Weekend Update 6/16/13

[bc6]

Heres my Showcase Miniatures MoW truck next to an Atlas vehicle.

[BCR 570]

Mark:

Semaphore looks intersting - hope to see in person next week if post-op recovery allows.


Andy:

Good progres on bridge - I continue to be amazed at what people can do with that Central Valley kit.


Tim

[wcfn100]

After many trips through the area, I finally caught this:




Jason

[eja]

After many trips through the area, I finally caught this:




Jason

Australia ??

[davefoxx]

Look close and you can see the initials on the side of the first motor.  It's the Black Mesa & Lake Powell RR in Arizona.  Neat pic of a very unique railroad and setting.

[C855B]

Australia ??

Like Dave said, Black Mesa & Lake Powell in Arizona. An isolated RR serving as a conveyor belt between the coal mine and power plant. Here's a sat view of the power plant end:

http://goo.gl/maps/KAuvO

[nstars]

Here is a new video featuring PRR steam - this time in glorius HD and sensuround sound.  Skyline K4 on the mail and express train, and the M1a are brass.  The other K4 on the passenger train is a very upgraded MiniTrix.

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Doug, great video!

Marc

[nstars]

The tender drive for the T1 is progressing quite nice allthough attaching the side frames of the tender trucks turned out to be very time consuming. The problem is to provide for enough space to let the truck swing.

Picture of the mold for the lead tender weight. We want to have as much weight in the tender as is possible.



Several components of the drive itself. The PC board frame, 2 trucks and the connector to the locomotive.





First impression of the frame under the shell of the tender. It's just a first impression and it's certainly not finished yet!



The trucks more in detail.









Hopefully soon the drive will be in running order. 

Marc

[dougnelson]

Doug, great video!

Marc

Hi Marc - thanks to you and Hans.  Go N Stars!

(Hans Starmans' work is responsible for how the 2 K4s run)

[carlso]

Marc - totally fantastic work, it is just beyond my capabilities which makes me jealous. Keep it up, I guess Jason is waiting for the tender ? ? ?

One question and by no means am I casting stones at your work. Could you use a bit smaller motor with shafts on each end so you could use two powered trucks. Could you offset the gear tower towards the outside end of truck to gain a little more room for motor?

Nice work,

Carl

[up1950s]

Mark , that is such a pro job you're doing on that T1 . That type of exactness often stems from how one makes a living , is that the case with you ?

[superturbine]

Wow that is freaking awesome work Hans and Marc!!!

[nstars]

Marc - totally fantastic work, it is just beyond my capabilities which makes me jealous. Keep it up, I guess Jason is waiting for the tender ? ? ?

One question and by no means am I casting stones at your work. Could you use a bit smaller motor with shafts on each end so you could use two powered trucks. Could you offset the gear tower towards the outside end of truck to gain a little more room for motor?

Nice work,

Carl

There are 2 drives in progress and one is indeed for Jason.

You're not the first to ask this question, but the reasons for us for powering only one truck are
- it makes the pickup easier to contain within the tender and therefore also more reliable (and probably easier for more 'mass' production).
- the reliable power pickup minimizes the number of wires between loco and tender, which makes independent movement of loco and tender easier. Don't forget the long overhang of the loco, free movement is essential.
- Powering 2 trucks also creates more internal friction
- Offsetting the gear tower would also create more gears in the truck itself (= more friction again) while at the same time the weight distribution on the truck is changed.
- Less gears means also less noise and I don't know what Jason will do, but we're probably going to install sound in it.
- This configuration makes it also easier to use a good coreless motor. Coreless motors with one axle are a lot less expensive than 2 axle motors.
- It may also make a flywheel possible although the jury is still not out on this subject. Time could be running out on this as we leave for Milwaukee on friday.

In theory you can use 2 powered trucks, but the question is if it runs better or pulls more. FYI the brass T1 we have (the NJ International version) has also been repowered in similar fashion. In that case the coal bunker prevented a second power truck and it runs very well and can pull a 22 passenger car train up on a 3 percent helix with the whole train on the grade. The same is true for the plastic K4 in Doug Nelsons video, it is also powered by one truck only (see picture below).

[nstars]

Mark , that is such a pro job you're doing on that T1 . That type of exactness often stems from how one makes a living , is that the case with you ?

For Hans it is, for me it isn't, I'm a civil engineer working on railroad projects.

Marc

[carlso]

Marc,

I know you are very busy, so thank you for the explanation. It all makes good sense. That's using the KISS method for sure. Again, very nice work.

Carl