MDC/ROUNDHOUSE locomotive rebuilds

[cnrglen]

Yes there are definitely a few similarities there. Thanks for the photo.

Unfortunately this project might be put on hold. I got the package from Sumpter yesterday only to discover that the parts were for MDC's 'harriman' 2-8-0, a much larger engine and they were all too large. So now I'm back on the hunt for a main rod and crosshead. If anyone has spares kicking around their parts box please let me know.


The length of the main rod is 1.516" and the cross head is .7".

[BR60103]

Glen
sorry to report that my spare valve gear has a main rod 2" long between pivots. It's also for a single bar crosshead. It goes to the 3rd driver.
(from my old Rivarossi 2-8-0 whose cast zamak parts are reconstituting themselves as metal sawdust.)

[cnrglen]

Thanks. I've sent out about a half a dozen 'feelers' out to see if I can locate parts. I do know that swap meet season is approaching and I might find something on that front. I did have an offer from another modeller but it turned out he was offering parts from MDC's HOn3 2-8-0 and those aren't compatible either.
In the meantime I've started another MDC engine project.

[cnrglen]

I may have a lead on the missing parts from Rivercityrailroad. I contacted him through Ebay and he told me that he has the metal and detail parts 'bags' of several types on MDC locomotives that he will be putting up for sale in the fall. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

[cnrglen]

I found the missing parts that I needed so I'll be back on this project shortly. Thanks for all the help and suggestions

[Sumpter250]

Happy to hear that things are finally ready to go, for work to continue. Looking forward to seeing how well it all goes together.

[cnrglen]

Thanks to another modeller I now have the main rod and crosshead for this engine.


The day after these parts were dropped in the mail for me I did a bit of horse trading with another modeller and:

Another one, pretty much complete including the motor. so now I have two to build.
Now after lowering the Boiler, was wondering if there was going to be enough room for the motor. As it turns out, no there isn't. The brass nut on the top of the motor is too tall now so I did some machining to the boiler to fix the problem:

As it turns out the high point of the motor is right under the steam dome on the boiler to I was able to hollow out the steam dome to make room. Of course this might be completely unnecessary since I have to replace the motor the convert to DCC (if I can find a decent motor that doesn't cost as much as the engine!).
I think I'll work on the older engine first, It doesn't have a motor so it will be a static model. I might power it later though.
I stripped the old paint off the frame, cylinder block and driver retainer plate with easy-off oven cleaner.

It worked very well. Then I pulled out my container of 'Blacken It' and started to experiment.

I poured it into a small pan and dipped the drivers, rods, main road and cross head in to see what would happen.

I think it worked rather well. It only took a minute to darken the metal and it worked on both the brass and the zinc/zamac castings.

[cnrglen]

I took the second boiler to work today and used the drill press to open up the area for the motor.

I thought the drill press would be neater and more arcuate that hacking away with a router bit in my dremel tool. Fortunately the area that has to be deepened is under the steam dome so there is enough material there to remove without going through. I carefully checked the clearance by assembling the frame and motor to the boiler then running power to the motor to make sure it wasn't shorting out on the metal boiler.
After that I started work on fabricating a new yoke:

I scribed the outline on a piece of aluminum and then cut the basic rectangle out.

I used my miniature drill press to make holes at all the corners that the new yoke will have, now I have to connect the dots.

[Eccentric-Crank]

I used my miniature drill press to make holes at all the corners that the new yoke will have, now I have to connect the dots.[/quote]

If I may make a suggestion, leave the bottom corners connected till the last cut to help prevent bending/distortion.

Dan M.

[cnrglen]

Sorry Dan I saw your comment jus after I finished the fabrication of the new yoke.

I used my drill press to connect the holes together. This is how far I got when the drive belt in my drill press disintegrated.

I finished it off with my dremel tool and a set of jeweler's files.

Finally I used some small diameter square tubing to replicate the mounting tabs. I glued them in with JB Weld so they'll never come back out.

[e-paw]

Not bad at all,, I had a lot of similar problems with my CNJ camel.

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[cnrglen]

That's an impressive piece of kitbashing/engineering.

[e-paw]

I'm sorry,,, I messed up and posted the link to the wrong Camel back build....
Was supposed to be this one.


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[cnrglen]

That too is impressive.

I assembled the chassis tonight

I found that it does have a bind in the drivers. I suspect that the axles need polishing to remove residue that's causing it. I also had to file the yoke a bit. It was pulling on the guide rods on one side, causing them to pinch the crosshead.

I did polish the wheels, just in case this engine will be powered one day. I'm also working on mounting the cab to the boiler.

[cnrglen]

I managed to finagle a front truck this afternoon.

Another modeller out of my club gave me an old brass pilot truck. The Wheel set is larger than the original but it fits okay just the same. I drilled a new hole to match the original and screwed it in.

It's starting to look like something now. After I finished that I did a quick check on the boiler and cab fit and found that the yoke was too tall for the boiler to sit down properly.
A bit od work with my dremel on the yoke:

and the boiler:

and it fits just fine. Next the cab install