PSC DD40 Repair

[up148]

Not much modeling happening at my end, but a little, so here are some new photos. We have the queen mother of storms bearing down on us, which hits tonight and lasts through Wednesday, so might get a lot more done in the next few days. Minus 11 forecast for the lows, with up to 15" of snow, which is highly unusual for the OKC area. Growing up and living in the KCMO area all my life, this is not so bad, but it will be murder down here as they don't have the equipment to handle it. Just hoping we don't lose power.

I finally decided the only way to fix the front pilot and chassis was to remove the pilot (soaking in ELO now) and do this repair in stages. Had to locate and unpack the box with my soldering equipment in it and that made disassembly easy. I thought the chassis might spring back with the pilot removed, but it didn't, so I've been slowly massaging it with a myriad of hobby, garage and makeshift tools. Not 100% yet, but much better than it was and I'm getting a handle on the project now.....once the fear factor was eliminated it goes much smoother. It sure makes you appreciate Gary's talent even more.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Not much modeling happening at my end, but a little, so here are some new photos. We have the queen mother of storms bearing down on us, which hits tonight and lasts through Wednesday, so might get a lot more done in the next few days. Minus 11 forecast for the lows, with up to 15" of snow, which is highly unusual for the OKC area. Growing up and living in the KCMO area all my life, this is not so bad, but it will be murder down here as they don't have the equipment to handle it. Just hoping we don't lose power.

Getting a few hours of ice, sleet, and freezing rain here in VA and same.......hoping we don't lose power.

But also doing a bit of soldering on a little seat of the pants modeling project.

[prrjim]

That drive does not look unique or rube golberg to me.

I have two older MG GP35s. The drive is similiar, but only one motor. Mine had open frame motors and I replaced them with can motors. The same gear box and universal mounts are used. The shaft comes out of both sides of the gearbox on GP35 to feed both trucks. The drives are very silent and smooth. The gearbox seems solid to me. The brass universals will probably never break or wear out on a home layout. All the parts are sturdy and well made. The motor shafts feed to the gearbox in the body and the gearboxes feed to trucks underneath. I think MG and USH used variations of this drive on all their diesels.

What do you think is so unique about this? To me it looks like a typical diesel drive.

[up148]

I just realize I've never posted a very good photo of the actual drive on this model and to anyone not familiar with this drive it looks typical. But, it is a very unique drive only used on PSC diesel models of this era to my knowledge. Yes, the motor and transition gearbox that drops the power down to the axle level is very typical, but that's where the drive becomes unique. There is only one axle powered by a gearbox per truck, all the others are powered by a gear train, that runs on the inside of the wheels. The other axles are powered by axle gears and idlers enclosed in a sheet brass housing. Actually, it's sort of how Lionel, Atlas and other 3 rail diesels have been powered for decades, except PSC had the gears enclosed in a housing instead of left open. IIRC, it wasn't very well received by the 2R modeling community, but I was never interested in a DD40 back in the day to know how they really performed. I know OMI came out with a real beauty in the late 90's and IIRC it has 4 enclosed gearboxes per truck.

I agree with everything you said about the stoutness of this model and I'm very impressed with it. It seems much more substantial than the Korean built models I own.

[up148]

Better Photo

[up148]

Still making progress, just moving slow and steady, as I don't want to create more work. Actually, few changes take more than a couple of minutes, but then I sit back to see what I have and figure out what might work better. The closer you get to straight, the harder it is to improve on it.

ELO has been a very ineffective paint remover, but it might be because my can is 20-25 years old and has lost it's poop. I'll use something stronger as I need to get the paint removed to move forward.

Hope I'm not boring anyone, as this is pretty basic to many of you, but at least it's modeling.

Weather-wise we passed our low temp point this morning (-6) and got maybe 4-5" of snow over the past 24 hours, but at single digits, it's a dry powder and blows into uneven depths. Tomorrow the 2nd storm kits with a forecast of 6-8" additional snow and with temps in the high teens and low 20's. By Friday we're above freezing and it's all sunshine and higher temps from there.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Hope I'm not boring anyone, as this is pretty basic to many of you, but at least it's modeling.

Not at all; checking in regularly. ELO - would not have thought of that for removing paint. Not having any solvent based paint remover, maybe either a little lacquer thinner or even some Tenax applied very carefully.

[bob turner]

If you can get a piece of steel down between those two sheets of brass, you could come in behind the interior sheet with a dolly and gently tap that wrinkle out. Duckbills cannot remove wrinkles. An aluminum wedge will do if you have to shape it, but the dolly needs to be steel or brass.

[up148]

Thanks guys. The ELO can said "paint and decals" but I now know it's strictly for decals...maybe. I've got some stronger stuff just didn't want to use it inside and snow outside.

Good idea Bob. Greg B. suggested something similar about an hour ago so I got out my punches and found I do have a nice pair of short handle duck bill pliers (1/2" wide) and was able to get that down inside. Looking better, but not done. Worse case scenario I'll show some balls and separate the two sheets so I can work on them individually..........just trying to keep it as simple as possible as I'm really not a solderer yet.

I haven't even addressed the steps or other supporting structure yet, but it seems to be lining up pretty good. The couple support actually fits in the hole, it just moved before taking the picture.

[herronpeter]

Well you may be learning how to post photos on this forum, needlessly difficult if I may be honest, but you certainly seem to be doing a great job repairing that damage without additional harm. I think it will look like new when you get done. Great looking model!

I once fixed a locomotive for a friend that had both front and rear "porches" knocked off and many handrails bent an lots of stanchions desoldered. It took a lot heat to repair it all so the paint took a beating. As you said, a little weathering helped make it much less noticeable. Too bad I can’t post a picture of it to show you because I can’t figure out how to post on here and don’t really want to get a "hosting" site involved.

Peter

[robert.]

Easy off oven cleaner will remove paint. spray it into a glass jar. Then brush it on. Wipe it off.

[up148]

Thanks guys and I forgot to mention at the onset, all comments and suggestions are welcomed, as it doesn't hurt my feelings to take help wherever I can get it.

I agree Peter. Too bad moderators don't purge old forum photos, since this is the reason you can't use the forum hosting service...its full. It took some noodling to get a handle on it for me, but I've got it down now and should be good, unless I quit using it for awhile and forget.

My "Eureka" came when I understood I had to copy the "image address" and then paste it between the two icons on the task bar above. I've also learned how to post photos from other sites and incoming emails by copying "image address". The only place I can't copy an image address from, is off my own computer photos, which I guess is good as it might give outsides a link to my computer if that's possible.

Nothing on a computer is intuitive to me, so this was harder for me to learn than most.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.......... but I've got it down now and should be good, unless I quit using it for awhile and forget.

Copy your own instructions into a Word file and save it on the Desktop.

The only place I can't copy an image address from, is off my own computer photos, which I guess is good as it might give outsides a link to my computer if that's possible.

You really would not want to be able to do that..........ever.

[Chris Rock]

Thanks for sharing this process. Your focus on craftsmanship is already paying great dividends. Great thread.

Sorry I can't add anything constructive.