Well, I completed the restoration of that small Mantua 0-4-0 Shifter and was somewhat disappointed that after all the all-wheel electrical upgrades to the tender, it doesn't run. Oh, the engine ran by itself after I cleaned the gears and motor replaced the original magnet and hooked it up with test leads on my bench test track. When I connected the electrical lead from the engine to the tender, it just sat there looking pretty, but pretty quiet.
My next project is/ was to be refreshing an old Rivarossi 0-8-0 but I immediately noticed that the front end boiler face was for a 2-8-0. On ebay there is a correct one for 15.00 and another for 24.00. No thanks, I don't think so! I will try to fix the drive and I have replacement motors if needed..
So, lessons learned are that on a retired income now, it would be foolish to put more money into a restoration than the original cost of the model. I found magnets for the Mantua at Home Depot for $4, had metal wheels on hand for its tender and decals & paint to freshen appearances. It makes a nice shelf queen anyway. The idea of spending the dollar equivalent of a months supply if toilet paper on that 0-8-0 boiler face- for an itsy bitsy piece of plastic is absurd. I could shop around and try to get detail parts for that Rivarossi but how much is enough for one model?
I'll post the Mantua Shifter in the photo section in a day or so.
Sigh,
Cedarwoodron
The Congnicenti will correct me before the sun comes up, but I thought the loco was + and the tender was -
Tender wheels can be 180 degrees off, but that doesn't account for the 0-4-0 being able to run without a tender. Enlightenment awaits.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Getting this figured out should be pretty simple.
Despair not, I say.
Ed
BigDaddy ...that doesn't account for the 0-4-0 being able to run without a tender. Enlightenment awaits.
...that doesn't account for the 0-4-0 being able to run without a tender. Enlightenment awaits.
He used clip leads.
Yup. He didn;t say it ran on the rails with just the engine and no tender. Now, if wipers were added so both sides of the loco and both sides of the tender pick up, then it could easily run with no tender. Until the first non-powered frog or dirty track.
I'm guessing the tender to loco wires are just crossed and it was shorting, or one of the tender trucks is turned 180 degrees so the tender itself is shorting.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
"Just sat there looking pretty."
No mention of a short. Sounds like an open, one or more.
Possibly. Would seem like it would be hard to forget to connect the wires from the tender to the loco. And your basic DC power pack tends to not trip the overload protection right away, especially if on a lower speed setting.