Great Northern Atlantic

[Schraddel]

Hello!
Here i will tell a story about notorious a non-runner turning into somewhat near state-of-the-art running model. This loco i have purchased for a friend of mine who is a great Great Northern fan.
At first some photos of the loco as is when purchased:




Note the very spacious emptiness below firebox and cab and above trailing truck. There is simply "nothing".




There is this ominous thick pipe which is bend up in 45°angle on the forward end. This pipe also prevented the trailing truck from movements sideward and caused derailments reliable on every rail configuration which is not straight and even as ist can bee.
Also the forward end tends to touch the wheel rim of the driver on the (Murphy's Law! ) insulated side.
So i removed it as first work done.


Note complete lack of injectors and related plumbing.

Later i found with help of good friends, that this ominous pipe should be the modelling of a Kelly feedwater heating device. So the next work was researching what things and devices should be here in this empty places. Meanwhile all the facts were collected, a list was written and parts were ordered. Orders went to Precision Scale in early summer. Until now nothing was delivered.
But there were a lot more things to do without lost wax parts involved.


The first attempt.
The original Sagami motor was a good runner, it was kept therefore.
The in early brass models inadventable rubber tube, usually in different cases of detoriation, was thrown into the waste bucket.
Instead i mounted real universal joints.
To prevent the gearbox from rocking movements forth and aft i made a torque lever. And for sprung action of the first set of drivers the lever was divided into two flexible jointed pieces.

Still lot to do.

Lutz

[ocalicreek]

Lutz,

I am only getting the dreaded 'red X' - no pictures coming through. Clicking on the pictures links to the hosting site, but they aren't there either.

Galen

[Schraddel]

Lutz,

I am only getting the dreaded 'red X' - no pictures coming through. Clicking on the pictures links to the hosting site, but they aren't there either.

Galen

Galen!

That may be a problem with your browser or with the adjustements of your browser, spam blockers perhaps. Sorry, i am not an www or computer crack, but the pictures are still there in the hoster.

Lutz

[steinjr]

Lutz,

I am only getting the dreaded 'red X' - no pictures coming through. Clicking on the pictures links to the hosting site, but they aren't there either.

Galen

See it if one posts a link directly to the image instead of an URL leading to a web page?



What lutz posted was URLs like these: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=dsc04793gd7st.jpg">http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=dsc04793gd7st.jpg</a><!-- m -->
This leads to a web page generated by program image.php

If I right click on the image and pick "image URL", I get e.g. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.abload.de/img/dsc04787lg7vr.jpg">http://www.abload.de/img/dsc04787lg7vr.jpg</a><!-- m --> - which is a URL leading directly to an image.

Stein

[Schraddel]

Now the picture should open direct in the posting.

Stein, is it now so?

Lutz

[Schraddel]

On the list of duty was DCC and sound.


Here a first attempt to have a look and genaral oversight for will it fit and how to do.
No it does'nt fit. Piece of resistance are the two crossmembers on the shell. The bores in the middle are tapped for the screws to keep the shell on the chassis.


It is better to made an alternative fitting. The front crossmember was removed. Instead i turned a piece of brass rod, drill and tap and soldered onto the bottom of the coal bunker. Next was to milling an oval opening for the screw in the tender frame.


Creating new current pick ups. Upper is the bottom plate for the loco. Wipers are made out of 0,5mm hard brass wire.
Lower are wipers out of 0,15mm bronze sheet fpr the insulated wheels.
The kind of pick up causes you have the insulated wheels of loco and tender all on the same side.


This collection of parts is really the entire loco and tender.
I have begun wiring the loco and fit a cheap decoder for test run only. It will be cost much more $$$$ if the magical smoke escapes out of the Tsunami decoder

About test running.
There was significant a bind on evers turning of the drivers.
Searching here, adjusting there, making over, looking general, nothing helps really to remove the binding.


At least i found the fault and had to do one of the difficultiest jobs, re adjusting the correct position of the axle bearings in the main frame.
The axle bearing had much play forth and aft between bearings and main frame. Thus causing the bind.
Here i am soldering thin copper sheet onto the frame to made the correct measures. On the right you can see a piece still to be fasten.
When soldered the excessive material was cut flush to the frame.

Next attempt.
The gearbox became noisy.
Why?
Don't know.
No idea.
Remove that thing.
Press one wheel off the axle.
Press the original gear off the axle too.
Open garbage can.
Drop original gearbox into.
Close garbage can.

Buy an NWSL gearbox.
Fit the NWSL axle gear.
Refit the wheel on the axle again, pay attention to the quartering.
Fit the gearbox to the loco.
Made an new torque lever.
And:


It runs!
Smooth, without any binds, without noise.

I put the loco together with the cheap decoder and took her to the FREMO Unna Convention this year earlier were it run as silent movie on the modular layout. My friend was happy to see her running so smooth.

To be continued, there is still a lot of work to do.

Lutz

[modelsof1900]

Very good step by step description about your rebuild of this brass model.
I'm very interested to read next step modification. (I have to do same with a few cheap brass models!)

[Steamtrains]

I had a similar "adventure" several years (decades..??) back, trying to "tame" a little Hallmark (I think...) 0-8-0. After trying any number of "fixes", I also turned to NWSL for a gear box...
Unfortunately my "eyeballing" the quartering did allow a bit of a "waddle" to creep in, but after all the hassle getting it to work, I let it be...

One of these days I'll have to put in a decoder so I can run it on the "new" layout...

[ocalicreek]

YES! The pictures are there...and...YES! You got it working smoothly again! I for one love to see old steam come to life again. Looking forward to the pile of parts from precision scale and their placement.

Galen

[Schraddel]

Shortly before test running on Unna Convention:


Here we have full sight the really off-road look on the frame aft. And my friend said he has no off-road rails, no streetcar curvatures and no roller coaster track configurations, so why not close the gap.


First step was to cut two frame extensions from thin brass sheet. Then soldering them onto the main frame.


Then this part. I don't know the exact technical expression for it, but with the aid of this square trunk the rear of the frame is bearing on the delta truck.
I made this device out of a piece of brass rod. Soldered mounting brackets to it and mount it onto the main frame.


And to act somewhat like the real thing i made a leaf spring and soldered it to the rear end of the delta truck.


A look from underneath. The frame "gap closers" are paralell to the main frame in this case. Otherwise thee is the possibility to mount them in a Vee shaped manner more together close on the rear end of the main frame.
To avoid short circuits i glued a piece of thin styrene on the side of the insulated wheel.

Still waiting for PSC parts...

Lutz

[Schraddel]

Now it became electrical.
The whole wiring, lightning starts just here.
I use flexible thin stranded wire. And for optical reasons mostly ones with black insulation. The NMRA colours help you to assort which wire belongs to which pin, but between loco and tender i do not like to see multi coloured wires.
So it will be a little bit harder to wire them to the correct terminals, but the inconspicuous look is it worth.
Let me count what is needed on the loco:
2 wires from the pick ups from the rails
2 wires the the motor
1 wire to the front light
1 wire to the cab interior light
1 common
----------------
There are 7 wires from loco to tender. All these loco wires will end in an NMRA socket and wired according the NMRA rules.


For 3 of the wires i made an aditional terminal in form of a socket like in this example (0-8-0 USRA). So you are able to take the whole loco apart without soldering.


In the tender there will be another socket. This socket is fixed by glueing to the bottom.

Here are additional wires soldered:
Red to pick up, in this case to the bottom of the tender, current will flow from here to the non insulated wheels on the right side.
Black to the insulated wipers in the tender trucks of the left side.
Yellow to back up light.
Blue is common.
All these wire are soldered in such manner, that plugs and sockets can still be fitted.

The Tsunami Sound Decoders are delivered only with loose wires. Here i soldered a plug according NMRA rules to it.


Lightening of the Great Northern lamps.
The GN is sporting a very special sort of headlights.
There is not much room in it.
And they are brass in this case.
And brass has electric condutivity.
What to do?

First, buy 0603 type LED with flexible ultra thin stranded insulated wire.
Second, make headlight glass out of clear styrene sheet.
Third, glue the 0603 LEDs onto the inside of the glass, set aside an let dry.
Forth, drill 1mm hole into the rear end of the casing.
Sixth, drill another 1mm hole into the smokebox front rsp. the tender shell.
Seventh, paint inside of head light casings silver to imitate a reflector.
Eight, thread wires into the holes, not more difficult than contriving a thread into a sewing needle.
Ninth, glue the glass with the glued LEDs onto the rim of the headlights.
Tenth, solder a suitable resistor to one of the wires from the LEDs! I use 1,2Kohm resistors in conclusion with white LEDs.
Eleventh, solder a suitable pin to the other wire.
Twelvth, make trial and error which wire is which.
Thirteenth, mark the wires
Fourteenth, enjoy.




Were are the electrical wires?


The speaker. Here i decided to fix it onto the shell with the extra large acustic box. But had to make an additional plug - socket connection for it.

Still waiting for PSC parts.

Lutz

[Schraddel]

Here i made a small improvement:


If the loco is lifted (by 5-finger crane ) the front truck will travel about 45° down and swivel about nearly 90° left or right.
This small piece of U-shaped brass soldered onto the bottom plate will prevent this unwanted moveabilty now. The truck has still the necessary abiltiy to make movements sidewards and up and down. But it is much easier to rerail the loco than before.

Still waiting for PSC parts.

Lutz

[Schraddel]

Meanwhile was the problem that there is in reality not enough space under the tender shell.
There are at least too much snaking wires and the decoder is one of the bigger ones.


The first attempt is to cut an opening into the bottom of the coal bunker. Later this tender will be coaled and the best solution is to make a double bottom which will be inserted into the coal bunker.


Here is a look what is under the shell. The plug from the loc is not plugged in here.
The blue and the yellow wire are for the rear light and leading to a 2-pole socket. There is a pin, simply made from a left over of teh resistors wire, plugged in. One of the ultra-thin LED wires is soldered here direct onto. The other wire is soldered onto the LEDs resistor and the rsistor is plugged in. A marking on resistor and socket shows were to plug in.
Further there is the factory mounted capcitor.
The purple wires are leding to the spreaker, here i made an additional plug - socket connection.
So you are able to screw and unscrew the tender and plug and unplug the electrics without soldering duties. The loco itself has a similar solution with plugs.


Here a look to the cab interior light. A 3mm LED and the resistor are glued to a small piece of 0,3mm white styrene. The styrene sheet is bend according the cab roof. After painting the still white area acts like an reflector.


Next was the bridge between loco and tender. A brass sheet with safety pattern was cut into a sizeable form. Then a 0,5mm brass wire was soldered onto.
The hinges were bend out of 0,3mm soft brass wire and put into drilled holes at the back plate. The end of the hinges were bend an soldered at the rear side thus preventing to solder accintentially the hinges.


It is moveable.


The ropes to bell and whistle were made out of 0,3mm soft brass wire. Yes 1900, i know you do not like this stuff, but here in this case it is the right material.
If it is too thick, it is no problem to pull it thinner as i have done it.
The photo shows an other damage too which i have to fit. The rear sand line came loose.


Light check. Photo without flash.
The red glow is from the decoders red indicator LED.


The same , but with flash on.
Note the railings on the highway overpass which i managed to fit after several years delay.

Still waiting for PSC parts.

Lutz

[modelsof1900]

The ropes to bell and whistle were made out of 0,3mm soft brass wire. Yes 1900, i know you do not like this stuff, but here in this case it is the right material.
If it is too thick, it is no problem to pull it thinner as i have done it.

Lutz, yes, you are right.
However look for different electrical cables. They all are made from thin copper wires with diameters far under 0.3mm (.12") and this will be a better choice. Good luck!

[Schraddel]

Still waiting for PSC parts.
Meanwhile i did test driving and decoder programming. There was still a little bind caused by the valve gear cranks.
These were not bored right at a 90° angle, sitting slanting onto the crank pin and touching the main rods at every turning :cry:
No wonder that there is bind
So i milled them to create certain "oval" borings so that they will fit in a right angle.
Then i glued and secured them with CA.
So nothing happens really worth to be photographed.

Still waiting for PSC parts.

Lutz