Scattergun Steph Dale's dark side - Back to the FA2...

[Steph Dale]

I've spent a couple of days this week sorting out some of the higher functionality of ESU LokSoundv3.5 decoders to get them to 'coast' properly. Which has gone very well and this evening I shall be playing with the sound profiles of a couple of other locos (0-gauge British stuff) to get them sorted too. Just in time for the LokSoundv4 to hit these shores at the end of this month

The test loco is a scruffy Proto 1000 F3a; not a bad model apart from the lack of a crease down the front of the nose. This has been fitted with a few details (it'll be sprayed up as a GTW version when the decals finally come out!) and has been fitted with a speaker enclosure I designed some while ago. It works pretty well.

Anyway, in the process of digging out this loco I started rummaging through the boxes of US stuff and thought about adding sound and a couple of details to an Atlas GP7 for a mate's St Louis South Western (SSW/Cotton Belt) layout. It's operated as freight only, so I have the dubious honour of providing the passenger locos: a GP7, 2 PAs and an FP7. Fortunately all have been produced as rtr models with the Athearn Genesis FP7 coming out last year.

So I then hit the books, rummaged through the details boxes and the quick job (replacing the handrails and fitting a SoundTRAXX 'Tsunami' sound decoder has turned into this:

 

[28ten]

Steph, you need to focus 
I hereby award you with the Western Thunder rubber gauge, too many projects gold star!
I know nothing about US locos but every time I read Model Railroader I am always impressed by the sheer number of accessories and detailing packs available for the HO locos.

 

[Steph Dale]

Cynric,

This is the bit that I do just for fun.  As you have eluded to, in most cases the parts required are available and it tends to be a selection and assembly job...

Focus?  Me?  Well, actually yes; maybe more than you would think ;-)

Steph

 

[Dog Star]

Steph, you need to focus 
I hereby award you with the Western Thunder rubber gauge, too many projects gold star!
I know nothing about US locos but every time I read Model Railroader I am always impressed by the sheer number of accessories and detailing packs available for the HO locos.

Oh go on, do tell who got the silver / bronze and who got the wooden spoon!

 

[28ten]

Oh go on, do tell who got the silver / bronze and who got the wooden spoon!

Dan is in the running for a medal  as he has only ever finished a pillbox  and the wooden spoon would have to go to someone who just sticks to one project and gets things finished...

 

[Dog Star]

Dan is in the running for a medal  as he has only ever finished a pillbox  and the wooden spoon would have to go to someone who just sticks to one project and gets things finished...

So no takers for the spoon here then  ;D ;D ;D

 

[Steve Cook]

Not being sure how this will be received  :scratch: or whether anyone is really interested I'm wondering how much detail people would be interested in me describing. Oh and anyone want to see any more?  There's a couple of SP locos here for the same project...

Hi Steph
You can count me in as an interested observer, I'm down a US layout but still have the stock put to one side for another day / bash. All of my stuff was straight out of the box (never made the step up to modifying / detailing it), but I have an SP GP9 (Proto 2000) that is screaming out for an update at some point.
I might not post much, but if its anything like your inside valve gear I'll be following it all the way  ;D

Jordan - have you been able to read back the manufacturer from the unknown chips using your PowerCab? I haven't done that for a while with my PowerCab, but would be happy to help if it erm, helps 

Steve

 

[Steph Dale]

Hi Steph
You can count me in as an interested observer, I'm down a US layout but still have the stock put to one side for another day / bash. All of my stuff was straight out of the box (never made the step up to modifying / detailing it), but I have an SP GP9 (Proto 2000) that is screaming out for an update at some point.
I might not post much, but if its anything like your inside valve gear I'll be following it all the way  ;D

Steve

Steve,

Like this?  Or one of the boring red/grey ones?:

 

[Steph Dale]

Sorry for a bit of a Thread Hi-jack... :-[

Jordan,

No worries!    Here's something to think about, my testbed loco; the F3 mentioned earlier.  First up, there is a lot of good info out there and some absolute cobblers too.  Amongst the good bits is the paper available from this webpage: http://qsisolutions.com/products/techinfo/acoustic_designs.html.  Amongst the bad bits is nearly everything you're likely to read about 'bass reflex' speakers, which just end up being a damning indictment of the 'physics doesn't scale' rule...

The F3 uses some of the logic taken from the QSI paper referred to above; you'll note that the loco doesn't use an enclosed speaker in its own chamber; the speaker is built into the model.  The other mods to the loco were to test the use of warm-white LEDs (rule 17 for the front, reverse only on the backup light).  The stripboard and copper wires are to allow me to change decoders as/when/if I need to (Proto 1000 models weren't 'DCC ready' when this model was released).  The decoder in this one is an ESU LokSoundv3.5 and is often used to test the operation of sound profiles I'm developing; tomorrow the loco should be doing a reasonable impression of an LBSCR E4 0-6-2t so I can debug it for a mate.  The orange/purple wires leading out through the cab window have a connector on the other end which fits directly into my ESU LokProgrammer; it's more reliable and faster to upload the sound profiles this way rather than relying on the wheel/track and pickups.  As of now all my locos will be fitted with a small connector for programming hidden somewhere discrete, a 'nice to have', but by no means necessary.

 

[Steph Dale]

I'm just having a quick break from the bench while I wait for my superglue to defrost.  So I thought that while I'm supping my coffee I'd do a quick update...

The first thing I wanted to do was to work out where the speaker chamber was going to go.  Well I decided it'd go in the end of the long hood, which would mean fitting the lighting unit inside the sound chamber; not a problem with this loco which comes with LED lighting.  So here's the problem:

 

[Steve Cook]

Steve,

Like this?  Or one of the boring red/grey ones?:

Boring red and grey for me Steph - have to say I like it though  ;D
The only photo I have of it (its stuck in the loft at the bottom of a box) is this one, showing my first attempt at creating a separate board for all the DCC stuff - I kept the original in case this effort failed...
[attachimg=1]

It worked OK DCC wise, but it didn't get much running because I think the gears have the Proto disease...arse.

Like your idea of a testbed loco though, nicely done 
Steve

 

[Steph Dale]

Steve,

Very nice, an early Phase 3 eh?  The wheels/gears are an easy fix, as I'm sure you know, but it's helped me pick up the odd one or two described as non- or poor- runner.  A phase 3 in bloody nose would go in well with what we're doing: get the SP lights on it though, for goodness sake...  ;D

I was reminded today that I didn't do my update yesterday so here it is.  Fans can be cut out of the Highliner mouldings for locos such as this without too much grief.  I start by roughly cutting them out (back left), then running a slot round the perimeter with a razor saw; cutting is as far as the fan itself (front left).  The fans can then be 'nicked' at each blade end with a very sharp scalpel and with some carefull flexing you get three parts; a bit of waste, a fan and the housing:

 

[Steph Dale]

This evening has seen a return to serious metalwork.  The job I'm doing here may be unique to the SSW's GP7.  It's certainly not something I've picked up on with other locos.  And it's a job that would have been much easier to do on a P2k GP7.  Why didn't I?  Well, for the same reason I started with a factory paint job; decals aren't available.

This loco has a different cab base, with the extension behind the cab on the secondman's side missing.  The door which is usually here is 2/3 height losing a set of louvres in the process.  So I had such fun sorting it all out.  The chassis was first into the blender, sorry Dremel.  A large chunk of zinc being removed from the chassis/walkway with a mixture of slitting discs, rotary files and dental burrs.  Here's a 'before' and 'after':

 

[Steph Dale]

Is that the famous SP "Why have one headlight when six will do?" policy... :

Five actually  ;D ;D  As in 'Classic SP five-light package'... 

The new toy arrived this morning. Phwaoar...!

 

[Steph Dale]

If you do it when no-one else is watching they can't touch you for it...

I'm not worried; there's only two people in the UK who'll know about running the locos together, myself and the owner of the layout. And d'oh!...

Anyway.  Here's the GP7 with the speaker enclosure assembled as part of the 'shell:

 

[Steph Dale]

Well, this didn't turn out to be such a quick little job, and now Jordan's got the decoder out of this model...

Actually, that's only half the story - in the process of doing this Geep ESU announced v4, so will now be a testbed for ESU LokSoundv4 using Yorkshire Dave's monumentally tweaked (and rather funky) GP7/9 sound profile. It'll also have a little more done to it than I originally intended. For a start I'm going to use some Archer transfers to get the treadplate on the sill, this'll help disguise my earlier butchery. I'm also seriously looking at re-trucking the frame using some Details West parts. So watch this space. Or not.

And now the bad news - I got a bargain Chicago, Burlington and Quincy GP7 on t'Bay today (£13 - who says bargains can't be had on eBay any more!), which will follow the same process. So I'm now wondering if we have any CBQ authorities on this forum who can tell me what on earth is in the cabinet behind the cab on a CBQ GP7. Time for someone to step out of the shadows. I hope...

Steph

 

[Steph Dale]

Well, the scattergun has been primed; I'll be back to update shortly on the subject of ESU LokSound Select and sundry Alcos. Oh, and an MLW. That, they say, is a story for another day.

So, while I was waiting to make progress on another job, I thought I'd have a quick look at a project I've got in hand for a mate. As part of the operating scenario for his small layout set in southern Ontario, the occasional northern-US 'road creeps in. So enter this rather charming Life-Like Proto 2000 Alco FA2 in Ann Arbor livery. And there's the problem, this is quite an elderly model and its main running companion will be a Walthers Proto 2000 F7A in Wabash livery; it wouldn't reflect well...

It's typical older Proto and therefore a bit of a curate's egg. The 'shell is nicely detailed, but generic. The livery is well printed, but the paint demarcation is a little blurry:


The chassis doesn't really fit the body properly and runs pretty badly, the model hasn't been run in, had a 'working' fan (rubbish) and is of the era when split gears were common. So a full service will be required. Horn-hook couplers too, so there's an encounter with a milling machine for the chassis to take modern Kadees:


The aim is to bring this up to current specifications as far as possible, so there are a host of detail parts to go on. There a couple of bits and pieces I need to order to model this specific loco. If Walthers are up to their usual form and the parts are in stock I'll have them in my hands in a couple of weeks:


The build will also include an ESU LokSound Select decoder; the first time I'll have used one of these US-market budget sound decoders. This will drive a speaker in the cooler group area, so there's a bit of work here. In preparation the 'shell has been largely divested of its details and you can also see that replacing fan grilles isn't peculiar to the UK! This shot is included as this is where most effort will be expended; there's quite a bit to do up here!


Steph

 

[Steph Dale]

Jordan,
Actually when they're serviced these locos typically run very well. The open design of the chassis also helps with the introduction of a sound decoder; it's much easier to find space for a speaker without needing to resort to heavy engineering. This loco is from the era when Life Like were apeing Athearn, the motors are a bit better and this Alco truck has the correct wheelbase (the Athearn version used the same wheelbase as their Blomberg 'B'truck) so it's worth the effort. The slightly later locos (GP18 etc) were better still, but converting them to sound with their heavy die cast hood weights is no easy task.
Oh and you've missed the 'wtf' moment; the coupler clips in place from above. And doesn't go through the front pilot
More soon,

Steph

 

[Steph Dale]

Now, about that MLW. As Mickoo might say; 'Observe; an interest bubble'...

And recognising there might be some here who don't follow US Canadian model railways (note; up here it's not 'railroads' and there's no such thing as a 'caboose', we call them 'vans')a short history lesson:

In the immediate post-war era and the relaxing of loco building restrictions Alco (American Locomotive Company) found themselves outpaced by Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) as Alco had only been permitted to build switchers (sorry; 'shunting engines') through the war, where as EMD had been allowed to build main line freight diesel locomotives, in the form of the 'FT' (themselves a story for another day). So Alco had rushed into production their '244' series turbocharged engine and a variety of locomotives that used it (FA, PA and RS3), with fairly disastrous consequences in the form of poor reliability. The latter was eventually largely resolved by the '251' series turbocharged engine. Locomotives produced by Alco were built under license (and for export) by Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) until Alco's reputation caused it to pull out of the locomotive market in 1969. At this point the designs were sold to MLW who continued to develop them, including in to the M420 (MLW, 4-axle, 2000hp), which became a characteristically Canadian locomotive, having the large 'safety' or 'comfort' cab.

Sooo, to cut a long story short, with no r-t-r model available, this weird creature was seen emerging from the washing-up bowl this evening. Thankfully, despite repeated dousings in near-boiling and cold water I've failed to kill it. Yes, it's a resin kit, yes it was warped:


Okay, so saying there isn't an r-t-r model available, I feel some qualification is in order. Y'see some useful research material turned up over the weekend:

Yes, it's brass. Yes, (apart from the paint job) it's about as good as it gets. Yes, you can still get a bargain on eBay.

Steph

 

[oldravendale]

Hi Steph.

Was this the class of loco we had when we went from Montreal to Quebec City?