Some of you are aware that I have been working on powering a Mack 15 Ton switcher by Wiseman models, following the example provided by Darth Santa Fe.
Things are progressing nicely. For those of you following the Electronics/DCC threads you will know that I have sorted out the decoder problems and the critter runs quite nicely.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I fried the first motor because the gears were too tight!
If you are interested, here are a few pictures of the project:
Drive train partially assembled
Motor and all the gears installed. Note the square brass cross pieces on which the shell will ride. Darth Santa Fe was able to fit a flywheel on the top of the motor but I didn't have the necessary space.
Z scale Digitrax DZ-125 decoder and wiring for lights installed. The shell had to have some material removed to fit the motor
Headlights work!
Headlights are a little bright. I will have to use a yellow paint pen to dim them and change the hue.
The side frames, couplers and front and rear steps have yet to be installed. The coupler pockets on the model are way too high so I will have to lower them. They need a .050 shim to bring them down to the proper height. I can fit Kadee #5's (smaller couplers to come later) with round front #234 coupler boxes. The front profile of the #234's match the profile of the coupler pockets on the model.
If anyone wants any more information, please ask. So far (other than the decoder problem and cooking a motor) it has been a lot of fun.
If you are considering building one for yourself, there is a Wiseman kit listed on eBay right now. (The kit does not include the motor and drive train parts. It is the static engine only).
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Nice Work!
That's coming along very nicely! I'm glad my idea helped you out! And electronics-wise, you're definitely being more ambitious than I am with my straight DC and no lights setup, so yours will be a step or two above mine when it's finished. Hope everything will turn out great for you!
The flywheel was a tight fit in mine, with absolutely no clearance for slop. I actually had to grind the edge down a tiny bit for it to work smoothly. It only needs a little more adjustment to run perfectly smooth, and now that it's warming up over here, I can also start painting.
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Hi Darth:
Coming from the master, your comments are very much appreciated ( and so are everyone else's of course).
I will have to devise a method for reducing the height of the flywheel while maintaining the balance. I have another motor to mount it on so I could use that to spin the flywheel while using a grinding wheel in my Dremel to cut it down evenly. Since I have experienced some stalling at very low speeds I can see how a flywheel would help.
This is awesome! I like projects like this...
Chuck - Modeling in HO scale and anything narrow gauge
I have one of those Mac switchers that I use in my gravel loading facility. It is used only to spot a hopper car for loading so it doesn't move more than 12 inches for two hoppers. I thought about putting a motor geared wheel set in, but never had much luck using small drive systems. So I used a piece of thread between the rails to move the Mac back and fourth spotting the hopper operated with a crank. Here is a link on how it was done. http://lariverrailroads.com/carmover.html
steamage!
That is really amazing. Actually loading a hopper and moving it for each loading position is protoypical to the extreme. Well Done!
I mounted the #5 Kadees last night. They came out at the right height but they look like the feet on a puppy dog. Way too big. I will use either #58s or the 3/4 scale #711s which Kadee says will mate with standard couplers. The problem with the #711s is that the draft gear box doesn't have the rounded front to match the original on the 15 tonner. Time to experiment some more!
The couplers look like they are drooping but in reality they don't seem to.
I used the #711 couplers on my Grandt Line GE 25-Ton. They're built more like Accumates, but they still couple to #5 and #58 couplers fine. I haven't had any trouble with them. They are tiny, though!
#711s it is then! No more puppy feet!
I have #711s on the critter in my avatar but I didn't know that they would work with the #5s etc.
Thanks
Tonight I mounted the flywheel on the burned out motor so I could grind it down with my Dremel tool. The motor allowed the flywheel to spin while the Dremel was grinding the face of the flywheel down evenly. The result is a smaller flywheel that is still in balance, and after installing the reduced flywheel in the 15 tonner the results are very good. The switcher does not stall intermitently any more and runs very smoothly at very slow speeds.
Thanks again Darth Santa Fe for the suggestion on the flywheel reduction. The improvement in performance is considerable.
I'm glad the suggestion helped! I never did a track test without the flywheel myself, and I wasn't sure how much it helped, so it's good to know it actually does make a difference.
trwroute!
This way overdue! Welcome to the forums! I only noticed tonight that your comment was your first posting. I am honoured!
More progress:
I had a pair of #711 couplers but when I compared them to the cast metal dummy couplers supplied with the kit I realized that the #711s were too small. I have ordered a pair of #158s and I will post pictures when they are installed.
This way too much fun!