Davidpj1966 wrote:Dave I enjoyed your spot on Youtube. So you hopefully you all will keep looking out for my new layout under construction as I hope that I will be posting not only construction pics but also some vision on my website. I will keep you all posted on the website.A little about myself. I own a couple of companies that I started one of which is in electronic security; you know alarms and CCTV etc.? And the other is a video production company (my sister is a graduate in the field of video and television production so I set it up to give her a go) I live in Epping in Sydney Australia and I have to say I model N Gauge UP and love all the stuff in the States.Here in Australia our track gauge loadings are lighter than yours, similiar to the POMS (with the exception of BHP Billiton mines - off the shelf American) so you can see that I would be drawn to the huge stuff that you have in the states. Which leads me to say that I am planning a visit over there in your spring to summer 2008.So Dave and everyone - stay tuned I hope that I can contribute to your great thread. Cheers David Jarman
Dave I enjoyed your spot on Youtube. So you hopefully you all will keep looking out for my new layout under construction as I hope that I will be posting not only construction pics but also some vision on my website. I will keep you all posted on the website.
A little about myself. I own a couple of companies that I started one of which is in electronic security; you know alarms and CCTV etc.? And the other is a video production company (my sister is a graduate in the field of video and television production so I set it up to give her a go) I live in Epping in Sydney Australia and I have to say I model N Gauge UP and love all the stuff in the States.
Here in Australia our track gauge loadings are lighter than yours, similiar to the POMS (with the exception of BHP Billiton mines - off the shelf American) so you can see that I would be drawn to the huge stuff that you have in the states. Which leads me to say that I am planning a visit over there in your spring to summer 2008.
So Dave and everyone - stay tuned I hope that I can contribute to your great thread. Cheers David Jarman
David.
A big to "The "N" Crowd". Everyone has something to contribute and I am sure that you will be no exception. Remember, the only stupid question is the one that you don't ask.
Good luck, and again, .
Blue Flamer.
Dewayne wrote:Thanks for the info BF.I'm concerned about the heat from a conventional soldering iron. I have a low wattage iron but I still fear what it may do to the ties.I'm thinking of building a resistive type iron and trying that. There are some web pages that discribe how to build one and they all call for a different rated transformer. They call for anything from a 1 1/2 to 8 amp rated transformer. I have built a power supply for a foam cutting hot wire. The transformer I used is rated at 2 amp and I was wondering if that is large enough.Anyone have any thoughts
Thanks for the info BF.
I'm concerned about the heat from a conventional soldering iron. I have a low wattage iron but I still fear what it may do to the ties.
I'm thinking of building a resistive type iron and trying that. There are some web pages that discribe how to build one and they all call for a different rated transformer. They call for anything from a 1 1/2 to 8 amp rated transformer. I have built a power supply for a foam cutting hot wire. The transformer I used is rated at 2 amp and I was wondering if that is large enough.
Anyone have any thoughts
Dewayne.
When using the Cold Fusion gadget, the track still gets hot as with a soldering iron. It is just the tip of the iron that cools off almost immediately. You can still melt plastic ties with it. (Ask me how I know).
As for using a regular soldering gun or pencil, just make sure that you get one that will heat your work up quickly and make sure that it is up to full heat before you start. The trick is high heat for a very short period of time, (3 to 5 seconds). You can also put a damp piece of paper towel on each side of your work as a heat sink to stop heating up to much track. Also, just a touch of acid free flux to help the solder flow freely.
As for your Foam Cutter, I am afraid that I cannot help you as I have no experience in that field.
In closing, I have three words of warning before you start on your track soldering. PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! on some scrap pieces of track and wire.
Good luck.
David,
I'm sure I speak for all N scalers on the forum by saying a big WELCOME!!!
I also model the Union Pacific in N scale. My layout is probably small compared to what you have planned, but it fits the available space here in my basement family room.
My star is this brass 8500HP Turbine.
I'm looking forward to your progress photos.
Dewayne wrote:Has anyone tried to use one of those "Cold Heat" soldering irons (as seen on TV sometime ago) to solder track joint together?If so how did it work?
Has anyone tried to use one of those "Cold Heat" soldering irons (as seen on TV sometime ago) to solder track joint together?
If so how did it work?
I bought one a couple of years ago and tried using it to solder "N" scale track connectors and wireing. I gave up in disgust. and went back to my tried and trusty soldering iron. I spent 41 years as a Serviceman and did a lot of soldering, both copper water lines with a torch and all types of wireing with a soldering gun and never had a problem like I did with that thing. Worst $30.00 + taxes I ever spent.
Save the money and get a proper soldering kit for the same price or a little more if you don't have one. If you do have one, put the $$$ towards some motive power or rolling stock.
I have completed the Christmas layout and I had more problems than I thought I'd have.
First off I used sound board instead of homasote - this was a good thing. The sound board is 1/4 the cost of homasote. I read about people cutting the sound board and all the fuzz they incountered. I got around this by cutting it with a utility knife. Three slices with the knife and I was all the way through the board. Sound board is my proudct of choise for a flat layout.
The wife wanted it to look like there was snow on the ground. She found a short knap fleece type of fabric so I put it down. Then I layed and nailed the track on top of that. This is where the problems began. With the track setting on the soft fleece and nailed down there were high and low spots in the track. I tried adding more nails but this did not fix it. I ran the 14 car train for about 10 mins and cars started uncoupling themselves. So the only thing I could think of doing was to glue all the couplers (all my stock has rapido couplers.) I can hear all of you saying NO DON'T DO THAT. You have to remember this is just a Christmas layout that is one loop that is about 39"X48"s. I used rubber cement on all the couples and this fixed it. The nice thing about rubber cement is it rubs off with no problem.
Of course I didn't find this fix before I had changed my original layout which was two passing loops. Maybe I'll change it back next year.
I ordered the Christmas Village set of buildings and I was going to do some lighting with optic fibre. Well when I took the buildings out of their boxes I found they are a solid cast build. There went the lighting plans.
I was runnig lighted passenger car and after about 15mins. the power cab would shut it"s self off as the load was to great. So it's time to disable the car lights. The power cab was just a cheapy that comes with the small starter sets. So now I need a bigger power cab.
Of course all of the problems are fixable with the right time and money.
R. T., try this location, they showed many GP35's in stock of various road names, but only a few GP30's.
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/category_s/380.htm
They show three each, GP35Ph1A and GP35ph1b in stock, undecorated for $59.99 ea.
They show two GP30's in stock, undecorated for $49.99 ea.
R. T. POTEET wrote:I recently had occasion to go to the all-time index and I encountered an article from the March/April issue of N Scale Magazine in which Ron Beardon spliced the sideframes from AAR Type B road trucks onto the provided Blombergs from Atlas GP30s. I remember reading this article but it didn't arouse much attention at the time of publication; I am, however, giving some interest to a future project of modeling a small fleet of GP30s and GP35s running on Alco trade-ins.The Atlas GP30s and GP35s are currently out of production - at least they are not listed as being available in Walthers' latest catalog; I do suspect that they will be reoffered at some future date. In the meantime I will look for these at swapmeets. Swapping sideframes is one thing; Atlas does, however, seem to always have AAR Type B road trucks available and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with doing a swap of this nature i.e. AAR road trucks for EMD's Blombergs.
These days, at least for the GP35, all you have to do is stick the Atlas China RS1/C30-7 etc. trucks on. No need to replace sideframes and all that.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
R. T. POTEET wrote: jwils1 wrote:I've got some Atlas locos that crawl very nicely at extremely slow speeds. However, when pulling a string of cars at slow speed, the cars continually jerk and don't run at a smooth, constant speed. Is that due to their light weight, coupler slack, or what? Is there any way to smooth this out?Go to page 108 of your current hot smokin' Walthers N&Z Model Railroad Reference Book; in column 4 you find something called TRUCK PARTS. That is what is affectionately known as your answer.You need not thank me; two minutes of kowtowig and tendering a promise to refer to me at all times in the future as Oh Wise and Holy One will be sufficient.I might mention as an addendum that these restraining springs are not unduly expensive but if you hope to get by with only one package of twelve you will need to insure that you always have a car with one of these installed near the end of your train. Cabeese are perfect locations for these things. Installing these on every axle of every truck would make them prohibitively expensive and self-defeating; I have found that one spring per-train does the job nicely.
jwils1 wrote:I've got some Atlas locos that crawl very nicely at extremely slow speeds. However, when pulling a string of cars at slow speed, the cars continually jerk and don't run at a smooth, constant speed. Is that due to their light weight, coupler slack, or what? Is there any way to smooth this out?
Amazing......this thread works like magic! Just post your questions......and presto.....the answer appears. You said not to thank you but considering the option you gave, I'll just say thanks anyway.
Jerry
Rio Grande vs. Santa Fe.....the battle is over but the glory remains!
I'd go broke changing all of mine. I left Rapidos on similar cars that I run in unit trains (like coal hoppers) and just change the ones on the end cars. The problems I've had with Rapido shod cars are usually coupler height variances or wobbly wheels, both of which can be fixed by swapping trucks around between existing cars and ones you've converted that wind up in the parts box. I have a couple of cars with one of each system so I can build trains regardless of the couplers used, and also have my cabooses shod with different ones on each end.
Lots of people complain about them, but I've had good service from the Atlas Accumate trucks I've swapped onto several of them. Much cheaper than MT conversions, particularly if you're working with low-budget cars that you may not keep.
Dewayne wrote:I have about 75 loc's and rolling stock. They all have Rapido couplers and now that I'm feed up with all the uncoupling problems I want to change them to something else. I know very little (actually nothing) about couplers.As I have so many that I have to replace cost is a factor.A lot of the rolling stock I have, I have purchased from the junk box at the LHS so I don't even know what they are.Can anyone give me some good advice on how I can manage this problem easily.Dewayne
I have about 75 loc's and rolling stock. They all have Rapido couplers and now that I'm feed up with all the uncoupling problems I want to change them to something else.
I know very little (actually nothing) about couplers.
As I have so many that I have to replace cost is a factor.
A lot of the rolling stock I have, I have purchased from the junk box at the LHS so I don't even know what they are.
Can anyone give me some good advice on how I can manage this problem easily.
Dewayne
I'd start the conversion with the cars. You should be able to sort them by manufacturer to figure out how to convert them. The name & country of orgin s/b stamped into the plastic base under each car.
Atlas, LifeLike, Model Power, Trix cars: It will be easy to swap trucks/couplers for MTL. You can reuse the same bolster pin. MTL provides the same size pin as spares.
ConCor: Their bolster hole is larger than the MTL pins. MTL sells a spacer that fits into the floor. Then you can use a standard bolster pin.
Bachmann: The bolster mount is larger than the hole in the MTL truck. You will need to modify the MTL truck by filing it a bit larger, then reuse the Bachmann screw to hold the truck.
At first, you can have some cars with one coupler at one end and another style at the other end till you have more cars in the fleet converted.
Unimates: For some applications where you don't switch that much, the T shank Red Caboose Unimate makes an easy replacement for the Rapido. A pair of Unimates is stronger than a pair of Rapidos, looks better, and closes the coupling distance some. They come in long, medium, or short shanks. For most cars, short shanks will look great. Some longer shanks may be used if you have issues with toght curves or coupler boxes set far back on the carbody.
This is enough to get you started. To convert your locos, you will need to consult the MTL website. Get a coupler height gague. Work slowly & convert one coupler at a time. This should help with some uncoupling issues. You may also need to smooth out any rough or sharp trackwork.
R.T., The solution to your dash 8 problem is fairly easy to do.
You need to remove the trucks from the U30-C ,cut off the couplers if they are still attached,turn the trucks around and put them back on the mechinism backwards (this will give you the correct wheelbase)
You will also need to extend the pick up strips as they will no longer reach the truck contacts.
On the dash 8 you need to remove the lightboards from the shell and if I rember correctlythere are some mounting posts that need to be removed.You will also need to add some styrene spacers at either end of the shell to keep the U30 mechinism from shifting back and forth.
MTL still has the coupler conversion for the dash 8 shell if you need them.
The last set I bought had some couplers packed with them. I was debating whether to use those or the MT conversions.I would like to know if they are compatable with MTs.
Gary
dad1218 wrote: You can find Kato smoothside passenger cars on ebay from time to time. I have 2 sets of them in Southern, but I really don't like to change the couplers. Gary
You can find Kato smoothside passenger cars on ebay from time to time. I have 2 sets of them in Southern, but I really don't like to change the couplers.
Kato has gone through I believe 3 different couplers on their passenger cars. If you have the older style check with your local train shop and see if they have any of the Kato upgrade coupler kits sitting around. I know of 2 shops around me that do have them only thing they seem to be out of are the springs but you can get them from Kato or just use something else. The new couplers are much, much better and are pretty much bomb proof. At the private layout I run at one of the guys was running one of the older Santa Fe passenger car sets and they would unhook randomly. Worse case was the 12 cars unhooking at the top of a 10 level helix and flying all the way back down to the bottom which is where they derailed as a result of the change in direction. He had started to change the couplers to MT when I found out about the updated couplers and the fact that Kato had sent them to dealers to hand out for free to anyone who had the old style. Needless to say he has changed his out, I changed out a set of VIA's I had and a CP set and we've never had an issue again. I've actually gone one step further and noticed the couplers were the same style used on the newer loco's but had the pin for simulated glad hands which the updated one's didn't so I again updated my VIA's from all the loco ones I had. If you want I can scan the instructions for the installation of the updated couplers and post it so you get an idea.
Gary,
I can't answer that question, I've never put internal lighting in them and Honestly, I didn't notice the marker lights.
The time frame I'm modelling and the location doesn't lend itself to passenger service, so they don't get alot of time on the layout.
Apples and oranges time, but I have an Atlas H15-44 with marker lights and they're barely visible with the overhead lights on. I just turned off the overheard light to check, they are visible and look good for night operation. I would suspect that if they were much brighter, they'd lose authenticity.
It's just my personal opinion, but light intensity doesn't scale down well. For the scene to look correct, the headlights and running lights should be proportionally intense. It seems that some of the newer bright white lights can overpower the scene.
Mike,
I've converted only 1 set, but I need the longer couplers for my current layout. I have thought about body mounting after I get the layout I want. Planning on 18" curves, but we have to find a house and move first. Can you see the marker lights on the back of the cars in normal lighting?
I have all four sets of the Kato UP smooth side passenger cars, as well as both of the business cars.
It's much easier to replace the trucks with Microtrains trucks. You lose the ability to add lighting kits, but the couplers are adjustable and you can close couple the cars for a much better look. The Microtrains trucks require that you install the included spacer on the bolster for clearance, but it only raises the car slightly.
Lighting the cars held little attraction for me as I never run in the dark and the observations I've made of the Amtrack consists and private cars I've seen don't really allow seeing the internal lights, due to the window tinting. I also operate with DCC and there's some question as to the durability of the Kato light kits in that environment.
I did add body mounted couplers to the tail end of the observation cars, as they have a molded dummy coupler.
Just a thought.
Otto Ray Sing wrote:I finally gave in to my wife and built another section on my layout so that it can be run continously. I have to admit that I like it even better. She wants to start collecting N scale passenger trains, and wants to be able to run them once in awhile.
Kato makes some nice passenger sets. Watch for sales on the Zephyr, Super Chief, etc. The new Daylights will be very nice. I expect the GS4 used to pull them will sell out quickly. I hope you don't have to wait too far into the new year for Kato to produce them.
The Athearn/MDC steamers & Overton & Overland passenger cars also make very nice sets. You may be able to get a 2-6-0 or a 2-8-0 & a set of 4 passenger cars. For now, they would be the best bet if you don't mind running some 1880 era trains.
R.T;
Would you by any chance, happen to have any extra parts of your Dash-8s that you are willing to sell?
I too have A Spectrum 40C-8 that is in need of repair... if not how much would a motor, and two new trucks cost me?
Army National Guard E3MOS 91BI have multiple scales nowZ, N, HO, O, and G.
sleeper33 wrote:FluffI bought the super chief kato set and like u am impressed. with 2 pa's &2pb's it measures 8'also new to this group so hello
Fluff
I bought the super chief kato set and like u am impressed. with 2 pa's &2pb's it measures 8'
also new to this group so hello
I did the slightly smaller one, one A/B and then the car sets A&B. was listed as one of the ways it ran on some of the shorter legs so thought that would work. Still really long.