P48 for Cotton Belt: Roster addition SW1200

[adrian]

That is rather bleakly beautiful, Dave.

It is and a rather poignant one for me. Thanks for posting the photo, fond memories, apologies if I've mentioned it before but I recognised it instantly as my Mum used to live just down the road in Braithwaite and in fact top right ridge is the Crematorium where her ashes are laid to rest.

Not much snow though, you can still see the walls.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Well, until today I still had trouble with the drive in the 70T which was on the verge of becoming a Pachyderm Blanco .

One of the trucks with the flexible coupling drive was perfect. However, the other was an absolute nightmare and becoming a bit of a Debbie downer in danger of scuppering the whole build .

So it was the last resort. Call it The Great Escape, Escape From Alcatraz or just plain last chance saloon....... it was back to the original plan - not for the purists though - of using the drive system from the 4mm Bachmann AL1 which has the correct wheelbase for the 1:48 GE 70T truck .

First was to strip the trucks of their original wheels and ream the final drive gear to 2mm. New axles were cut from 2mm steel rod and the gear, nylon washers (to reduce side play), the original bearings and 2mm i/d to 3mm o/d brass tube were installed. The steel rod was knurled for the gear and brass tube. Once on the axle, the brass tube was knurled before pressing on the wheels as 3mm is just a gnat's whisker shy of 1/8''. I also used a retaining compound during fixing - apart from the bearings of course.


Mounting brackets were made up from tapped brass tube, some scrap brass and an outer sleeve on which the bracket rests.

Trial fitting of the Taff Vale 1833 motor.


Broadside view and, again the propshafts are hidden within the sill.

The trucks have keeper plates for which I shall make up a brass structure to attach to these in order to support the truck side frames and brake gear.

Although the axles appear flimsy, only time will tell if the weight of the loco will bend these in the style of the old Matchbox cars I used to have.

In the meantime the loco drives smoothly (under analogue control) to my satisfaction which has provided the impetus to complete the kit .

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Carry on Trucking.....

Well we have reached the stage of adding the sideframes.

In order to accomplish this two crosses were marked out and cut from 0.5mm brass sheet and the outer ends bent up to provide the sideframe mounts. A spine was soldered on in order to add some strength and provide a solid anchor for M1.4 machine screws.


Three holes were drilled and tapped for M1.4 machine screws and the ensemble screwed to the keeper plate.

The sideframes and brake gear was soldered carefully to the mounts.

1mm brass wire was added to the transverse arms to reduce flexing.

And finally some new pick up plates were made up from 0.5mm paxolin board, insulated and slotted between the original pick up and the truck body.

The trucks are part way through being painted at present and photos of these will appear in the next exciting episode of How Not to Build a Brass Kit...... featuring Club Hammer and the Piercing Saws

 

[mickoo]

With the 'Great Vacation' only three and a bit weeks away the US interest bubble has returned with a vengeance

Nice work and in the end will be well worth it, still wish I'd picked one of these up at Telford last year and I might not get there this year due to possible work commitments.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Da da Daaaaaaaaaaaah

Here is said photo of loco with it's trucks...... (deliberately overexposed to see trucks) and a plaque for the avoidance of doubt . They just need the rest of the detail namely bolsters and brake cylinders to conceal the Al1 drive.



Overcoming the truck odyssey now means the loco can progress..... at last .

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

still wish I'd picked one of these up at Telford last year

I'm sure if enough people pester 2 Doors Down they may? produce another batch. I know there's some interest in the US after seeing my build on FB.

It would be nice if they produced the later variant with the radiator shutters in the nose and different hood door arrangement. This would widen the roster to include more class 1 railroads.

 

[JasonD]

Last time I saw Robin (2DD) he was working on a Whitcomb centre-cab as used in Europe (WWII design) and the US (even now in industry, etc). Another version of the 70-ton would be good. He did say he was working at his own pace and couldn't be 'nagged', so do as Dave suggests and merely 'pester'.
Jason

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

The Whitcomb looks nice.

 

[allegheny1600]

Hi Dave,
As you can probably tell by my rash of "likes", I've just had a nice catch up on here. I absolutely love your term "Pachyderm Blanco" - very ingenious!
What I also found ingenious is your use of a British outline model (in a different scale) to power a US model, back in my and no doubt others, early modelling days, it was relatively common to do heart transplants the other way around as that was the only way to get UK outline diesels running well! Things have moved on since then, eh?
Cheers and keep up the good work.
John.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Well, the U23B has made a reappearance....

Having secured a pair of non-running 3 rail Weaver FB units for the drive mechanisms and took delivery of two sets (8 axles) of Right O'Way P48 replacement 40'' geared wheels, I set about modifying the Weaver AAR type B trucks.

The trucks were narrowed to scale width which meant removing 4mm from the bolster(2mm from either side). This of course made the frames too narrow to accept the new wheels - as in US style the side frames carry the axles rather than the usual British subframe. Rather than shorten the axle ends I drilled the frame bearings deeper to accept the wheels. The trucks are temporary until a good replacement AAR type B truck becomes available.

The wheels are a DIR (drop in replacement) for the standard Weaver 2 or 3 rail wheels.



The temporary set up to test the drive. And yes, it is a cable tie on the universal joint to hold it on as it had split.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

A few more photos in relation to the Weaver drive.

The donor Weaver FB unit


With body removed - I had already removed the weights and circuit board.

In respect of the truck narrowing this is how I deepened the frames to accept the new wheels axles

Wheel installed in gearbox.

Comparison of the P48 wheel and the Weaver 3R pizza cutters.

Pizza cutters (left) and P48 wheels (right) in the existing trucks - which is why the frames need to be drilled when narrowing the bolster.

Just to demonstrate the space in the long hood after installation. The ruler is resting on top of the sill.

Inspection by the authorities......

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

An addition to the SSW/SP roster recently acquired..... Atlas 1/48 SW9 complete with P48 wheelsets. Yes it is the 1/43 Met Bo-Bo behind.

More than likely it will be finished as a SSW SW1200 #2251.

 

[Scale7JB]

Nearly had a bidding war on that

JB.

 

[Brian T]

Nice to see it went to a good home.

You might find this of interest as the builder has used the KV etches,plus a few other mod`s to his Atlas SW;
Another O scale locomotive build

Look forward to seeing this built.

Brian.

 

[Jordan]

Nearly had a bidding war on that

JB.

It certainly sold quick..!!!

 

[soo4513]

Delighted it sold and is going to a good home - have moved to the dark side and purchased some British O instead still got North American S scale though

Colin

 

[mickoo]

Just out of the paint shop.

The loco was airbrushed a week ago with a Vallejo acrylic mix of Dark Sea Grey and Light Sea Grey to get as close as to SP Lark Grey as I could and left to dry.

Dave, whats the difference between the Vallejo gold label bottles and white labels, same cost, same description but different product numbers?

Items for sale by flying_tigercat | eBay

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

whats the difference between the Vallejo gold label bottles and white labels, same cost, same description but different product numbers?

The gold labels with the black cap is their Model Air range - formulated for airbrush use without thinning.

The white labels with the white cap is their standard range. However you can use these in airbrush if thinned.

 

[mickoo]

Splendid, I want to crack on with the SD35 shortly so will probably grab both types.

I presume they dry with a satin finish and need a gloss overcoat for decals.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Yes they do dry satin to matte. As I heavily weathered my GP9 I only applied gloss varnish where the decals were placed.

If using Vallejo Model Air I have a PDF which details the colours used and the mix ratio to match the defunct Polly Scale range.