Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Sizzling Summer Updates - Adding Wipers and 2Ring Lionel Freight

I have been mostly busy this summer, but I have had some time to work on my roster before I move out of North Carolina.

I now have a running roster of 2 SD35s, a GP35, and a S12 as far as DCC is concerned.  Only the GP35 and the S12 have sound.  The projects to get them there consisted of adding Rod Miller's phosphor bronze wipers to the SD and S units.  Here are photos of the S12 and SD35.  Yes, I did have to take apart the AtlasO trucks so I could drill 2-56 holes and tap them so I could screw down the PC Boards using nylon screws.  I painted the wiper black on the SD35 so you can't see it from looking at it on the side.  This setup instead of using double-sided tape also achieved the lowest profile and cleared all switches and guardrails on Jerry Davis' SP Layout.  Photos below:









I also had bought about 15 sets of IM wheels from John Hill.  $5/set was a very nice price, regardless if I had to clean them with Isopropyl Alcohol.  I unfortunately was shortsighted in my judgement and will need roughly another 5-10 sets.  I found out these fit right into Lionel Standard O bettendorf trucks and went about converting my 3RS cars over to 2R.  I did have to dremel/zona part of the truck.  It does seem I will need to go to NWSL and figure out which wheelset fits into Lionel's Roller Bearing trucks, so that I can reuse the roller bearing cap.  I have probably a dozen cars that will need those specialized wheelsets.  Anywho,  here's one finished truck:



One last project was installing a 2-speaker setup using a cross over circuit.  More details on that in another post another time.


My next 2 projects will be AtlasO RS1's.  They will need more custom work (google a pic of SOU 405 and you will see why) and paint before they are ready to hit the mainline.  That will happen sometime in September or October.  Trains will be on hold until then.

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