New brass Milwaukee Bipolar EP-2 clinic- part 2

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wow Ron, what an absolute work of art.

Seriously, from stem to stern, just incredible.

[u18b]

And that more or less brings this part of the journey to an end.

Between this thread and the original thread...
( https://www.therailwire.net/forum/?topic=31042.0   )  …..

There have been about 80 pages of posting with about 1,600 photographs.  And it has been kind of fun that the original thread has over 41,000 views and this one at almost 17,000.  Wow.

I'd like to take this time to thank you guys.  For all your encouragement, ideas, observations, suggestions, and yes, at times even nagging.   There is no doubt but that these are better models because of your participation.   This is a great community.   Thanks.

What I tried to accomplish in these threads was something that was at least a little different (not that I'm the only one to do it).  I decided at the start that we would go on a modeling journey.  In it, I would not only show every single step of what I did.... but I would also show the thinking and some techniques behind what I did.  I really wanted people to see not only modeling, but the thought processes that went into it.   And I decided to show failures as well as the success.  The end result was a bit long, but hopefully helpful at times.  And that is partially the point.  An article in a magazine cannot capture all of the modeling steps like this medium can.

I'm ready to move on to the next EP-2 (the third).  I don't expect any major improvements except one- I think I'm going to create an analog plug that has a tiny circuit board with a diode, resistor and socket for the LED so that the loco could be run fully under analog.  Not that I would think it would run better (it probably won't) but it increases the interest.  But I won't post photos of that here.

So this is probably the end of the line for these new EP-2s as threads.  In the future, I'll post updates to the Weekend thread, not here.   The only thing that I could add here that would be a true addition would be one or two different paint schemes on completed models.  For example, the Hiawatha experimental scheme will be on the horizon.

I do plan to do one more thread some day, but it will be different.   These threads have been focused on building these new unique locos.   And a good deal obviously will never apply to anyone else.   These are the only models in the USA, and unless a few have sold here and there, all the rest are still in Japan.

But one day I plan to rebuild an old NJ Custom Brass EP-2.  Since a lot of people own those, that thread may be helpful to some as a how-to guide to getting these things to run when they are so often a shelf queen.

Thanks again for the journey.  I appreciate all of you.
Now maybe I can build them faster than 1 every year and a half! 

I have a lot more modeling to do on other subjects.
This project started as an accident.  Some of you will remember that this all started because I'm writing a book on Kumata N scale locomotives.   In the research and writing for that book, I stumbled on these locos in kit form gathering dust for about 14 years in the back shelving at Kumata in Japan.  It was an amazing find.

And hey!  I knew I had arrived when I got my own listing on Spookshow's encyclopedia!  Haha.  What an accomplishment!

So I have not forgotten about my book.  In fact, most of it is written already. And I recently had the opportunity to add some more info when I repaired an SD40-2 last month for someone.   At some point I'll finish the book and let y'all know about it.


Thanks again.

[wazzou]

And as for another stunt, around1925- they lashed up an EP-2  with two steam locos (Mikados I think) on a steel bridge for a tug of war.

The EP-2 drug the TWO steamers!

Here is the famous photo.

The Steamer at the rear looks like one of the Milwaukee's N Class Mallets.

[peteski]

Ron,
This is a masterpiece, in every minute detail: from the box to the finely-tuned mechanism (and everything in between)!  Your client should be thrilled to own a Bearden original!   I also know that no amount of money can reimburse you for this labor of love. I'm very proud to have been a small part of this project.

[MK]

Ron that is one amazing package!  If I was on the receiving end I would be floored.  I hope you are compensated fairly for all that work.

[mmagliaro]

I have been puzzling over what to call this thing.

- fabulous modeling,
- smart, creative engineering
- history
- art
- sweat
- determination
- inspiration

But finally, to package it up with some historical paper and photos, in a beautiful box that can be presented and handed down for generations, what we have here is something that generations of people will enjoy.  They will wonder about this Ron Bearden guy who went to all the trouble to make such a beautiful model.

It transcends just being a beautiful model. 

I think the word for this thing is an "heirloom". 

[nscaler711]

After seeing the time you took to package it up, i realized i could never afford anything that you made or will make... 
(Of course that, and all the work you put into it.  )

Awesome work!

[nkalanaga]

Ron:  I knew the BiPolars were used in freight service, but do question the idea of a yardmaster loading any loco to the point that freight cars start coming apart.  It's possible, especially with wooden underframes, which is why they were banned from interchange service.  But it seems a little unprofessional.  On the other hand, it wouldn't be the dumbest thing ever done on a railroad, so it COULD be true.

According to Noel Holley's book, the starting tractive effort for an EP-2 was 82,200 lbs at 18% adhesion, barely more than a 2-unit boxcab.  But Othello is on the dry side of Washington, and if the rails had been baking in the sun for a while, with plenty of sand, adhesion could be well over 18%.

Today, of course, it would be easy - just keep adding units.  Usually it's a broken knuckle, or a pulled drawbar, rather than the center sill, but that's part of the reason for distributed power.

[u18b]

Thank you for your kind words guys.
I am humbled.
And very grateful.


And yes..... I already thought of another improvement.
I was thinking the boiler room is so spacious that one of those Keep Alive capacitors might fit in there.
I could wire it directly into the plug.

But I'm using Digitrax DZ126 decoders and I don't know if they make something like that.

Hahaha.  Will I ever be finished?   

[peteski]

Thank you for your kind words guys.
I am humbled.
And very grateful.


And yes..... I already thought of another improvement.
I was thinking the boiler room is so spacious that one of those Keep Alive capacitors might fit in there.
I could wire it directly into the plug.

But I'm using Digitrax DZ126 decoders and I don't know if they make something like that.

Hahaha.  Will I ever be finished?   

Depending on the plug you are using, you might have to add 1 or 2 extra connections to add the keep-alive circuit.  ON keep alive, its positive lead hooks up to the blue wire (decoder's internal positive rectified voltage) and the negative goes to the decoders common (ground) circuit. The common is usually not exposed on small decoders and you have to solder the wire to one of the components which are part of the common circuit (like the anodes of the rectifier diodes on one of the on-board filter caps).

If there is enough room, I recommend using one of the commercially available keep-alive modules  (not  just few tantalum caps). Those modules can keep the loco running for few seconds after a power loss.

But since there is so much room in the loco, have you considered a sound decoder? 

[u18b]

Depending on the plug you are using, you might have to add 1 or 2 extra connections to add the keep-alive circuit.  ON keep alive, its positive lead hooks up to the blue wire (decoder's internal positive rectified voltage) and the negative goes to the decoders common (ground) circuit. The common is usually not exposed on small decoders and you have to solder the wire to one of the components which are part of the common circuit (like the anodes of the rectifier diodes on one of the on-board filter caps).

If there is enough room, I recommend using one of the commercially available keep-alive modules  (not  just few tantalum caps). Those modules can keep the loco running for few seconds after a power loss.

But since there is so much room in the loco, have you considered a sound decoder? 

OK.  More complex than I thought.  I have no experience with these things.   The jumper wire in the boiler room corresponds to the track-- that is the red and black decoder wires.  Adding blue changes everything.  That would mean more plugs and wires.

Anyway, as for sound..... yes, I had thought of that....... but the EP-2 was rather famous for being so QUIET.   The only real benefit you would get is for the whistle/horn.

So in the end, it did not seem worth it.

[nkalanaga]

I never heard one, but from the descriptions and design, I'd imagine that what noise you do get from a BiPolar would sound almost exactly like a model - nothing but DC motors.

[u18b]

Those of you that are Cmstp&p, Milwaukee Road fans or fans of the EP-2 bipolar loco in general....

There is currently an interesting photo on ebay (I'm not connected to this guy at all).
Here is the auction:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/7BB757-2NDGEN-RP-1931-1940s-CMStP-P-MILWAUKEE-RAILROAD-BI-POLAR-MOTOR-10251-/352029284015?hash=item51f69496af:g:3r8AAOSwrddY7tLp

And here is the link to the photo:  http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/3r8AAOSwrddY7tLp/s-l1600.jpg

I've searched the internet a LOT for EP-2 photos trying as many different combinations of search words as I can.
Eventually, you know about all the photos on the net- not as many as you think.
And every once in a while I come across a photo I've not seen before.

This is one.   That's why I'm posting.   I find this a really interesting photo.

The guy says he thinks this photo was taken sometime between 1931-40.  I can assure you that's not the case.

This photo appears to be a builder's photo taken by GE- probably at the factory. 
Further, it is of the road number of the first unit delivered.
So I would date this photo at about Nov or Dec of 1919- thus this is possibly the FIRST photo EVER taken of an EP-2.

The reason I bring this up is because this photo looks almost EXACTLY like the NJ Custom Brass model in N scale.
Thus it shows how the NJ model is pretty accurate for the As-Delivered look.

I heavily edited the GE photo for educational purposes.

Notice: 
1.  The sand pipes run down the wall from the roof at the door entryway.
2.  Of course there's the door in the boiler room and the steam whistle.
3.  The stack on the boiler room is tall.  At some point, CMStP&P got tired of dealing with the extension and did away with it.
4.  It is hard to be certain, but this builder's photo does not appear to show the distinctive loops that the railroad added to the pantographs.
5.  What I find really noteworthy is that the potbellied vent (if that's what it is) is MISSING in this photo- never seen that before.  So apparently the RR added this too.

6.  That bulge (yellow) is only present on the B unit.  NJ saved money and used two B unit shells.

But even still....
7.  NJ could have gone the extra mile and added that one coil on the roof of the B unit.   If they had added that one coil, their model would have been so very close to the prototype.

8.  And of course, there's no sand boxes on the nose (since the sand comes from the roof).




Now compare that photo to this photo of the NJ model.

Except for the added loops on the pantographs and the pot-bellied vents (both of which NJ did well to add) this model looks almost exactly like that photo.




This is also why I call the NJ model the "As-Delivered" look and the 2000 release by Kumata (and thus mine) the "Active Duty" look- the way they tended to look in service until the 1953 rebuild.

[nkalanaga]

You probably already know this, but those "extra loops" are anti-snagging bars. 

Most roads kept their track and wires well aligned, and properly tensioned, so didn't need them.  The MILW frequently had slack wires, especially on sidings and spurs, and the pantograph springs were strong enough to raise the wire above the mainline wire.  A "normal" pantograph could get the ends of the shoes above the lower wire, and tear down the catenary.  The anti-snagging bars, and longer horns on the MILW's standard pans, allowed the pan to slide under the lower wire, and avoid damage.

The GN, in spite of using a PRR-style AC electrification, used the same anti-snaggers, and much of the catenary looked similar to the MILW's, except with suspension insulators and a single trolley wire.

[u18b]

I know this thread has been done for a while, but a new photo came my way last night.

My friend in Japan, named Ryoichi Fukushima, was at a train show this week in Japan.

And he said he found one of the stock Kumata 2000 black EP-2s on display.

He excitedly took several photos and sent them to me.

So I wanted to post these with this thread.  They are the only known photos I've ever seen of the black units. (and trust me, I've spent hours and hours searching the web).

Remember, there are only about 15 of these out there.  And we don't know of any that have left Japan.
Ryoichi has been looking for one of these for me for well over a year.
He knew a guy who had two, but he sold them... so no photos.

So thanks again Ryoichi.
Much appreciated.