What's in Your Project Queue?

[R.K. Maroon]

Anybody have anything interesting in their project queue for the new year? I have the all-too-common situation of having multiple projects going at once. My brother likes to say, "pick one and get it done", but it's more like "picked eight and they're all late" .

Most of my on-going projects involve models, but, as there is a local train show approaching in January, the top-priority project right now is to get the club portable mainline layout ready for the show. The critical task is a scenery project involving our switching area and the adjacent river:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/la7osch3e4eg17kf9bwkd/Bridge-Module-Scenery-01.jpg?rlkey=5m3qqgxvzsfzdsy7vs1thbgrt

As seen, the two bridges have been removed to allow access the river bed. The goal is to get a good bit of the riverbed scenery in place before the bridges go back for the show. Others are leading the charge here.

The other task, which is less critical, is to complete the installation of permanent trackwork in the switching area. This includes replacing flex track with spiked rail, installation of ground throws and powering frogs of all turnouts:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/oior9b5mkgls7tyjg6ioa/Switching-Area-Trackwork-01.jpg?rlkey=mjse0f0jhj3ibyjtstqj2p1bf

This is currently my principal task. I'll spend a good bit of the next couple of weeks on this and hope to complete it. I'd like to call it "done".

Anybody else have anything on their docket?
Jim

[ScaleCraft]

Throw more stuff away.

IF I can get my energy and balance back (most likely xarelto related) paint this original GM Mountain, find a big permag open frame motor for it in my two boxes of motors. Other than clipping leads to the field wound motor (never soldered) to check that the chassis runs after repairs, it has never run.
I suppose I could get a 10A full wave bridge....
I purposefully left the GM builder's plate for historical reasons. I suppose I could grind it off.

RK Hall helped me get all the missing detail parts (all of them) and finish it.
So this had some Bob Hall input.

[up148]

I'm hoping to get re-enthused with model building and maybe build a module in 2025. Most likely will join the local O scale club, as I need to quit being such a lone wolf with my modeling.

[R.K. Maroon]

...find a big permag open frame motor for it...

Is my memory correct that the bolt pattern on most permag motors is not the same as the K&D universal motor? I only ask because I believe I have a K&D permag motor that is a one-for-one replacement. Dave, maybe we should talk.

I need to quit being such a lone wolf with my modeling

Having others to share the hobby with is a definite plus for me. Of course, you have to be tolerant of the opinions of others, no matter HOW WRONG AND BULLHEADED THEY ARE! But, yes, overall, a plus.

Here is another one of the projects in the queue:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/c4yi2y3cfkv4k7rbp1qw8/Armature-02.jpg?rlkey=6pk53x74gml09m0h9muub9oej

There is no sense of scale in this photo, so you might think that this is the armature from a locomotive motor, but the fins of the cooling fan suggest otherwise. This is from a Cameron Micro Drill press. These are expensive machines, but I found a used one locally at a good price many years ago. Note the black commutator (sometimes called the brush block) on the far right. This is where the carbon brushes make contact with the armature. The motor has been arcing and sparking for some time, and finally quit running. A new motor is $500(!), but the Cameron service guy told me that the commutator on mine can be restored by turning it between centers on a lathe. So I ordered a face plate, lathe dog, and dead center for the Taig lathe, and with advice and consent from Nortonville Phi, got 'er done:


https://dl.dropbox.com/s/b5t6hlfuwea7qvy/Armature%2003.jpg

I still need to polish the surface and then reassemble everything, but hopefully this project will wrap up soon.
Jim

[ScaleCraft]

...find a big permag open frame motor for it...

Is my memory correct that the bolt pattern on most permag motors is not the same as the K&D universal motor? I only ask because I believe I have a K&D permag motor that is a one-for-one replacement. Dave, maybe we should talk.


Jim

All three SC engines you have of mine have bolt-in, open frame permags.
Hard to find.

[bob turner]

I cannot resist!



This one is a thousand dollar BMW blower fan motor. It went bad because it uses porous bronze bearings and there is no way to get a drop of oil in there, so when the original oil dries, the interior comes apart at shop rates, and the new motor, presumably with a drop of oil on each bearing, goes back in.

I am delighted to see some activity around here - we went ten days without a post, and the last two days we have I think seven!

I want to join in on the PT-4 tender discussion, since that is one of my favorite tenders, but I would be lobbying to leave it in the PT-4 configuration. I have two - the first is my very first attempt at brass scratchbuilding, and is a bit crude, and the second is that wood block behind my Williams Dreyfuss Hudson.

[R.K. Maroon]

Here is another of the many projects lurking around the shop these days:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/sfaus7q21kn5evri4j6hd/20th-Century-Niagara-01.jpg?rlkey=ungduf1f9wjnf2y1gacih4t1d

This NYC Niagara has a cast bronze boiler and tender. Such a locomotive was advertised by 20th Century Tool and Die Works in the November 1948 issue of Model Railroader:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fns0fnqyph5r1mirliej7/20th-Century-Tool-and-Die-Cast-Niagara-MR-1948-11.jpg?rlkey=rovmezxq692w0m3b90qvtlhnc

Baldwin Models later advertised a similar model, which one might guess is the same as the 20th Century, but I have not seen a photo of the Baldwin version. I think it is safe to say that neither model sold very well, as I haven't seen any others. Carey might have more information on these two models, and maybe has one as well.

This model is being restored. It arrived without the pilot and trailing trucks. The chassis had been modified (badly) in an apparent attempt to get it around tight curves. Bob T. graciously offered to repair the damaged chassis and add the pony trucks. The photo above shows the model after return of the chassis from Bob. I am happy to report that the chassis navigates the 65" radius curves of our outside mainline with no issues. Short video here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/y9ujx6lsuopl2c52ubwzy/20th-Century-Niagara-Chassis-Test-Run.mp4?rlkey=vkidt2jdjs0r8fwktrzs6plje&dl=0

There is a good amount of work to bring it to service-ready condition, but there is nothing to it but to do it.

Jim

[R.K. Maroon]

Here is the boiler from a B&O 2-10-2:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/u1mtpav5pvckfhx6ttowr/Jerry-White-B-O-Class-S1a-2-10-2-Boiler.jpg?rlkey=9smmgqyt85mwsflqmkviem86w

The model was made by Jerry White. I found it in Woody Mathews estate sale. The model arrived in need of some chassis and paint work. I have the chassis work done but the paint work remains. Painting is not my strong suit but I am going to wade in and get it done, as it is too nice a model to languish in a box any longer.

I should note that I am posting these various projects in no particular order, other than the layout project at the top of the thread, which is the current priority.

[up148]

I've never seen a Jerry White loco up close like this. Very nice detail. Maybe it's the view, but what is going on in the cab with the wall in front of the brakeman?

[R.K. Maroon]

This top view of the cab with the roof removed shows that the brakeman is not actually sitting in the cab, but in a doghouse that has been appended to the back wall of the cab:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8jfvl8ilddeekjqelyfhu/Jerry-White-B-O-Class-S1a-2-10-2-Cab.jpg?rlkey=0vsltrcudxbfhampy2tnpj6n2

I don't know if the doghouse was there when the locomotives were delivered or if it was added after the fact. Note from the side view posted above, and again from the OMI model below, that the floor of the doghouse is above the floor of the cab:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zkm5itw5yn6zinyzc1nzh/OMI-B-O-2-10-2_01.jpg?rlkey=acmhgv2flkgcuz462pjjgpx6d

This makes sense if the idea is to have the brakeman at eye-level when sitting down in the doghouse. The Jerry White model has the brakeman trapped (assuming they are not supposed to crawl in and out through the window). I don't own the OMI version, so I am not sure how it is configured.

[R.K. Maroon]

And now for something completely different. Here is an MTH GE C40-8:

https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/p3l29biscp7orobzvnoqs/MTH-GE-C40-8-01.jpg?rlkey=ony4qlo8ctkvhq6n4g9fa5wh8

This is a three-rail model. Not surprisingly, the coupler and a good section of the pilot are attached to the truck instead of being fixed to the chassis. My brother found a pair of these units that had been converted to two-rail. The lower pilots had been cut from the trucks and affixed to the body, but because there is a gap between the upper and lower pieces, the joined assembly rides too high off the rails. Jim Read, who posts here as Big Bad Jim and is highly talented digital modeler, was contacted. Jim thought that the best path forward was to design completely new 3D-printed pilot assemblies and, following negotiations, was engaged to do so.

The original plan was for Jim to design the parts and run off test prints, but for me to print the actual final parts. Though he and I have identical printers, my printer, which successfully printed the early iterations of the design, acquired a gremlin and would not print the final versions successfully. Exorcisms were attempted but failed, so Jim wound up printing the final parts. Here are the front and back pilots (they are different), before the steps and other details are installed, with the shell:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/c3u3a5h9yl6mop8gqsnwf/MTH-GE-C40-8-02.jpg?rlkey=c5jyc6d7131xuu9ye0k107kex

Note that the original upper section of each pilot has to be carefully removed from the shell to make way for the new pilots. My task is to take it from here up to the point just before painting, at which time it goes to brother Pete.

[up148]

Thanks for the additional photos Jim. Great detail/detailing is what attracted me to model trains, even when I was small in the very beginning (1950's) and this Jerry White loco is up there with the best of them. I see a lot of resemblance to the back head in my KTM-USA FEF-3 built in the mid 80's and was ahead of it's time. JW was a heck of a modeler and if his engines ran as good as I've read they were worth the time and expense to have one......especially back when he produced them. Thanks!

I see there is an IMP Challenger on eBay repowered by Rod Miller.

[R.K. Maroon]

I saw that IMP Challenger. It sold for $542 plus shipping:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/356396539972

I would guess that doesn't even come close to the cost of the Rod Miller drive, so in that sense somebody got a bargain.

Here are two more projects in the queue. First up is this CLW PA, which has appeared off-and-on in the "Machine Shop" thread for five years. The second primer coat is now on and work on detail installation has begun:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jkzba4qy8ocbejqlf1u3m/CLW-Cast-PA-T-NO-Second-Prime-Coat.jpg?rlkey=bhsc2fzajuz6iunxuhyu6udlz

Finishing this is the first priority after the layout trackwork (described in the first post of this thread) is complete (which it almost is -- I have been busy in between posts here).

Finally, I have a bigger project to recreate, as best I can with doorstops, this Katy diesel lineup:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/76h138a417p8pv29r0ei0/Katy-Deramus-First-Gen-Lash-up.jpg?rlkey=ipm2fqb5s8j2939l91b1xsyif

This photo is copyrighted by David Hawkins and is available on RailPictures.Net. The scene is during the Deramus-Barringer era, which is derided and despised by hard-core Katy fans everywhere. Alas, this is the railroad as I first remember it, and the line-up of first-gen diesels, as they are squeezed by the cash-strapped Katy for any revenue miles they have left, is hard to resist.

The project will be tackled in bites. The lead unit is first up. This Ken-Kraft Alco FA fits the bill:


https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lfl7k411qohy03rxtk3ja/Katy-Deramus-FA-01.jpg?rlkey=z08qsrzqqd4dhy0ksy94i7nu3

There is a long-story behind this unit but I will save it for when this project gets some more traction. There is also a parallel effort to create appropriate decals. More on that later as well.

I could keep going down the project list here, but I allotted one project-per-day until the end of the year and here we are. I hope 2025 brings good things to O-scalers everywhere.

Jim

[up148]

Yeah, I seriously thought about bidding on it for the drives, but I have enough projects packed away that need to be addressed without adding more to the queue.

[Dennis Holler]

Too many things really! Thanks Jim for the Alco DL109 screens. I owe you an email response. Those look great. I guess that DL109 is on the list. Not sure how quick I will get to it as I have recently gotten twisted in making new shelves for the train room and that has been time consuming and also quite messy with all the moving of boxes and stuff. But progress is being made I guess.

Yeah, that DL109 is going to be interesting, will have to decide how much detail to add I guess. It is one that the sides were sanded smooth so there are no ribs or anything at this point. Just the windows and a faint door outline.

Oh, and I definitely love that Niagara!