Midland--
Thanks for the compliment--really appreciate it! The lower quadrants are pretty ancient, frankly I can't remember the mfgr, I've had them so long. They're non-operational, and pretty much just there for show, though they're wired for light. I'm thinking of putting in an operational signaling system, but that's kind of in the future. Frankly, with my knowledge of electronics, I'm just happy that my DC block-system works, LOL!
As my son once told me, "Dad, you shouldn't be around electricity without adult supervision!"
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
Loathar--
Seems to happen on some Bowser locos and not others. I believe their USRA Mountain has all center drivers flanged, and so does their Challenger, but their 2-10-2 and Pennsy 2-10-0 frames have the blank center drivers. That may be a carry-over from the old Penn Line/Varney loco dies that Bowser acquired about 20-25 years ago.
I know that the Mantua 2-8-2 has blank center drivers, and always had, even when it was a kit. I had one years ago that I gave to my nephew, but the blank center drivers didn't seem to affect its considerable pulling power. I have a feeling that the same is true for the Bowser models.
loathar wrote:I noticed the drivers on the 3 center axles don't seem to have flanges. My Mantua Mike is the same way. I understand why this is done but is this a common thing? Do all mfg's do this? I was looking at some Bach pictures and their wheels all seem to have flanges. My only other steamers are a Bach 0-6-0 and a Tyco choo choo. All the wheels are flanged.
Never seen it before in brass, or newer diecast stuff. My suspicion is that older-pattern diecast stuff was pitched to a great range of modelers, some of whom were working with very tight curves, and it had to be able to negotiate 18" and 22" radii as a matter of course - and to do that, a five-coupled engine really needs to have blind drivers on all three center wheels, unless the drivers are very low. Even with just two flanged drivers, the current draw goes up significantly, so it feels like there's plenty of resistance. Because the superdetailed model shorts on 24" radius curves (the trailing truck touches the injector plumbing) I couldn't measure the effect on pulling power. Not having the flanges may lose you some pulling power on straight track, but the lack of friction eliminates resistance on curves - and that's probably a good tradeoff, because the model has enough weight that it can pull reliably even with three blind drivers.
Just a thought, but I wonder if a little dab of gap-filling CA on the inside of the injector plumbing where it touches the trailing truck might not insulate that short of yours?
- Mark
Midland,
Nice job! It's a shame they aren't building today's high-end steamers with this kind of weight.
The open frame motor draws a decent amount of current, so have are you thinking of installing a can? Is there an enclosed gearbox to make this easier, or is the worm still mounted on the motor shaft?
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
Thanks! I'm not thinking of putting a can motor in right now; it's expensive, and I'm not double-heading it with anything (yet), so that will probably wait until the point where I start thinking about DCC transition (in about ten years or so). The DC-71 motor is plenty powerful, and it does have the worm on the armature, so I would need to get a gearbox, too.