Skip to main content

Started putting together a NYC 0-6-0 kit offered by Stevenson Preservation. Tender is mostly done save for a few more details to add. Engine is next. Anyone else build one of his kits? Any tips appreciated. Instructions are sparse with not a lot of detail. It will say mount this or that but no specifics. I have already had to move a few items. Hoping I can minimize that with the engine.

36DE5B27-0A0A-4988-9E18-8EECBB02E3BA

3682FDB1-3EA1-4E3A-9FC1-FA8B3343C43C

Pete

Attachments

Images (2)
  • 36DE5B27-0A0A-4988-9E18-8EECBB02E3BA
  • 3682FDB1-3EA1-4E3A-9FC1-FA8B3343C43C
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Pete. Nice work on your 0-6-0 build.  I’m looking for a narrow can motor to re-power a Max Gray PRR D16 4-4-0.  The motor in your Stevenson 0-6-0 with it’s clipped sides looks like a possibility.  When you have time I’d appreciate your sharing the dimensions of the motor that came with your kit.

Ed, here is a link to all of the data. The motor is a Mabuchi FS-395PH.

https://www.cika.com/soporte/I.../Motores/MABUCHI.pdf



Apparently NLA from Mabuchi but there a bunch on the bay now.

Pete

Last edited by Norton

Pete - thanks for the quick reply with the motor info.  I'm in luck 2 ways.

  • The Mabuchi FS-395PH motor will fit in the relatively narrow firebox of my 50+ year old Max Gray PRR D16sb.
  • I was able to purchase a new motor on the bay for under $14 shipped.

When the motor arrives, I'll fabricate a motor mount and use a NWSL drive shaft coupling set to mate the previously upgraded NWSL ball bearing gearbox to the Mabuchi motor shaft.  Then it's on to up-detailing the locomotive, painting, and installing DCC/sound. The story be far shorter if Sunset imported a PRR D16sb built to today's detail standards.

Last edited by Keystoned Ed

Pete - thanks for the quick reply with the motor info.  I'm in luck 2 ways.

  • The Mabuchi FS-395PH motor will fit in the relatively narrow firebox of my 50+ year old Max Gray PRR D16sb.
  • I was able to purchase a new motor on the bay for under $14 shipped.

When the motor arrives, I'll fabricate a motor mount and use a NWSL drive shaft coupling set to mate the previously upgraded NWSL ball bearing gearbox to the Mabuchi motor shaft.  Then it's on to up-detailing the locomotive, painting, and installing DCC/sound. The story be far shorter if Sunset imported a PRR D16sb built to today's detail standards.

Shorter story but not as much fun as building  your own.

Did he say fun???



Pete

Pete - thanks for the quick reply with the motor info.  I'm in luck 2 ways.

  • The Mabuchi FS-395PH motor will fit in the relatively narrow firebox of my 50+ year old Max Gray PRR D16sb.
  • I was able to purchase a new motor on the bay for under $14 shipped.

When the motor arrives, I'll fabricate a motor mount and use a NWSL drive shaft coupling set to mate the previously upgraded NWSL ball bearing gearbox to the Mabuchi motor shaft.  Then it's on to up-detailing the locomotive, painting, and installing DCC/sound. The story be far shorter if Sunset imported a PRR D16sb built to today's detail standards.

I thought anything Max Gray, KTM, US Hobbies was really good stuff!…..Sunset makes a beautiful model, but just for looking at, ……😉

Pat

Haven’t posted in a while after hitting a few roadblocks. Here is where it stands now. Still details to add to the chassis and shell.

CBB2222C-BA27-4078-B133-5DD32508A0A1

First roadblock is the wheels are not useable. Out of quarter and the crankpins have been located randomly. Even with a lot of clearance in the siderods it won’t turn without binding. They come pre quartered with square axles so no way to fix that.

I am thinking of replacing the driver centers. PSC has some that should work. Pressing the tire on the center I can figure out but would appreciate suggestions for dealing with the rim insulators. I have not done that before and wondering what is the best material to use and how its done.

Second hitch has been dealt with. The steamchest was way to high. About .200”.

Fortunately I have a mill and was able to take care of that and begin building the shell.

Something to consider if you are thinking of building one of these.

Before.

5A8413AC-2E64-43BD-9D47-EE563010390A

294F476E-BE76-4C57-9D92-3CCF14D1620A

Pete

Attachments

Images (3)
  • CBB2222C-BA27-4078-B133-5DD32508A0A1
  • 5A8413AC-2E64-43BD-9D47-EE563010390A
  • 294F476E-BE76-4C57-9D92-3CCF14D1620A
@Norton posted:

Haven’t posted in a while after hitting a few roadblocks. Here is where it stands now. Still details to add to the chassis and shell.

CBB2222C-BA27-4078-B133-5DD32508A0A1

First roadblock is the wheels are not useable. Out of quarter and the crankpins have been located randomly. Even with a lot of clearance in the siderods it won’t turn without binding. They come pre quartered with square axles so no way to fix that.

...Something to consider if you are thinking of building one of these.

Before.

5A8413AC-2E64-43BD-9D47-EE563010390A

Pete

Wow, that's kind of surprising, given how nice the rest of it looks... 😳

Mark in Oregon

its alive!

Got the Stevenson 0-6-0 running today. Before I could barely turn the wheels by hand. The PSC driver centers I ordered were too small so I had to fix the existing drivers.

Two crankpin holes were filled and redrilled, square axle holes drilled round to 3/16” and dowel pins used for axles so I could properly quarter them.
Also found the supplied motor was wimpy, maybe it was a 24 v motor so I replaced it with a smaller RS385 in stock and found it ran much better. A bit surprising as the replacement is usually the one getting replaced.
In the process a gearbox driveshaft support was fabricated.
663D7896-3255-4911-A540-3B4BD47F279C
Pete

Attachments

Images (1)
  • 663D7896-3255-4911-A540-3B4BD47F279C
Videos (1)
IMG_2107
@BillYo414 posted:

That's outstanding! It looks like it moves so smoothly as well.

Would a 24v motor be common for this sort of model?

I am not sure what it is. Mabuchi no longer list this motor but going by its DC resistance its three times what the 385 I replaced it with is.

Also if the idea was better low speed performance then that didn’t work. It would stall at 5v and took about 8v to get to moving.

The 385 runs at 3v and will start from a dead stop at 3v, maybe lower with time.

Pete

@C.Vigs posted:

Looks great! The video of the frame with the valve gear on both sides in motion is fantastic, almost a shame to cover that with a boiler.

Is this going to be painted at the end, or left as brass?

~Chris

Thanks guys. The plan is to paint it but still a lot of work to be done. I am little more motivated now that I know it might actually run.

Pete

@BillYo414 posted:

I'm interpreting this photo to mean you did the bending work on the wrapper yourself. It looks really precise and well done. How did you do it?

The way I did it was to first anneal the brass strip so it would bend easier. Then soldered one end to the underside and finally just pulled it around the cylinders soldering it a bit at a time. Clamping was a bit of a hassle as there are no parallel surfaces.

Pete

@Norton posted:

First roadblock is the wheels are not useable. Out of quarter and the crankpins have been located randomly. Even with a lot of clearance in the siderods it won’t turn without binding. They come pre quartered with square axles so no way to fix that.

I am thinking of replacing the driver centers. PSC has some that should work. Pressing the tire on the center I can figure out but would appreciate suggestions for dealing with the rim insulators. I have not done that before and wondering what is the best material to use and how its done.


Pete

I was about to order one of Bob's kits, but the quartering issue is a huge show-stopper.  Have you contacted Bob Stevenson to ask him to address this?  I have used Slaters 7mm:foot wheels in the past; they have a large range of sizes and it's not difficult to find a wheel of the right diameter, with more or less correct crank throw and number of spokes.  I am tempted to order a kit and tell Bob to leave the wheels out.

The poorly quartered wheels are retrievable without major dramas, but relocating crankpins is a proper pain in the butt.  A lot of extra work that you shouldn't have to do.

Paul Woods

Whangarei, NZ.  NYCSHS #7172

Last edited by Woodsworks
@Woodsworks posted:

I was about to order one of Bob's kits, but the quartering issue is a huge show-stopper.  Have you contacted Bob Stevenson to ask him to address this?  I have used Slaters 7mm:foot wheels in the past; they have a large range of sizes and it's not difficult to find a wheel of the right diameter, with more or less correct crank throw and number of spokes.  I am tempted to order a kit and tell Bob to leave the wheels out.

The poorly quartered wheels are retrievable without major dramas, but relocating crankpins is a proper pain in the butt.  A lot of extra work that you shouldn't have to do.

Paul Woods

Whangarei, NZ.  NYCSHS #7172

Paul, wish I had known about Slaters. I think this will work now. I sent inquiries to Stevenson twice but only crickets. No response.

I am fortunate to have the machinery to fix this but I suspect for many this would have been difficult.

Melgar, you may be right. I wasn’t aware of the convention. The quartering tool allows putting either side first. I guessed wrong.

FWIW here are the drivers minus crankpins as received.

4FAAB588-25BB-454B-987D-D94C4E189238

Pete

Attachments

Images (1)
  • 4FAAB588-25BB-454B-987D-D94C4E189238

Omigosh, those wheels are spectacularly bad!  I was about to contact Bob about buying a 2-8-0, with a view to using it as the basis for a NYC G-class.  I'm not put off buying it by this but I'm definitely going to ask him to not bother with wheels.  I love Slaters wheels, beautifully made, screw assembly, and surprisingly inexpensive.  Right now I am working on fitting Slaters #7851K wheels in an AHM 0-8-0 kit, my first attempt at actually building a loco with them - before this, I'd only seen & handled locos built by other people that were fitted with Slaters wheels.  The only complaints I've ever heard was that an axle screw has occasionally come loose and jammed the side rods, but that's easy to fix.

So I went to the Slaters website and while the wheels look very well done, none in the 7mm group appeared to have counterweights. Is that something you have to make and apply yourself?

BTW here is a pic of the wheels before removing the crankpins. Note that the tires overhang the centers and not concentrically either.

0EB99AB8-C528-46C8-8C28-4CAAB4E4BA79

To add to the aggravation another forum member built a another 0-6-0 10 years ago and found the same problem with the wheels. He was able to contact Stevenson and get replacements. Might want to try that before ordering. That still might not solve the problem with the square holes not matching with the inability to quarter.



Pete

Attachments

Images (1)
  • 0EB99AB8-C528-46C8-8C28-4CAAB4E4BA79

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.
×
×