Choochoowilly

Report this image Little more done today, got the cribbing for the wood box finished, painted and installed, but most the time was spent on figuring type, location and mounting of the front coupler. Luckily I found in my collection of Kadee couplers a centerset short gear box # 835 couple which enabled me to mount it to a wood beam and both secured to a small flat protruding plate that is on 2010 engines, there were some angled supports molded in underneath which I had to remove but a sharp chisel made short work of them. The wood beam is actually PVC board that I had ripped sometime ago to make supports for my water tower. The wantabe cow catcher is one left over from a Bachmann Big hauler tender that has excellent forgiveness in the crash department and is great for bending without breakage and gives the build the appearance of a working yard engine. I then secured every thing with 2/56 screws and nuts which can be seen in the picture as silvery dots but will get covered with grimy paint soon. Still trying to find a suitable material to make my canvas roof with, suggestion are welcome. Will post when further achievements are made, Bill

still piddling with Old Joe, been cold here in central Florida east coast and being as my work area is on an open porch I haven gotten a lot done, but things that I have done are time consuming taking planning and thought. Finally figured out how to secure the lead weight in the engine and at the same time secure the boiler to the frame and that was using a furniture fitting that screws into wood an provides machine screw threads in the middle. Put it in the hole that the factory smoke stack went thru and will be held in place with a 1/4 X 20 SS bolt. Then at the same time I secured the cab with 2/56 screws on either side of the side cab openings after building up the area with styrene, in the picture that are a bright silver but will be changing them out for black hex head ones. Found some old steps from a LGB European coach and added them to the cab under the doors openings. The wood bunker is clipped on to the back of the cab and is secured from underneath with screws just like the factory one was so the cab will hold the rear of the boiler and the SS screw will hold the front. Little inside work, I painted on the wood load to give it more of a real appearance and it came out pretty good also dabbed some on the cab to give it a faded wood look. Think I'm going to try some cloth on the cab roof to give it a canvas look. Still have the side tanks to secure and a front bolster with coupler and coupler in the rear, more to come, Bill

Moving along, decided I would try the rust look using rock salt, didn't quite go like the youtube but good enough. Used an oil base rattle can and think it would have probably worked better using acrylic air brush paint. The problem I had with the oil base was it stuck down the salt too well and wound out having to soak it in water for about 1/2 day and still had to scrape some of it off but it gave the result I was looking for so live and learn, using individual rivets, although a pain to install worked out well , had bought some self stick ones thinking I could bypass the gluing step but that didn't work out either. Found that the beads wouldn't come off the shipping paper and left gooey mess around them and found it very hard to position correctly. Got a little paint on the cab and trying to get it to look like old faded wood, and still have a ways to go. Will up date when I get something else done, Bill

Got a little done on Old Joe, first set of rivets for the boiler, cut the boiler to the to be length, finished the smoke box door, was able to find a rectangle box for the water reservoir and caped it with the hatch cover from an old Bachmann tender. The reservoir will feed the side tanks via some rubber tubing, actually the outer sheath from an electrical cord, this will allow the engine to take on water from the water tank rather than filling each tank separately via a hose. Started size fitting the front bolster and step cowcatcher, I have a LGB cow catcher I could use but being as this suppose to be a small industrial engine I opted for the former. Was able to stumble across so old plastruct vinyl cover wire and a grooved bracket to mount it with so I made some air piping for under one of the running boards. No the smoke stack isn't going to be square just trying to get an idea on height and that tubing was handy. Found the top to the steam dome just have to cut it to size. Sort of on off building this week trying to get the house ready for guest for thanksgiving of which there will be some little ones, so thought is out of site out of mind, just hope I can remember where I have hidden stuff after wards, more to come, Bill

Great pictures

While waiting on some Mason Bogie parts I have decided on using the left over parts to build a small side tank industrial tank engine. Took the two cab sections and mated them together and glued the two pieces of leftover roofs together. Found the side tanks from a LGB 2017 engine that came off of Rosy, cut off the tab and started filling in some of the holes. Found that the width of the two coupled with a 1" PVC coupling was the same width as the cab. Added the wood bunker from the original Lionel 0-6-0 to the back and shortened a left over frame from a previous butcher job after modifying it to match the motor housing of a newer 2017 block. Still working on a water filler saddle for the side tanks and but did come across a smoke box front of a 2010 which I added to a plastic hole plug and fits nicely into the 3/4" coupling, Added the fire box left over from the sacrificed Spreewald (Mason Bogie drive) and it starting to com together. Today I added rivet detail to the 2 side tanks and gave a light coat of primer. Rivets are actually 1/2 round 2 mm plastic beads glued to the side of the tanks, time consuming but not near as bad as individual holes for each rivet. Still have to find a motor for the motor block as I bought it without but it was new and unused and in great shape and has all the looks of American valving. Think I'll call this engine "old Joe" will post more as the build moves along.

Add bookmark #25 Still working on numbering, got the smoke box plate numbered along with the sand dome, added some Jax pewter black to the bell rope and have made a plate for the center of the cab where I can run my wiring, sort of like a tunnel and is removable using magnetic tape so removal is easy. Have gotten the R/C board along with battery and charging board fitted in the tender section and might have room to place a sound board in there also, pretty small space. If I can do it I will place the speaker in the roof of the cab as I have used this location before with good results, more to come, Bill

Not a lot done but it's something I have been working on for a while now, numbering the engine. Time spent trying to select a number and how to do it, I settled on year built, which I have done before, and but still having problems on how. I usually use a silhouette machine to do lettering but the vinyl does like irregularities especially rivets. The vinyl is flexible but not to the size of the head if a pin, so I thought about spray painting but need a template that would adhere to the surface including rivets. After some research I settled on stencil paper for my machine. First try was great, not only does the stencil paper stay in place, doesn't fold over it's self, but is pretty sticky and weeds well. Still didn't sit down the best on the rivets but was acceptable to the point that over sprays could be dealt with after the fact with a small brush and back ground paint. But then with a brain storm I thought if the stencil was more flexible maybe it would contour better. 15 minutes in the sun seemed about right and firm pressure with my thumb on the stencil was all it took, only a couple of spots that paint crept under the stencil but not bad. Now it's not the engine anymore now it's #"19" Again pleased with the results and now working on hiding the wiring for the engine from front to rear. More to come, Bill

Since my last post I have accomplished quite a bit, dulled up the bell and added twisted copper wire for the bell rope, took 2 tries as the fires one the wire gauge was too small but finally got it right. Was able to make builders plates and with a suggestion from a member on MLS I utilized decal paper and printed the plates on that, then put the decals on brass sheet and seal with a heated laminator which protected as well as gave it a little bit of thickness. I have been researching batteries and types and with the help of several on LSC have selected Lipo, reason being as hobby shops are far and few between in Daytona Beach, Fl. but one that has been around for several years and even thru the downtown street redo is High Fly Hobbies. Primarily an R/C plane and car dealer but they have been more than helpful with my small purchases of styrene, brass wire, and paints and I valued their knowledge and that they are local dealer that I can return to if I have questions or problems. Was able to find a battery that along with the Gscalegraphics control board, fits nicely into the tender section of the engine with room left over for their, GSG's, sound board, I also purchase a alarm to prevent from over discharging the battery which I understand is the down fall of Lipo. Have hooked up the speed control and tested and all I can say is there isn't any thing much easer, worked great. The only thing left is to complete the wiring of the R/C system, front headlight, smoke unit and want to put a flickering led's in the fire box, thanks to all with the help and suggestions, more to come, Bill

Well what determines quality and where should they be made can you elaborate, don't want to buy some a wait a year to find out if they are any good

What makes them cheap ones other than price, I would think you could find good ones at a great price so what makes the quality different?

New with box, never used $45.00 + 10.00 ship USA main land only PayPal, box shows wear

Thanks to Screwy Nick my Misplaced Bell problem has been solved, thanks Nick, now all the remains on the top of the boiler is making a lever and control rod for the sand dome

Still working on the mason bogie, got the port side piping done and the reverse linkage secure, and on the starboard side I got the reach rod installed to the shifting linkage it is secured to the side of the engine in the black part of the firebox and does not enter into the cab, all the piping and grab rails move forward to remove themselves from the cab this way I can remove the boiler, cab or chassis for repair. Everything is built with styrene except for the bolts which are 2/56 black hex bolts. Next on the list is the sand dome activation bar and pull rod. Trying to figure what to use for builders plates, might try printing them with my silhouette. More to follow, Bill

My self I have had good results with Purple Power strips where 90/10 alcohol wouldn't touch it

Update to the Mason Bogie bash, tested the operation of the reversing bar in relation ship to the reversing shaft at the bell housing and found very little up/down movement and very little front to rear, most of the movement comes when the engine is in a turn and that seems to more or less just flex with the turn. Not having the patience or tools necessary to machine parts for the vertical lifting bar I settled on elastic black cord and small crimp on fittings from Hobby Lobby to simulate the steel lifting rod and it seems to preform very well. The cord is stretched just enough to make it look straight and it puts up well with both side rod and turning applications. Both ends are secured with 2/56 Allen head screws which allow the grips to move freely and still looking for the bell, train show in a week might find one there. Being as the reversing shaft is free to move the shifting bar that runs from the cab interior to the long bar from the shifting shaft will be secured to the rear section of the boiler just before the cab in order to keep tension on the cord. Pleased with the out come so far and as with everything on this project it comes apart with 2/56 screws, just a lot of screws. At the moment I'm gathering parts to build a flickering fire box which I have built several and look really neat at night. So next step is getting into the wiring of headlight, smoke unit along with R/C and battery, more to come, Bill

While still looking for the misplaced bell I have gotten most of the shifter mechanism done still in styrene white but as soon as it dries up around here it will get some paint. Left to do on it is designing the vertical lift bar that runs between the shift leaver at the top and the side drive bar on the chassis. Am considering using round cord elastic that would give with the turning and side rod movements, got to get it on the rollers and see how much everything moves,

Nick, just rust it up and put it in at scrap pile at the engine yard, bet it would look cool, here is what I found on pinterest with what they really did. I posted this picture on LSC and a member has copied it to very nice detail, it was by Rick Marty and titled "oil shed"

More progress on the Mason Bogie, got the boiler handrails done and piping for the sand dome and was done with 1/16" brass wire, reused the stanchions from the original Lionel 0-6-0 and was going to purchase 2 more to put 3 on each side but after reviewing the shipping cost I decided on 2 on each side. Received my G scale graphics R?C system and am looking forward to getting it install but first will have to make some more detail parts like the bell and the firebox but at least it is starting to look like something, more to follow.

No just curious, like it with the 2 different bogies

Thanks Chuck, I have the only problem is they want to charge $12.00 for some thing that will go in a $.49 cent envelope, just fell the shipping shouldn't be 3x the price of the part, thanks for your help, Bill

Nick, I can see from the underside 3 dimples each set on one side and one on the other, seem to correspond to the seating inside, so are these spot welds and if so how where the accomplished? Clear plastic, very unusual, looks great

Looking Lionel 0-6-0 hand rail stanchions qty 2 used on gold rush special. Thanks Bill

Nice

Been looking for a end car for my sugar cane train, and after talking to Eric in Hawaii about their sugar can trains and him sending me some pictures of their cabooses, I went on the look out for a small caboose looking car. Considered a Bachman "Little big hauler" caboose which was about the right size and not very expensive. Then as I get updates just about everyday from Pinterest regarding my interests, I found a picture of an actual very small caboose rotting in a field and I just thought it was about the cutest thing ever. So I decided to copy it best as possible. I started with a Bachmann full-size combine body missing parts and roof, cut out 3 windows body section + the ends of the car. Also removed a small section of the car window were it met the end section so that both ends of the car would match. Used part of the chassis and moved the truck bolster to the correct location. After gluing the chassis I found that the passenger car truck was too long and would not fit between the steps so I removed the wheel brake shoes on both ends. Made the roof out of black kydex plastic which has a pebble finish on one side and scribed lines like roll roofing from front to rear. Then cut a hole in it for the cupola to sit.. might put some seats in it for the workers to sit but still thinking about that. Even though the real caboose was lacking cat walks and ladders at the ends I decided to add those just to make sure it looked like a caboose and those parts came from a Bachmann caboose but cut down. Added the Sugar Shack Sugar Co logo and like Rosy still thinking about weathering it. Fun build and I think it hits the spot, Bill