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| Posted: Sat Mar 13th, 2021 01:50 pm |
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1st Post |
corv8
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| Joined: | Tue Nov 13th, 2018 |
| Location: | Vienna, Austria |
| Posts: | 637 |
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Some years ago, purchased a Kawai ?? brass switcher that looked "wrong".
At close inspection,
I found that they had the smart idea to use existing ALCO roadswitcher tooling,
and put the cab + long hood on a shorter frame, deleting the short hood.
The roadswitcher AAR trucks were kept underneath.
Not bad,
what immediately gave the secret away was the round radiator fan,
switchers had a rectangular one.
I painted frame + trucks flat black, superstructure glossy black.
Then replaced the BIG open frame motor with a Chinese can motor,
kept everything else - gears, driveshaft etc.
Only added wipers to the insulated wheels, the usual Redneck way....
I glue some scrap pieces of styrene to the appropriate location on the truck,
then form a nickel-silver wire, put it in place and heat it with a soldering gun,
so it melts into the surface of the polystyrene (visible on the right truck).
Attempts to attach wire by gluing for a professional look have failed regularly.
Decoder is hovering on its wires, to avoid the heat of the motor.
If looking closely, the left truck shows one solid and one insulated wheel....
Caused some choice words when I put her on the programming track,
and got an error message!
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Gerold
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| Posted: Thu Mar 18th, 2021 10:38 pm |
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2nd Post |
corv8
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| Location: | Vienna, Austria |
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That's how she looked this afternoon...
Still missing the fuel tank (apparently she never had one)
and is in need of some adjustments.
Side frames are flat castings with little detail... fifties style...
Will keep them for authenticity.
AND, she had a working decoder...
Half an hour later the Holy Smoke escaped....
Seems the headlight shorted out....
Oh hell. 
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Gerold
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19th, 2021 01:20 am |
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3rd Post |
| Posted: Fri Mar 19th, 2021 06:50 am |
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4th Post |
corv8
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| Location: | Vienna, Austria |
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Michael M wrote:
How does she, or did she, run?
To my surprise, very well.
Less noise than I am used to from the KMT / Kumata tower drives that came later.
Of course scale speed is ~ 200 mph, however not a problem with DCC.
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Gerold
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20th, 2021 03:16 pm |
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5th Post |
Si.
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| Joined: | Thu Feb 23rd, 2012 |
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" AND, she had a working decoder...
Half an hour later the Holy Smoke escaped.... "
Hi Gerold  
I think that local Hobby Shop owner you mentioned ... 
... who does the FREE decoder replacements ... 
... must have your photo  on his Dart Board, out back ! 
' Holy smoke Batman, what will Gotham do without the Bat Signal '
' I hate to think Boy Wonder, but your electrician friend is FIRED ! '
The chassis looks GREAT ! ... & kinda reminds me of my 'Athearn' S12 (I think) ...
... which I'm unsure whether to 'ruin' as a 1:35n2 MONSTER, or keep a nice HO loco. 
I promised myself NOT to collect any HO, other than 'Tri-ang' Transcontinental ...
... but the 'Athearn' S12, & a few other items, I acquired back in the late '80s 
I am following all your excellent 're-motorings' closely, with '50s / '60s 'Tri-ang' in mind.
Some very old open-frame 'Tri-ang' motors, can benefit from a NEW cube-magnet. 
Anyway, she looks AWESOME ! ... I love your outdoor photographys  lighting !
How'd you do the C L (mono-wasp) stripes Gerold ? ... Painted, or decals ? 
 
Si.
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' Mysterious Moose Mountain ' - 1:35n2 - pt.II
http://www.freerails.com/view_topic.php?id=7318&forum_id=17&page=1
' M:R:W Motor Speedway !!! ' - 1:32 Slotcar Racing Layout
http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=59295&st=0&a
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20th, 2021 05:54 pm |
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6th Post |
| Posted: Sun Mar 21st, 2021 09:14 pm |
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7th Post |
corv8
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Enthusiasm was short lived.... Another decoder bite the grass....
Found the motor consumed 3.5 A at 16V full stall....
Put in another similar Chinese motor.... 1 A but painfully slow.
Half the speed of my slowest switcher.... Unacceptable.
Third motor works ok now.
Speed range is perfect without need to adjust CVs.
Only have to fabricate a diesel tank.
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Gerold
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| Posted: Tue Mar 23rd, 2021 02:02 pm |
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8th Post |
Michael M
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I've fried electronics over the years, with little puffs of smoke.
But, frying decoders could get kind of expensive.
I am envious of how you can find these old brass models and resurrect them.
I've looked at a few models with the idea of following in your footsteps,
but passed on it due to my limited skills.
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Michael
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Nye, Inyo & Esmeralda Railroad
https://www.flickr.com/photos/183715370@N03/albums/72157710477887657/
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