New thread moved over from Weekend Update …
Well I hope you all aren’t too tired of hearing about Whitcomb switchers.
These have always been favorites of mine especially the Milwaukee 44 tonners. I acquired a 45 tonner from Mark aka Elgin Locomotive Works thinking it would be as close as I would ever get. That build went well and it’s actually ready for paint. During the 45 build lo and behold a friend designed and printed the elusive 44 tonner from plans in the MR Locomotive Cyclopedia. His prints are outstanding and I couldn’t wait to get going on this long awaited project. (sorry 45 Tonner, you’ll have to wait).
The sill was a blank slate to power it with ample room for the preferred 7x16 double shaft coreless motor. Bachmann 44t trucks fit the bill after a little modification.
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The motor rests in a styrene cradle with a groove cut to allow proper worm to gear engagement then soft set in canopy glue as I’ve done with other builds. A strip of brass was attached to uprights at either end to provide weight and also a shelf for the Lokpilot decoder and TCS powerkeeper in the cab.
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I added weight to the cab with lead blocks epoxied into the cheeks of the cab below the window line. Small bulkheads were added to the cab end of the hoods and shrink tubing added to be a conduit for light wiring before filling the remaining space with tungsten powder. A styrene screed ensured the powder was at the correct depth so as not to interfere with the brass strip. So far it weighs in at a nice 28.34 grams and there’s still the tungsten filled fuel tank, brass air tanks and brass exhaust stacks to add weight. My Bachmann 44t weighs 34.88 grams for comparison.
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While the powder was drying out, I installed pickup strips from a Kato 11-106 power chassis. They are glued to the sill in the center then the wires from the the decoder were routed through holes and soldered on.
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The couplers are MT Z scale and the screw hole is far enough inboard that they will double as shell securement with a tapped styrene block glued in the outboard end of the hoods.
It still needs refinement for more robust truck securement and a small adjustment in spacing but the first test run was quite positive. Note the noise in the video is my furnace running 10 feet away and the switcher runs near dead silent.
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There’s much more to do but the heavy lifting is done.
Here’s a family photo with the 45 ton sibling.
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