7mm Poor man's Alamosa.

[PhilH]

​

​

Somewhat better views of the tender rear coupling on one of my On3 locos, provision is made for the Kadee box in a slot in the underframe.

​

If you are going to fabricate a pocket on the rear of the underframe, this is the prototype coupler mounting from a drawing in Model Railroader.

​

This underside view of the loco may be of interest if you're considering re-gauging yours to On3​

​

The loco is a limited edition version of the MMI loco as RGS #455 ATW (after the wreck) when it was rebuilt with a modified cab from a D&RGW standard gauge loco.

 

[Scale7JB]

Great stuff, thanks so much Phil!!

Very handy photos!

JB.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

When I was dabbling with On30 I raised the ride height of the tender on it's bolsters by 1mm on the Bachmann mogul and used Kadee On30 couplers throughout one rolling stock and locos I had.

The other loco was a Broadway C-16 onto which I threw loads of detail parts. Likewise with the Bachmann mogul.

 

[Scale7JB]

Very nice Dave, do you still have it all?

How did you get on with the Broadway C-16? Heard some bad things about their running quality..

JB.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

I got shot of the On30 stuff years ago.

Quite correct about the Broadway C-16. It was a poor runner namely due to the Quantum QSI sound decoder they used - the motor control CVs could not be adjusted for smooth running in the same way as the high end European decoders - even with their replacement chip.

In the end I installed a Zimo decoder and home brewed stay alive. Once I'd tinkered with the motor control CVs it became a smooth runner.

 

[Scale7JB]

Turns out there are still bargains to be had on eBay.

Got this On3 Westside Brass Caboose for just over £60, should be £200.. Very happy with that one.



JB.

 

[mickoo]

Turns out there are still bargains to be had on eBay.

Got this On3 Westside Brass Caboose for just over £60, should be £200.. Very happy with that one.

View attachment 151801 View attachment 151802 View attachment 151803

JB.

Nice one, you just have to keep plugging away and searching, eventually something will pop up

 

[Scale7JB]

As soon as I’ve got some free time, not a great deal over Christmas, looking forward to flying in to this..

A Grandt Line On3 Frameless Gramps tank car.



JB.

 

[Scale7JB]

Long but exciting day yesterday on a drive from East London to Chester to collect some goodies.

I think if someone told me a little over a year ago that I’d be looking at 4 of these boxes I would have said they were mad!

I was initially a little reluctant to post about R-T-R items after the recent post where a few people became a little disheartened, but I will add that after a couple of hours digesting the locos (not literally) there are some fairly major but simple-ish upgrades that can be made with some 2D CAD and a sheet of photo-etch.

These will never be a prime Brass models that are available at 3-4 times the price, but they’re a very good place to start from.

I will add that only 3 of the boxes are the fun On3 ones, as I need to sell on the On30 K27 #454 ASAP.




JB.

 

[Scale7JB]

On another note, what is the situation with unpainted Japanese brass?

I picked up this lovely brass On3 plough flanger yesterday. And a couple of the joints were a little weak and parts need reattaching. Mainly I tried to bend an air pipe that was (from the factory) way below the rail head height and it has pinged.

Is the brass lacquered, or painted perhaps? I can’t believe the brass is bare as it would look an awful lot more tarnished than this..



JB.

 

[mickoo]

If it's anything like the bigger brass models then it'll be lacquered and is a right witch to get off.

You can't solder through it as it turns a sticky brown, I know, I've tried and have some models where others have too.

I've tried IPA, white spirits, petrol and none seemed to touch it, I ended up bead blasting it which took ages, that was only one tender body, goodness knows how long it'll take to do a whole articulated engine.

Once the new bat cave is built I'm going to get a decent walnut blaster cabinet in there and start cleaning up these models, repair and add details where necessary and get them ready for paint.

 

[mickoo]

I will add that only 3 of the boxes are the fun On3 ones, as I need to sell on the On30 K27 #454 ASAP.

JB.

Tempted, but the new bat cave is going to drain any spare funds I have

 

[Scale7JB]

If it's anything like the bigger brass models then it'll be lacquered and is a right witch to get off.

You can't solder through it as it turns a sticky brown, I know, I've tried and have some models where others have too.

I've tried IPA, white spirits, petrol and none seemed to touch it, I ended up bead blasting it which took ages, that was only one tender body, goodness knows how long it'll take to do a whole articulated engine.

Once the new bat cave is built I'm going to get a decent walnut blaster cabinet in there and start cleaning up these models, repair and add details where necessary and get them ready for paint.

Thanks Mick,

No rush to strip on my part, so will see how you get on with the walnut blasting. Hope that works!

Yeah there's an awful lot of hydraulic piping missing from the Plough that I would 'like' to put on there.

JB.

 

[Scale7JB]

Tempted, but the new bat cave is going to drain any spare funds I have

Bat cave, I need one of those..

 

[PhilH]

Very nice boxes, but it would be nice to see what's in them !

 

[allegheny1600]

I was initially a little reluctant to post about R-T-R items after the recent post where a few people became a little disheartened, but I will add that after a couple of hours digesting the locos (not literally) there are some fairly major but simple-ish upgrades that can be made with some 2D CAD and a sheet of photo-etch.

These will never be a prime Brass models that are available at 3-4 times the price, but they’re a very good place to start from.

I will add that only 3 of the boxes are the fun On3 ones, as I need to sell on the On30 K27 #454 ASAP.


View attachment 154750

JB.

Hello JB,
Nice boxes!!
I would have thought that although these might be ”ready to run”, they have several things to counter the typical anti box-opening theme.
They are a different scale and prototype to so much in the UK.
They can only run on hand laid track.
They are actually intriguing models.
I very nearly caught the 0n3 bug a few years back, thanks to helping Bob Harper out with some of his exhibition layouts and on his home layout - it was all very inspiring stuff. I only resisted because I was so committed to H0 Where I can swap and change interests more easily.
Cheers,
John E.

 

[Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen]

JB, Mickoo,

Have you tried acetone or cellulose thinners?

Tim

 

[Neil]

...Or Nitromors?

 

[JasonD]

Nice one Neil. No mercy shown. And then at my age the doubt sets in: I used Nitromors a long time ago - on an NJCB RS3. So ... have they changed the 'formula' to bring back a nod of satisfaction from Californian readers (hey, British product?). Apparently 'Yes'

 

[Scale7JB]

Hello JB,
Nice boxes!!
I would have thought that although these might be ”ready to run”, they have several things to counter the typical anti box-opening theme.
They are a different scale and prototype to so much in the UK.
They can only run on hand laid track.
They are actually intriguing models.
I very nearly caught the 0n3 bug a few years back, thanks to helping Bob Harper out with some of his exhibition layouts and on his home layout - it was all very inspiring stuff. I only resisted because I was so committed to H0 Where I can swap and change interests more easily.
Cheers,
John E.

It’s a slippery slope, and I’ve been sliding for a while now!