I got a Wright Trak radio car painted this weekend: I hope I still have the decals to put on this kit. With such large, flat surfaces, it should be a walk in the park.
In order to control mid-train locomotives remotely, these cars were used to house the radio equipment required to receive signals from specially equipped master locomotives.
I'm not sure when they first started, but certainly through the 80s and into the 90s. The MU receptacles were mounted high originally, which would put them in a good position to connect to F units on the nose. Later on the MU connection was routed to a position near the brake pipe via a conduit. I have not modeled the MU connection on this model yet, since I'm still on the fence over whether I'll keep the trucks it has now or update it to a later version. It would certainly fit better with my models if I update it, but I like the express trucks better than the ordinary freight trucks that replaced them. Here is a model of the same type of car I built from styrene sheet and an Atlas boxcar many years ago before the Wright Trak kit was available. You can see the vertical conduit running to the side of the door:
Great stuff Ryan. Sure shows how technology has shrunk all that stuff so it fits in the nose these new units huh?
I know, it's crazy. I just ran a little empty unit train overnight that was 1 and 1. It's amazing how ordinary that is now and how well it performs. I just punch buttons telling the DP what to do and it says "ok!" I've seen the inside of the old Southern SD40-2 or SD45 master units and the control tower for the remotes is massive. The engineer really worked those things.
I don't have a functioning layout so, at the moment, all my pleasure comes from buying junkers and getting them back into respectable operating condition. My current project started out with the purchase of a Mantua 4-6-2 from an acquaintance on a Facebook group of which I am a member. Here is what I started with. When I took the picture I had already completed work on the tender. The original intent was to scrounge whatever was good from the kit and garbage the rest. However, upon inspecting the contents of the box, it appeared that everything was in there including all the screws and detail parts. Therefore I decided to assemble all that I could and see what I ended up with. First I assembled the tender. Everything was there including a Kadee coupler and box. Whoever painted the model had also painted the coal load green. I have heard of blue coal but green? I painted the load black. The posts where the trucks attach were lightly filed (the contact points were painted over) and sanded with 400 grit wet/dry emery paper as well as the contact area of the trucks to improve electrical contact and the brass pickup wheels were polished with 600 grit wet/dry emery paper. I then began work on the frame. It was intact except for the pilot and step unit. It was plastic and was broken. I rummaged through my junk box and found a die cast unit that was intact and used it. The wheels, axles and side rods were in good condition, with the wheels still in quarter. The bearings showed some corrosion as were 2 of the axles. For the time being I used them "as is" as I didn't want to start filing and mess something up. I applied a goodly amount of Labelle oil during assembly. The valve train required some attention as several of the parts required straightening. I also tightened several of the rivets with light pressure from a pair of pliers. I have ordered a fiberglass burnishing pen to complete the clean up of the bearings and axles. The motor was terribly noisy but a little Labelle 107 fixed that and the motor runs smooth as silk. The motor was then added to the chassis and some Labell gear grease to the motor shaft worm and axle drive gear. I hooked the power pack directly to the motor and slowly increased the voltage. Everything appeared to be functioning as normal so I applied a full 12 volts to the motor. All was good. I let it run for about 10 minutes and reversed the motor and ran another 10 minutes. I removed the pickup wire from the motor and shortened it (there was too much hanging between the cab and tender) and re-soldered it along with the headlight wire to the motor. I installed the cab, the light into the boiler and placed the boiler onto the chassis and secured it with the required screws. The bell and hand rails were installed and the job was complete with what I had. I still need some more hand rail posts and some wire to complete the throttle linkage. When my burnishing pen arrives I will completely dismantle everything again and clean it all up and relube properly (I currently have too much to compensate for the rust/corrosion). I am also debating whether to strip the green paint and go grey firebox/black boiler. Anyway this is my result to this point in time. I hope you enjoyed my adventure and that I didn't bore anyone.
Looking good. I have a junk box full of those old open frame motors that I replaced with Sagami can motors. Those old mechanisms still run real nice.
Dug out several of my old DCC modified engines this week end. One is an old favorite, the Rock Island Aero Train. Only has two wheel per side for pickup so is very sensitive to track conditions. The body doesn't really sit properly so will need some more work to get it looking right. The cars are exceptionally light weight so that too will require work. But it is fun to see it on tracks again! HO Scale Rock Island Aero Train w/ DCC by Doorgunnerjgs posted Nov 13, 2016 at 10:20 PM
Well I didn't exactly build them, but I did do component fabrication. Happy Thanksgiving to all my TrainBoard friends!!!!!
I started work on a pair of Exactrail PS 4427 Covered Hopper kits. A lot of work but I like the resulting cars! Installed the reinforcing plates, slack adjuster and brake line on the underside of the cars. Added sill steps to the bolster plates and installed them on the ends of the car. Thanks for looking! Rick Jesionowski
When you're on vacation, you prep for decaling; it's what you do....you can also save 15% on car insurance. Oh wait, never mind.
The old Tyco/Mantua Pacific was the first steamer I had; obtained several more over the years, modifying all of them. They are all gone now, except for a very early, all metal example with the enclosed gear box; runs smooth as silk and is quiet to boot! Mark in Oregon
