Machine Shop / Locomotive Drive Work

[WindyPines-1810]

FINALLY -- at last, I have the 4-4-2 operable. The new motor bracket worked out very well, but I couldn't find a sweet spot on the amount engagement of the ball and socket that was both smooth and reliable (it was one or the other). I reviewed Bob's notes on setup and came up with a slightly different approach, which was to leave the universal joint in place and replace the ball-and-socket with a section of rubber tubing. I can report that the reputation of Toyota vacuum hose is intact -- it was just what was needed. Here is a photo from the first test run of this setup:



A short video of the locomotive in action can be seen here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gz0on5rr83r15xi/Test%20Run.mp4?raw=1

...As to the 4-4-2, the only thing left to do now is to replace the couplers that were broken in shipping and do a little touch-up. I will post a video of the locomotive in revenue service when ready.

Jim

Certainly is a nice looking little engine; I'd forgotten what terrific craftsmen hang out here...

Mark

[R.K. Maroon]

I opened this thread to add a post and saw that I had not responded to Mark's comment about the 4-4-2. One of the niches I occupy in this hobby is the acquisition of nice craftsman models that need some amount of work. The restoration takes patience but really only a fraction of the talent of the original builder. When completed, I get to share in a bit of the credit and add a really nice model to the operating roster at the same time. I didn't plan for things to go that way, but it's not a bad place to be.

So here is a follow up to the last project, which was the restoration of an AB set of Max Gray FM Erie-Builts. I hand-delivered the units to my brother Pete in Atlanta, who will do the finish work. Here is a link to a short video of a test run on his layout:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m4o1s1yna4f06r5/Max%20Gray%20Erie%20Builts.mp4?raw=1

Let me know if anybody has problems viewing the file.
Jim

[R.K. Maroon]

It has almost been five years since I started a project to rebuild and upgrade a cast CLW PA for my brother's T&NO Sunbeam. I made a lot of progress at first, as detailed in this thread from pages 4 through 12 (lots of progress on page 8 in particular). The project then ground to a halt and stayed that way for a while. It was finally restarted last December, but haven't posted about it until now. Here is the shell as of today:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/nz8ugd81lkbvf06pudme3/Steps-and-Fuel-Tank-Skirts.jpg?rlkey=r58bpzkqg8ehb9132r435q5of

One of the upgrades to the original model was the installation of detail parts from a second-generation CLW PA (the brass wrapper version). The parts, which came from Lou Houlemarde, included steps and fuel tank skirts, which are shown as installed. The original parts were sand-cast. These are not as sharp as the investment-cast versions of the later kit. The newer parts look good, but they come at a cost, specifically, the machining of pockets into the cast sides for them to fit correctly. Here is a photo of the pockets for the cab doors being machined. You can see the pocket on the far side has already been cut.


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0ozky72z9n2yomt7s21em/Milling-Nose-for-Side-Steps.jpg?rlkey=nbfe92h8gndphtjd93klnbiv4

There are five pockets required per side, ten total. A bit tedious but the last one goes a lot faster than the first.

I experimented with epoxying the parts in place, but it just didn't cut it. The steps are just too easy to whack, and it's impossible to pick up the model without occasionally squeezing the tank sides (which leveraged the epoxy loose). So I soldered the parts on, using my 500 Watt resistance unit to tin the parts and then a small oxy-acetylene torch, originally sold for refrigeration work, to join them. These are not tools the average modeler needs, but good things to have for detail work on doorstops.

More progress pics in the next post
Jim

[Nortonville Phil]

RK,

The PA project is coming along nicely. I especially like the fact that you milled pockets to mount the ladders. And then it looks like you will pin or screw them in place too. Adding solder to that joint should make them be quite strong. As a long time bystander to this project ; I look forward to seeing its completion.

[R.K. Maroon]

I see I never responded to Phil's comments (above) regarding the steps on the CLW cast PA project. I considered using screws to mount them, as this would have the advantage of making them easier to change if (when) one got busted off. As it is, I don't have any spares for replacements anyway, so I decided to solder them on and be done with it. I tried soldering them on with a resistance unit, but I don't have the right handpiece for that thick shell (I do have a 500 Watt unit, so I think that would be enough). Fortunately, it was quick work with the small oxy-acetylene plumbers torch that came my way from a fellow modeler some years back. I don't use it much, but it's good to have when needed.

The next big step was to fill and sand the shell. I don't have any Bondo on hand, so I used JB Weld. It works well, but it took a lot of filling and sanding to get the shell close enough for a prime coat, which went on today:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4z5sxsgqw5hwn2pgggpcp/CLW-Cast-PA-T-NO-First-Prime-Coat-01.jpg?rlkey=ik77hmyfymeo4ylykxp6aunux

https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6npayd4v7aa77gady7760/CLW-Cast-PA-T-NO-First-Prime-Coat-02.jpg?rlkey=u5kcihoqw6whpb2yfyi9rrlvv

https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ze1c9mxa8ozknsbiskjgs/CLW-Cast-PA-T-NO-First-Prime-Coat-03.jpg?rlkey=45ns18cdlicc40kir1dgwzewq

While it's true that a coat of paint hides a lot of sins, it also reveals low and high spots that may otherwise be difficult to detect on the unpainted model. While I am mostly pleased with how this looks, there are indeed a few flaws that will need attention. Note that I left off all the add-on pieces -- horn, number boards, headlight bezel, and the steam generator vents and other roof details, such as lift rings. Not having these attached makes any sanding in the areas where they mount much easier.

Getting close
Jim

[bob turner]

Try lacquer based auto putty. Dries quicker, sands better. Usually oxide red, so you can see the feathered edge.

[De Bruin]

Looks Great!!! Getting close to ".....ignition, .....lift off!"
That roof looks super clean around the area where the DB grids were, kudos! I can only guess how tedious that process is with a cast car body.
Looking forward to painting it and on that note don't sweat the handrails, horns or any of the casting lugs-to-drilled-hole type details.
It's easier to mount those after painting and certainly makes masking the body easier and the color lines cleaner. Conversely feel like those number boards and that door mounted headlight sconce though are key to apply with your torch and resistance probe method as that's the only way to get it right, opinion only.
Looking good!'

[R.K. Maroon]

Five and a half years ago, I started a project to restore a Central Locomotive Works cast Alco PA to operating condition and, while at it, to upgrade the model to a higher level of detail and configure it to match the prototype used by the Texas and New Orleans (as the Southern Pacific in Texas was known). The end of the restoration project was to have the model operating well and ready to go to my brother Pete for painting. Here is the model at the start of the project:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0o5c65q16gxmnx1to78u9/Project-Start.jpg?rlkey=i3zjhngowh3nfs3erolhw3yqh

Here, finally, is the model at the end of my part of the project:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ag7wbgyv0yzpqyebh5rce/Test-Run-01.jpg?rlkey=gcui3rvx1kp0c4d32ye37twt0

The photo was taken with the model at speed during a test run. A brief video from the test run is at the link below:

https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/j47mxgemiszx87gqtkl03/First-Test-Run.mp4?rlkey=bd9m6kd516hh7bl2u140nt9pr

I am heading to Atlanta later this week for a visit with Pete and to attend O-Scale South. I will take the model with me (assuming I can get it through TSA) and am hoping to post photos of the next test run, which will be this locomotive pulling its consist -- the Dallas-Houston Sunbeam on Pete's layout. A video of this consist has been posted here before, but the link is below for those interested:

https://youtu.be/JMwOUbhpU6c

Jim

[R.K. Maroon]

I opened this thread to post on a new topic, but I noticed that I never posted the video of the restored cast PA pulling Pete's custom Sunbeam trainset that I promised in my last post. It can be seen at the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/h2fnkqo9y32mm3b34525f/T-NO-Sunbeam-PA-Test-Runs-with-Consist.mp4?rlkey=0u2jx6uipnzin6558g7g1neln&dl=0

Let me know if anybody has trouble opening the video. I will post to YouTube if necessary.

Jim

[sleepmac]

Jim, video looked great.

Dan Weinhold

[bob turner]

Agree. Did not work on my relatively new iPad, but worked fine on the big Dell.

When does the PA get its paint? Daylight or Bloody Nose?

And what brand of silver is on those cars? You have me almost ready to cut some windows in the Speer extrusions - I have the red vinyl with the SP legend ready to go.



Granted, no legend on this one - but the red ChartPak tape looks great on these cars. Let me see if I can get a photo of the Kasiner cars in SP colors. The Kasiners have "outie" corrugations, but the correct SP (and some ATSF) Pullman cars had "innies" - and they alternated big and little corrugations.
The Speer extrusions are "innies", but they mis-counted the corrugations. You cannot tell . . .

[bob turner]

Some stunning photos drifting around the old e-mail today. Hope they migrate to here.

Meantime here are a couple modified Kasiner cars - this one is "Chart Pak" with Microscale decals that should have been coated with Future Floor Wax.



I generally shortened these to around 19 or so inches and re-did the door and letterboard areas. This is the Sunset color scheme, applied first only to Budd cars. Later on it was applied to everything, including the Pullman Daylight cars.

[bob turner]

And the Kasiner Observation:



This one has the vinyl stripe with the SP legend already pre-printed. Next time I will have Callie reduce the width of the black, and make the stripe ever so slightly wider. You cannot tell, but she outlined the letters in black for me. I like the ChartPak red better, and am sure she can duplicate it for the next order.

And I bet she can do vinyl for those rectangles on the sides - I need to order some Milwaukee stripes as well, so soon . . .
Long time forumites will remember she did the chrome wings for my Milwaukee Erie-Built. Superb work!

A word on doorstop truck sideframes: For me, the only realistic Daylight truck was done by Lobaugh. The Obs has Commonwealth trucks, for some reason. And I do have a few of those "Hat" trucks with roller bearings, and today learned that they may be FV Shops products from 75 years ago.

[R.K. Maroon]

When does the PA get its paint? Daylight or Bloody Nose?

Pete has the PA in his paint queue. The T&NO PAs wore the daylight scheme from start to end of service on the Sunbeam (and its sister train the Hustler). So Daylight it will be.

And what brand of silver is on those cars?

Pete will have to comment as to the car shells. I want to say that I painted the trucks with Rustoleum "High-Performance" Aluminum. This after Pete and I bought several different rattlecans of silver, aluminum, and stainless steel paint for the purposes of comparison:

[De Bruin]

……When does the PA get its paint? Daylight or Bloody Nose?

Yep soon, I spent a bit of time building that Sunbeam consist out of Chester cars so I’m inclined to knock that out next. Yeah the Lark Grey and Scarlet scheme showed up on the T&NO after the Sunbeam was discontinued.

And what brand of silver is on those cars?

The Chesters have rolled aluminum sides cut to PS plans(in theory) so I wanted to emulate the prototype mix of painted sheet steel window band, roof and letterboard and naked corrugated stainless steel pier panels. Jim tested out various commercial rattle can brands and my notes indicate we wound up using Rustoleums Pro High Perf. “Stainless Steel” on the corrugations and their “Aluminum” on the sheeted parts. Jim used Ace Premium “Chrome Aluminum” on the trucks. I buffed the corrugations after painting them to further simulate the appearance of naked metal edges.

The Speer extrusions are "innies", but they mis-counted the corrugations. You cannot tell . . .

I think the Chesters corrugation pattern is wrong too, but IMO for this project close enough such that I reversed the sides on the BCM baggage car in order to match the Chesters, after all the Sunbeam was pretty much all pre-war PS save for the occasional HW baggage or substitute diner so they all had to match. Jim got Dennis Mashburn to do the truck castings and he added/machined bearings into the side-frames, they look great and roll like a dream. I do have another SP train in the queue, a late model Sunset using a mix of MAC shops kits for the original Budd built cars, a bashed PC&F 50' express box and a dreaded Automat modified out of a BCM prewar car Lounge.