Building a GP9 in Proto:48

[ednadolski]

At long last, the parts are starting to come together, and the project is coming to life.   Here are some recent pics and a couple of quick videos.

Here you can see that the DCC decoders and wiring for the motor and speaker are in place.  Everything had to be removed and re-installed in order to get the speaker/fuel tank into the proper place.  The Digitrax DH465 is set to DCC address 132 and controls the motor functions.  It can handle 4 amps which is enough for this Pitman can motor.  I've also programmed it for basic speed and momentum settings.  The Tsunami TSU-1000 is set to address 9132 and controls the EMD 567 sound, and will also control the lighting.  To run the engine, I set up an advanced consist with the 9132 as the lead engine.





One little trick with the wiring was installing it such that the wires would not contact the drive shaft or any other moving parts.  I may revisit this area at some point.

These shots show the shell with some of the detail parts installed.  The grabirons are handmade from 0.020" brass wire.  The kit did come with plastic ones which were very delicate, but I did use the bolt detail from them.  Lift rings are PSC 48278 which are cast brass.   The numberboards, fans, and grills/shutters will be installed later.   The walkway/sills/pilots have been painted, and the shell/cab are pretty much ready for paint.












Here is a closeup of one of the couplers. It is the Protocraft fully operational coupler from cast brass.  The castings take a bit of cleanup with a file but operate very nicely.  I will be chemically blackening these, and then cosmetically painting and weathering the exterior, non-contacting surfaces.  (At this point I have not trimmed the brass pin, since these will be disassembled again for the painting.)  I will be adding operating cut levers.  Another option with these couplers is to add small bit of steel wire into the top of the pin, and then they can be operated with a magnetic wand.



One thing that will look really cool with these: those magnetically-joining air hoses 

Also here are a few quickie-type videos, showing the unit in operation on my little Proto:48 test diorama.  First is a simple startup/run/shutdown:

And here is a basic reverse/coupling move:

(Ya gotta love the whine of that 567!) 

Thanks for looking!

Ed

[davefoxx]

That's impressive work, Ed.  The sound is fantastic, even through my laptop's speakers.  Ever since I saw an operating "scale" O scale layout in the early 1990s, I have hoped that I could somehow find the money and space to build an O scale layout.

Oh, and I love the reporting marks on that covered hopper.   

DFF

[nuno81291]

Wow that is beautiful. GASing hard for some O scale now! That was beautiful. May I ask what the final paint scheme/road may be? Do you have a layout thread for this? The etched parts and brass looks fantastic. 

[GaryHinshaw]

You are definitely in your element here Ed - this is looking and sounding really good.  I love the couplers.  How about a shot of this loco next to one of your N scale Dash-9s so we can see how massive this really is?   

[ednadolski]

Thanks Dave.   Yep I've seen O scale models that still sounded like they were still coming thru some kind of little button speaker.   Thankfully the Tsunamis are better than that too.  I had originally thought of doing layout-based sound thru stationary speakers with a subwoofer.  It's a matter of hooking up the decoder's speaker output thru an audio output transformer.  It gave nice sound, and you could not ask for deeper bass, but I decided it was kind of overwhelming for a model and I knew that I would tire of it sooner rather than later.   Real trains are pretty loud after all... 

nuno81291, the paint will be for MRL 132.   It was built in the 1950s and still is in active service.  It's interesting to see these vintage units still running, even next to an SD70ACe.

Hi Gary, will an SD40-2 do?






Cheers,
Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

Hi Gary, will an SD40-2 do?

Yes - that will do.     Thanks for the photos.

So it's about 14" long, and each 50' freight car is a bit over a foot, so a diminutive 10 car peddler takes up about 12'.  That's not too bad... Do the flanges squeal on sharp curves?

[ednadolski]

Don't know, the sharpest curves I have are on the #6 turnout.     Since this turnout is build on a balsa wood base, and glued right to the foam board, it does unfortunately pick up a lot of wheel noise -- particularly at higher speeds.  This is really just a test track, but any kind of operable layout or diorama should take the sound reduction aspect seriously, as it is a far greater consideration than in N scale.

Even a 10-car peddler would be too long for my space.  However something like this would be more within reach for me:

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/18011

(Keep repeating: less is more, less is more... ) 

Ed


 

[ednadolski]

Trivia Time:  How many different shades of blue can you spot in the following pic?



The dabs of paint on the white plastic sheet came straight from the bottle, and still they look like a different when painted onto a model.... 

Ed

[ednadolski]

Some additional side work:  painted and pre-weathered the roof fans:




The fans spin freely when assembled.

Ed

[wmcbride]

Ed,

I too have an unbuilt Red Caboose kit and your work is inspiring me to pull it out and build it.

I like the way those couplers work. Pretty smooth. That's the one drawback, at least for me, in the O 2R world: stiffness of Atlas and some Kadee couplers. So different thatn the smooth operation one can have in HO with Kadee 58s for example.

So how big of a space can you allocate to your P48 layout? Do you think it will take you out of N scale?

[ednadolski]

Hi Bill, I don't think I could ever do much in Proto:48 beyond an "operable diorama" that would fit into maybe 2' x 10' footprint or so.  It would all hinge on how well this build goes, and before going there I would need to come up with some kind of scale coupler pocket for freight cars plus some other details. I'm still very much into doing the N scale diesels and freight cars, so the P:48 is more about having the opportunity to do "something different" rather than being the full focus of all my modeling efforts.  That said, I also realize that interests and situations can change over time, so if you ask me the same question in a year from now, I could perhaps have a different answer.  Or perhaps not....  IOW, it's all good 

I've never used the O-scale Atlas/Kadee type couplers and so I don't know much about how well they operate.  I don't see a reason why one could not use the Protocraft or San Juan operable couplers with conventional 2-rail O-scale, if you don''t mind constructing a pocket.  Actually Protocraft now has a pocket for the brass coupler, and you can also operate the pin magnetically with a wand (a la the HO Sergents) if you wish.

Love to see how your RC comes together.  Those are such great kits it is really a pity that they are no longer available.  Will you use the P&D repower kit?

Ed

[wmcbride]

Ed,

I bought the kit, with the P&D kit, brass "chassis" plate and brass trucks from a modeler who would never get to the project. It seemed like too much fun to pass up.

I just have to get on it. Hard to do in the summer...

Bill

[ednadolski]

Some progress in the paint department:

The blue here is made up of one part TCP-072 C&O/B&O Blue with two parts TCP-137 DME/ICE Blue.  I did have a surprise after applying a layer of Dullcote, as that really lightened the color more than I ever expected it would.  Fortunately I was able to spray a layer of Glosscote over it, and that restored the color.   But from here on, I will use the TCP Clear Flat instead of the Dullcote.











I have a  few touch-ups to do, then it will be time for decals 

Ed

[wmcbride]

Ed,

I was wondering if you could explain how one wires in a second sound decoder to an engine which already has a decoder for motor control/lights.

It's something I've never done but would like to do on my Atlas O 2R GP15 - without letting the magic smoke out of either decoder.

Thanks,
Bill McBride

[ednadolski]

Hi Bill,

There aren't any modifications to either decoder.   I use the Digitrax to control the motor, and the Tsunami for sound (I plan to use the Tsunami for lights too, when I add them).   The Digitrax is connected to the motor and the Tsunami to the speaker (the Tsunami's motor leads are not connected to anything).  Both decoders are connected to the rail pickups as normal.  Since the engine is number 132, I set the long address in the Tsunami to that address, and set the long address in the Digitrax to 9132.  So I can program each decoder separately without having to change the wiring.  To get them to run together, I create an advanced consist with #132 as the lead.   This lets the Tsunami operate the lights and sound, while allowing the Digitrax to respond to the motor control commands.

Clearly this is not the most efficient way to do things, esp. if one has a lot of locos and/or does a lot of consisting.  But it suits my purposes, since I don't expect to ever have more than a very few such locos, and it gives me the flexibility of trying different decoders for both motor and sounds.

Ed