My Brass Adventure

[cnw1961]

I like working on engines, adding detail parts or making an engine look like a specific prototype, but sometimes I am getting tired of working with fragile plastic parts and having to be very careful all the time. I thought that having a well detailed engine that would stand some handling would be nice. That ’s why I had the idea to get a brass engine and to use only metal detail parts that could be soldered on. I started looking for an old road switcher that would be perfect for a modern shortline operation. On howiesbrasstrains.com I found a GP20 made by Samhongsa and imported by Oriental Limited more than 20 years ago. Compared to some other engines I had seen, $135 for a new old stock engine that looked almost like new seemed to be a fair price. Howie was very nice and helpful and within one week the loco landed on my doorstep. When I took it out of the box, I instantly liked it and I was glad that it did not seem to be a wrong decision to get this engine. This is my first brass loco, so I did not really know what to expect.







The next thing was to run it. Well, to say the truth, although Howie had stated that it ran very well, I did not expect too much after all the bad I had read about these old brass engines. I was half expecting that I would have to replace the motor and the trucks with Stewart parts from a F3 I had at hand. Fortunately Howie had almost understated how well it ran ... it would be a shame to replace the drivetrain of this loco. Only problem that I had to overcome before I could install a decoder was that the trucks only picked up power on one side each ... but it did not take me too long to find an easy fix. I justy needed a piece of PC board, a phosphor bronze wire and some CA glue.



Now that I could be sure that the engine would make it through my turnouts (no powered frogs) I could install a decoder. I am using an ESU LokPilot Basic. It is cheap, but it has a superb motor control.



Did the engine run very well on DC, it runs perfectly with DCC (with the right decoder settings for BEMF to make up for the missing flywheels). The performance of the Geep is on par with my Atlas MP15 now, even at very low speeds. Not too bad for such an old lady and definitly not what I had expected. Another thing I like about this engine: it is as heavy as a brick. The perfect engine for switching.

Though my adventure went pretty well up to now, it is far from being over. I want to turn the Geep into PREX #2053: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2059998">http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2059998</a><!-- m -->. So still some filing, cutting and soldering will have to be done. That is fine by me, because I love working with brass.

[e-paw]

You found your self a great deal . Can't wait for some progress pics on the geep to see what you do with it.

[Steamtrains]

A loco like that could almost turn me into diesel fan....

Looking forward to great things in your detailing...

[cnw1961]

You found your self a great deal .

Looks like it, doesn’t it. Don’t know what they ask for these engines at train shows, but compared to the prices on the internet it looks like a good deal. But apart from the price, I really like that engine and that’s what counts most.

A loco like that could almost turn me into diesel fan....

Gus, seeing you build your fabulous steamer almost made me want to get one and try that myself , but I have no use for a steamer ... but I think seeing your engine gave me the last nudge I needed to start looking for a brass diesel.

Before I can start adding details, I’ll have to cut some off first. The pilots of PREX 2053 are flush, so the steps on the pilots of my model had to go. I grinded them off using my dremel with a carbon cutting disk.

[faraway]

Kurt, that is a wonderful looking engine. It is even more luck and surprise the drive is ok. I have a little smile in my face because you do also take a brass model and start kit bashing on it. I think there are a lot of people that but brass models behind glass in the cabinet. However, I think you are doing the right thing.

The Hallmark GP7u I bought some weeks ago looks inside very similar to yours. The trucks look like to be the same as yours but mine are a great source of all kind of noise. I had no luck and did exchange the complete drive (P2K GP7).

ps. I believe the pilots are a matter of time. If you model a current engine the foot boards have to be removed. The brass model looks like earlier than about 1975 (1966 were a lot of changes announced like not foot boards and running boards but there were a lot of grace periods).

[cnw1961]

Reinhard, I read about the drive of your brass engine and I really did not expect to get such a well running engine. Guess I really got lucky with my GP20.

PREX 2053 is an ex BN unit. In pics from the 1970s all the BN GP20s still had these foot boards, but in the 1980s they were all gone. Fine by me, because I like the pilots better without the foot boards .

[shaygetz]

A loco like that could almost turn me into diesel fan....

I remember as a young teenager in the hobby, thinking to myself, "Brass diesels? What a waste..."

I wish I was kidding...

Nice piece, looking forward to your progress...

[Steamtrains]

Kurt wrote:

"Gus, seeing you build your fabulous steamer almost made me want to get one and try that myself , but I have no use for a steamer ... but I think seeing your engine gave me the last nudge I needed to start looking for a brass diesel."

Kurt....That's what's so great about this forum and the hobby....

I won't say whose (but I'm sure you can guess...) steamers were the kick in the pants I needed to get to work on mine....

[cnw1961]

I remember as a young teenager in the hobby, thinking to myself, "Brass diesels? What a waste..."

… but you are wiser now, aren’t you?

Hey Gus, don’t have the slightes idea who you are talking about . I agree, this forum is a great source of inspiration.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Ah, my E44A electrics look EXACTLY like your GP20 on the inside, but i'm still having trouble with the pick ups. the six axle engines only pick up on two wheels on one side of each truck.

May I ask where you got your phosphor bronze wire? I've been having a hard time getting hold of some, as I have long had a similar plan to yours to get all the wheels on my E44s picking up as well. All i can find is phosphor bronze sheet, which does me no good.

Definitely an attractive engine though, Can't wait to see it finished.

[Wayne R]

Phosphor bronze wire can be purchased from Tichy Train Group. They also make lots of other nice goodies and some great freight car and structure kits. The wire comes in several sizes. I keep at least one tube of each size on hand. The wire can be found here <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tichytraingroup.com/index.php?page=view_category.php&category=Wire&offset=0">http://www.tichytraingroup.com/index.ph ... e&offset=0</a><!-- m --> .It comes in plastic tubes. I have ordered from Tichy Train Group a number of times and have gotten great service and the shipping costs have be very reasonable.Even all the way to Canada.

Their home page is <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tichytraingroup.com/">http://www.tichytraingroup.com/</a><!-- m --> .



Wayne Reid

[cnw1961]

Phosphor bronze wire can be purchased from Tichy Train Group. They also make lots of other nice goodies and some great freight car and structure kits. The wire comes in several sizes. I keep at least one tube of each size on hand. The wire can be found here <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tichytraingroup.com/index.php?page=view_category.php&category=Wire&offset=0">http://www.tichytraingroup.com/index.ph ... e&offset=0</a><!-- m --> .It comes in plastic tubes. I have ordered from Tichy Train Group a number of times and have gotten great service and the shipping costs have be very reasonable.Even all the way to Canada.

Their home page is <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tichytraingroup.com/">http://www.tichytraingroup.com/</a><!-- m --> .

Yep, I am using Tichy wires. I purchased them from ebay-store "T-J Model Trains and Things"(<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://stores.ebay.com/T-J-Model-Trains-and-Things?_rdc=1">http://stores.ebay.com/T-J-Model-Trains ... ngs?_rdc=1</a><!-- m -->). I can highly recommend that store. It is by far the best source for detail parts for me.

[cnw1961]

After cutting off the parts not needed for PREX 2053, I started adding the first details (winterization hatch, airfilter, number boards, piping at the rear of the tank). All parts are either made from matal. I don’t want to use plastic parts on this engine if I can avoid it.



To solder the number boards in was a bit tricky especially at the front. I don’t want to have lighted number boards, so I used little pieces from a thin phosphor bronze sheet.



I am still waiting for some detail parts to arrive, so I turned to installing lights. I am using 3 mm warm white LEDs wit 1k resistors. I soldered a short u-shaped brass profile to the roof of the cab and brass tube into the rear of the long hood that will hold the LEDs in place and prevent them from lighting the interior of the loco.

[torikoos]

Kurt, that's a beautiful loco!

I would love one myself, albeit to turn it into a Southern Pacific loco for my purposes. :-)

Koos

[rrinker]

Seeing that Canon motor in there, I have no doubt it runs great. It's also very well detailed from the start, nearly state of the art for 20 years ago (probably the only ones better out of the box are Overland).
I used to think brass diesels were a waste as well - based on things like the older Hallmark imports. Some of them have some of the worst trucks I have ever seen on anything, brass or plastic. Even cheap plastic train set stuff of the era had better detailed trucks than those early Hallmark Geeps. Compared to modern efforts, well, there's no comparison. The Stewart Baldwin switchers in plastic but made by Ajin does give brass a run for the money though - and they too come with Canon motors.

--Randy