Double Trouble

The new Consolidation has arrived.

With this one I installed Z scale couplers front and rear. The front was surprisingly easy to do, the dummy has to be removed and the sides and bottom of the coupler box needs to be removed. The Z scale coupler slides right into the hole after that...too far, in fact, when fully seated it hits the pony truck.

I tried modifying the pony truck. Don't. If you carve any of the plastic off you soon find that it is merely a clip that holds the pony truck wheels on the metal frame. I had to glue the plastic piece back on, not easy to do without gluing the wheels to the frame as well. I did, fortunately, manage to get that done.

The next thing to do is carve the rear of the coupler box away. This works, but makes the coupler droop slightly. A bit of judicious filing on the top of the coupler opening angles the coupler up just a tiny bit which, when combined with the droop, levels it out quite nicely.

The N scale coupler recommended for the back of the Connie has an offset that lifts it above the bottom of the tender frame. I had to carve a bit out of the bottom of the tender at the coupler box in order to install the Z scale coupler, but it is at the right height and I really like the way it looks.

I haven't installed a Z scale coupler into Connie #1, and I may not bother, but it is nice to see it can be done without a great deal of effort. It would be even nicer if Bachmann (and all the rest of the steam manufacturers) could be convinced to leave adequate room to install them without having to go through all the bother.

With the couplers installed it was off to the track. Running them together uncoupled shows that Connie 1 is a bit slower off the mark than the new one but a bit faster at the top of the throttle settings. Both run well but Connie 2 isn't as agile in the curves, I had to do a bit of filing on the cylinders to keep the metal pony truck from shorting out on them.

With that done the two locos coupled together ran well, Connie 1 in the lead and 2 in the trail due to the coupler configuration. Either alone runs great, together they pulled a 20 car freight without breaking a sweat and would have pulled more if I had bothered to take anything else out of the boxes.

The next thing to do will be to remove the ATSF markings from Connie 2, something that will get done as soon as I decide to take the time to do so.

What The Heck Am I Thinking?!?

For some reason I've agreed to convert an N scale Bachmann 4-4-0 to Nn3.

I've done a couple of them so far, I sold the best running one and the pictured one makes regular laps around my Nn3 oval. It doesn't back up very well, but all in all, especially considering the extremely reasonable price (I picked it up for $15 at a train show), it's a pretty good loco for the money.

This one started out as the Union Pacific 119, the other one I did started out life as the Jupiter. Since these models were made Bachmann has redesigned them with different paint, better motors and drive shafts. Note the rather large drive shaft on this one, it makes problems when converting them to run on tighter curves.

Garth Hamilton used to have a pretty good tutorial on doing this but I can't find it now. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information anywhere else on the web, either, but there are bits and pieces here and there. That is a shame because the Bachmann conversion is probably the cheapest way to get into Nn3, even though it isn't for the beginner.

Because of the lack of information regarding this conversion I'm going to be taking plenty of pictures during this conversion and documenting the entire thing start to finish. That way if anyone else wants to try it out I can just point the way to the post, or series of posts. This will be the first set of posts with a label.

I guess it is a good way for me to get back into modeling, even if it is just a little bit.

Moar Power!

I have taken delivery of yet another Kato Mikado that will receive the Pennsy L1 treatment like the last one, and todays mail should bring another Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 that I really didn't need, but the price was too good to pass up.

The first thing I did was double-head the Mikes, they run perfectly together and they are going to look great in identical Pennsy L1 dress. The first thing I will do with the Consolidations is run them together and see how they do double-heading.

That is one of the things I really missed about my train-set Connies, when they left so did any chance I had of doubling them up. Now I will have two sets of identical locos I can double-head - or I will, as soon as I can afford another L1 kit.

I also have another Atlas Pacific, this one with its original motor. It runs very well and can be doubled up with either the Model Power or the Arnold, but not with the other Atlas due to the gearing. I'm seriously reconsidering the whole gearmotor thing, I don't like the gear whine I'm getting out of them and I am thinking that a straight drive with a flywheel might be a better option for both the Atlas Pacific and Mikado. That would also give me the option of putting them into lash-ups with the rest of the locos.

On the narrow gauge I have pulled up the Marklin turnouts and test-fitted my FastTracks turnouts. They are longer and so wont' fit in the same hole, but more importantly they are code 55 where the existing Peco track is code 60. I'll have to play around with rail joiners and such to get them to fit right, and then I will have to do something about switch machines. I'm thinking of using some of FastTrack's Bullfrogs that have the integrated microswitches. I'll have to order a couple of them and see how they do. Until then the turnouts have been replaced with straight track and now I just have a continuous loop to run trains on.

Alas no work has been done on disassembling the standard gauge layout. The shed is now filled with daughter and son-in-law's things, and the spare room is filled with daughter and son-in-law. The good thing is I get to see a lot of my infant grandson.

One of these days I won't be the answer to everyone elses problems...

Collecting Data

The East Broad Top Yahoo group has a new member, an historian in Perry County who has a collection of books including one about the railroads.

The collection is called the Perry Heritage Collection, it is linked on the sidebar, and I will be ordering the railroad book, "The Rails of Perry County", to add to my collection.

UPDATE 3/29/12: Guess what showed up today!

Malware

I had to delete one of my links because it was causing the site to be flagged as malware. My apologies to anyone who tried to access the site and was scared away.

By removing the site the problem seems to have been removed as well. Fortunately according to the webmaster tools site no malware has been downloaded from this site, so nothing on this site will have affected your computer.

The link was to modelrailroaders.ca for anyone who is curious. It is now removed from the sidebar.

Updates

The National Narrow Gauge Convention in Hickory NC has come and gone.

I didn't attend, no good reason just other things came along.

I never got my Saltillo modules done, so I guess it really doesn't matter anyway.

Another Atlas Pacific has joined the ever-growing standard gauge fleet, and three little Z scale Mikados arrived last week to begin their transformation.  I
have RLW parts for the pilots and cylinders and I have Bachmann 0-6-0 shells, but I could really use one more.

I'm trying a little something different with tenders this time around, I have an RLW K36 tender that I am going to put together as a temporary stand-in until I am able to afford the EBT Mikado kits. I think it will do OK, if I like it I will get two more.

And now I'm saving my nickels and dimes and writing letters to Santa for three Republic Locomotive Works EBT Mikado kits.

I would say something about benchwork, but alas I have made absolutely no progress. I have this convertible Mustang you see, and the days have been warm and sunny...

Top picture, from left to right; scratchbuilt tender Bachmann shell, completed locomotive; K37 tender, Bachmann shell, newly started locomotive; RLW EBT Mikado kit, completed locomotive.  The next two pictures show the tenders in the same order. The K37 tender needs to have its upper flange repaired, I broke it off when I was examining it.

I have two other Mikados to transform besides the one pictured, so that will bring me up to a grand total of five Mikados, one Mogul and an American. I have enough rolling stock for a rock train, two TOC coal trains (one for the Mogul and one for the American) and a passenger train. I really need one more bobber and one more eight-wheeled EBT caboose, and then I need to start acquiring and building coal hoppers. I also need to add a good number of boxcars and flatcars to the mix as well. As it is I will end up having more locomotives than trains.

I also need to dig into the new Atlas and find out why it all of a sudden just stopped running. I think I have enough rolling stock to keep most of my standard gauge locos gainfully employed, and I'm hoping the new Atlas will double-head with the Model Power Pacific.

I really need to get started on benchwork now. Winter is coming, so progress should be made sometime soon (I hope).

Motive Power, Part 3

It has been a long time since I have updated the site.

The Pennsy L1 is done, the paint just went on it this last weekend. It is a beautiful loco and a strong puller. It won't stay on my current horrible trackwork, but all of that will change when I get the new layout up and running.

Speaking of the new layout, I have finalized the plan for the PRR portion of the Path Valley. The PRR portion is just a double loop that incorporates an interchange with the SR&W at Duncannon PA, not prototypical at all but it will suit my needs. It will be built on a 3x7 door. I'm hoping to have construction started soon, but I have been hoping to have construction started for quite some time now.

The Atlas locos have both been re-motored and they are running fine. The Mikado does not like my trackwork any better than the Kato, but the Pacific does just fine. Both of these have to be run on a transistorized throttle that I built from an MRC unit, they ramp to full speed and don't have any fine control on a rheostat throttle. Just as well, I suppose, since I was planning on building more transistorized throttles anyway.

I picked up an Arnold Pacific as well, so now I have three Pacifics and two Mikados. The train set Consolidations have been shipped off to a new home where hopefully they are providing their new owners with good service and much enjoyment.

The train table has been cleared of trains and the track is being pulled up a little at a time. When the track is all up I will dismantle the table and hopefully be able to use it's pieces for the new benchwork. I don't know what I will end up doing with the roundhouse and turntable, but they will be stored away for future use or sale depending on what happens.

I also picked up another J class, but it is the older model and does not run. I am investigating the possibility of sending it to Bachmann for replacement, we will see how the warranty goes with the new warranty policy.