots of fiddly masking, so the swear jar should get a nice boost! I got the green and some of the black painted yesterday. Looks good so far. Nothing levels and shines like Scalecoat after baking! It'll be a good-looking model when finished. It'll need a new motor and bracket for same, so when I do that, I'll get around to motor brackets for those three trolleys. the COSF cars are nearly finished but are awaiting decals. Thought I had enough, but no. 
I'll also start on that SP 2-8-0 waiting in the wings since I'm painting anyway! Ever the multitasker!
I'll also start on that SP 2-8-0 waiting in the wings since I'm painting anyway! Ever the multitasker! Morning All! Trainfest is next weekend. I'm not planning on attending, but the club is having an open house from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, and all the eye candy is coming out. As promised, there follows some photos of the finished train and a video of the COSF being tested on the layout last Thursday. With two new cars in the consist, I wanted to be sure everything would behave. It's also club policy to test everything before open house. People come to see the trains run, not people fiddling with balky locos or rolling stock. 
I had also installed close couplers on the E units for better appearance. all trucks were lubed, and the test was flawless. The only regret I have with this train is there are no correct full width diaphragms with the correct colors to match the car sides. They are unobtanium. I had to settle for what I could get which was either yellow or gray. 
Oh well! I toyed with the idea of using American Limited plastic ones and painting them, but alas, they are too fragile for transport back and forth to the club, even in those damnably expensive foam lined boxes. Maybe some day. Until then, she'll do. These trains are why I joined a club and gave up a home layout. As can be seen in the photos this is a long train, roughly seventeen feet. It's on the only siding on the railroad long enough to hold it. It takes all three of those E units to pull it. Definitely a labor of love. Or maybe insanity, depending on your perspective. Enjoy, and if any of you are in the Milwaukee area for Trainfest, do swing by!
I had also installed close couplers on the E units for better appearance. all trucks were lubed, and the test was flawless. The only regret I have with this train is there are no correct full width diaphragms with the correct colors to match the car sides. They are unobtanium. I had to settle for what I could get which was either yellow or gray. Oh well! I toyed with the idea of using American Limited plastic ones and painting them, but alas, they are too fragile for transport back and forth to the club, even in those damnably expensive foam lined boxes. Maybe some day. Until then, she'll do. These trains are why I joined a club and gave up a home layout. As can be seen in the photos this is a long train, roughly seventeen feet. It's on the only siding on the railroad long enough to hold it. It takes all three of those E units to pull it. Definitely a labor of love. Or maybe insanity, depending on your perspective. Enjoy, and if any of you are in the Milwaukee area for Trainfest, do swing by!
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
Beautiful trainMorning All! Trainfest is next weekend. I'm not planning on attending, but the club is having an open house from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, and all the eye candy is coming out. As promised, there follows some photos of the finished train and a video of the COSF being tested on the layout last Thursday. With two new cars in the consist, I wanted to be sure everything would behave. It's also club policy to test everything before open house. People come to see the trains run, not people fiddling with balky locos or rolling stock.
View attachment 204824View attachment 204825View attachment 204826View attachment 204827View attachment 204828
Evening Y'all! I hope you had Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, or whatever floats your boat! I did. Grandchildren are a blessing! Been a while since I did anything, and I did promise a steam engine project from soup to nuts so here we go! I got this model for myself last Christmas. I put a decoder in it and ran it at the club. It performed well, so I put it away for a year! I figured this would be a good time to get it out and get it painted. It's an Oriental Limited SP C-2 consolidation. Consolidations are one of my favorite wheel arrangements. They did everything. They look good on small layouts, and they can negotiate 18" radii without looking idiotic. No slam intended, I just don't like forcing big boys around 18" curves. This is a neat model and different from most SP 2-8-0's in that it doesn't have that straight Harriman boiler. it's an older design, but a few of them made it into the 1950's so it fits my needs nicely! It has a whaleback tender, another of my favorites, which gives it character! Here she is:
It's nicely detailed, had a full backhead, and I don't need to add or change any details, so we're going to strip her down and get ready for the paint booth. Most people freak out over the possibility of taking one of these apart, and I've had to go through more than one disaster, where someone tried to paint one without taking it apart. I got a few really good deals that way! It's actually not too bad as long as you take photos along the way and use a little common sense. The tender is simple. remove the trucks and coupler, and four screws that hold the floor to the body and you're done! That part went so fast I didn't even take a photo!
Next the locomotive. Three screws hold the boiler to the chassis. Two at the rear and one that goes up through the cylinder assembly into the boiler. The boiler lifts right off. PS: I also had to remove the lead truck (one screw) to get to the boiler screw. Then I took out the weight, which was also one screw
Now the fun begins. Take yourself some photos here so you can see how everything is assembled. There can be subtleties that can cause heartburn if you don't document well. Note the position of the drivers and how the rods assemble. In the old days I made sketches instead of taking pics. Thank God for smart phones! The motor and gearbox are held on by three screws too. Two in the gearbox bottom cover, and a third that holds the assembly to the frame. That approach makes an easy disassembly. Remove the drawbar, wich is one screw and be careful not to lose the spring or the insulating washers. Now you're down to the running gear!
This being a newer model has actual bolts instead of screws attaching the rods to the drivers. Some models come with a little wrench. This one didn't, but I happened to have one on hand. Keep them in order and take a photo. The crankpins are often different lengths and aren't interchangeable!. Also note the position of the drivers. Look at the counterweight sizes. I lined everything up for reference. One nice thing about this model, it's an older design so the valve gear isn't external. On the prototype it was inside the cylinder casting.
I removed the three screws holding the bottom plate and pulled the drivers. They are sprung, so make sure you don't lose any of the springs!
I have several boxes reserved for these projects, and I keep all the parts in them so I can't lose anything no matter how hard I try! Now we are all disassembled and ready to go to the blasting booth. We'll do that tomorrow! Things I forgot to mention: I take the wheels out of the tender trucks of course! Also this is a Korean model, and the older ones are notorious for poor solder joints. I only had one this time. One of the tender chassis rails fell off during disassembly. You can see it just above the tender trucks. After blasting I'll re-solder it.
I figured this would be a good time to get it out and get it painted. It's an Oriental Limited SP C-2 consolidation. Consolidations are one of my favorite wheel arrangements. They did everything. They look good on small layouts, and they can negotiate 18" radii without looking idiotic. No slam intended, I just don't like forcing big boys around 18" curves. This is a neat model and different from most SP 2-8-0's in that it doesn't have that straight Harriman boiler. it's an older design, but a few of them made it into the 1950's so it fits my needs nicely! It has a whaleback tender, another of my favorites, which gives it character! Here she is:It's nicely detailed, had a full backhead, and I don't need to add or change any details, so we're going to strip her down and get ready for the paint booth. Most people freak out over the possibility of taking one of these apart, and I've had to go through more than one disaster, where someone tried to paint one without taking it apart. I got a few really good deals that way! It's actually not too bad as long as you take photos along the way and use a little common sense. The tender is simple. remove the trucks and coupler, and four screws that hold the floor to the body and you're done! That part went so fast I didn't even take a photo!
Next the locomotive. Three screws hold the boiler to the chassis. Two at the rear and one that goes up through the cylinder assembly into the boiler. The boiler lifts right off. PS: I also had to remove the lead truck (one screw) to get to the boiler screw. Then I took out the weight, which was also one screw
Now the fun begins. Take yourself some photos here so you can see how everything is assembled. There can be subtleties that can cause heartburn if you don't document well. Note the position of the drivers and how the rods assemble. In the old days I made sketches instead of taking pics. Thank God for smart phones! The motor and gearbox are held on by three screws too. Two in the gearbox bottom cover, and a third that holds the assembly to the frame. That approach makes an easy disassembly. Remove the drawbar, wich is one screw and be careful not to lose the spring or the insulating washers. Now you're down to the running gear!
This being a newer model has actual bolts instead of screws attaching the rods to the drivers. Some models come with a little wrench. This one didn't, but I happened to have one on hand. Keep them in order and take a photo. The crankpins are often different lengths and aren't interchangeable!. Also note the position of the drivers. Look at the counterweight sizes. I lined everything up for reference. One nice thing about this model, it's an older design so the valve gear isn't external. On the prototype it was inside the cylinder casting.
I removed the three screws holding the bottom plate and pulled the drivers. They are sprung, so make sure you don't lose any of the springs!
I have several boxes reserved for these projects, and I keep all the parts in them so I can't lose anything no matter how hard I try! Now we are all disassembled and ready to go to the blasting booth. We'll do that tomorrow! Things I forgot to mention: I take the wheels out of the tender trucks of course! Also this is a Korean model, and the older ones are notorious for poor solder joints. I only had one this time. One of the tender chassis rails fell off during disassembly. You can see it just above the tender trucks. After blasting I'll re-solder it.
Alan, I had an Oriental Limited C2 in N scale. It ran well, until I made the mistake of lubing the side rods. The insulation between the wheel and tire on the off-power side was thin paper, and as soon as the paper got a drop of oil on it, it shorted.
Just an FYI, in case this one is the same way.
Just an FYI, in case this one is the same way.
Yeah HO is the same. Paper insulators. I never shorted a driver pair, but I've read where guys have applied DC voltage across the driver center and tire until the short was burned out. You can also remove the tire by baking the set and pressing the tire off the center and replacing the insulator or just drying out the oil. The occasional metallic short will burn out with enough voltage.
Did the blasting this morning. Now it's out and will go into the Ultrasonic cleaner for a few minutes. Some painters leave the old clear coat in place. I used to many years ago, but any paint job is only as good as it's first coat and I don't feel good about doing all this work and applying fresh paint over a decades old clear coat. Note the satin finish of the parts. This removes contaminates and gives a profile for the paint to adhere to.
Note I didn't blast the drivers. I have done this before but there are two dangers: 1: You'll damage the chrome plating on the driver tires. 2: You'll force grit between the bearings and the axles which is not a good thing. It isn't a fatal error but is a real pain where the sun doesn't shine to get cleaned out. Because the blaster operates at high pressure (80-100 PSI) some grit will get where you don't want it no matter how careful you mask. Bottom line, just don't!
I got the tender floor repaired using the soldering tweezers. Note that when using resistance gear everything must be clean, clean, CLEAN! Did I say clean? So I fixed this assembly after blasting. Luckily there was a channel in the toolbox casting where the rail fit right in, so I didn't have to build a jig. I soldered from both sides at three locations. You need to use paste flux, heat the assembly, and let the solder melt and wick into the joint, just like with copper piping. I had to remove a little excess with a file because of the way the floor fits to the body.
A little bath in some lacquer thinner to remove that excess flux befor the ultrasonic cleaner. Then we allow a day to dry, and we paint
Note I didn't blast the drivers. I have done this before but there are two dangers: 1: You'll damage the chrome plating on the driver tires. 2: You'll force grit between the bearings and the axles which is not a good thing. It isn't a fatal error but is a real pain where the sun doesn't shine to get cleaned out. Because the blaster operates at high pressure (80-100 PSI) some grit will get where you don't want it no matter how careful you mask. Bottom line, just don't!
I got the tender floor repaired using the soldering tweezers. Note that when using resistance gear everything must be clean, clean, CLEAN! Did I say clean?
So I fixed this assembly after blasting. Luckily there was a channel in the toolbox casting where the rail fit right in, so I didn't have to build a jig. I soldered from both sides at three locations. You need to use paste flux, heat the assembly, and let the solder melt and wick into the joint, just like with copper piping. I had to remove a little excess with a file because of the way the floor fits to the body.A little bath in some lacquer thinner to remove that excess flux befor the ultrasonic cleaner. Then we allow a day to dry, and we paint
TLOC
Well-Known Member
Sorry I missed the open house. That is a gorgeous train!Morning All! Trainfest is next weekend. I'm not planning on attending, but the club is having an open house from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, and all the eye candy is coming out. As promised, there follows some photos of the finished train and a video of the COSF being tested on the layout last Thursday. With two new cars in the consist, I wanted to be sure everything would behave. It's also club policy to test everything before open house. People come to see the trains run, not people fiddling with balky locos or rolling stock.
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