Great Northern railway

Stuff:

Memory lane:

This bulletin board has existed since 1979.  Pam noted many of the members that have passed away.

A list of NMRA Div 7 members, address and phone numbers (back before we could do this!).

New delivery. 

More intermountain wheel sets, remote throttle wall pocket, 4 more 1517 decoders, loconet cable, kadee long shank couplers, 50 sets of kadee whisker couplers and some insulation washers to adjust coupler height. 

PRR Q-2 4-4-6-4 motor conversion.  Took out the very large open frame motor and installed a Mashima can motor.

Open frame motor was drawing 1.26 amps (max for decoder is 1.2) not counting all the LED's!

Created a motor mount from brass stock.  Drilled/tapped 2-56 screws to secure motor mount to frame.  Forgot to take a picture of the can motor install.

The engine tested OK but tender lights were not functioning.  Had to replace the two tender headlights and the dog house light.  Not sure if the overloaded decoder destroyed them or they shorted out, or 'what'!

Fire box glow LED also had to be replaced.

860' test run on the mainline and no problems...finally!

Back two tracks for upper loop interchange and front track leads to St. Paul's freight yard.  This area is about 5' high so buildings on supports to give some resemblance of a city.

I was just going through a couple stuffed file folders throwing away old papers last week.  I came upon a phone list of people I worked with 30 years ago, and wondered if any of them aren't with us anymore.  I have a stack of business cards that I could probably say the same.

The Q2 looks great on the layout after the conversion!

Mark, 

The burned up decoder from the Q-2 will be sent to TCS for repair.

===================

A nice 'how to' on building a complete diorama.  Includes a lot of tips for buildings, scenery, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4EOT1XXc_Y

Stuff:

Had to cut a hole in the scenery to make adjustments to hidden track (after 40 years).  Used some silicon caulk to secure some sticks to the scenery so the folded down section will have a support. 

Some trees hide the 'access'.

Coal load needed for UP 4-12-2 (KEY model).  

Painted black and then some carpenters glue to secure the 'coal'.

Test run.

I understand now on the decoder!

I have seen a couple other of Luke Towan's videos.  He certainly does have some great techniques and does a great job!  This one is excellent.

video of UP 4-12-2 with vintage metal Athearn/Varney and wood Silver Streak/Ambroid freight cars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_MoAhB1_Io

N&W Class A 2-6-6-4 by PFM/United.  

Re-motoring. 

The engine was like the PRR Q-2 where it was stopping after running about 20' so checked the decoder....

Smoked it.  Decoder max amps is 1.2 and the open frame motor draws around 1.26.

Small open frame motors have lower amp draw but this motor is huge.   This is one of the earlier decoder installs before I knew that the amp limit was 1.2 where I thought it was 2.0 (it is for only momentary instances). 

Re-motoring isn't going to be as easy as I thought as the gears to the gear box use the motor's shaft: don't think I've seen this before!  If my first design change didn't work I would go to plane B: re-gear the engine.

After removing the old motor a new motor mounting plate was made out of brass stock and drilled/tapped for 4X40 screws into the frame. 

Great Planes makes two nice sets of taps (standard/metric) that are made for RC airplanes. 

The 4X40 screws were 1/2" long so a cut off disk removed the 'excess'.

Micro fasteners makes lots of different size screws, bolts, nuts etc: another item for RC airplanes. 

Normally, screws and motors are all made 'across the pond' and use metric but the motor shaft was 3/32" diameter so I used some brass stock.

The gear that was on the motor shaft has a set screw so easy to remove from old motor.  The ID of the gear was a little too narrow so a little hand filing was done to enlarge it: don't want to use power tools around nylon gears! 

Assembly done and tested.  A 1/8" OD tubing was used on the left side to keep the left side from moving backwards.  Alas, some more mods needed.

Had to grind out some lead to make room for the new, longer shaft.

Initially, I soldered the piece of brass tubing on the left side of the gear mount but the gear box would move forward and backwards when motor was running.  Some brass stock was used to secure the gear box to the frame so the gear box wouldn't shift.

Two L shaped pieces of brass were secured in front of and in back of the gear box with a piece of brass stock soldered to the two L shaped pieces.  The front L piece was soldered to the 1/8" tubing.  

Also, had to make sure the universal was aligned for power to the front engine set. 

The back L bracket was secured to the frame with an existing screw.

The rocking of the gear box was very small but enough to allow the nylon gears to touch part of the frame.  

Soldered the orange/grey wires to the motor and used decoderpro to check that all was 'good'. 

Loco now in roster (DCC engines only).

Connected to mainline DCC to insure all's working properly including lights.

My last Mashima motor.  They don't make them anymore. 

All lights working.  Two wire connector makes PM on engine, easier. 

4 wire connector from boiler to frame. 

New delivery:

Got some extra parts for the LCC signaling system as back up plus a few other items.  Cottage industries: never assume they will exist next year!

Backup items: Tower-LCC, LCC-Buffer-USB, BOD-8 (block occupancy detector).

New items: 

SCSD-8: single coil solenoid driver.  Replacing the 'jack wabbit' with this to remotely throw turnouts via the schematic on the PC monitor.

I/O tester: Test board. 

WOW Sam, it amazes me! It seams there is nothing you cant do when it comes to trains! I bet your the same way with your RC planes! I know you have been at this a long time and your skills are outstanding. I just hope I can hone my skills to be proficient as you are!

I hope you have a great day and have some fun with your trains!

Thanks, Mike.

Doing this for so long: Good judgement comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgement.

Well Sam, a lot of people say you learn from your mistakes! I know its true with me! LOL

Still wonderful work!

N&W Class A 2-6-6-4 final assembly and testing.

Videos:

N&W Class A:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpn1TcoAKUY

Put a piece of brass rod in the coupling to keep it from bending and twisting.

There's, virtually, no play between the drivers and frame.

Awhile ago I added a back head as, originally, it had none. 

GN Q-1 2-10-2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnLsMwR5cgY

Sam, you all have a really Amazing layout, great scenery, great repair technics, thank you for all the fun to see pictures. Simply Awesome. Your Tennessee Connection, Leapin Larry..  Happy Railroading 

Thanks, Larry,  You're not too far from Cincy.

=================

Just running trains:

GN-2 2-8-8-2 with vintage metal Athearn,Varney and wood Silver Streak,Ambroid freight cars.

Cleaned up the camera lens; pictures are much better.

Videos:

GN R-2 2-8-8-2 (Tenshodo) with vintage freight cars:

At Glacier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSzN9q0RyFU

At Chumwater Canyon trestle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moxPxW_nUWs

At Skykomish: Wheel noise as engine fades out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kxV7MxSpOs

Sam: You are truly a skilled craftsman and layout builder! BRAVO!

Looking good Sam! I hope you have a good op's day today and have some fun! I am sure everyone is going to love your layout and train room!

More train running.

N&W Class J 4-8-4 passenger train (MTH: engine and cars).

videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h20O8J_9gF0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHYBDXtv98U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7g2PHqhtHY

Milwaukee bi-polar electrics EP-2 .

Re-motoring two of them.

They are by Custom Brass.  I painted one about 4 years ago.  The other was already painted by the previous owner.  

With conversion to DCC, the open frame motors need replacing.

Some brass sheet stock used for making the motor mounts.

Each electric has two motors.  Some large tin snipes to cut the brass.

The kid's old workbench vise used to bend the brass stock.  A hobby hammer used to get a good 90 degree bend.

Dividers used to transfer motor holes to brass stock and dimples put in to guide the drill bits. 

Pilot holes drilled in the brass mounts. 

The motors took 2.0 mm screws.

The large center hole had to use about 5 different drill bits, increasing in size until desired hole was attained.  Using just the needed large size bit would have damaged the thin brass metal plus accuracy is highly diminished. 

Brass motor mount drilled/tapped into base of the electric's frame using 2/56 screws. 

The motor just fits inside the super structure. 

One set done.

Very nice job!!

EXCELLENT! ☺

Thanks, guys.  I try.

=========

GNRW ops session:

After pizza I just let people pick whatever train they wanted whether freight or passenger and everyone was picking the passenger trains.  Most picked railroads that they model. The railroaders are the main topic here versus the railroad.

With single track mainline with passing sidings, coordination of meets were prevalent.  

Joe spends his time coordinating the meets, throwing turnouts and maintaining the dispatcher's board. 

Usually there were several passenger trains on the mainline at once.

Of course, if you were operating steam, you had to 'take on water' at one of the four operating water towers!

One of the fun parts for me, besides watching others enjoying themselves running trains, is the post ops discussions of different topics, mostly related to trains. 

Looks like you gents have a great time!!!

visit to the Cincinnati Union Terminal (CUT).

Built in the 30's and recently restored to it's original art deco form, a very impressive building.

Joe and I visited.  Glad we got there at 10:30 Sunday morning; by the time we got our tickets and turned around, the line was long and after we left, after 4 hours, both sides of the parking lot was full.  Very easy to get to: get off I-75, down town exit Ezzard Charles and it's about 700 yards from the highway. 

A really nice S gauge layout showing Cincinnati, downtown and all it's building to scale size.

music hall: Whoever built these are extremely talented. 

City hall.

Model of CUT.

Crosley field. 

Viaduct (double decker).

Dino display.

Cave exhibit.

Apollo 11 exhibit.  Today was the last day.

Omnimax theater presentation of landing on the moon in 1969.

I was impressed.  Initially, I thought these were 'mock ups' but, from the plaques, these are the real thing. 

Sam, Thank you for all the great photographs!  I did not know all of that was in the Terminal.  Are there always exhibits like these inside?  My only time in Cincy was a layover in the Cincinnati airport, which is in Kentucky.

Mark,  The Apollo is one time but all the other shows are permanent. 

========

Re-motor Milwaukee bi-polar (cont):

Connected up the decoder.  Had to run the hot/common wires to other set of drivers to get good conductivity.  Some kapton tape to keep wires from touching gears.

This is the MTH bipolar.  It has operating pantographs and sound.

video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB2uAuVxlw0

Replaced plastic coupler with Kadee metal coupler on passenger car that had coupler problems. 

Still need to re-motor other custom brass model.

DM&IR M-4 2-8-8-4 yellowstone.

Decoder install.

This engine is by Westside and I painted it and installed LED's back in 2016.

Engine on left is the Westside, before painting.  Right one is a Tenshodo.  During the winter, DM&IR couldn't haul ore so GNRW leased them from DM&IR to handle engine shortages.

Painted with lights and grey boiler.

Disassembly for decoder install.  Has a huge can motor.

A retaining plate came loose.

Resistance soldering fixed it.

Eight pin connector made between engine and tender.

Tools of the trade.  Heat gun for heat shrink tubing.  The brass shavings work great for cleaning the soldering tip.

Need a really fine tipped soldering iron for small work.

Schematic that is followed for all decoder wires.

Best to use only one type of decoder for all your engines: it's annoying trying to remember what functions operate each decoder if they are different.  My exceptions are those that already have decoders installed by the manufacturer, which are few.  My preferred decoder choice is TCS 1517 WOW 101 steam decoders, has keep alive, excellent steam sounds and talks (literally) you through different options.

The basics are at the bottom of my throttles.  The 8 pin connectors are needed to control all light functions. 

Four pin connector between boiler and frame for ease of PM.

Fire box glow LED.

Decoderpro on programming track used to make sure I didn't do anything stupid. 

Address and other data inputting into Decoderpro.

All data on DM&IR engine in loco listing. 

Test engine and tender on the mainline.  I have a 50/50 chance of getting forward/backward wires connected correctly but I seem to always need to reverse them!

Backup light and marker lights on tender. 

Milwaukee Bi-polar electric after conversion to can motor and a decoder install.

video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4HeOSj9be8

FABULOUS PHOTO show! THANKS for sharing!  ☺

Thanks Art.

==========

DM&IR M-4 2-8-8-4 yellowstone decoder install (cont).

LED's, some shorts and final assembly.

Headlights (engine and tender), classification lights (engine and tender) and cab lights were installed, previously, when engine was painted.  Added running board lights and fire box glow plus reroute wires so can control them via decoder functions. 

With headlight mounted low on front engine another 2 wire connector was needed to run along the engine frames. 

Assembled but had a few 'bugs' to 'work out'.

The functional vestibule between the tender and cab was a little tight so....

a short piece of draw bar was made out of brass stock and soldered to the original draw bar. 

Tender was shorting.  Took awhile to find the problem.  Initially, thought the insulated side of the wheels were contacting the truck sides but it turned out that the insulated front wheel was touching a frame retaining screw.  Removed it since there were 6 screws holding the frame to the tender and one missing would be OK.

Engine was, also, shorting.  Initially, thought the brass brake shoes were contracting the insulated side of one driver but the insulated driver would, occasionally, touch the can motor and cause a short.  Some tape on the can motor fixed it. 

Engine was binding in the reverse direction, only.  Found the offset crank would hit the valve gear side rod.  A slight bending of the rod keeps it away from the crank pin.

All of that before I even got out of the yard to test the engine on the mainline.  All worked fine after the 'fixes'.

Havre.

One of my old wood cars that I built back in the 70's would, occasionally, derail.  Removed a lot of 'gunk' from the metal wheels and all seems fine. 

Wilmar.

Whitefish.

Hillyard. 

Marias pass.

Tye.  Unusual in that this caboose was part of the engine set by Westside.  I had to paint it and add marker lights. 

One complete trip East and West and all's good.

Seattle.

Got to change that name on the Jordan spreader.

DM&IR M-4 2-8-8-4 videos:

Seattle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGu2zzjo0ks

Tumwater canyon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuUQu3RYqUI

Chumstick canyon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAS1m9lDXA8

Skykomish:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyzi3Upb7nw

GREAT RESULTS and engine!  ☺

Excellent run!!

Sam, wonderful looking engine! I am glad you were able to get all the little fixes done and everything works good now! Thanks for the videos of your layout, they are always a pleasure to watch!

Thanks, guys.  I've got enough hobby 'to dos' that will keep me busy until I croak. 

=================

Three items:

Item 1: Last of the DM&IR decoder install.  Stuff to help my daughter when I croak and she has to sell everything.

Include the TCS manual in the original engine box.

Put engine number on outside of box so can, easily, associate which engine goes in which box.

Corner of box lid was broken so some carpenters glue fixed it.

Item 2: new delivery.

Another UT4D wireless remote: gives me 5 'full duty' remotes and 5 'single duty' remotes.  Also, got another UR92 duplex radio tansceiver as one corner of the basement has trouble getting reception from the remote throttles.  Some 5 amp diodes for possible circuit board protection.  Last are the two TCS 1517 decoders back from repair where some LED circuitry was not working. 

Item 3: re-motoring a NYC Niagara 4-8-4 by Nickle Plate models. 

This engine had a large open frame motor and, though it wasn't burning out any decoders like the articulated were, I figured it was best to install a can motor.  The motor I got from my friend Gary.  

Some brass stock used to make a motor mount.

The brass motor mount was drilled/tapped to secure to the engine's frame.  The 4/40 screws were too long so I cut off the excess length but put a nut on, first, so any burrs on the threads are removed when the nut is removed from the screw after cutting the screw. 

Assembly done.  I used a piece of brass rod to stiffen the distance from the can motor to the gear shaft. 

Some Kapton tape to protect the motor wires from shorting against the boiler shell. 

The length between the motor and gear was very long and, under stress, the tubing was flexing too much...

so a piece of brass tubing was put over the gear shaft and some brass stock was used to secure the tube to the frame. Fortunately, one of the frame supports that already had a threaded hole for securing the driver retaining plate was conveniently available for a 2 MM screw from the opposite side to secure the 'shaft stabilizer'.  This keeps the gear shaft from moving up and down. 

Ta Da!

Tested engine on the mainline.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbD5j4KCimE

Waverly.

Wilmar.

Skykomish.

A good 'puller' with additional lead put in the boiler. 

NYC H-10B 2-8-2 decoder install.

Decided to install a decoder in this engine as it appeals to me with all it's detail, especially all the piping on the boiler.  This engine was painted by the previous owner and did a nice job on it.

Phase I:  disassembly, drilling and LED's installed.

Love all that piping.  Originally, no lights on the engine.

Engine number 73 of 250, made in 1980.

Original can motor with an unusual open frame gear box, though it runs quiet. 

Usual procedure for brass: engine has one screw up front and two in the back and tender has 4 screws securing base to tender top. 

LED prep: #45 drill bit used for all LED's.  Bought online from home depot, package of 10. 

Classification lights drilled out.  Sometimes the support is pretty weak so care has to be taken when drilling out the lights.  I put a popcicle stick under the light to support it.  I always use a new bit and add oil frequently: about 5 times on these to clean out debris and add oil. After sides are drilled out, then the front lens is drilled out.

Classification light side view.

The headlight drilled out plus two access holes drilled under the feed water heater to route LED wires. 

Running board light access holes. Just over the valve gears.  Lead weight removed.

Rectangular hole for 8 wires from tender to engine.

Scalecoat loco black (dries dull) used to touch up all the exposed brass.  Inside of holes need painting too to insulate contact with any exposed wires on the LED's.  Paint jar always has a 'retainer' so I don't knock it over!

The LED's (0402) are extremely small.  They measure about the size of a scale light bulb of 3-4 inches. 

Green in the classification (marker) lights and white in the headlight.  Sealed with canopy glue and lighted to insure proper location.  I put green on all my classification lights as it looks cool (at least to me, it does).

Cab light.

Running board lights.

Tender light. 

Trailing truck is even sprung. 

Hi Sam:

All I get with the last round of photos is "Image Not Found".

Darn.

Andre

I have the same problem as Andre.

Guys, several months ago, I had this problem even when I could see them but, eventually, they didn't show for me either: I had to re-upload them and will do the same, again.

Careful workmanship and attention to details pays dividends in the long run.

Re-upload of pictures since I can see them but others cannot:  If this works, I'll re-add the captions. Let me know if this works and I'll re-add the captions.