WHAT’S ON THE WORKBENCH AT THE MOMENT

Since we’re talking about junk, I thought you guys might like to see the scrap metal I load and unload with my Lionel 282R Gantry Crane.  The “scrap” is nail gun cartridges given to me by my friend, Dick, because they were the wrong size for his nail gun.  I broke them up and let them weather naturally outside.  I think it shows loose pieces look more natural.

BTW, my postwar crane has never been apart and runs well.  It is, in my opinion, the greatest postwar accessory Lionel ever made due it’s versatility and skill required to operate it smoothly.  It’s not as easy as just pushing a button.

John

WHAT'S  ON  THE  WORKBENCH  ??? 

Are we having fun yet............the front proto coupler was frozen with only one remedy.    I had to replace it.

Turned out to be quite a job getting to the mount and putting the new one on.       While I had all the front pieces off I decided to take care of a small rolling that the little switcher had while going down the track.

I removed everthing to get to the wheels and found they were not quite quartered.   One drive wheel was just not lined up .

After carefully removing the offending wheel and getting it back on I test rolled the chassis and was pleased with the results.    A little apprehensive after reading about advice that doing this would not be advised.

Now......well .......put the front end back on and lots of neat little pieces of the valve gear to get back together.                                 I hope everyone's having fun if you are working at your WORKBENCH.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

WHAT'S  ON  THE  WORKBENCH  ???

Are we having fun yet............the front proto coupler was frozen with only one remedy.    I had to replace it.

Turned out to be quite a job getting to the mount and putting the new one on.       While I had all the front pieces off I decided to take care of a small rolling that the little switcher had while going down the track.

I removed everthing to get to the wheels and found they were not quite quartered.   One drive wheel was just not lined up .

After carefully removing the offending wheel and getting it back on I test rolled the chassis and was pleased with the results.    A little apprehensive after reading about advice that doing this would not be advised.

Now......well .......put the front end back on and lots of neat little pieces of the valve gear to get back together.                                 I hope everyone's having fun if you are working at your WORKBENCH.

Insert Tab A into Slot B........

From the department of one thing leads to another. On the upside you are enhancing your neuronal networks.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

.........I lost my instruction sheet Bob.

...........does the neuronal network have YouTube? 

.

Sounds like you are in trouble 😄

@Dallas Joseph posted:

.........I lost my instruction sheet Bob.

...........does the neuronal network have YouTube? 

.

I shall clarify......MASH TAB A INTO SLOT B........KEEP MASHING UNTIL SLOT B SUBMITS............

@Dallas Joseph posted:

.........I lost my instruction sheet Bob.

...........does the neuronal network have YouTube? 

.

If you think about it I guess.😄

@Mark Boyce posted:

Sounds like you are in trouble 😄

Only if I neglect some of my other duties and spend TOO MUCH TIME with the trains Mark.

@RSJB18 posted:

I shall clarify......MASH TAB A INTO SLOT B........KEEP MASHING UNTIL SLOT B SUBMITS............

OK  Bob ,  is it alright to drill EXTRA HOLES in the Walschaerts valve gear after I apply some CA ?

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

If you think about it I guess.😄

I'm trying NOT to think about it Tranquil..........until you guys gather up about a half dozen steam engines with this same valve gear  ( or similar valve gear ).....and come over to the house this afternoon !!! 

Dallas, 😄😄

You will do fine!!

Did some riveting today on the boom cars spreader bars.    Used Micro-Mark O scale rivet decals.   Anxious to see how they look after painting.   So far I'm impressed with the process.

Cheers, Dave

PS:  Tom, your C-630 looks great.  The new intake vents look fine to me!   Also, the link I posted for the Big Hook video had a follow up video showing your Erie crane and tender in action.   Great job on the tender!

Won an auction for the Lionel Scrambler amusement ride that I have been looking for for a long time (not paying eBay prices). It arrived with lights and sounds working but no motion. 14 screws later, thanks Lionel, the positive wire going to the motor was loose so I resoldered both wires going to the motor and she fired right up!

Excited to be adding this to my layout.

@darlander- Rivet decals......who knew. Looks good so far.
@pault- Neat accessory. Glad it was a simple fix despite the 14 screws......

Bob

Now that my Doodlebug and coach are off the bench, it's time to dive into the Lionchief upgrade of my Weaver RS3.
I took the factory board out yesterday. If you recall, I was having problems with it working so.....upgrade...... I found a loose wire on the switch for the reverse on/off switch. So the board works and may live to see life in something else one day. All of the JST plugs on the Weaver board are different from the LC so I'll save them with the Weaver board.
I pulled the harness plugs needed for the new board. First step will be to make a bracket to mount the LC board to above the speaker.

Bob

That’s some surgically precise work Bob.

WOW you guys sure have some Big ones to make the leap into engines and stuff like that! I would be scared that I would just wreck something and end up with a Non powered engine!

All the work is looking wonderful and fun to read about! Heck I might even learn a thing or 2 as I try to keep up with all of you!

@darlander posted:

Did some riveting today on the boom cars spreader bars.    Used Micro-Mark O scale rivet decals.   Anxious to see how they look after painting.   So far I'm impressed with the process.

Cheers, Dave

PS:  Tom, your C-630 looks great.  The new intake vents look fine to me!   Also, the link I posted for the Big Hook video had a follow up video showing your Erie crane and tender in action.   Great job on the tender!

Dave, thanks for the kind words. The rivet detail is some I never explored…yet. I have used the Archer louvers in the past though. Your car and components are going to be top notch!

I replaced the vents already. Almost ready to paint. Some more filing still.

The crane is located in a museum near me. I saw it actually operate some 35 years ago, when NJT used it to install a wheel machine in Hoboken NJ. It sat for another 10 years after that and was almost scrapped. A smaller local museum bought it from the scrap company and it sat again for almost 15 years before the current museum procured it…

Tom

FOLLOW UP ............Premier 0-4-0 finally back together .........( non of the parts have fallen off YET.   )

Dallas, nice work. So are you a PRSL guy? My parents never drove and that is how we would get from Philadelphia to Cape May when I was of single digit age.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

FOLLOW UP ............Premier 0-4-0 finally back together .........( non of the parts have fallen off YET.   )

Looks good Dallas. Glad it went back together with no issues.

We all had faith, just had to have some fun at your expense. 🙄🙄

Bob

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

Dallas, nice work. So are you a PRSL guy? My parents never drove and that is how we would get from Philadelphia to Cape May when I was of single digit age.

Honesty being the best policy TH......I justfell in love with that little 4 wheeled girl. ( I'd have bought it even if it had said " I'M A DIESEL RR. " .........it did have Pennsylvania as part of the name though  )

@RSJB18 posted:

Looks good Dallas. Glad it went back together with no issues.

We all had faith, just had to have some fun at your expense. 🙄🙄

Bob

Got it Bob............I too had fun with everyone's replies.  

The comradery on the Forum is awesome.

Decided to go through all my older PS/2 boards and give my PS/2 Testset a real workout to see if anything odd happened.  Happy to report it works exactly as it should.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Honesty being the best policy TH......I justfell in love with that little 4 wheeled girl. ( I'd have bought it even if it had said " I'M A DIESEL RR. " .........it did have Pennsylvania as part of the name though  )

Got it Bob............I too had fun with everyone's replies.

The comradery on the Forum is awesome.

The switcher runs great, Dallas.  Was it over engineered, ie. were there parts left over?  It’s happened to me. 😁

@Mark Boyce posted:

The switcher runs great, Dallas.  Was it over engineered, ie. were there parts left over?  It’s happened to me. 😁

OH BOY Mark...........I thought my parts fell off the workbench......now I'm guessing they ended up in Butler.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

OH BOY Mark...........I thought my parts fell off the workbench......now I'm guessing they ended up in Butler.

I asked for that one! 😄

@Mark Boyce posted:

I asked for that one! 😄

Mike G., I feel the same way.  It's been a long time since I opened up an engine and now that I have to open several I am not thrilled. 

"FOLLOW UP ............Premier 0-4-0 finally back together .........( non of the parts have fallen off YET.   )" Always a good thing, Dallas.

@coach joe posted:

Mike G., I feel the same way.  It's been a long time since I opened up an engine and now that I have to open several I am not thrilled.

"FOLLOW UP ............Premier 0-4-0 finally back together .........( non of the parts have fallen off YET.   )" Always a good thing, Dallas.

Jump in Joe. The water's fine.......

@RSJB18 posted:

Jump in Joe. The water's fine.......

Do it Joe and let me know how that works out for you! LOL

If things go wrong you can always send it to Bob!

Made some progress on my Weaver RS3 upgrade. I had to fabricate a bracket to mount the board vertically. The board is wider than the shell so it can't lay flat on the frame. I added a piece of styrene for insulation. I'll mount the board with two-face tape.
I bought a small assortment of metric screws recently which has already paid dividends to mount the bracket.
Extended the wires for the power and ground from the trucks after correcting the backwards colors (red was ground, black hot) and sorted out the polarity for the motors to get rotation correct. The LC board only has one motor output so I am wiring them in series.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Bob

Still working to get your MEDICAL DEGREE Bob ? 

Looks like this is YOUR TURN for a FUN week sir.

What did you chose for your bracket ?    Things are looking pretty clean and organized.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Still working to get your MEDICAL DEGREE Bob ? 

Looks like this is YOUR TURN for a FUN week sir.

What did you chose for your bracket ?    Things are looking pretty clean and organized.

Dallas- I had an old cover from a DVR that I've used before. Couldn't find it despite my digging today. It did force me to clean up a few things tho.

I have some J channel for drywall work that I cut a piece from. Just took off the hook of the J to make an L. 😎

Just call me Dr. Trains......🤣🤣

Nice looking bracket, Dr. Bob!  It may have taken me quite a while to think outside the box enough to even realize I could mount the bracket vertically!  This fall, will mark 50 years since I started my first electronics course in college, and somehow I keep forgetting electrons can flow uphill! 

@Mark Boyce posted:

Nice looking bracket, Dr. Bob!  It may have taken me quite a while to think outside the box enough to even realize I could mount the bracket vertically!  This fall, will mark 50 years since I started my first electronics course in college, and somehow I keep forgetting electrons can flow uphill! 

My electrons keep flowing ( or falling ) to my feet Mark .       Dr. Bob seems to have this operation covered.

( we'll have to see if the patient survives. )

@Dallas Joseph posted:

My electrons keep flowing ( or falling ) to my feet Mark .       Dr. Bob seems to have this operation covered.

( we'll have to see if the patient survives. )

That he does!

@RSJB18 posted:

Dallas- I had an old cover from a DVR that I've used before. Couldn't find it despite my digging today. It did force me to clean up a few things tho.

I have some J channel for drywall work that I cut a piece from. Just took off the hook of the J to make an L. 😎

Just call me Dr. Trains......🤣🤣

The doctor is in the house! You really do have great innovative talent Bob.

Went back down to the bench after dinner last night. I wanted to see the engine move, so I spliced the motor wires temporarily and set it on the track. Other than needing to reverse the polarity, the engine runs surprisingly well.
The engine is paired up with the Universal Remote. I've tested the LC app and it works with that as well. Just can't use the app on my phone and shoot a video at the same time. I have an old phone that I use for the LC app but it was dead at the time.

Bob

Nicely done Bob(Dr. trains🙂). I have no clue on this part of model railroading, just slowly learning.

Gene

Bob, that is a smooth run!!  It sounds like it will be a real winner when you are finished!!