What's on your workbench?

JR59 Jan 29, 2006

  1. John Bartolotto

    John Bartolotto TrainBoard Supporter

    1,524
    1,033
    46
    Kev,

    Great tutorial! Are there any wires that run from the main part of the Shorty chassis in the front of the car to the rear Shorty wheels at the rear of the car?

    John
     
  2. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

    1,976
    4,712
    63
    Hi John
    There will be.

    In the picture below you can see I have drilled two holes in the end of the Shorty and brought the motor leads out through them. The two bare copper wires sticking up are from the pick-ups on the powered truck. The 3D printed bolster has the Rokuhan Shorty segment of PCB bonded to it for the pick-ups on the non-powered truck to feed. Just need to hook them all up. Did think, looking at all that space, that there is loads of room for a Loksound chip and sugar cube speaker Hmmmmm!

    [​IMG]

    You can also see how I have thinned the chassis to be a snug fit in the Cmac bodyshell

    Kev
     
  3. John Bartolotto

    John Bartolotto TrainBoard Supporter

    1,524
    1,033
    46
    Thanks Kev. Would love to see a photo when you have it all wired up, that would be really helpful, cause I have plans to do a similar thing for a train on my layout.

    John
     
  4. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

    1,976
    4,712
    63
    Right, really nasty close-ups to show up my soldering!

    I used an old piece of 'Verroboard' PCB with rows of conducter and holes with the centre hole bored out to fit over the unpowered truck mounting bolster

    [​IMG]

    There will be a thin insulated spacer and a 12BA hex head screw and washer will fasten it to the Roluhan chassis

    The motor leads are soldered into the holes nearest the chassis and the two wispy pick-up wires from the powered truck are extended and soldered into the next holes

    [​IMG]

    The other unpowered truck pickups are then wired across the solder already there from the other wires

    [​IMG]

    I tested it first by putting just the powered truck on the rails and it worked and then tried just the unpowered truck with the same results so I know it is picking up on all eight wheels

    I'm going to use the standard Rokuhan 'Rapido' coupler between the cars

    The reason for the 'Verroboard' is to give me the flexibility to convert it to DCC sound should I wish


    more soon

    Kev
     
  5. SJ Z-man

    SJ Z-man TrainBoard Member

    3,007
    1,020
    62
    General (brand of hobby/harware store consumer tools) used to sell a metal plate for gauging small 'wire' drills from #61 through #80. Long out production, I was searching for a alternative. Many did not go anywhere close to these small sizes or, were 3x5 more than the original General, like Starrett: 286 @ $60 (MSRP) $54.72 retail but 72.69 on Amazon !

    Found one on Penn Tools: 5054, $16. Very clean, well made.
    www.penntoolco.com/pec-drill-5054-gage-number-size-drills-61-to-80-dg-13/


    Lets share our lost finds to help others.
     
  6. John Bartolotto

    John Bartolotto TrainBoard Supporter

    1,524
    1,033
    46
    Kev,

    Great tutorial. Thank you. So if I was not planning to convert it to DCC sound, then I probably would not need the 'Verroboard', and just solder the wires from the powered truck to the unpowered truck, right?

    John
     
  7. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

    1,976
    4,712
    63
    correct

    Kev
     
  8. John Bartolotto

    John Bartolotto TrainBoard Supporter

    1,524
    1,033
    46
  9. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

    1,976
    4,712
    63
    It works!

    I wasn't happy with the Verroboard. it looked far too clunky and out of proportion so instead I extened the powered truck pick up wires and ran them through the chassis down either side of the motor and out through two extra holes drilled in the back and soldered all the wires on each side together. put the powered and unpowered sections into the body, put it on the track but is sounded like a bag of nails and would barely pull itself. Weird

    took them out again, checked the gear mesh, tested it for shorts. Nothing

    Finally found that two traction tyres had come off and jammed between the wheels and sideframes jamming one axle. Don't know how and they were not easy to get back on but once they were on it runs as sweet as a nut

    seen with the 175s that just require glazing and decals now

    [​IMG]

    Now I've got a running unit I can do the underframe details and add some weight

    More soon
     
  10. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

    1,976
    4,712
    63
    A picture is worth many words

    Thinned down Shorty chassis tapered at the front end (Most british rolling stock tapers in at the end to clear the platforms) pick up leads extended. Soldering anything onto the existing leads is a fiddly job but I wanted to avoid replacing the wire all the way to the truck. Pick up wires and motor leads come through four holes drilled in back of chassis and thn these are linked to pick up leads from unpowered truck

    [​IMG]

    Kev
     
    bostonjim and ZFRANK like this.
  11. John Bartolotto

    John Bartolotto TrainBoard Supporter

    1,524
    1,033
    46
    Kev,

    So the thin wires run all the way down to the unpowered truck, what about the black and red wire?

    John
     
  12. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

    1,976
    4,712
    63
    Hi John

    The way I did it was to bring the pick up wires down to the red and black motor leads. soldered them together and trimmed off the excess and then soldered the wires from the unpowered truck to them there.

    When I get the other car sorted I'll photograph the complete assembly before it goes into the body and will post it here.

    Kev
     
    ZFRANK likes this.
  13. John Bartolotto

    John Bartolotto TrainBoard Supporter

    1,524
    1,033
    46
  14. SJ Z-man

    SJ Z-man TrainBoard Member

    3,007
    1,020
    62
    Not the Workbench, but the Wall :)

    Since wife and I don’t always run some trains at shows (and certainly not right now) or some trains are collectibles, we built a wall display to hold them and show to home visitors .

    IMG_0996.jpg

    We used Showcase Express aluminum extrusions, series 2000 for the HO stuff and series 1000 for the N & HO. The extrusions only come in 4’ lengths, which sorta sucks as it is harder to get a clean long line as it uses a single plastic ‘tongue’ to connect. The extrusions come with a clear plastic ‘sliding window’ but we did not use, for a better view. There are grooves in the lower surface, perfect for N but o.012” to far gapped for Z to drop in !!! I could have put 440mm sections of Rokuhan R083 & $10 each but would have been ~$220, so used the already in my possession Atlas Z flex for a better look and MicroEngineering flex for the N and HO. Plus, the Rokuhan (and Kato Unitrack) would make the Catenary close to the top. The section track is easier to keep all aligned than the flex. But that was why I used the MicroEngineering c70 flex as is stiff-straight out of the box. Märklin flex would be the same, but I would have to buy that too.

    Not fully populated yet. I need the 14 car SP Daylight and my Challenger with a string of reefers. Probably put in SD70 (or C44) with a mixed freight, since they’re just down the hill from the house.

    IMG_0997.jpg

    IMG_0998.jpg

    IMG_0999.jpg

    IMG_1002.jpg

    Maybe *MAYBY* maybe in the future, I'll electrify.
     
  15. Vern

    Vern TrainBoard Member

    59
    165
    18
    Been working on these for a while. The Z-maker 44 tonner is DCCed with ESU nano and directional lighting. M-T 40 ft. flat loaded with 2 Artitec combines, and a resin printed Milwaukee ribside caboose. The caboose body was printed for me by a VERY good friend. Vern.
     

    Attached Files:

  16. rvn2001

    rvn2001 TrainBoard Member

    389
    373
    22
    Those look great, Vern. Anyone I know?
     
  17. Vern

    Vern TrainBoard Member

    59
    165
    18
    I think you have met my big, one-eyed Italian buddy. It was his son.
     
  18. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

    9,814
    14,202
    147
    That'd be awesome if I could get my hands on a Ribside Milwaukee caboose!:love:
     
  19. SJ Z-man

    SJ Z-man TrainBoard Member

    3,007
    1,020
    62
    readying for a show and Winter train time.
    Replaced GP38 chassis, DCC'd
    GP38's - Copy.jpg

    Finished the RSD DCC boards:
    RSD with DCC - Copy.jpg

    Cleaned trucks, repaired railings, couplers on MTL and working on MARS light for new AZL E7's
    MTL and AZL SP E7's - Copy.jpg
     
    Kurt Moose, Doug A., ztrack and 4 others like this.
  20. CNE1899

    CNE1899 TrainBoard Member

    1,097
    1,872
    36
    Decided to create some PRR X-29s, and CNJ XMs, from some Marklin U.S. boxcars.
    I've got a bunch of these and since no one seems interested in Marklin U.S. rolling stock,
    I thought I might cut them up and create some other type of box cars.
    I've sliced them to the correct length, now I will modify the ends, ladders, stirrups, and roof details.
    Scott
    IMG_3210.JPG
     
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2021
    Kurt Moose, Kez and Moose2013 like this.

Share This Page