In the mail the past couple of days were two new to me Marklin Z scale locos, one USRA Mikado that was missing some pieces (motor brushes, pony truck, a couple of screws and its tender) and a Mogul that was complete. My plans are to make some Nn3 locos out of them.
I have discovered the USRA Mikado is essentially the same mechanism as the 8827 German BR41 loco which I use to make Nn3 EBT locos, the only difference is the pilot (it has an American style cow catcher) and the wheel center color (black instead of red). By happy coincidence it has a 5 pole motor so I won't have to swap them out. I had been led to believe the drivers were different sizes but I was glad to see they are not.
The USRA chassis is, in short, a much better starting point for my East Broad Top locos than the German style locos. I have a few of the 8827 chassis that I may sell off and then I'll purchase some USRA chassis instead. There are a handful right now on the auction site that don't have tenders but I'm balking at the listed prices, I think it's too high for what is essentially half the package.
As for the second loco, I have one already that I have converted into an Nn3 loco, I had to change the motors from a 3 pole to a 5 pole on that one. Much to my happy surprise the new loco is already a 5 pole. I have an RLW kit ready to put on this loco but I might change it up a bit instead of building it as delivered.
I also ordered some 5 pole motors for the three 8827 chassis I have that have three polers. I may not need them if I decide to get the USRA chassis instead, but I'll hold on to them just in case.
Monday, June 24, 2019
Friday, May 24, 2019
Dragon Falls...An Update
I've been off work for a few days and since Mrs Hades is still in school I've been at home, so I have managed to get a few things done around the house. One of those things is the Dragon Falls module.
The dragon's cave
A look at the falls from water level
Overall view
Some idiot in a barrel
Closeup of the river
Another overall view
Rockslide and mountain meadow
I want to do a little ballasting around the base of the tracks to help blend it into the scenery, but overall I think I'm done with this module. I really like the way it turned out.
Now I have to complete the other four modules so I can put them together and run a train or two. I hope it won't take as long as this one has, but I fear that it will unless I run into another situation where I am home with no one to bother me and nothing else to do.
Given the current state of house renovations in progress I think that might take a while.
The dragon's cave
Rockslide and mountain meadow
I want to do a little ballasting around the base of the tracks to help blend it into the scenery, but overall I think I'm done with this module. I really like the way it turned out.
Now I have to complete the other four modules so I can put them together and run a train or two. I hope it won't take as long as this one has, but I fear that it will unless I run into another situation where I am home with no one to bother me and nothing else to do.
Given the current state of house renovations in progress I think that might take a while.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
4-4-0 Conversion Part 3
I have been asked to get on the ball and finish this conversion. My deepest apologies, I had sent the body off to be painted after I narrowed it and then the hard drive that the pictures were on crashed, so I haven't done anything with the conversion articles. Back to work on it then.
Now that the locomotive had been disassembled, it's time to narrow the body before it can be painted.
To do this you need a MicroTrains Z scale gauge, a set of calipers, a collection of #11 Xacto blades with handle and a Dremil tool with a sanding drum. I did my first one using only the MT wheel gauge without benefit of calipers, but the calipers do make this job a lot easier. I had to narrow a couple of sets of drivers for my first one because I melted the plastic on one set and destroyed the drivers, and on the second set I didn't chamfer the axle ends and destroyed the drivers trying to put them back on the axles.
To shrink the body down you squeeze the drivers in on their shafts until they fit the Z scale MicroTrains wheel gauge (or until they are .205" back to back). Be sure that the gear is centered between the drivers and then mark the ends, slide the drivers off and then cut the axle stubs off (you want to remove 0.050" from each axle end). Chamfer the axle ends to install the drivers back on and quarter the drivers (this is how I usually do it to prevent damage to the drivers). The axles will be 0.375" long when you are done.
It's easier to take the drives off and chamfer the axle ends when you are done, but pushing the drivers in and grinding/filing off the axle stubs does work. To do it this way I push the wheels in to fit the MT gauge, making sure the gear is centered between them, then mark the axles with a black magic marker. Push the wheels all the way in to the gear and cut the marked ends off of the axles. Work slowly and let the axle ends cool between cuts so you don't melt the driver centers. Quarter the drivers when you are done.
Next take a file and file the bottom plate, removing 0.050" from each side, to reduce it's width to 0.185". The rule of thumb is to file until half of the lettering is removed from each side. Now you can reinstall the worm gear and bottom plate into the loco shell and use it as a guide to narrow the locomotive wheel wells. Work slowly and carefully, you will open the tops of the wheel wells into the cavity where the worm gear resides but this is OK. A combination of #11 Xacto blades and the large sanding drum for the dremil tool works very well for this, but use a variable speed tool set to a low speed setting to prevent overheating and distorting the plastic shell. Remove the bottom plate and worm gear, install the narrowed drivers and make sure they turn freely. Remove material as necessary until they do.
For the pilot truck, cut the plastic bars that hold it to the cylinders at the ends of the slot the truck rides in, the front bar at the right side and the rear bar at the left side, to make two L shaped pieces. Pull one wheel from each axle to remove the axles from the truck, reinstall the wheel and squeeze the wheels to fit the MT gauge and cut off the stub ends. File each side of the pilot truck 0.050" to fit the narrowed axles. Reinstall the axles and wheels into the narrowed truck, making sure they turn freely.
Now to narrow the cylinders (this is optional but it does make the loco look better). Trim the bottom of each L back to the cylinders to narrow them (I really need to take some pictures of this step) and then glue the cylinders back together, installing the pilot truck as you do so. Cut the same amount off of each valve gear hanger on the locomotive body so the cylinders will fit back on. Paint the locomotive body and reinstall the cylinders and pilot truck. Don't worry about the mechanical strength of the cylinder connecting bars too much, the physical strength of the cylinders glued on to the locomotive body supply most of the needed support; the bars are there mostly just to hold the pilot truck. You can drill some holes and put in brass rods to replace the plastic if you like.
At this point the drivers, worm gear and bottom plate can be reinstalled. To reinstall the drive rods you will either have to trim the locomotive body between the drivers to clear them or bend them outward to clear the locomotive body. The locomotive body itself is now done.
In the next installment we will narrow the tender trucks and reassemble the tender. Then the tender can be reunited with the locomotive and the finished product can be tested.
Now that the locomotive had been disassembled, it's time to narrow the body before it can be painted.
To do this you need a MicroTrains Z scale gauge, a set of calipers, a collection of #11 Xacto blades with handle and a Dremil tool with a sanding drum. I did my first one using only the MT wheel gauge without benefit of calipers, but the calipers do make this job a lot easier. I had to narrow a couple of sets of drivers for my first one because I melted the plastic on one set and destroyed the drivers, and on the second set I didn't chamfer the axle ends and destroyed the drivers trying to put them back on the axles.
To shrink the body down you squeeze the drivers in on their shafts until they fit the Z scale MicroTrains wheel gauge (or until they are .205" back to back). Be sure that the gear is centered between the drivers and then mark the ends, slide the drivers off and then cut the axle stubs off (you want to remove 0.050" from each axle end). Chamfer the axle ends to install the drivers back on and quarter the drivers (this is how I usually do it to prevent damage to the drivers). The axles will be 0.375" long when you are done.
It's easier to take the drives off and chamfer the axle ends when you are done, but pushing the drivers in and grinding/filing off the axle stubs does work. To do it this way I push the wheels in to fit the MT gauge, making sure the gear is centered between them, then mark the axles with a black magic marker. Push the wheels all the way in to the gear and cut the marked ends off of the axles. Work slowly and let the axle ends cool between cuts so you don't melt the driver centers. Quarter the drivers when you are done.
Next take a file and file the bottom plate, removing 0.050" from each side, to reduce it's width to 0.185". The rule of thumb is to file until half of the lettering is removed from each side. Now you can reinstall the worm gear and bottom plate into the loco shell and use it as a guide to narrow the locomotive wheel wells. Work slowly and carefully, you will open the tops of the wheel wells into the cavity where the worm gear resides but this is OK. A combination of #11 Xacto blades and the large sanding drum for the dremil tool works very well for this, but use a variable speed tool set to a low speed setting to prevent overheating and distorting the plastic shell. Remove the bottom plate and worm gear, install the narrowed drivers and make sure they turn freely. Remove material as necessary until they do.
For the pilot truck, cut the plastic bars that hold it to the cylinders at the ends of the slot the truck rides in, the front bar at the right side and the rear bar at the left side, to make two L shaped pieces. Pull one wheel from each axle to remove the axles from the truck, reinstall the wheel and squeeze the wheels to fit the MT gauge and cut off the stub ends. File each side of the pilot truck 0.050" to fit the narrowed axles. Reinstall the axles and wheels into the narrowed truck, making sure they turn freely.
Now to narrow the cylinders (this is optional but it does make the loco look better). Trim the bottom of each L back to the cylinders to narrow them (I really need to take some pictures of this step) and then glue the cylinders back together, installing the pilot truck as you do so. Cut the same amount off of each valve gear hanger on the locomotive body so the cylinders will fit back on. Paint the locomotive body and reinstall the cylinders and pilot truck. Don't worry about the mechanical strength of the cylinder connecting bars too much, the physical strength of the cylinders glued on to the locomotive body supply most of the needed support; the bars are there mostly just to hold the pilot truck. You can drill some holes and put in brass rods to replace the plastic if you like.
At this point the drivers, worm gear and bottom plate can be reinstalled. To reinstall the drive rods you will either have to trim the locomotive body between the drivers to clear them or bend them outward to clear the locomotive body. The locomotive body itself is now done.
In the next installment we will narrow the tender trucks and reassemble the tender. Then the tender can be reunited with the locomotive and the finished product can be tested.
Monday, April 8, 2019
T-TRAK update - Dragon Falls
I have been working on my double straight module which I have named Dragon Falls. Here's where I am so far:
The wedding cake was carved and Sculptamolded, then painted. Mrs Hades wanted a dragon, so his cave was carved out of the left handed peak. The river bottom was painted in anticipation of the water pour, my first attempt at this on any layout. Of course this is also my first attempt at going vertical with my scenery, so there is that.
I painted behind the proposed waterfall to look like rock faces and I think it turned out pretty well. Note the nut in the barrel.
Mrs Hades' dragon is guarding his stash.
So far so good. I really like the way the rocks turned out, another first for me. Now I need to do some ground cover before getting into the water.
And speaking of ground cover I was kind of worried about putting the trees on this thing. I mean, look at those mountains, they're straight up and down! No way I can put realistic trees on them, the trunks would look ridiculous! And then I got to looking at some pictures I had taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway, in the Appalachians, which is what I'm going for, and I noticed something.
(Nice car, huh? ;) )
In none of these pictures do I see tree trunks! In fact, in none of these pictures do I see trees at all, I see woods. I see forest. I don't see individual trees! The trunks are hidden by underbrush and other foliage. So, perhaps this won't be so tough after all.
I had some trees from the layout I decommissioned, so I went ahead and stuck them on here. A lot of them are just wire wrapped around toothpicks and covered with ground foam, but they worked out pretty well. I then stuck some clump foliage at the bottom and around the rocks and meadow area.
I think it turned out pretty well, now I need to do the other side and get some water poured. And then...I only have five more modules to complete for a full set. So far I am pleased with the results.
And speaking of ground cover I was kind of worried about putting the trees on this thing. I mean, look at those mountains, they're straight up and down! No way I can put realistic trees on them, the trunks would look ridiculous! And then I got to looking at some pictures I had taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway, in the Appalachians, which is what I'm going for, and I noticed something.
In none of these pictures do I see tree trunks! In fact, in none of these pictures do I see trees at all, I see woods. I see forest. I don't see individual trees! The trunks are hidden by underbrush and other foliage. So, perhaps this won't be so tough after all.
I had some trees from the layout I decommissioned, so I went ahead and stuck them on here. A lot of them are just wire wrapped around toothpicks and covered with ground foam, but they worked out pretty well. I then stuck some clump foliage at the bottom and around the rocks and meadow area.
I think it turned out pretty well, now I need to do the other side and get some water poured. And then...I only have five more modules to complete for a full set. So far I am pleased with the results.
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Chipping the Alco F units
I mentioned before that I had ordered some Southern Digital frames and Digitrax DZ126 decoders for the FA1/FB1 loco set that I want to put DCC in. I only ordered two frames, enough for one set, just in case they didn't work out. I could have gotten DZ123 decoders a bit cheaper, but the 126 has BEMF and better motor control, so the added cost was more than justified.
They arrived and I set to work to put them together. I'm happy to say they worked out great, I did make one modification that I will show to connect the wires and I did have to deviate from the instructions a bit for the motor wire length, but overall they were well worth the purchase price.
The first thing I did was strip down one of the locos and compare the frames.
The left half of the frame is virtually identical to the stock frame, about the only difference (not pictured) is the tab that contacts the upper motor brush is missing on the Southern Digital frame. The right side is very different, having the relief cut out for the decoder. The pocket that the motor fits into is also deeper to allow room for the decoder wire to run to the bottom brush. This becomes important when modifying the stock frames to use on the B units.
I assembled one of the frames as per the directions and discovered that the decoder wire lengths that are specified are too short for the motor leads, they both needed to be another inch longer than the instructions said so that they would reach to the relief where the decoder sits.
The instructions also said the white magnet on the motor went to the top, but both of my motors had the white magnets on the bottom. I left the white magnets on the bottom and when I was done the locos went forward when the NCE PowerCab had forward selected and backwards when the PowerCab said reverse, so they must have been right.
The second thing is the way the wires connect to the frame. The directions say to solder the wires to the frame, but I found the solder just would not stick to the frames. So I figured out another way to do it.
On the left half there are indents cut in for some brass clips to fit in, these clips hold the plastic bearing blocks for the worm gears in place. Being brass they were easy to put some solder on for the black decoder wire.
I had noticed some indents down the sides of the frame and thought maybe the red wire would fit in the one closest to the rear of the frame. I checked, and sure enough it did. So I took my rotary tool and a cutoff disk and cut a wire channel in the top of the frame.
Next, I inserted the truck pickup strip into its spot on the right frame half and marked it where the slot in the frame was. Then I tinned the contact strip.
With the contacts figured out I soldered the wires to the motor, put some electrical tape in for added insulation, and put it in the frame with the gears.
The frame was then reassembled and the black and red wires soldered to the frame tab and truck pickup strip respectively.
The red wire was then tucked into its new slot in the frame;
and the decoder was nestled into its new home.
The trucks were put in and the headlight wired up to the blue and white wires. The directions say to just hook the white wire up but I did them both.
A note of caution, if you ever do one of these be sure to cut the traces on both sides of the light PC board. They are both connected.
I then put the assembled loco on the track and tested it out, and it all worked swimmingly. This completed chassis then went under one of the A units.
I then took a close look and noticed that with a bit of judicious filing the old frame would work for the B unit, I just had to take off enough material for the decoder to fit in the depression where the cab would be on the A unit. I used a rotary tool and cutoff wheel to accomplish this. I then cut a slot for the red wire, on the front of the frame this time, and then while holding the frame halves together cut a slot along the spine of the frame from the front to the top motor contact tab to clear the motor wires. Lastly I cut out the top motor contact tab on the left frame half.
With these modifications the decoder fits on the front of the frame with no problems. The light wires were just clipped short and taped off. The contacts were soldered on the same way as before, and the finished locomotive was tested and put under a B unit shell.
That left me a spare Southern Digital frame. As luck would have it I had another set of locomotives to modify, so the work was done and I now have not one but two FA1/FB1 sets in Erie paint.
All I have to do now is speed match them and I'll be all ready to go pull some freight.
UPDATE: When I went to speed match the locos I found the chipped units were much much slower than the non-chipped units. The non-chipped units ran a max of about 106 scale MPH (prototype top speed was about 65) while the chipped units were fortunate to find themselves above 35. I took the units apart and found the decoder wires were causing the motors to bind on the modified stock frames. So I had to cut a relief in the modified stock frames for the decoder wire and I also had to adjust the tightness of the screws holding the two frame halves together. The screws have to be tight enough to hold the frames together to slip inside the shell but no tighter otherwise the motor binds. Screw tightness also accounted for the slow speed of the Southern Digital framed units.
With those adjustments and modifications made the chipped units once again ran at the same excessive speed as the non-chipped units. I set CV's 2, 5 and 6 on each individual unit to give each loco a starting speed of about 2 scale MPH with a top speed of 65 and a mid speed of 35. Now they all run together as they should.
I now have four chipped units and two DC only units. I'm thinking of selling the two DC units because they have the same numbers as one set of chipped units, but I may just keep them for DC only operations.
But I have them all the same.
They arrived and I set to work to put them together. I'm happy to say they worked out great, I did make one modification that I will show to connect the wires and I did have to deviate from the instructions a bit for the motor wire length, but overall they were well worth the purchase price.
The first thing I did was strip down one of the locos and compare the frames.
I assembled one of the frames as per the directions and discovered that the decoder wire lengths that are specified are too short for the motor leads, they both needed to be another inch longer than the instructions said so that they would reach to the relief where the decoder sits.
The instructions also said the white magnet on the motor went to the top, but both of my motors had the white magnets on the bottom. I left the white magnets on the bottom and when I was done the locos went forward when the NCE PowerCab had forward selected and backwards when the PowerCab said reverse, so they must have been right.
The second thing is the way the wires connect to the frame. The directions say to solder the wires to the frame, but I found the solder just would not stick to the frames. So I figured out another way to do it.
On the left half there are indents cut in for some brass clips to fit in, these clips hold the plastic bearing blocks for the worm gears in place. Being brass they were easy to put some solder on for the black decoder wire.
Next, I inserted the truck pickup strip into its spot on the right frame half and marked it where the slot in the frame was. Then I tinned the contact strip.
The frame was then reassembled and the black and red wires soldered to the frame tab and truck pickup strip respectively.
The trucks were put in and the headlight wired up to the blue and white wires. The directions say to just hook the white wire up but I did them both.
I then put the assembled loco on the track and tested it out, and it all worked swimmingly. This completed chassis then went under one of the A units.
I then took a close look and noticed that with a bit of judicious filing the old frame would work for the B unit, I just had to take off enough material for the decoder to fit in the depression where the cab would be on the A unit. I used a rotary tool and cutoff wheel to accomplish this. I then cut a slot for the red wire, on the front of the frame this time, and then while holding the frame halves together cut a slot along the spine of the frame from the front to the top motor contact tab to clear the motor wires. Lastly I cut out the top motor contact tab on the left frame half.
With these modifications the decoder fits on the front of the frame with no problems. The light wires were just clipped short and taped off. The contacts were soldered on the same way as before, and the finished locomotive was tested and put under a B unit shell.
That left me a spare Southern Digital frame. As luck would have it I had another set of locomotives to modify, so the work was done and I now have not one but two FA1/FB1 sets in Erie paint.
All I have to do now is speed match them and I'll be all ready to go pull some freight.
UPDATE: When I went to speed match the locos I found the chipped units were much much slower than the non-chipped units. The non-chipped units ran a max of about 106 scale MPH (prototype top speed was about 65) while the chipped units were fortunate to find themselves above 35. I took the units apart and found the decoder wires were causing the motors to bind on the modified stock frames. So I had to cut a relief in the modified stock frames for the decoder wire and I also had to adjust the tightness of the screws holding the two frame halves together. The screws have to be tight enough to hold the frames together to slip inside the shell but no tighter otherwise the motor binds. Screw tightness also accounted for the slow speed of the Southern Digital framed units.
With those adjustments and modifications made the chipped units once again ran at the same excessive speed as the non-chipped units. I set CV's 2, 5 and 6 on each individual unit to give each loco a starting speed of about 2 scale MPH with a top speed of 65 and a mid speed of 35. Now they all run together as they should.
I now have four chipped units and two DC only units. I'm thinking of selling the two DC units because they have the same numbers as one set of chipped units, but I may just keep them for DC only operations.
But I have them all the same.
T-TRAK
I have been building T-TRAK modules with narrow gauge track on them. The latest module is a double straight with bridges. I had planned on going 1.5 inches elevation for the narrow gauge, but I changed it up to 2" (51mm) so that I can run the standard gauge underneath it if I want to, I thought it would work out better.
I built the base on an open front so that I could dig down into the foam to put in a bridge or two.
At first I thought about putting in a road crossing, but it just wasn't going to line up with the narrow gauge bridge that I wanted to use. Maybe I'll get a chance to try this again and I'll just build my own grade crossing instead of using the Unitrack crossing.
So I just decided to go with just bridges. The plan is to put a waterfall in behind the narrow gauge bridge and have the river run under both bridges off the front.
I've been carving foam and casting rocks to put on the mountains, in the pictures the mountains are pretty straight but I've carved some reliefs in and I think the rock work is going to really set it off.
Tomorrow I'm going to take the roughed in modules that I already have done, two outside curves and the straight pictured above, to the club president's house and hopefully get the OK to put them in the shows once they are finished. If I get the OK I need to do two more single straights and then figure out if I want to do inside corners or junctions to connect them up to the rest of the T-TRAK layout.
Future plans are to make a junction so that I can connect these narrow gauge T-TRAK modules to my existing layout. And when that happens more pictures will get posted. At least then I'll have some narrow gauge track put in somewhere.
I've been carving foam and casting rocks to put on the mountains, in the pictures the mountains are pretty straight but I've carved some reliefs in and I think the rock work is going to really set it off.
Tomorrow I'm going to take the roughed in modules that I already have done, two outside curves and the straight pictured above, to the club president's house and hopefully get the OK to put them in the shows once they are finished. If I get the OK I need to do two more single straights and then figure out if I want to do inside corners or junctions to connect them up to the rest of the T-TRAK layout.
Future plans are to make a junction so that I can connect these narrow gauge T-TRAK modules to my existing layout. And when that happens more pictures will get posted. At least then I'll have some narrow gauge track put in somewhere.
Saturday, March 9, 2019
You Tube
The Path Valley Railroad now has a YouTube channel!
This channel will be used mostly to keep track of model railroad related subscriptions, but there will be a video or two loaded as well.
Come check us out!
This channel will be used mostly to keep track of model railroad related subscriptions, but there will be a video or two loaded as well.
Come check us out!
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