August and September - Finishing up projects
I have many projects that are "almost" done. Getting around to completeing some of them. Finishing up painting and decaling.
July - Loads for the flat cars
Began to scratch build a set of loads for the flat cars. The first loads will be based on a heat recovery steam generator. These generators are used in a gas turbine power plant. They are scratch built of Evergreen styrene shapes and JTT corrugated siding styrene sheet. The loads consist of three sub assembles: two sides and a center box.
The flat cars are weighted with #9 nickel plated lead shot from MidwayUSA.
June - Athearn heavy weight flat cars
The end platforms still did not look correct, extended the platform, angled the ends and added tread plates, hand rails, and steps.
May - Athearn heavy weight flat cars & BBCX 1000 schnabel car
I continue to work with the Athearn heavy weight flat cars. After painting the cars, I did not like the decks. So I removed all of the decks from the frames and replaced them with styrene ones. My plans for these cars was to carry two of the wind turbine nacelle loads per car. Two nacelles would not fit on the basic 46' flat car. As an experiment I wanted to make one like either the KRL or QTTX cars that are used for nacelles. I cut the pivot point on one of the frames, and moved it closer to the end of the frame, and then with the end platforms will be close to the 66' cars.
The end platforms did not look correct, and I remembered an article in the March 1999 Railroad Model Craftsman on scratchbuiling a 12 axle QTTX flat. The author cut up the Athearn span bolster and use the pieces as the basis of an new bolster with increased axle spacing.
Began working on the BBCX 1000 schnabel car from Concept Models.
April - Proto 2000 locomotives
Updated a LifeLike Proto 2000 GP 18 and an E7. Both of these locomotives I have had for years. Had to replace all four axle sets becuase of the usual split gears on the GP 18. Added a TSC M1 decoder and the bulbs were replaced with LED's on both locomotives.
Continue to work on other projects. Added multiple antenna to the DODX 900 caboose. Painted the first eight cars of flat car fleet.
March - Athearn heavy weight flat cars & Bachmann 44 ton diesel
I have always liked the Athearn heavy weight flat cars. But the deck height seems to tall to me. On my second attempt, I was able to get the deck height lowered. The cuts are made with a Dremmel abrassive wheel in the drill press. That cut almost into the center sill, and the rest was finished off with a zona saw. The holes are filled with squadron putty and then the rivet are sanded off.
I had two complaints with the Bachmann 44 ton loco, it ran poorly, and the headlight were very dim. The original LED's are surface mount, and reflect through a piece of clear plastic with a 90 degree turn. To improve the performance, I replaced the decoder that was installed in the loco, with a Digitrax DZ126. The original board was removed and the decoder wired directly to the motor and trucks. Since the board has been removed, new 2mm white LED's have been installed. Now it runs great, and the headlights are bright.
February - 12 axle KRL depressed flat car, Bachmann 44 ton diesel, and more
Began working on a second Firecat Designs model of the KRL 300 to 340 tons series of depressed flat cars. This second version is different than the first in two ways. First, it is printed in FUD, and the depressed body is three pieces instead of one. The body was printed in FUD, and very little sanding is needed, and just of the two curved sections. Two brass rods are include and are used to reinforce the depressed body.
The first version, printed in WSF, was a pain to sand. I have been adding small rare earth magnets to the inside of the flatcar to secure the loads. Four magnet are glued to the inside, and another magnet is put on the outside to act as a clamp.
I had two complaints with the Bachmann 44 ton loco, it ran poorly, and the headlight were very dim. The original LED's are surface mount, and reflect through a piece of clear plastic with a 90 degree turn. To improve the performance, I replaced the decoder that was installed in the loco, with a Digitrax DZ126. The original board was removed and the decoder wired directly to the motor and trucks. Since the board has been removed, new 2mm white LED's have been installed. Now it runs great, and the headlights are bright.
Late last year, I ordered some pre-wired surface mounted LED's with the plan to use these as the flashing lights on the rear of the cabooses. Put together an Walthers international bay window caboose kit. Replaced the stock trucks with HO caboose trucks with late generator and pick-ups. Connected up a TCS FL2 decoder, to the trucks and then to the LED's.
Pulled an old LifeLike SD9 out of storage. Did not run under the DC power check, but the lights were on. Took it apart and found one of the motor wires was disconnected. Did a quick power check, and ran well, with no broken gears. Pulled out the light board and installed a Digitrak DH126D decoder, and LED's. This is a good runner and it is quiet.
It has been a while since I built an Athearn blue box or Roundhouse kit. Nice change of pace. It took longer to get the couple pocket clips on, that it did to build the rest of the kit.
Worked on two other cabooses. DODX 900 is an Atlas caboose and WECX 104 is an Athearn blue box kit. Both have Athearn caboose trucks with pickups, TCS FL2 decoders that enable the surface mount LED's on each end.
January - Scale Test Car & GE 25 ton diesel
Over the holidays, I found a Maxon 50 ton scale test car on Shapeways. I have always wanted one of these cars, but never found one at a reasonable price. Overland made one and have seen them on eBay for sell for $250 and more.
It was a quick build, less than an hour from opening the box to putting it on the tracks!
It needed quite a bit of filing and sanding to remove the ridges left from the printing process. I got the cheap one that was printed using the white, strong and flexible plastic. There would have been much less work needed to prep the body, if I got the more expensive one, that was printed with frosted ultra or extreme detail plastic. Only the body comes from Shapeways, so I have to add the rest. A piece of styrene is cut for the base, and the ends from the frame of an old Athearn blue box flat car kit. Southern painted these cars black. This car will be numbered 992551. I will need to have white decals printed.
Began working on a Grandt Line GE 25 ton locomotive. The plan for this car is to replace the stock drive with with a NWSL stanton drive, and add a DCC decoder prior to painting. The frame pieces needed to be modified for the stanton drive to fit.
Squeezing Kadee couplers into this loco was hard. Boxes from Kadee #711 were used with the ends trimmed off, and 143's coupler. The stanton drive is now a force fit. It is about a 6 scale inches too long, to line up with the axle bearings.
Put a TSC AS6 decoder in an old Atlas S4. This car is a quiet, smooth runner.
