jmupton2000
John M Upton
A little bit but nowhere as bad as I was expecting. A little fine filler should sort that out.
John's Loco Workbench - More Projects Begin...
- Thread starter jmupton2000
- Start date
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jmupton2000
John M Upton
The body parts have been stripped, primed and resprayed, looks much better now.
Indeed! What road?
jmupton2000
John M Upton
The S4 is being finished as a new addition to my fictional shortline, the CD&LR. It joins long serving sister S4 No. 23 as No. 22.
It's not quite finished yet, the handrails are still being done:
When it is on the active roster, it will give me the chance to give No. 23 a much needed overhaul, it's been used a lot. I wrote a fictional history for my shortline some years ago citing that there were a pair of S4s on the roster, I did 23 some years ago, it's taken me this long for a suitable needed a repaint donor to arrive to become No. 22.
It's not quite finished yet, the handrails are still being done:
When it is on the active roster, it will give me the chance to give No. 23 a much needed overhaul, it's been used a lot. I wrote a fictional history for my shortline some years ago citing that there were a pair of S4s on the roster, I did 23 some years ago, it's taken me this long for a suitable needed a repaint donor to arrive to become No. 22.
Looks good!
jmupton2000
John M Upton
All finished and back to work...
Meanwhile, my UK ebay provider of old relics has come up with another one for me to get back on the rails...
A Baldwin AS-616, doesn't work, missing some brake gear off the truck side frames, one number board has gone walkies.
I presume this is a Stewart model.
Meanwhile, my UK ebay provider of old relics has come up with another one for me to get back on the rails...
A Baldwin AS-616, doesn't work, missing some brake gear off the truck side frames, one number board has gone walkies.
I presume this is a Stewart model.
Those Stewart Baldwins ran well, but were extremely noisy. They used Athearn BB internals, so you may get better results using later BB mechanicals.
jmupton2000
John M Upton
The chassis of the AS-616 is now in bits:
There is a smooth running (and slightly melted from.clumsy soldering) Mashima motor under there. One truck and associated drive shaft is running well, the other end has a driveshaft that keeps jamming and I found a lump of glue that had been dropped that was sticking one wheel against the inside of the truck frame!
There is a smooth running (and slightly melted from.clumsy soldering) Mashima motor under there. One truck and associated drive shaft is running well, the other end has a driveshaft that keeps jamming and I found a lump of glue that had been dropped that was sticking one wheel against the inside of the truck frame!
Looks like the previous owner took the hit and put a can motor in there. One less thing for you to do.
jmupton2000
John M Upton
I've got the AS-616 going, just need to order parts.
Meanwhile, another victim of cruelty to model locos has arrived, another Atlas S series switcher but basically it's s pile of parts
It has an identity crisis, the cab identifies as Jersey Central Lines Alco S1 1025, the hood is undecorated and the box says Central Vermont S4 8081!
But that is not the worst of it, aside from.a section of handrail that is both broken and clearly from a completely different lovo type, a previous owner has for no readily apparent reason, ground off the frame sides below the cab:
Fortunately the motor works and I have a spare frame handy as this one realistically is a write off. Seriously, what are some people out there doing?!?
Meanwhile, another victim of cruelty to model locos has arrived, another Atlas S series switcher but basically it's s pile of parts
It has an identity crisis, the cab identifies as Jersey Central Lines Alco S1 1025, the hood is undecorated and the box says Central Vermont S4 8081!
But that is not the worst of it, aside from.a section of handrail that is both broken and clearly from a completely different lovo type, a previous owner has for no readily apparent reason, ground off the frame sides below the cab:
Fortunately the motor works and I have a spare frame handy as this one realistically is a write off. Seriously, what are some people out there doing?!?
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jmupton2000
John M Upton
The replacement frame has been sanded down, primed and painted with reassembly now in progress:
I discovered that the damaged China production frame and the older Austrian production frame were not quite identical. The later Chinese made version has slightly more length of space for the motor and when I tried putting the motor into the older Austrian frame, the brass flywheels were jammed tight against the raised parts of the frame.
I tested the spare motor I had (also older Austrian version) and it worked so I switched them out rather than faffing around trying to push the flywheels further inwards or filing off bits of metal frame.
The circuit board has been messed with though by a previous owner and will need a soldering iron to MacGuyver back together.
I discovered that the damaged China production frame and the older Austrian production frame were not quite identical. The later Chinese made version has slightly more length of space for the motor and when I tried putting the motor into the older Austrian frame, the brass flywheels were jammed tight against the raised parts of the frame.
I tested the spare motor I had (also older Austrian version) and it worked so I switched them out rather than faffing around trying to push the flywheels further inwards or filing off bits of metal frame.
The circuit board has been messed with though by a previous owner and will need a soldering iron to MacGuyver back together.
jmupton2000
John M Upton
The chassis has been unbodged and is now a runner:
For some inexplicable reason, a previous owner (in addition to trashing the chassis frame and swapping out body parts randomly) had cut off the tab that connects the circuit board to the top brass contact of the motor and sliced through the circuit board around the connecting screw before badly soldering wires on that, because they were attached (very loosely!!!) to brass, just fell off.
I managed to find some strip, a little solder here and there and now it is a smooth runner.
Just got to get the body shell finished...
For some inexplicable reason, a previous owner (in addition to trashing the chassis frame and swapping out body parts randomly) had cut off the tab that connects the circuit board to the top brass contact of the motor and sliced through the circuit board around the connecting screw before badly soldering wires on that, because they were attached (very loosely!!!) to brass, just fell off.
I managed to find some strip, a little solder here and there and now it is a smooth runner.
Just got to get the body shell finished...
jmupton2000
John M Upton
Waiting on delivery of some transfers before the resurrected S4 returns to service.
I bought another wreck though...
Apparently spares or repairs non runner. Seems to be running fine to me! Needs the aftermarket handrails straightening out and the paint work tidying up, apart from that, it's decent.
Who makes these replacement wire handrails by the way?
I bought another wreck though...
Apparently spares or repairs non runner. Seems to be running fine to me! Needs the aftermarket handrails straightening out and the paint work tidying up, apart from that, it's decent.
Who makes these replacement wire handrails by the way?
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jmupton2000
John M Upton
The MEC S4 is awaiting new handrail parts and the USA 250 S4 is awaiting flag decals, lost in the post somewhere...
Back to the Baldwin AS-616. What I thought was a drive shaft problem at one end, wasn't. So I decided to take the trucks apart and see what was going on.
Not dismiliar to an Athearn Blue Box in design, the trucks were indeed the main problem.
A previous owner had poured a few barrells of oil in them at some point and I reckon they either ran it on a carpet or had a very hairy dog as it was packed with hairs:
The gears were cracked on five of the six wheel sets, they just fell apart. Fortunately, good old Athearn parts pack #60024 is a direct fit replacement.
And now we have a running chassis:
Back to the Baldwin AS-616. What I thought was a drive shaft problem at one end, wasn't. So I decided to take the trucks apart and see what was going on.
Not dismiliar to an Athearn Blue Box in design, the trucks were indeed the main problem.
A previous owner had poured a few barrells of oil in them at some point and I reckon they either ran it on a carpet or had a very hairy dog as it was packed with hairs:
The gears were cracked on five of the six wheel sets, they just fell apart. Fortunately, good old Athearn parts pack #60024 is a direct fit replacement.
And now we have a running chassis:
jmupton2000
John M Upton
Attention now turns to the body shell:
Now, my plan was to finish it in scarlett/grey bloody nose colours BUT this is where it gets complicated (Hey, its Espee, since when did any of their supposedly identical locomotive ever look identical!!) as the shell is for one without dynamic brakes.
Dynamic brake fitted ones had many more grilles in the sides of the long hood, this shell does not (Making it wrong for the number it current carries as well) plus the number boards on each nose corner of the short hood are also too small, on the dynamic brake ones, they were sometimes larger and mounted much higher up.
Fortunately, the small batch that were built for subsidiary T&NO didn't have dynamic brakes but then the frame is wrong so whatever I choose will be a compromise. I have no evidence that any of the T&NO batch recived bloody nose colours before they were retired, they might have done, but we may never know.
There is some damage to one of the pilot faces too but that should be an easy fix:
Now, my plan was to finish it in scarlett/grey bloody nose colours BUT this is where it gets complicated (Hey, its Espee, since when did any of their supposedly identical locomotive ever look identical!!) as the shell is for one without dynamic brakes.
Dynamic brake fitted ones had many more grilles in the sides of the long hood, this shell does not (Making it wrong for the number it current carries as well) plus the number boards on each nose corner of the short hood are also too small, on the dynamic brake ones, they were sometimes larger and mounted much higher up.
Fortunately, the small batch that were built for subsidiary T&NO didn't have dynamic brakes but then the frame is wrong so whatever I choose will be a compromise. I have no evidence that any of the T&NO batch recived bloody nose colours before they were retired, they might have done, but we may never know.
There is some damage to one of the pilot faces too but that should be an easy fix:
"Dynamic brake fitted ones had many more grilles in the sides of the long hood, this shell does not (Making it wrong for the number it current carries as well) plus the number boards on each nose corner of the short hood are also too small, on the dynamic brake ones, they were sometimes larger and mounted much higher up.
Fortunately, the small batch that were built for subsidiary T&NO didn't have dynamic brakes but then the frame is wrong so whatever I choose will be a compromise. I have no evidence that any of the T&NO batch received bloody nose colors before they were retired, they might have done, but we may never know"
I believe a few did make it into Bloody Nose. More common was the Black Widow, and at least one got the Halloween scheme, though that was very short lived. I had the same Dynamic Brake problem with my Atlas RSD-5s. If you want a correct one your choice is to scratch the additional grilles. I wouldn't. Who would know, really? Pick your battles.
Fortunately, the small batch that were built for subsidiary T&NO didn't have dynamic brakes but then the frame is wrong so whatever I choose will be a compromise. I have no evidence that any of the T&NO batch received bloody nose colors before they were retired, they might have done, but we may never know"
I believe a few did make it into Bloody Nose. More common was the Black Widow, and at least one got the Halloween scheme, though that was very short lived. I had the same Dynamic Brake problem with my Atlas RSD-5s. If you want a correct one your choice is to scratch the additional grilles. I wouldn't. Who would know, really? Pick your battles.
jmupton2000
John M Upton
A bit more digging around reveals that the T&NO batch with the exception of 180 survived well into 1967 and at least one into 1968, all be it now SP owned with the same numbers so bloody nose livery, although not photographically proved, is a possibility.
181 it is...
181 it is...
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