Jerome's Switcher Roster

[Alcomotive]

Cool! Im about half an hour north of Saratoga, Lake George/Glens Falls region.

Nice!
I have a family house on the east side of Lake George.

 

[NWCanuck]

I broke all of mine by accident while trying to solder wires to them

What's the secret to soldering to them?

I use a low wattage soldering iron which is 25 Watt. You need to pre tin the wire. This way when you touch the wire to the light is only for a second or less. This makes a very quick connection without melting the contacts or wire itself. It takes some practice for sure.

This is the one I use:

http://www.drillspot.com/products/68603/Weller_WP25_Soldering_Iron

I think it is the same one they use in the Fast Tracks videos, only 25 Watt instead of 35 Watt.

http://www.handlaidtrack.com/Conical-Soldering-Tip-for-the-Weller-35W-Iron-p/st7.htm

 

[wheeler1963]

And now back to our regularly scheduled program........................

Finished up Mark's HOn30 switcher last night.

 

[kz9]

^nice! I need to start finding some small switchers like this one and 44 or 45 tonners....

Is this a version of a plymoth?

 

[diburning]

I use a low wattage soldering iron which is 25 Watt. You need to pre tin the wire. This way when you touch the wire to the light is only for a second or less. This makes a very quick connection without melting the contacts or wire itself. It takes some practice for sure.

This is the one I use:

http://www.drillspot.com/products/68603/Weller_WP25_Soldering_Iron

I think it is the same one they use in the Fast Tracks videos, only 25 Watt instead of 35 Watt.

http://www.handlaidtrack.com/Conical-Soldering-Tip-for-the-Weller-35W-Iron-p/st7.htm

I use a 30 watt and I melted all of them :O So now, I only buy them pre-wired. (it's slightly more expensive but it's less expensive than destroying the LEDs.

I always pre-tin the wires.

 

[julienjj]

And now back to our regularly scheduled program........................

Finished up Mark's HOn30 switcher last night.

Tooter will be jalous

 

[diburning]

I still want one of these:

painted for

The prototype is still in service today!

 

[wheeler1963]

Some progress made on the 2 Atlas GenSets this week. I decided to try some Railfyer Model coupler bars. These are 3 piece coupler bars. This is what they look like together.

They are a bit of a chore to handle and mount that way, so I came up with this to make it a little bit easier.

After a little trial and error (OK, a lot of error on my part) this is how they look mounted.

And here are the 2 GenSets as they sit tonight.

 

[NWCanuck]

They are a bit of a chore to handle and mount that way, so I came up with this to make it a little bit easier.

Models look great Jerome and a great solution with the tape as a handle. This would be a good idea for a lot of the small detail parts. If there is one thing I have learned the hard way it is that "precision tweezers and small detail parts repel each other with great force". And unless you are working in a “Level 4 clean room” you will likely never see that part again.

 

[kbkchooch]

Models look great Jerome and a great solution with the tape as a handle. This would be a good idea for a lot of the small detail parts. If there is one thing I have learned the hard way it is that "precision tweezers and small detail parts repel each other with great force". And unless you are working is a “Level 4 clean room” you will likely never see that part again.

Amen to that! Compounding the darkness and dustbunnies under the workbench, is the fact my basement is carpeted. Sometimes even with a large flashlight I cant find a lot of the dropped parts.
Of course, all I have to do is go to the workbench barefoot, and I find some!!
Yes, lift rings can penetrate flesh!!

 

[NYSW F45]

Jerome, what did you use to strip the paint on those gensets?

 

[Littlefoot14]

I think he bought undecorated ones.

You know what i love about the Gensets? They kindve look like Alcos RS series in modern schemes. A blast from the past. However, if one ever smokes like an Alco, Railpower Technologies is probably going to get sued

 

[wheeler1963]

nothing, they were undecs

 

[diburning]

I think he bought undecorated ones.

You know what i love about the Gensets? They kindve look like Alcos RS series in modern schemes. A blast from the past. However, if one ever smokes like an Alco, Railpower Technologies is probably going to get sued

Well, they're supposed to be low emission, but the prototype is close to zero emissions because they're lemons. If it's smoking like an Alco, chances are, it's on fire.

And, they were made by NRE (National Railway Equipment), not Railpower.

 

[Littlefoot14]

Well, they're supposed to be low emission, but the prototype is close to zero emissions because they're lemons. If it's smoking like an Alco, chances are, it's on fire.

And, they were made by NRE (National Railway Equipment), not Railpower.

Fire wouldnt be good either

Thanks for clarifying that, wiki lied and told me Railpower made them.

 

[julienjj]

Aint railpower the one that made a battery equipped switcher ?

 

[kbkchooch]

Thanks for clarifying that, wiki lied and told me Railpower made them.

Matt my dear boy, let me tell you, Wiki is done by people, people who are not bound by any academic standards and folks who do not verify info before posting it.
Take it with a grain of salt.

 

[diburning]

Fire wouldnt be good either

Thanks for clarifying that, wiki lied and told me Railpower made them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRE_3GS21B

Aint railpower the one that made a battery equipped switcher ?

No, Norfolk Southern did it in-house with assistance from Brookville Mining Equipment Co.

BNSF made a Hydrogen hybrid. Railpower made green goats.

 

[cct70]

Railpower made Gensets too. The Modesto & Empire Traction has a small fleet of the RP ones.

And all but the Brookeville ones are lemons. The Brookeville Gen-set unit (it even looks like a 2nd generation Geep) works great. The rest...jury is still out on one.

 

[diburning]

They may make good gensets, but the BL20GHs aren't as nice.