Little Switcher I Made

ajkochev Mar 26, 2021

  1. ajkochev

    ajkochev TrainBoard Member

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    Here is my Front End Friday entry. I've been working on this little guy for over a week. He started life with me as just the shell I picked up somewhere. I used a Kato 11-109 power unit and Digitrax DZ126 decoder in the build, along with warm white LEDs. Lots of kitbashing and extra styrene to cover gaps and some home made 3D printed parts and brass rod gave me the little switcher. I love N scale switchers so I was pleased with how this turned out.
     

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  2. tehachapifan

    tehachapifan TrainBoard Member

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  3. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    I - LOVE - IT!!!! Do you know where the shell came from?
     
  4. ajkochev

    ajkochev TrainBoard Member

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    I think it is a Bachmann Plymouth Switcher. I have another one with the drive unit and this shell fits it. It is a poor runner though. I love Great Northern so I bought the shell when I saw it. The Kato power unit run really good even at low speeds. Had to tweak the wheels and pickups a bit but there is no stalling and I have isolated frogs so I'm really pleased with how it runs.
     
    MK and Hardcoaler like this.
  5. Bookbear1

    Bookbear1 TrainBoard Supporter

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    Really nice job!
     
  6. sd90ns

    sd90ns TrainBoard Member

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    "Critters!"
    In color, a Quinn Martin Production.
    Starring; Great Northern and Bachman.
    Special Guest Star; Kato.

    This episode; "Blue on Blue".
     
    Kurt Moose and Hardcoaler like this.
  7. brokemoto

    brokemoto TrainBoard Member

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    Nice work on the switcher. How is the slow speed control on that Kato power chassis? Does it stall frequently?

    I had a pair of the latest version of these that B-mann sold, those in the plastic box. They were the first versions of these issued by any manufacturer that ran halfway decently. Due to their small footprint, they stalled more frequently than I would have liked. I did hard wire the pair together, which stopped the stalling. I found that hard wiring the pair together was more effective in addressing the stalling than was wiring one up to one of the electrically live JNR brakeman's vans that I have. I have a few of those that I bashed into industrial hacks. Eventually, I sold the B-mann s.

    There was this guy at a show who was selling non-functional B-mann latest versions of this for five bananas. I bought two. I tried in vain to get them to run. I then took out the motors and some of the gears, then coupled them to one of my powered box cars. One thing that I always have noticed about these is that the front handrailings are a bit clunky. I replaced them with staples on the yellow one and a railing that I got from I-forget-where on the red one.

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    The blue one is an older model of unknown manufacture. Several manufacturers have offered this over the years. None of them ever ran well until the B-mann plastic box version. The hand railings on this one came from some alien freight car, but I do not remember what it was.



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