Part 1: A Tale of Two Connies
Yes, I'm doing another locomotive build. Unlike the others, this one has a bit of my personal On30 history behind it.
When I first got into On30, my first purchases were an On30 Forney and an On30 Shay, both made by Bachmann. This was back in 2010, so the Shay came from one of the production runs which suffered from the split gear problem. It did have split gears, and Bachmann did provide replacements. After swapping them out, the model seemed to run.
Fast-forward to 2018. I've run a few operating sessions by this point, and I've noticed that the Shay, BVLC #2, seems to have some difficulty running. It could pull itself and its train, but it always seemed to struggle on the gradient leading up to the log loading area at Camp D. Yet the gears weren't split at all. Things came to a head while I was filming the layout video I uploaded a couple of weeks ago. It was meant to have a shot of a locomotive descending the grade, and I picked the Shay for it. Going up it barely moved, and coming down it lurched terribly.
Upon closer inspection, I found that the clips which hold the driveshaft to the trucks were loose, so the gears weren't meshing properly. I tried replacing them with new clips, as replacement trucks were sold out on the Bachmann website. However, this failed to correct the problem. The rear truck ended up with the gears not meshing at all. On the test-run following the replacement, the Shay backed halfway up the grade, then started rolling forwards. While the motor was still running backwards. As such, it now lives in a display cabinet in my living room.
This left a gap in my locomotive roster. So naturally I decided to build a replacement, a new no. 2. While my layout currently has locos ranging from 0-4-0 to 2-6-2, I've been wanting to include a small consolidation in my roster. I'd tried this in 2016, with a Roundhouse 'old-time' 2-8-0 which I had left over from my brief 2009 foray into standard-gauge HO scale.
This was as far as it got. After building the body, I found that the model wouldn't run on my layout. As such, it was confined to the 'graveyard', my shoebox of unsuccessful projects. This was my first attempt at converting a HO scale locomotive to On30, so it put me off doing that sort of conversion with steam engines for a while.
Over the next two years, parts of it were stripped off and used in other projects. In fact, the tender I'd kitbashed ended up behind the Forney when I kitbashed it into an 0-4-0:
But now, I decided to have another go at converting this locomotive. I'd had a couple more years experience since than, and learned a few new techniques, including 3D printing. However, I'd re-used the motor from the original attempt in order to get no. 9, my 'American Prince', up and running. As such, I decided to purchase another donor engine and have a completely fresh start.
On the Roundhouse 2-8-0, the middle drivers are blind. The front and rear drivers do have flanges, but the rear drivers have traction tyres. I've never liked traction tyres, as when they fail, the locomotive becomes unusable. On my first attempt, I'd taken them out and filled in the groove on the wheels with Bullfrog Snot.
This time, however, the replacement was much quicker and simpler. I still had the chassis from my first attempt, so I just replaced the rear drivers on the new engine with the lead drivers from the original one. Once this was done, I tested it on my workbench. Fortunately the quartering lined up, and the chassis ran smoothly in both directions.
My next step was to install a small, non-sound DCC decoder in the tender. This particular decoder doesn't have back-EMF functionality, which was just what I was after.
Given my problems the first time around, I wanted to ensure the locomotive would work on the layout. Once the decoder was installed, I ran the loco over every single section of track on the layout, in both directions.
Only one section presented a problem, this short piece of track coming off the passing track at Camp A. When coming from the side of the loop closest to the fascia, the loco would always derail. After playing around with it for a bit, I found that putting a 1mm thick styrene strip under the sleepers on the fascia side fixed the problem.
My next step was to adjust the power pickups on the locomotive. On both this and the first one, I'd noticed that the pickup wipers didn't touch the wheels all the time, just when the wheels were pushed in towards the chassis. As such, the tender wheels seem to provide the bulk of the power pickup.
In order to rectify this, I bent the pickup wipers outward so they touched the rear of the wheels, then put them back in. Given that I'd made a change to the chassis, I then performed another test run. This time, the locomotive ran dismally. It took a much higher starting voltage to get it moving, and it struggled with curves.
That was when the penny dropped.
The first time around, I'd made the same modification, but I hadn't tested the chassis. Now this modification was making this new chassis act the same way. At the time, I'd just thought this was due to the wires rubbing on the flywheel. After bending the wipers back to their original positions, the locomotive once again ran as expected. At this point, I ordered a Soundtraxx currentkeeper module to go along with the TSU-2200 decoder.
Now that I had confirmed the locomotive was running smoothly and wouldn't have a problem with the track, I was ready to start construction itself. Unlike the other HO scale models I've converted, this locomotive has both a cast metal body and a metal chassis. The only plastic parts were the cab and the smokebox door. As such, the body contains most of the weight for the locomotive.
In order to keep this, I decided to build the On30 body on top of the original body. I started by removing the cab, then sawing the domes and smokestack off. I also removed the original handrails, putting them and their stanchions aside for later use.
My next step was to provide an anchor for the rear of the body. The rear wall of the HO scale cab had a notch at the bottom, which fit over a tab on the chassis. I cut off this section of the rear wall, and glued it in position. I had to use some 2x2mm styrene strip to position it far enough out from the rear of the body.
There’s one point at which the original pilot deck is attached to the chassis by a thin section of metal. On both my original attempt and this one, I accidentally broke it off at this spot. As such, I decided to completely replace it. To mount the new deck, I glued some 2x2mm styrene strips along the remaining part of the original one - one on either side of the small protrusion at the front.
With this done, I made the pilot deck itself. I cut the initial shape from 1.5mm styrene, then marked out the centreline and fitted the coupler. I then glued 2x2mm styrene strip around the edge, leaving a gap for the coupler.
After this, I glued 0.25mm styrene sheet across the top, to conceal the hole for the coupler screw. Once it had dried, I made the coupler lift bar from some 0.5mm copper wire and four of the handrail stanchions I'd removed from the HO scale body.
While that dried, I turned my attention to the body itself. I used 1mm styrene to extend the footplate, then added 2x2mm styrene strip around the edges. I also added two short sections of this strip just in front of the raised section that held the original cab in place, to bring the front cab wall forward.
With the footplate done, my next step was to add the boiler. I wanted a bigger boiler than the one I'd used on my 2-6-2 tank engine conversions, so I grabbed the next biggest PVC pipe I had. This has a 33mm outside diameter, which scales out to about 62". This worked, as I was after a 'chunky' look for this engine, something similar to East Broad Top No. 15.
I cut and filed the boiler into shape, so that it would fit over the original HO scale boiler while leaving the bottom of the original smokebox exposed. This was to ensure the body would fit properly onto the chassis.
Once the boiler had dried, I filled in the gap between the new boiler and the original smokebox with body putty. When it was dry, I sanded it to shape and cut it to fit around the smokebox support on the chassis.
The next step was to sort out the rear of the footplate. On the original model, the wires ran straight out of the back of the body, above the tab that held it in place. I wanted to have them a bit lower. In order to do this, I used 2x2mm styrene strips to extend the rear of the body. I left a gap around the hole in the section I'd cut from the original cab. These were cut 2mm narrower than the footplate, to leave room for the cab walls.
I then covered the strips with a piece of 0.5mm styrene, and filed it to fit. This left a small gap at the bottom, through which the wires will be run.
With the basic body done, I made the cab. Each wall was made from two layers of 1mm styrene. The windows in the inner layer were cut so that there would be a sill around the insides. They were also cut 1mm shorter at each end, to accommodate the outside walls. I also added cutouts on the sides, then put 2.5x0.5mm styrene strips in them to simulate the wood paneling I've seen on other engines. It's a look that I like.
Once the cab was assembled, I glued it in place and used styrene to fill out the floor. I then used a section of pipe and styrene to build firebox, to cover the original. I also added the handrail stanchions to the boiler, and drilled holes for the handrails in the front of the cab.
On past builds, I'd either used a brass casting for the smokebox door and built the boiler to fit, or I'd made it out of styrene. This time, however, I wanted to try something different. So I designed them in Blender, along with a few other detail parts. I did a version with rivets and a version with bolts, to hedge my bets. I knew the bolt heads would print, as I'd used them on my Bachmann 2-6-0 pilot. It was the first time I'd tried 3D printing rivets, though.
The other detail parts included a cowcatcher pilot, the front and rear headlights, and the round bits that go on the front of the tender. The headlights were adapted from the ones I'd designed for my 3D printed boxcab diesel. Once I'd finished the design, I uploaded them to Shapeways.
At this point, I was ready to start on the tender. This will be covered in part 2 of this write-up.
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
Excellent work. Thanks for sharing!
Simon
Part 2: Tender Details
With the basic body done, the next part was to build the tender.
I started by cutting a sheet of 1mm styrene to the same width as the locomotive footplate. I then placed the locomotive on the turntable, and measured out how much length I had left behind it. (This turntable is what defines the maximum length for my locomotives. If they fit on it, they'll fit on the rest of the layout.) I then used 3.2x3.2mm styrene strip to make the edging, and 4.8x4.8mm for the centerbeam.
In order to connect the drawbar, I added some 2mm styrene on top of the centerbeam, then cut some 1mm styrene sheet to cover the front of the chassis. After drilling out the holes for the truck screws, I added some 2x2mm styrene strip in line with them.
While that was drying, I made the cab footplate for the locomotive. After cutting some 1mm styrene to shape, I cut two notches 4mm in from each end. I could have used 0.5mm copper wire here, but it comes on a reel and is difficult to get perfectly straight. Fortunately, the handrails from the original HO scale model are perfectly straight. After drilling the stanchions out to loosely fit it, I put them on the handrail wire and glued it into place. When the glue had dried, I trimmed it to length and filed it flush.
I'd done a test-fitting of the locomotive, and it seemed very slightly off to me. The pilot deck seemed to be a little too short. After measuring the locomotive & tender on my turntable, I extended both the pilot deck and the lead truck by 6mm. For the deck, I added two strips of 6x0.75mm styrene. To extend the pilot truck, I used some etched brass sprue left over from an earlier kit.
My original plan had been to put the hinged section of the footplate just below the firebox, on top of the cab floor. But after making the tender chassis, I realised I'd need to attach this to the rear instead. After marking off the top of the tender chassis, I drilled holes at the appropriate points. I then glued the stanchions in place, making sure to keep the glue away from the moving parts.
Once it had dried, I attached the tender chassis to the locomotive drawbar. The tightest curve on my layout is the 18" radius one behind the gas station. If a train can go round this without any problems, it can handle the rest of the layout. With this in mind, I traced around the floating section of the footplate on this curve in both directions. Two of the 3D printed components I'd ordered were the semi-circular bits that go on the front of the tender body. I needed to leave space for those.
Next, I marked out where the front of the tender body would go, then drilled out holes for wiring just behind it. I also cut out some of the cross-bracing at the front, to allow the wires to pass through without interfering with the trucks.
I then built the body from 1.5mm styrene. For the front, I left 10mm on each side, then glued a section of 1mm styrene across the gap. After sanding it flush with the top, I used 2.5x1mm styrene strips to form the boards across the front. I then glued some 4.8x4.8mm styrene strip sections in the corners. These were drilled out to accommodate the screws which will hold the body to the chassis. Corresponding holes were made in the chassis.
I then made the top of the tender body. To make the barrier around the wood load, I used strips of 1.5x1mm styrene. I made the two side sections, then added the rear pieces once these had been glued in place. 3.2x1mm styrene strips were used for the edging. For the water hatch, I glued some 0.25mm styrene over a washer of suitable size. Once it had dried, I cut and filed it to shape. 0.5mm copper wire was used to form the handle. This was then glued onto a short length of brass tubing and installed.
I also added some flattened fishing sinkers inside the tender body, to bring it up to a suitable weight.
While this was drying, I made a couple more changes to the tender chassis. I'd been able to recover a TSU-2200 decoder and a speaker from my old No. 8, the one I'd kitbashed from a Bachmann On30 2-6-0. I traced out where this would go and cut out two sections of the floor, one on either side of the chassis centrebeam. These holes were then covered with brass mesh. The rear pilot was made from some right-angle styrene, along with 2x1mm styrene strips.
After adding some details to the locomotive and tender, I performed a test-fit. This included a test-run of the motor, to ensure that the air tank under the cab didn't foul the running gear.
When looking at the model, I realised the tender body seemed a little boxy. It's just slightly shorter than the tender body on a Bachmann On30 inside-frame 4-4-0, however it's about 6mm taller. Hence the boxier appearance.
With this done, the next step is to add the 3D printed parts. At the time this was published, they're yet to arrive.
Part 3: Final Assembly
After a few weeks, the 3D-printed parts from Shapeways arrived.
I'd printed two versions of the smokebox front, one with bolts and one with rivets. This was the first time I'd printed rivets, and I wasn't sure if they'd turn out or not. They did, so I decided to go with this version. The pilot also turned out.
After cleaning the parts, I prepared them to be attached to the model. I used 0.8mm copper wire to make the handrails on the round bits for the front of the tender. I also added some brake wheel castings on the top. I also realised that I'd forgotten to put the hinge on the smokebox door, so I added this with some styrene and 1mm copper wire.
I then added the 3D-printed parts to the model. I'd put two pilot holes on the smokebox front, beneath the headlight. Owing to the arrangement of the On30 boiler on top of the orignal body, I had to run the headlight wires before putting the smokebox front on. I didn't glue the front headlight in place, as I needed to install the LED after painting.
With that done, I painted and lettered the model. The top half of each headlight is a separate piece, which is designed to fit around a 3mm LED. Each top was painted separately, then the LEDs were installed. A TSU-2200 decoder was installed in the tender, along with a speaker and a Soundtraxx Keepalive module. After adding a wood load to the tender, I put the model together and gave it a test run.
Here it is in action:
Very nice build! Will you put an engineer in there?
WOW! That is absolutely an inspriring piece of work. Thank you for sharing with us.
.
I just love the smokebox front. It looks perfect.
Please share more of your projects.
-Kevin
Living the dream.