Well have added the frame extensions and will be tapping for the MT installation later. Getting ready to add tungsten putty to the inner sloped edges of the shell and then I will be cutting lead sheet to add to the cab area. 100_0011-3 by John Moore posted Jan 14, 2023 at 4:32 PM Where the coupler box sat on the mechanism frame I have filled in with styrene, the short white pieces.
The extra weights are now installed and the power chassis frame has been tapped for the MT installation. You can also see the .060 by .060 styrene that has been glued between the windows to form the two exhaust stacks at each end. The Tungsten putty fitted in the body shell has had a thin coat of ACC to prevent migrating down on the motor. Also made some more progress on my brewery hops building. 100_0012-4 by John Moore posted Jan 14, 2023 at 9:30 PM Layers of thin lead have been stacked and glued in the cab area and every thing has been test fitted. 100_0013-5 by John Moore posted Jan 14, 2023 at 9:30 PM
Well further along in the conversion. Weighted body and cab with weight is now on the power chassis and couplers mounted. Also mounted a pair of air tanks and reattached the head lights now on the outside of the central exhaust stacks. Getting ready to carefully cut the exhaust stacks out of the printed sprue and mount them on the roof over the exhaust stacks between the windows. Last will be the set of airhorns in the center of the cab roof. I also have had some more progress on the Brewery hops facility. 100_0014-1 by John Moore posted Jan 15, 2023 at 3:11 PM Moved the new loco and MUed it to the other and tested it this morning. Not satisfied with the amount of cars that I could get up grade from the port facility with a single loco, 3-4 cars depending on size and whether with load, and the fact that space dictated a short S curve of 2 percent. One other factor came into play and that was the tight curvature and space of the port leads into the docks. Some tests showed the small three axle power was best but a test with some two axle power showed perfection. The 2% S turn track upgrade, plus it enters on the mainline curve. 100_0015-2 by John Moore posted Jan 15, 2023 at 4:04 PM And one of the 6 inch Rad turnouts that the port area is full of. 100_0018-5 by John Moore posted Jan 15, 2023 at 4:04 PM So I ended up going with Kato Pocket line 2 axle steeple cab which can take a 4 inch radius. The port area is not electrified, not the space for it and the cat would be in the way. I previously had converted two Bandai steeple cabs used in the mine area so I knew it could be done and I had the important parts needed in my parts box. Plus the Kato steeple cabs are about 4 feet shorter than the Bandai ones. I first thought about a powered caboose as the extra traction power but nothing was found that was suitable so I went with a 2nd Kato steeple cab. In tests this morning I was able to power 12 cars of varying length, some with loads up the grade and through to mainline curve. Since my target was only 8 cars I have exceeded that. On the mainline the two steeple cabs MUed can power 40 cars around the mainline and up a 1% grade without a hiccup. The steeple cabs permanent home is the port only venturing out to deliver a cut of cars to Friday Harbor station yard for the road power to pick. Operations will feature only a single steeple cab to perform switching. The 2nd steeple cab will be used as a pusher to push longer cuts up grade to the main. Just in case someone states there were no diesel steeple cabs. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Official_proceedings_(1930)_(14760680532).jpg
Biggest mainline power is the 70 tonners, and some DD-51s and boxcabs all about the same size as the 70 tonners.
Not originally, the 70 tonners did not like the 8.5 Rad. I was about to get rid of them when I remembered a trick from long ago. Lengthen the slots in the split frames that the trucks rotate in. Chucked a diamond round bit in the Dremel that was the right diameter and lengthened them.
Now that's a good tip! I was a little shocked at how little the Bmann 70-tonner's truck's pivot out of the box. If a normal-length loco had trucks with so little range of motion it'd have trouble on just about any curve!
On my workbench is every locomotive with a DCC decoder inside, finding out which still work and fixing the ones that won't. Loading all of them into my new ESU CabControl System.
Well the two new steeple cabs are done with the windows glazed and decals applied. The F H stands for Friday Harbor so now I have locos lettered for Turtle Creek. Macie Moly Mines, and now Friday Harbor. Parts to finish the transfer caboose arrive in the post tomorrow. The next project is in the back. It will supply the ductwork for the hops transfer building underway by using some of the parts sprues in the box. 100_0019-1 by John Moore posted Jan 16, 2023 at 4:00 PM 100_0020-2 by John Moore posted Jan 16, 2023 at 4:00 PM And now for the next project some assembly required. 100_0021-3 by John Moore posted Jan 16, 2023 at 4:34 PM
Working my way through the train club's maintenance backlog, today it's a DoA SD70ACE. A decoder reset got it moving again but revealed a new problem: the gears had ZERO lubrication but lots and lots of ballast. The Internet wasn't kidding when it said taking apart these Kato shock-absorber trucks is a harrowing experience...
I agree and as I said in an earlier post...who ever thought up those shock absorber trucks needs to be set adrift in the middle of the ocean in a leaky lifeboat !! Does Kato really think a 'shock absorber' is gonna do anything on a center axle of a 3 axle truck on an N scale locomotive ??
Rather than taking the trucks apart, could they be flushed out with some sort of spray cleaner? Or washed in an ultrasonic bath?
They would be 10x easier to work with if the pickups were actually springy. But the phosphor bronze feels almost annealed, and wants to crumple like damp paper. I'd considered it, but this loco had it BAD. Even after scrubbing the gears with hot soapy water I had to go in with fine tweezers and pick big lumps of crud out of the teeth. On the bright side, it runs great again!
I have both Kato SD70M's flared and flat radiator. The flared have the shock absorber/non screwed split frame, and the flat radiator non-shock absorber trucks with the screwed together split frame. Watching them go through switches I can tell a difference with the shock absorber running smoother, but I've never had a problem with either on my track. I would much rather have the ease of being able to take a screwed/non shock absorber locomotive apart for maintenance and put back together than the other. I have a few of the SD70Aces and modeling BNSF they are needed. I have never had an issue with mine, but I've handled them carefully and NEVER taken them apart. All I can say is jwaldo, you are a brave man!!! Ralph
