Weekend Update 7/7/19

[160pennsy]

After over a year of off-and-on work, I finally finished my Climax kit from @randgust complete with working headlight and DCC

Excellent work! Which decoder did you use and was it mounted in the square metal weight that sits over the drive shaft? Got any photos of the install?

[johnb]

Is it 1950 or 1980?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

MBB trailers are moving forward.

The stub ends of the core kit need to be modified to have angled edges.

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The car sides are clear plastic masked for painting.

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The doors will be the clear plastic while the window section will be lamenated later.

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Still working on getting the end angled right.

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The under frame is  lamenated using parts from American LTD, Kato RDC steps, MTL car interiors and brass sheet.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

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This is how it fits together.

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[dnhouston]

Excellent work! Which decoder did you use and was it mounted in the square metal weight that sits over the drive shaft? Got any photos of the install?

@160pennsy, Unfortunately I did not take a bunch of photos during the build, I'm really bad about not taking any pictures until I finish up for the day.  But I will try to explain using the two (2) photos I could find.
I used a DZ126 decoder seen here



It is hard to tell from the photo above, but there is a gap between the engine and the top of the water tank that is just slightly smaller than the height of the decoder.  I cut and filed back as much as I could, and then finally decided to cut off the top of the tank, add an 1/8th inch spacer and then glue the top back on.  I then painted the exposed portions of the decoder flat black so that it would not stand out (I have an arrow pointing to the part that is visible below.) Once I added the weight over the drive shaft, and painted it flat black as well, the decoder just disappears into the interior shadows.  If you look closely, you can also see the remnants of the putty I used on top of the water tank to hide the spacer seams where I had not fully sanded it down yet.  The red and black magnet wires are for the, at this point, still to be installed headlight.  Those wire were buried under the wood piles.

[thomasjmdavis]

Is it 1950 or 1980?

Boxcar- no roofwalk....1980

[johnb]

Boxcar- no roofwalk....1980

tiger stripped SW1 with Pacific Electric lettering....the PE merged with the SP in 1965

[nkalanaga]

Maybe the industry bought/leased the SW1 for a plant switcher, and kept the paint scheme?

There were a lot places out West in the late 70s and early 80s that hadn't changed much since the 50s.  In eastern Washington that led to 40 foot 50-ton boxcars remaining in service into the early 80s, as the branch lines couldn't handle 100-ton grain hoppers.  In most cases, the lines were finally abandoned, and the farmers trucked the grain to elevators on the main lines, or the rivers.

A BN freight with 4 or 5 F units and a string of grain boxes looked very much like a 1940s or 50s train.  Many of the old cars still had roofwalks, partly because the railroad didn't want to spend money on a car they hoped to be rid of, and partly because the elevator workers needed to be on the roof.

[craigolio1]

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This is how it fits together.

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Brilliant use of Kato RDC steps. I’ll have to remember that one.

How did you cut such a perfect mask for the vestibule door window. Curved edge and all.

Craig

[Jesse6669]

I kept forgetting to ask you: are this actually powered, or just display models?

Hood locomotives are free rolling dummies for the most part.   The thinnest motor (3mm diameter) is the primary limiting factor.  I think there may be thinner DC motors out there but the price gets astronomical.  I designed a worm-drive mechanism for a 3mm motor that can be seated in the fuel tank area but there are limitations on the 3D materials used (strength mainly).  Also thought about making brass hood sides that would barely permit the 3mm motor.  Anyway--as it is, power for trains can be provided by rolling stock that have the necessary width/length to house the standard mechanisms-- RDC, FP7, 60' boxcar.. etc.  I even thought about using MagnoRail to power trains.  Currently I don't have a layout to run anything on anyway, the Princeton Jct. module is in concept stage--so I guess these are display models for the time being!
   

[John]

I built one of the MT HMVWWs to see what I could do with it.. These are nice little kits, but be prepared to spend some time on each one .. the eteched details are fragile, so handling the vehicle, you need to be careful.  The biggest problem was attaching the hood lift rings.   MT did a very nice job with these ... I'd recommend painting before assembly, including the brush guard, and the snorkel. I'd wait on the mirrors until after installation.  I'd spray wheels and undercarriage with some grime, the hit the entire car with some chalks ..

Enjoy

[SP-Wolf]

I finished up a project - long in the needing and making:

First, I started with:


Back dated the paint/lettering and with a correct road number (I need to work on the end ladder grabs)


While I was at it -- I did up 2 more:


Thanks,
Wolf

[diezmon]

Got another decoder installed, and some details finished on this F7.   Just need to get the number boards on.

It's an MRC drop-in decoder, and it really sounds like crap, especially after having installed an ESU Loksound on another unit.   

[John]

I finished up a project - long in the needing and making:

First, I started with:


Back dated the paint/lettering and with a correct road number (I need to work on the end ladder grabs)


While I was at it -- I did up 2 more:


Thanks,
Wolf

Nice work .. I started a caboose project as well ...

[Cajonpassfan]

+1 Wolf!
Otto