Lionel 6-28052 N&W Class A Upgrades

Oh boy, I've got one just like yours, I've never run it, it just sits on the shelf and looks terrific.  I'm not a collector but I don't have any place to run it.  What you did looks really complicated.  I sure hope I don't have the same problems you were having, I may have to send it to you to have you doctor it up and fix it.   Glad you were able to get it changed over and it is working fine.  Thanks for the descriptions and the pics.  I hope it continues to work great for you.

J. Motts posted:

Oh boy, I've got one just like yours, I've never run it, it just sits on the shelf and looks terrific.  I'm not a collector but I don't have any place to run it.  What you did looks really complicated.  I sure hope I don't have the same problems you were having, I may have to send it to you to have you doctor it up and fix it.   Glad you were able to get it changed over and it is working fine.  Thanks for the descriptions and the pics.  I hope it continues to work great for you.

I may have went overboard with it as a Cruise M install would have made it run and function properly.  Me being me, I wanted more features/functionality and turned a simple upgrade into a project. 

SPFord27 posted:

J. Motts posted:

Oh boy, I've got one just like yours, I've never run it, it just sits on the shelf and looks terrific.  I'm not a collector but I don't have any place to run it.  What you did looks really complicated.  I sure hope I don't have the same problems you were having, I may have to send it to you to have you doctor it up and fix it.   Glad you were able to get it changed over and it is working fine.  Thanks for the descriptions and the pics.  I hope it continues to work great for you.

I may have went overboard with it as a Cruise M install would have made it run and function properly.  Me being me, I wanted more features/functionality and turned a simple upgrade into a project. 

This loco definitely needs cruise. I have one, and I have not run it for years. It ran OK by the standards of the time, but the lack of cruise, and the sound, really dated it. It did run a better than a friend's MTH PS1 version of the same engine, but not a lot (of course, the Lionel is a command loco, so that was a definitely better thing).

Having said all that, and knowing that SPFord27's loco must certainly be a great runner, if you ever get a place to run yours it may run to your satisfaction right out of the box. We all have different expectations. But this loco definitely needs some modernizations to live up to its looks.

Lionel will probably never re-release the N&W A, as it was one of the "lawsuit locos" and I am sure that the Korean tooling has long since left Lionel's control. It may have even been destroyed. New tooling would have to be made, and, in 2019, no way. 

Maybe it’s the video, but the sound doesn’t seem right??

W&W posted:

Maybe it’s the video, but the sound doesn’t seem right??

I have noticed that the sound changes based on speed. Low speed sounds different than high speed or a good cruise. I haven’t messed with the RailSounds in the tender.

Here is another video with the different steps.

Any chance of getting you to post up you Flickering fire box circuit diagram?

Thanks

Great work, enjoy it!!

Jayhawk500 posted:

Any chance of getting you to post up you Flickering fire box circuit diagram?

Thanks

 

I used eBay flickering LEDs and a 5v DC board from Lionel. I haven’t figured out the circuit to make my own DC board yet.

BobbyD posted:

Great work, enjoy it!!

Thank you!

SPFord27 posted:

Jayhawk500 posted:

Any chance of getting you to post up you Flickering fire box circuit diagram?

Thanks

 

I used eBay flickering LEDs and a 5v DC board from Lionel. I haven’t figured out the circuit to make my own DC board yet.

Thanks, I'll look into it. Got a P/N on the Lionel board?

Jayhawk500 posted:

SPFord27 posted:

Jayhawk500 posted:

Any chance of getting you to post up you Flickering fire box circuit diagram?

Thanks

 

I used eBay flickering LEDs and a 5v DC board from Lionel. I haven’t figured out the circuit to make my own DC board yet.

Thanks, I'll look into it. Got a P/N on the Lionel board?

Here is the part number. 691REG5A00

I used a resistor inline with this to drop the voltage to ~2v. I will post a picture of the resistor when I get home. I am tempted to buy another and duplicate for personal use. For $12 I don't know that its worth the trouble. Best I can tell, it had a regulator, diode and capacitor. The one pictured has a different style regulator, the one I have has a regulator that looks like a triac. As far as the LEDs go, they are all wired in parallel (all hots together and all grounds together). For the LEDs themselves, search the auction site for item 321441410635.

SPFord27 posted:

Jayhawk500 posted:

SPFord27 posted:

Jayhawk500 posted:

Any chance of getting you to post up you Flickering fire box circuit diagram?

Thanks

 

I used eBay flickering LEDs and a 5v DC board from Lionel. I haven’t figured out the circuit to make my own DC board yet.

Thanks, I'll look into it. Got a P/N on the Lionel board?

Here is the part number. 691REG5A00

I used a resistor inline with this to drop the voltage to ~2v. I will post a picture of the resistor when I get home. I am tempted to buy another and duplicate for personal use. For $12 I don't know that its worth the trouble. Best I can tell, it had a regulator, diode and capacitor. The one pictured has a different style regulator, the one I have has a regulator that looks like a triac. As far as the LEDs go, they are all wired in parallel (all hots together and all grounds together). For the LEDs themselves, search the auction site for item 321441410635.

Thanks for the info.

Managed to get a video on Harmonyards’s layout. Enjoy.

I think I am going to put a set of fatboy speakers in it next.  

Here's some flickering firebox modules I've done, both AC track powered and DC 5V powered (powered from Super-Chuffer). 

I use four 3mm flickering LED's, red, orange, and yellow.  I file the ends flat to diffuse the light, and put a plain white paper between the LED's and the firebox opening.  The LED's should be about 1/8" away from the firebox opening for the best visual effect.

If you're looking for a simple power supply, I use this design for DC from track power.  Selecting the regulator gives me options from 3V through 15V.  I make these as I need them.  I fold the regulator flat on the underside to reduce the size.  The regulator can also be bolted to the chassis for more power handling capacity.