Skip to main content

GG1 4877 posted:

Great post!  The ingenuity of your system is quite impressive as is the workmanship.  A Williams scale GG1 will operate on as little as 0-42 curves so you may consider getting road number 4935 and installing DCC in it.  With replaced pantographs, it would be a much better model.  4935 in PRR DGLE was among the last of the GG1s to operate for Amtrak and saw some service for New Jersey transit in 1982 on lease after Amtrak stopped running theirs.

Off course the choice to avoid the GG1 based on your modeling period is completely understandable.  I have an Atlas AEM7 and a NJT ALP44 and they are both wonderful models even if my AEM7 needs a run through the Wilmington Shops for a major overhaul. 

With your modeling skills, you could do justice to a new 3D printed O scale E60.  I don't remember the site, but there are available for $85.00 and are designed to run on a MTH U30C chassis.  Lot of prep and assembly is required, but with your skills it wouldn't be a difficult project.

 

I bought one of those E60 shells on eBay. It's very nicely done. I don't have the time to start working on it yet but hopefully I will soon. 

For those of us not into the intricacies of scratch-building, I thought I'd mention a terrific modular catenary system I ran across at York this past April from East Coast Eneterprises based in Dover, NJ.  This is Rich Roman's company that builds custom layouts as well as lots of fancy bridges and elevated track superstructures.  Very impressive stuff, and the new catenary system is world-class as well.  Definitely worth a look before you seriously consider building your own.

David

Last edited by Rocky Mountaineer
Rocky Mountaineer posted:

For those of us not into the intricacies of scratch-building, I thought I'd mention a terrific modular catenary system I ran across at York this past April from East Coast Eneterprises based in Dover, NJ.  This is Rich Roman's company that builds custom layouts as well as lots of fancy bridges and elevated track superstructures.  Very impressive stuff, and the new catenary system is world-class as well.  Definitely worth a look before you seriously consider building your own.

David

I did a Google search. East Coast Enterprises does not seem tho have a web site related to model trains.

So I have been looking at this thread since it started. I have been thinking of a way to 3D Print the hangers with one lead as a tube that contains the power wire. As to the catenary wire that could be done with varying length verticals that have a C-shaped piece at each end to hold and separate the longitudinal wires.  The end insulators would be no problem.  My resolution is 0.1 to .05 mm.

The issue is the upper stress from the pantographs against the continuous lower wire. To minimize that stress instead of the fixed wire as in this threads system, the resin hangers would be much more flexible as the pantographs  move along the system. This is a similar flexibility as is found in the HO Marklin system.

Stay tuned.

 

 

I loved your video.  Everything is first class.  When I built my system, I had to do it to an already finished layout.   I pulled the rollers from every electric as they all operate from the wire.  I have one of my ROW transformers that puts power into the center rail to give constant voltage to the passenger cars.  

Good morning Marty:

Thank you very much for the complements.  Coming from you, that means something to me and I appreciate it.

I also cannot see building an overhead system that will not be energized.  I find the engineering challenges very appealing, as well as duplicating the operation of a 1:1 electrified railroad near exactly.  Additionally, as you have said previously, if such a system is designed and built properly, it will work well.  I rarely see any pantograph arcs.  I have yet to lose a pantograph at speed or experience a significant electrical / structural failure.

I do rather envy the elaborate 'layout elements' that you and many others have, (buildings, lights, landscape, effects, etc).  However, building the operational catenary was my primary motivation, and given the limited space along with the likelihood of moving in the next couple years, I'm content with what I have have.  I am adding some more DCS automation and a few buildings as I have the time and resources.

I feed the third rail with DCS so I could run visiting locomotives if any ever came along, (none yet).  Since I have no intention of running locomotives without pantographs, I may end up migrating to a standalone AC supply for the third rail, since only the coaches use it at this point.

I hope to post some videos of the E44-powered coal drags before Christmas, when I finally acquire the E44s.  I use real coal, and those trains require some horsepower.

Thank you again.  A tip o' the hat to you and your system as well.  I would love to see it in person some day and view your 'wall of fame'.

Thanks Nate.  I run trains from the catenary and can throw a switch to power the center rail to run any DCS or Legacy locomotive from one of my ROW transformers.  I also have DCS also in the catenary.  I grew up in Pennsylvania in the 50's and watched the mighty GG-1 and others every day.  A fun day would be getting the Reading MU train in Hatboro and heading to the Reading Terminal in Philly.   With my Uncle, we would head cross town to the 30th st station and watch the GG-1 locomotives and others pull in and depart.  Great days, great trains.  My Uncle and the GG-1 have gone into history but as long as I am above ground, the memories will live on.

Last edited by Marty Fitzhenry

Marty:

I did the same thing, only with different locomotives some years later.  I grew up near Muddy Run and heard / watched Conrail on the Port Road, which would have been shortly after the overhead came down.  I just missed the electrified freight days, but did catch some A&S action in Quarryville when we went to town.  My dad worked 2nd shift at High Steel, and we would bring him dinner once or twice a week, where I took in the F40PHs and the occasional AEM7 on the old Pennsy main.  I think that is where I acquired the 'electrified bug'.  For 'career day' in 8th grade, I got a cab ride in an AEM7, (Newark, NJ and the Pit at Penn Station) and an E60, and they remain my favorite motors.  When I could drive, I would take trips to 30th St and Perryville and watch them roll in and out for hours.  Today I hang out with them at Strasburg every so often.  The ACS64 is neat (I'd probably get a model if MTH did one) but I miss the older electrics.  So, I relive it in the layouts I build and the occasional perusal through the old printed photographs.

Good evening (morning) all:

The MTH AEM7 is a delightful model, and the backbone of my passenger operations for the 300 Loft Catenary System.  However, while the sounds/lighting effects are excellent, the shell simply does not pass muster with me.  I tried to ignore the deficiencies, but my idealist OCD won out.  The number font is way too thin, the blue paint is too dark, and the shell has the chrome finish that the older MTH Amfleets used to have.  This chrome finish is excellent for Amfleets, not so much for the AEM7.  Finally, I hate ditch lights in AEM7s.  The effect is fun to watch, but Amtrak butchered the nose to install them, and they are out of my modelling time frame, (the very early 80s when AEM7s were new, and Phase 1-painted Amfleets were common).

The first generation MTH AEM7 got it all right except the blue paint is still too dark, which is the least offensive shortcoming as far as I am concerned.  A case could be made for prototypical accuracy of this darker paint based on the picture below, but I suspect that is more the photo processing than its actual color.

So I decided to transfer the PS3 innards of the current model (#928) to a shell of a first-gen model (#924).  I was told this was not practical or easy, but I found both statements to be unfounded.  It was a fun project, and not really that hard at all.

First, we crack open the newer PS3 unit.  It is stock except for the pans.

I had already acquired a shell from #924 (first-gen) and pulled the PS1 innards out, bulbs and all.

Next, we pull the PS3 innards from #928.  This is a delicate operation, but with some patience and dull tweezers, it was not hard.

Now that we have all the PS3 stuff out of the old inaccurate shell, it is time to install everything in the 'new' #924 shell.

I left all the roof detail the same, EXCEPT for pulling the white Carrier AC units off the newer shell, and installing them on the #924 shell.  There is plenty is precedent for this change, one of which is below.

I also installed the red insulators for some contrast.  There is precedent for that as well, one of which is a slide from my collection.  So we now have the finished #924 shell, with new ACs and PS3 goodies.

Next we connect the PS3 board to the shell, re-install the shell and mount the pans.

Finally, we have the finished product being tested with the Phase 1 Amfleets, and now we have a more prototypical train.  The new PS3 lighting really looks good in the older shell.

Plans are in place to do this procedure to another AEM7, as the train is now 9 cars long, (8 Amfleets, and one baggage / lounge).  The baggage/lounge is a recent addition, and makes for a nice prototypical consist.

It is amusing to note that at one point, there were 3 AEM7s in pieces on my desk.  Thankfully, it all ended well.

Thanks for reading.  The next update will be in the next few weeks, as the Conrail E44s have arrived!

Attachments

Images (17)
  • mceclip0
  • mceclip1
  • mceclip2
  • mceclip3
  • mceclip4
  • mceclip5
  • mceclip6
  • mceclip7
  • mceclip8
  • mceclip9
  • mceclip10
  • mceclip11
  • mceclip12
  • mceclip13
  • mceclip14
  • mceclip15
  • mceclip16
Last edited by Pantenary

Add Reply

Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×