Best Of New Brass EP-2 assembly & Mod clinic

[u18b]

Still finishing up on the B unit.

Added the grab iron brace at the back end of the cab.




I know I have talked about how fragile the walkways are.... but I don't think I've talked about repairing them.

Actually, the walkways in this kit are not particularly fragile.  It's just that with all that I have been doing to them and modifying them.... I'm handling them a LOT.

Well, sometimes a solder joint pops... and it always pops at the same spot- meaning this is a pretty weak spot.

The walkway is composed of basically two pieces of brass.
The tread walkway, and the underframe.
The underframe is where all the screws go for the motor, gearbox etc.

Anyway, KMT folks assembled these with no visible solder.  So they were clearly assembled with a good resistance soldering station.  The parts are tinned only at the very edges and then melted together with a resistance soldering station.

The good news is that the parts are neat and clean.

The bad news it that the joint at the back at the end of the Cab area is week.

And that's where this one popped loose.

So I carefully repaired it.

I scraped the brass to get all corrosion out of the way and expose fresh brass.
I then added flux and some solder on a sharp tipped iron.

You can see two spots where I added it right here (marked in red).



Now it is sort of obvious, but solder has surface tension and when soldering a corner, something of a little blob is left.
So as you can see by the marks, I used mini-files to smooth it down and make the joint less conspicuous.

I also added some solder at the back end.



Well, I'm starting to get close now.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I went back and looked.  This thread started a couple of days before Halloween.
Obviously, there were times when my work slowed down,  but there is a lot of work represented in these past 5 months.

And it is hard to imagine that over 600 photos have been used so far.

But I'm getting close enough to taste it.

Spring is now here in the Deep South and so it is safe to airbrush.

I took my paint and made some paint swatches.
(I know, I should have used a gray background instead of ivory business cards.... but hey, it is just a simple sample.).

I still have not gotten the springs that I'm having custom made.
So I still have a little pantograph work.

When all is ready, then I'll be moving to paint prep and painting.
 

[Chris333]

What about the steps at each corner of the pilot?

[u18b]

What about the steps at each corner of the pilot?

I must be missing them.

You mean these?

[Chris333]

In your photo with the colored lines the steps are boxed and hanging off the pilot beam instead of on the plow.

Was talking about these steps:
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/2513/DSC05251rev.png
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/2513/BiPolar_Cab_Colorize.png

Perhaps they are different prototypes?

[u18b]

Hi Chris.

Because of your insightful post....  I spent a lot of time studying photos.

Milw made a lot of changes to the pilot through the years (no doubt things broke in the harsh snow environment over the years.)



And I concluded three things.

1.  Those steps were as-delivered from GE. 

But you can only find them on generally early photos of the loco in black.  In fact, that photo is probably dated early 1920- within one year of delivery.

2.  Which probably means the color painting on the cover of that book is actually a Foobie.  Someone was probably working from an old photo of a black loco and creatively made it a much more interesting Hiawatha scheme- even if the details are wrong.

It is only a guess, but it looks to me like those big old fat clunky steps would form a dam which would trap the snow- instead of letting it slide off.

So If I was painting an old black one, then I might be exploring back-dating the steps.

If you look at LATER photos (say 1950, just before the 53 rebuild) you will often see where they ripped out the entire old pilot and installed a brand new wider, curvier snow plow with no steps at all.

3.  The pilot is correct for the 1948-49 Railroad Fair loco I am building (and which Kumuata designed).

[Chris333]

Well that settles it then 

I had no info other than what was posted. Didn't want you to forget something after all this hard work.

[u18b]

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank You for going on this journey with us.

We'd now like to talk about our final destination.


To mark the 100 anniversary of railroading in America, Chicago hosted a “Railroad Fair” in 1948 and into 1949. 



The Milwaukee Road had recently been adding innovative equipment on the Hiawatha and so they sent a Hiawatha display which included EP-2 number E-3.

The first non-black new scheme was rather complicated and was a one of a kind scheme.  So we may call it an experimental scheme.

http://streamstylegraphics.com/ImagesContent/Gallery/DSC03412Gallery.JPG

In co-ordination with the 1948 Railroad Fair, and the new Hiawatha, the Milwaukee Road developed a brand new scheme.  Often called the stripe scheme.  The remaining EP-2s all received this scheme, but the very first one had 6 stripes, while the rest had 5 stripes.

Here is the loco being shown in a special program.




And here.
Here is the link to the next photo:  http://www.railarchive.net/rrfair/rrfair4915.htm



And here on display.
https://www.fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/detailfs?userid={91CE877C-F16C-43EE-A91F-EDF166979869}&ndx=60&slideshow=0&AlbumId={EE23A472-34C4-49B5-A0AB-191EC8915980}&GroupId=&screenheight=768


Color shots are pretty hard to come by.

Warhawk Reproductions (see their watermark) occassionally offers this shot in their ebay store.
I bought one.
http://stores.ebay.com/Warhawk-Reproductions



And this shot is from the book: Milwaukee Road Bi-Polar Electrics.  Classic Power 2.  Published by N.J. International in conjuction with the selling of their brass models in various scales.
It has a caption, but the caption must be in error- as I have indicated.



Thank you for your continued support.
Please place your trays in an upright and locked position as we descend.

[spookshow]

Hey Ron, what about those ditchlights?!??! 

Cheers,
-Mark

[Bob Horn]

Polling pockets Mark. Bob.

[peteski]

Polling pockets Mark. Bob.

We don't need no stinkin' polls! 

[Cajonpassfan]

Nothing personal Peteski, but in this context, that would be "poles"...
Ron, thanks or sharing the journey with us!
Otto K.

[u18b]

Hey Ron, what about those ditchlights?!??! 

Cheers,
-Mark

I think those are fiber optic back up cameras.

[peteski]

Nothing personal Peteski, but in this context, that would be "poles"...

You're correct - I was just being silly. 

[u18b]

As I said before, color photos of this unit are rare.

In fact, I noticed two things about this very helpful shot.



First, I got out my Streamstyle Graphics decal sheet and saw that it had an error!
This decal sheet...
http://streamstylegraphics.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=35_38_41&product_id=59

Had the nose wording in black, not silver as per the photo.

Not sure if it is an error only on the N scale sheet or just my sheet, but obviously it is correct on this HO scale model.
http://streamstylegraphics.com/shop/image/cache/data/IMG_Models/DSC04071Large-800x600.JPG

I contacted Todd, the owner, and he is going to send me corrections.

Second, that photo shows something I just never noticed before.  There are grab irons on the very very front edge of the walkway.  In black, these might not show up, but on THIS model, the walkway edge is orange and the grabs are maroon.  Which means they will REALLY stand out.

So it is back to the soldering iron....

[u18b]

Time to add those grabs on the noses walkway.

Here is the starting point.  Walkway is smooth.



I took a marker and marked where the door was for a reference point.



I got my 8 mill brass wire and tried to shape a grab for the front edge.  I could not make it small enough.  Those tweezers are super fine for getting out splinters-- but even those sharp points were too fat.



I scrapped that idea.  I then decided the grabs did NOT have to be soldered to the front edge like the prototype.
I would mount them UNDER the walkway.
And therefore, a stiffer wire would be better.
Here, I'm bending 8 mill guitar string.



Since I want the solder and paint to stick to the wire, I roughen it up with sand paper.



The one on the left has been trimmed.



I sanded the receiving surface.



And soldered the grabs in place.



Easy to say, but tricky to do since I need 4 hands.
Thought you might want to see how I "held down" the walkway.




Looks better.




And will look outstanding when painted.