HO Eureka Heights (SP) Houston

[richard carr]

Dave

Thats a very useful document, thanks for posting.

Paul you shouldn't have any problems with acrylic going over enamel.
I have used Vallejo acrylics to paint my SP GP9 in grey and red livery. As suggested by Mickoo I added a drop of thinners and a drop of flow improver to the paint before spraying.
As for primer I used Halfords etch primer, here's the link to the photos on the GP9 thread

Red Caboose GP9 kits - ALL builders/Models/Info/References welcome

Yeah, I had the hood side mounted bell in my list before I hit post, but I removed it because I thought I was mixing up the bell with the Southern habit of putting a walkway light in the same position. Guess I should have trusted my instincts. CSX got units from all over the place as it...

www.westernthunder.co.uk

Richard

 

[Focalplane]

Richard

I do dip into you GP9 thread from time to time, most inspirational!

My HO stash being HO means I seem to be quite a lonely figure on WT, but the resources Stateside can be overwhelming and, sadly, expensive.

The P-14 loco frame has been stripped down for painting and I haven’t lost a screw yet, but goodness knows what I will do if and when. Was Japanese and Korean brass made with metric or US/imperial connectors?

Looking at the motor I feel sure the DCC would prefer a can motor. And then I could fabricate a simple backhead. Even fit a flywheel and a backhead perhaps.

Dave

Thanks for the Floquil file. It looks as though the Daylight Colours are easily mixed. I plan to ask Alton Model Centre to source the alternative paints, he may have them in stock.

 

[Focalplane]

The P-14’s Vanderbilt tender has been reassembled after a thorough cleaning, the drilling of holes in the floor for the DCC system, priming and a coat of black. It can now be set aside while the Daylight paint, decoder and wiring have been sourced. At least it won’t tarnish.



The loco chassis is moving along but there is a lot more to be done before it can be reassembled. The body, however, is also finished in black to prevent further tarnishing. So far no screws lost and no fine parts broken on the frame.

 

[Focalplane]

The P-14’s body shell is now waiting for the chassis to be reassembled.



The assembly of the chassis is proving to be a bit problematic so I have unsoldered the valve mechanisms from the driven axle. This has made the assembly of the 6 drivers a lot easier. I can’t imagine how a 10 or 12 wheeler would be put together while keeping the valve gear intact.

 

[Focalplane]

I have decided that a can motor is more than desirable for the P-14, mainly because it will have DCC sound added. But which can motor do I buy? Depending on the search phrase I use I get totally different options. Type in HO and the motors come from North America and the shipping is more than the motor. I used Mashima motors when they were available during my OO phase and there are Canon equivalents available in the U.K. but they seem expensive.

Can anyone please recommend a good motor from a local source? I will buy two as the S-12 switcher would also benefit from a fully isolated can motor. The motor will be connected to the gearbox via a flexible tube so will be fixed to the frame in some way.

Paul

 

[simond]

The Canon motors are good. Bill at Premier stocks them.

The other motor I’ve used recently was a Mashima lookalike which came from Dragon models. Actually, two of them in my (stalled) Garratt project - it’s not the motors that stalled! They are also nice.

 

[Jordan]

The assembly of the chassis is proving to be a bit problematic so I have unsoldered the valve mechanisms from the driven axle. This has made the assembly of the 6 drivers a lot easier. I can’t imagine how a 10 or 12 wheeler would be put together while keeping the valve gear intact.

Time to wheel out the old Haynes car repair manuals cop-out :-
"Reassembly is a reversal of the dismantling procedure."

Used to drive me nuts, that did....

 

[MarkR]

Hi Paul
High Level Kits supply a selection of motors and gearboxes.
Mark

 

[Focalplane]

Thanks all, I have contacted Premier, waiting for answer to how the motor can be fixed to the frame.

 

[PhilMortimer]

Dragon models motors x 2 in my (blue) garratt also - very nice.

"Reassembly is the reverse of dissasembly" is also a common phrase in the Land Rover Green Bible - Not Just Haynes. And just as annoying!

 

[Focalplane]

Yesterday evening I received my Digitrax controller, brought over from France by family members. So far I have been using it to test various stored locos with some interesting results. Not all good and apparently may be related to physical rather than electronic faults.

For example, there is no chuff from the AC-5 Cab Forward. This is strange because there really ought to be at least one engine chuff (the loco is articulated, with a chuff sensor on each engine) so the conclusion is that both chuff sensors have become loose. This means a body removal. All other sounds are there.

The other problem is potentially more serious. My GS-4 (also by Broadway Limited) has been reset and recoded with its running number. All sounds work and I have also recoded several CVs. But the drive mechanism seems to have failed or at least come loose. This will need a body off check as well. I think the worm gear may no longer be attached to its shaft. CA glue may be the answer. Edit to add that the loose gear is more likely to be the axle gear rather than the worm as the drivers move when the loco is pushed (gently!).

On a more upbeat note I unboxed my BLI Daylight coaches and set up a short consist of GS-4, two two car articulated chair sets and the tail end parlour car. Some photos:







The coaches join with flexible full width skirts and will negogiate quite small radii:

 

[Focalplane]

Moving on with the testing, the Athearn Genesis MT-4 needed a lot of manipulation of the 8 pin plug that joins tender to engine, but eventually I got a reaction. There seems to be no momentum on this and other decoders but that requires more research and reading up.

Then the Daylight E8s. Both have QSI sound decoders which were installed by an expert in Calgary. The two E8s both have the same road names that will have to be changed eventually. There is a third QSI package still in its wrapper. This might have been bought to fit in my UP E9. I can’t remember!

That is all the dcc sound equipped locos. My Black Widow SD7 has a decoder but no sound, so that will have to be remedied.

All in all a productive day but there are quite a few issues to be sorted. At least I have a good idea of most of the solutions. Some lubrication will also be a good idea after years of storage.

This has meant no work on the “new” brass locos, but I am still waiting for materials and parts.

Photos will be posted, perhaps even some short videos?

 

[Focalplane]

I have opened up the AC-5 body and discovered there is a reed switch adjacent to a flywheel which apparently controls both engine sounds. So it would appear the reed switch needs replacing. Bu99er!

The GS-4 remains unsorted, I am reluctant to take the loco apart but know I will have to.

The SD7 can use the extra QSI decoder so that will save a few bob.

I mentioned a lack of momentum on the various decoders. In fact the momentum I have become used to is probably built into the Gauge O controller (NCE) in France.

 

[simond]

Reed switches are available from RS and other suppliers.

Reed Switches, Magnetic Reed Sensor Switch | RS

Shop our range of Reed Switches supplies & accessories. Free Next Day Delivery. Browse our latest Reed Switches offers.

uk.rs-online.com

hopefully one of the £0.90 rather than £9.00.

does the switch not change over when you bring a magnet near to it? I presume there’s a magnet in the flywheel to generate a pulse for the sound synch. That’s a bit “yesterday” and modern decoders don’t need it.

 

[Focalplane]

Thanks, Simon

I found some on Amazon last night at about 90p each complete with magnet.

I will test the switch as you suggest. The magnet is in the flywheel and might be the part that has lost its strength. It is very small.

Yes, old tech but necessary for this decoder as the circuit is designed to create two engine sounds as in the prototype and these sounds go in and out of sync. The effect is excellent.

Edit: test result, magnet attracts Swann Morton blade, reed switch does not close with test magnet.

 

[Focalplane]

The Texas and New Orleans Color Pictorial book arrived yesterday and is 5 star. Lots of photos of T&NO steam and early diesels but also many of the SP depots around the two states. The Sunbeam is given its own section with all of the known photos of the P-14s in action.

The Sunbeam covered the 265 miles in 265 minutes with two short stops at Ennis and College Station. The locos cruised at 79mph and were capable of 100mph when needed to keep on schedule in a very competitive contest with the Burlington Rock Island’s Sam Houston Zephyr.

Even my little S class switcher is in the book with its T&NO road number.

 

[Focalplane]

Yesterday was a busy day what with testing locos and then cooking shrimp jambalaya for the family in the evening (notice the Louisiana link there?). So today I am putting my feet up and doing more research after perusing the T&NO picture book. I have mentioned before that I have an un-made Consolidation kit but this is very basic (no valve gear, for example).

So a quick search brought up this company:

Precision Scale Company

Not the only purveyor, I am sure, but they have pdf catalogs to download - I put mine into the Books app on my iPad. With loads of C9 class photos now, I think I can dress up the kit to represent something a bit more in keeping with the rest of the roster.

 

[Focalplane]

Reed relay switch ordered from CPS, the smallest I could find at 10mm length. I actually ordered several as breakage is always a possibility. I also decided to take advantage of an offer that has been dangled in front of me for several days and now reduced further, the last F7A Black Widow with DCC and sound at half price. OK I still have to pay shipping etc. but as I have a Proto 2000 LifeLike A-B-A set with poor drivetrains, this could be an effective way to add a lead loco with sound. F7s were very common on the T&NO during the transition period, mostly for freight.

 

[mickoo]

I think for your time period F7 units still had 'granny gears' which limited them to 65 mph and pretty much excluded them from passenger work.

SP shipped all those with 65 mph gears out east to the T&NO I think.

Low gearing was great for the Tehachapies until someone realized that all the other engines they were MU'd with were 75 mph, eventually most that remained were given 75 mph gearing.

 

[Focalplane]

Mick, yes I agree with you based on the photos. Very rare to see an F7 on passenger duty in Texas and Louisiana. Yesterday I went through the T&NO pictorial book and found 17 photos of F7s, all on freight duties plus in freight yards.

Another interesting factoid is that the T&NO Alco PA/Bs were sent to California and replaced with E8s which were not renumbered. Only 4 photos of Daylight painted E8s working San Antonio to El Paso in the book, though one may have been on the Houston Dallas line.

A total of 9 photos, all in colour, of the streamlined P-14s.

And the book has numerous photos of depots, including the one at Moscow, a place I mentioned a few posts ago as a drilling location (with the labelled COW during hunting season). The larger depots on the Houston Shreveport line were particularly attractive, probably reflecting the original railroad company’s style.