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Kadee Conversion - 3d printed pilots for MTH ES44AC

T thor73OGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Ok, so finally getting back to this one after a long delay, here is the design for the ES44AC pilot and coupler mount set. The specific model I am working with is http://mthtrains.com/20-20285-1.

From the front:

front1front2

From the rear:

rear1rear2

The blue and gray parts are models of the existing chassis and body shell. Everything else is part of the new assembly. The pilot is intended to be bonded to the body shell, so that the joint can be made seamless, and so that full length handrails can be permanently attached to it (0.020" mounting holes are provided for this). The various air hoses and the front plow are separate parts, to facilitate painting and weathering. The cut lever is part of the main part and is fixed. The MU cable and junction box for the front is a separate part that can be added if desired.

Here is a view of the assembled unit from the underside:

frontunderside

The coupler mount is a separate part from the pilot. This approach provides a way to disassemble the engine without having to make any changes to the original parts. It also provides a good load path from the coupler to the chassis - the pilot, plow, and body shell are purely cosmetic and carry no load. The engine can even be run, tested, etc. without the body shell installed, but with the couplers in place. Although the coupler mount is designed to be bonded to the engine chassis, I have also provided locating holes for screws in the event a less permanent installation is desired. For this engine, the coupler mounting tab on the truck may need to be removed to provide clearance to the back of the Kadee housing - I'll update with details after I get the parts installed.

The pilots are intended to be bonded to the body shell first, and then serve to locate the coupler mounts on the chassis during their bonding to ensure reliable alignment of everything, as shown below:

couplermount

Here is what the body shell looks like fully assembled and removed from the engine:

frontshell1frontshell2

And here is how it comes apart for maintenance, once everything is installed:

exploded

So there it is. As before, comments, suggestions, ideas for tiny-but-cool details to add, whatever - let me know.    I'll get a Shapeways page set up for it once any final changes are incorporated.

Eric

 

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Engineer-JoeEngineer-JoeOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBER

There are screw mounts on some/most newer MTH shells that MTH uses to mount their fixed pilots to. I believe you're showing that your fixed pilots must be glued in place? That may provide for a superior finish once attached. I also get the fact that your design frees the pilots of load stresses.

 It seems to look good in concept so I can only wait and see how it looks once finished. I do like the idea. So we would have to drill the metal frame to accept the coupler mounts on these? I usually have to cut off the backs of KD coupler boxes to clear the MTH truck tabs. So I usually mount the coupler with the 2 screw holes towards the sides of the KDs.

I hope you can apply the same to the EMD versions which seems to lack a bit on the stock MTH ones. I feel they did their best job on these modern GE versions. The GE AC6000 I got long ago wasn't available with fixed pilots like this was though. I wonder if these would align?

enginEErjonenginEErjonOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Eric, 

your CAD work is incredible! Have you compiled a list of engines you have made parts for? I'd love to see one if you have. I and others would love to see a post where you list out what engines could be next and or take requests for future work. I would love to see what you can do with the MTH GE 44 tonner 

T thor73OGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
enginEErjon posted:

Eric, 

your CAD work is incredible! Have you compiled a list of engines you have made parts for? I'd love to see one if you have. I and others would love to see a post where you list out what engines could be next and or take requests for future work. I would love to see what you can do with the MTH GE 44 tonner 

Hi Jon, here are the ones I've done so far:

Williams GP9 (as well as one with a generic mounting interface)

MTH SD90

MTH Great Northern S2 (coupler adapter for the tender)

And now the one in the current thread for the ES44.

MTH SD45 will be next...

The threads above include pics of the finished parts, as well, btw.

I could start another thread along the lines of what you suggest, if folks think that would be worthwhile, but it's not like I'm cranking out something new every week, lol. 

Last edited by thor73
T thor73OGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
trainroomgary posted:

Hi Eric: Excellent exploded view drawings.  What software did you use to create these drawings?

Let me guess: Auto CADD • Auto Desk or Adobe Illustrator. ??????????? 

Cool, no very cool. 

Gary

The designs are done using Creo Parametric, which I also use extensively on a professional basis. It is a very powerful tool, but not for the faint of heart in terms of either the learning curve or the price tag...

T thor73OGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
Engineer-Joe posted:

 It seems to look good in concept so I can only wait and see how it looks once finished. I do like the idea. So we would have to drill the metal frame to accept the coupler mounts on these? I usually have to cut off the backs of KD coupler boxes to clear the MTH truck tabs. So I usually mount the coupler with the 2 screw holes towards the sides of the KDs.

To clarify, the coupler mount is intended to be bonded to the chassis, with no drilling or modification required. It can also be drilled and screwed to the chassis using the pilot holes provided, if you want it removable. The body can still be removed in either case. The pilot assembly, once bonded to the body, serves to locate the coupler mount on the chassis. Any combination of the four standard kadee mounting holes can be used to mount the coupler itself.

There are pics of the finished and installed parts in the threads linked above.

T thor73OGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
enginEErjon posted:

Eric,

Just to satisfy my curiosity, how long does it take for you to do one of these fixed pilots?

Probably best if I don't think about it, lol...

But since you asked, it breaks down something like this:

So all told, anywhere from 20-30 hours, I'd guess, depending on the model.

T thor73OGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
David Minarik posted:

Will you have the premier es44ac up soon?

Thanks,

Dave

If a few weeks counts as soon, then yes.

I want to give this thread a few more days for folks to comment, then I'll finalize and submit the first print job. Once I have that in hand and I'm able to confirm the fit and finish with it installed on the model, I'll add it to the store.

However, that schedule is influenced by an imminent two week vacation for sailing and scuba in the British Virgin Islands.  



Too many hobbies, too little time...

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