Espeefan's Passenger Car Modeling
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Iron Horseman
Well-Known Member
Ok, makes much more sense. At 1K x 2 per car, that would have been just 100 cars drawing 1.5 amps just sitting around in the yard.It was a type-o. The resistors are 10 k ohm. One resistor per truck is what the club standards committee wanted, so ours is not to reason why…
Hello all! Been on something of a sabbatical. Not much modeling done, but I did manage to clear the bench of projects for others. There were a couple, not overly complicated, but I feel guilty working on my stuff when other people's models are here needing work I offered help with. No good deed goes unpunished, as the saying goes. The big project is cleaning up the workshop, and I'm stalling on that one. It's going to be a huge pain where the sun never shines. I may have mentioned this before, but we had floors installed this past summer and the work required to let the installers to their thing was tough. Lots of stuff went to the basement, and I'm still recovering months later. I'm also still looking for things that got misplaced! My bench is a catastrophe! Looks like a bad episode of Hoarders. Oh well...enough of my troubles. For some therapy, and because I haven't touched it in God only knows how long, I'm back on the SP C-2 2-8-0 project. It's a nice little steamer, and actually would be a good first project for aspiring painters. The mechanism is a simple one. It's a turn of the century engine, so the valve gear lives inside the cylinder saddle. This makes the side rod assembly pretty easy. I finished the painting yesterday. The final steps were masking the boiler and frame to get the smokebox and firebox painted an appropriate graphite color. That's fiddly work, and involves cutting masking tape into little strips, shooting the parts, removing the tape, baking, then brush painting things like the headlight, number boards, piping, and anything else that needs to be black. It's fiddly work, but necessary. Santa Fe guys make out here because the Santa Fe lagged everything and not much graphite shows. so here we are, everything baked and dry, ready to put back together!
Oops! Forgot the detail painting! On SP steamers, you paint the injector & valves red, the bell, whistle and pop valves brass, and the window shades a canvas color. Now back to the oven to bake one more time!
Lunch time! After lunch we start putting the running gear back together. That's when the fun begins, and the swear jar gets full!
Oops! Forgot the detail painting! On SP steamers, you paint the injector & valves red, the bell, whistle and pop valves brass, and the window shades a canvas color. Now back to the oven to bake one more time!
Lunch time! After lunch we start putting the running gear back together. That's when the fun begins, and the swear jar gets full!
BigGRacing
Aka. Gary Russell
Do not want to attempt this at all! Good work!
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
Excellent work. Too bad there's only so few of us still doing steam.
diesel
Weedy Liver
I "do" steam, more like "will do" because the models I have are China Rail and quite rare so I will only get one chance to detail them. I put a decoder in a QJ but the pickup wipers got bent in the process, I need to fix that and weather it and also the two other types I obtained. I guess most people know that China had steam locos in service as late as 2002. So it gives me a chance to run more modern power along with them, like DF4 diesels.
It's easier than you think. These mechanisms are remarkably simple. Observe!
Reassembly of the engine chassis and running gear is the biggest part of these projects, but it's not really that hard. Just go slow, and don't force things. if you get frustrated, walk away for a while, or call it quits for the day. A good night's sleep often does wonders for your attitude and patience. Here we go!
I start with the tender. If goes together quick, which gives your sense of accomplishment a shot in the arm. Below you'll see the floor. An unusual feature of this model is the plain brass spacer shown which positions the coupler pocket correctly. This looks like a field correction if a drawing error, as I've never seen this before. I disassembled the tender trucks to paint the wheels. This isn't the best design if you look where the screws are. This required using a piece of track to make sure the tender trucks were assembled in tram. That means all four wheels hitting the rails. Out of tram trucks means many derailments! Each wheelset must be checked for polarity. Think the black wire on your DCC decoder. All four live wheels must be on the left side of the tender. That means checking axles as you assemble, and checking that both trucks are properly positioned at final assembly. This model has pins that prevent the trucks from turning around once mounted. Not all models do. I once got a killer deal on a model that was listed as "does not run. I turned one tender truck around and off she went! It pays to re-check as you go.
Note that I'm also testing for conductivity from the wheels through the trucks, the chassis, and the kingpin. My little meter gives an audible tone when it's good.
Ready for decaling!
I start with the tender. If goes together quick, which gives your sense of accomplishment a shot in the arm. Below you'll see the floor. An unusual feature of this model is the plain brass spacer shown which positions the coupler pocket correctly. This looks like a field correction if a drawing error, as I've never seen this before. I disassembled the tender trucks to paint the wheels. This isn't the best design if you look where the screws are. This required using a piece of track to make sure the tender trucks were assembled in tram. That means all four wheels hitting the rails. Out of tram trucks means many derailments! Each wheelset must be checked for polarity. Think the black wire on your DCC decoder. All four live wheels must be on the left side of the tender. That means checking axles as you assemble, and checking that both trucks are properly positioned at final assembly. This model has pins that prevent the trucks from turning around once mounted. Not all models do. I once got a killer deal on a model that was listed as "does not run. I turned one tender truck around and off she went! It pays to re-check as you go.
Note that I'm also testing for conductivity from the wheels through the trucks, the chassis, and the kingpin. My little meter gives an audible tone when it's good.
Ready for decaling!
RhB Michael
RhB Lokführer
I 'do' steam too. Not many have probably heard of or seen these locomotives unless they visited Germany.
Next up, the engine assembly. The first thing I do is orient the drivers for correct positioning. then I check polarity, as driver hot sides are on the right side (think red wire). They are straddling a rail to keep them oriented properly. It's easier than you think to get them switched around. I also check the gearbox position which helps to double check driver orientation.
Here comes the fun stuff: driver springs! I put them in one driver at a time. I use a little bit of silicone grease to hold them in place, then I carefully slip each driver pair into the slots in the frame. Check each one to make sure both springs are still in place once the driver pair is in place. Be careful with your tweezers when installing. These little springs can fly away! I keep a large supply of spares! Double check driver polarity!
When all four axles are in place, three screws hold the bottom cover plate in place. At this time, I lubricate all four sets of axle bearing blocks. Double check polarity one last time, because after this step, you'll have to undo work if you have a driver set reversed!
Then I flip her over and test roll:
Now the fiddliest of the parts, the side rods. I start out by laying out the parts in order, using the photos I took before disassembly. Before camera phones I had to draw sketches. Check the crank pins, as they aren't always the same length. Thicker ones generally go where there are multiple overlaps. Note the little square tips. These represent lubricator cups. They face up, away from the rails. This assembly only goes together one way, so if you're having issues, you've got something backwards, or out of order front to back.
I start at each end and work inwards. It's easier. A set of mechanical fingers is vital here. Grease is also helpful to tack washers and such in place.
EDIT: See the brake hangers? I forgot to get a pic of them being installed. They just screw into the frame, though the one behind the crosshead assembly was a little extra fun!
Slow and steady wins the race here! Be patient and it will happen!
The right side is the same as the left, so no pics of that. With both sides done and the running gear complete, I test roll the assembly on a piece of glass or a piece of track. No binds or hitches allowed here, or your model won't run smoothly!
Test Roll
Next, I reattached the motor/gearbox assembly. This one is spring loaded at the rear, so I had to line up the spring and insert the screw. It's almost a three handed chore, but I got it. After that the gearbox cover is installed. These little screws are interesting. I use a fine pair of tweezers to hold them in place and start the threads. There were two incidents of swearing on this one. Both times because I dropped 1: a crankpin screw, and 2: a gearbox cover screw. My office floor is engineered planking, so they hit, bounce, and fly away. I found them both, but my 70-year-old overweight frame didn't enjoy being on my knees that long or getting up afterward!
Here she is ready to go:
To do:
Drill out the headlight casting.
Install an LED.
Solder up a connector and connect the drawbar lead (tender to decoder).
Install the boiler weight
Connect the headlight and install the boiler.
Headlight and Tender Light lenses, and Marker Lamp Jewels
Attach the lead truck
Decal and seal
A light weathering. All of that will follow. The hard stuff is over!
Here comes the fun stuff: driver springs! I put them in one driver at a time. I use a little bit of silicone grease to hold them in place, then I carefully slip each driver pair into the slots in the frame. Check each one to make sure both springs are still in place once the driver pair is in place. Be careful with your tweezers when installing. These little springs can fly away! I keep a large supply of spares! Double check driver polarity!
When all four axles are in place, three screws hold the bottom cover plate in place. At this time, I lubricate all four sets of axle bearing blocks. Double check polarity one last time, because after this step, you'll have to undo work if you have a driver set reversed!
Then I flip her over and test roll:
Now the fiddliest of the parts, the side rods. I start out by laying out the parts in order, using the photos I took before disassembly. Before camera phones I had to draw sketches. Check the crank pins, as they aren't always the same length. Thicker ones generally go where there are multiple overlaps. Note the little square tips. These represent lubricator cups. They face up, away from the rails. This assembly only goes together one way, so if you're having issues, you've got something backwards, or out of order front to back.
I start at each end and work inwards. It's easier. A set of mechanical fingers is vital here. Grease is also helpful to tack washers and such in place.
EDIT: See the brake hangers? I forgot to get a pic of them being installed. They just screw into the frame, though the one behind the crosshead assembly was a little extra fun!
Slow and steady wins the race here! Be patient and it will happen!
The right side is the same as the left, so no pics of that. With both sides done and the running gear complete, I test roll the assembly on a piece of glass or a piece of track. No binds or hitches allowed here, or your model won't run smoothly!
Test Roll
Next, I reattached the motor/gearbox assembly. This one is spring loaded at the rear, so I had to line up the spring and insert the screw. It's almost a three handed chore, but I got it. After that the gearbox cover is installed. These little screws are interesting. I use a fine pair of tweezers to hold them in place and start the threads. There were two incidents of swearing on this one. Both times because I dropped 1: a crankpin screw, and 2: a gearbox cover screw. My office floor is engineered planking, so they hit, bounce, and fly away. I found them both, but my 70-year-old overweight frame didn't enjoy being on my knees that long or getting up afterward!
Here she is ready to go:
To do:
Drill out the headlight casting.
Install an LED.
Solder up a connector and connect the drawbar lead (tender to decoder).
Install the boiler weight
Connect the headlight and install the boiler.
Headlight and Tender Light lenses, and Marker Lamp Jewels
Attach the lead truck
Decal and seal
A light weathering. All of that will follow. The hard stuff is over!
Attachments
Last edited:
BigGRacing
Aka. Gary Russell
Beauty engine for sure!
BigGRacing
Aka. Gary Russell
Awesome tutorial! Thank you
Thanks. Hopefully someone will be motivated to take this up. There are fewer steam modelers out there every year, and even fewer of us who still do this kind of work. It is intimidating at first, but like any of the modeling skills, you get better as you go.
BigGRacing
Aka. Gary Russell
I have had help adding DCC to one, only 8 more to go…..lol
Mine still finds them, on random days.
PNKFLOYD
Mikey
What do you plan to buy with the swear jar funds? Something expensive I bet.
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
I've seen BR01 class on a steam show in Wolsztyn several years ago, similar to 03. Even after reading about them, i still can't tell what exactly was the difference between them. Seems both classes were two cylinder engines with three cylinder versions presented within each class. BR95 on the other hand was specific to a small region in Germany and i doubt very much that they venture to other countries even on Plandampf.
RhB Michael
RhB Lokführer
The boiler on the Br.03 was slightly smaller. There might be other differences, but that's the one I remember off the top of my head.
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