Wheel Rack project- resistance soldering practice

[u18b]

Well, my American Beauty 105A12 set came in.

Started to mess with it by soldering two brass tubes together.

Clearly, this is not a cinch to use, and since I am new to this, I need to practice to become more proficient and knowledgeable.

I concluded I definitely DON'T want to be learning how to use this one my expensive brass EP-2s.

So.......... what could I make just for the sake of practising.

I know, something I have always planned to make, but never have.

A wheel rack.

In the spring of 1988, I was invited to be the guest of a CSX employee to come to the Pensacola yard and take a tour.
We walked all through the engine terminal/car repair shop.

He even let me move a B30-7 (ahhh, pre-911, those were the days.)

Anyway, I took this shot of the south side of the shops.



I have always thought that would be a great detail for a shop area.

So I decided to build a scaled down version.

The point of this exercise was not to create a fantastic model (it will be somewhat crude).
But rather, to simply give me something to practice using my new resistance soldering setup.

So I won't be posting a step by step clinic.
But just a few shots here and there.  Hopefully over the next few days.

[ryan_wilkerson]

Should be a cool project. What wheels are you planning to use?

[u18b]

Should be a cool project. What wheels are you planning to use?

crap stock low profile wheels.

Does anyone make wheels with journals on them?

[u18b]

As expected, my first experience was pretty rough.



The worst thing about resistance soldering is holding things!

I went to Harbor freight and bought a whole bunch of things that I thought might help me hold things.

I bought the helping hands thing with a magnifying lens.

But I also bought a steel drywall mud box.
The advantage of steel is that magnets would stick to it.

And I bought lots of magnets.
That did help hold things together.

[fire5506]

I like your idea on using the mud box using it with magnets.

Richard

[JanesCustomTrain]

Ask Peteski for advise about resistant soldering, he knows all the tricks, the does and dont's   

[u18b]

I made three of these support braces.  I used some scrap code 80 rail.



Then laid track across the top perpendicular to braces.  For rail, I used a scrap piece of shinnohara code 70 track.



The top rails were added by tinning both parts.  Obviously cleaner.

For wheel stops, I soldered little pieces of rail.

Test fit wheels.  Top rack holds about 5 per section.

[jcox3751]

Ron,

That looks great. Check with Craig at BLMA to see if he might have some of his fantastic wheels he could do a deal on. You might check on using a piece of tubing to cover the pointed ends for better representation for the bearings.

Cox

Austin, TX

[Hyperion]

As one formerly in charge of wheelset production, distribution, and storage for BNSF, I'm really digging the project.  We don't use anything like that though (though we have something similar for traction motors in Minneapolis).  It's interesting that they chose not to put even a tiny slope to the thing so the wheels would be at the front ready to lift.  As is it will require that someone roll the set forward to the forklift to be picked up.

One thing though... yours looks really tall?  The  bottom of the ramp should be about 54-60" off the ground.  That looks, from the one picture with the wheelsets on it anyways, to be a lot taller than that.

[u18b]

One thing though... yours looks really tall?  The  bottom of the ramp should be about 54-60" off the ground.  That looks, from the one picture with the wheelsets on it anyways, to be a lot taller than that.

Hahaha.  Yeah, I noticed that too.
It is REALLY obvious when I place a undersized forklift next to it.

I'll be lowering it.

[u18b]

Time to work on the lower level.

I had some perf board.  I'll solder the rails directly to it.
I think the prototype had rail impeded in concrete.

I placed one extra set just for fun.



Had to make the rails spaced the same as the upper rails.
Still need to add the lower wheel stops.




Hmmm.  Coming along.



Next, I think it is about time to lower it.

(hope I don't destroy it!      ).

[u18b]

I placed the parts on different levels.

Just eyeballing it, it looks like I need to cut each leg a little less than 1/2.



But I have 9 legs.  That is a lot of error.
So I cut some tubing to measure them all the same.



I used the tubing to simply be able to crimp the metal to mark a clear spot.



Not bad.

Maybe needs just a little more levelling.









Well, mission accomplished.

The model is a little crude (code 55 or 40 would have looked better), but this project was not really about making a finished model- it was to practice with my new tool.

But maybe this will inspire someone else.
It is a great detail.

[up1950s]

Add a slope and a relay controlled stop and it can feed the shop with a new truck or wheel set like a bowling ball return machine . How Lionel would that be .

[peteski]

Ron, in many instances the electrode(s) themselves are used to hold the parts being soldered.  But in your example that is not really feasible.

I have also been thinking about your "melted" brass loco and you buying the resistance soldering outfit to fix it (or at least that was a good excuse).  But I'm not sure if that is what is really needed for the specific job of soldering the walkways back on.

While I have no inside information of how the craftsman at the brass model manufacturers assemble those models but I really think that many sub-assemblies are soldered using standard soldering irons (and maybe even mini-torches).  I think only some very specific details might be soldered using resistance soldering.

Resistance soldering is desired where you need to quickly pinpoint heat to small areas. Like soldering small detail items to the shell.  If you look at any assembled unpainted brass model and pay attention to the way solder is applied I think that you can tell whether the joint was made using a conventional iron.

For example I think that a long solder joints (like bonding walkways to the hood) are done with a conventional soldering iron and a large chisel-point tip which is ran along the joint.  They probably use a low melting point solder not to accidentally unsolder other parts previously soldered to the hood or the walkways.  That is probably why your loco got damaged while being baked.

My points that using resistance soldering for re-soldering the walkway to the hood might not be the optimal solution.   

[u18b]

Ron, in many instances the electrode(s) themselves are used to hold the parts being soldered.  But in your example that is not really feasible.

I have also been thinking about your "melted" brass loco and you buying the resistance soldering outfit to fix it (or at least that was a good excuse).  But I'm not sure if that is what is really needed for the specific job of soldering the walkways back on.

While I have no inside information of how the craftsman at the brass model manufacturers assemble those models but I really think that many sub-assemblies are soldered using standard soldering irons (and maybe even mini-torches).  I think only some very specific details might be soldered using resistance soldering.

Resistance soldering is desired where you need to quickly pinpoint heat to small areas. Like soldering small detail items to the shell.  If you look at any assembled unpainted brass model and pay attention to the way solder is applied I think that you can tell whether the joint was made using a conventional iron.

For example I think that a long solder joints (like bonding walkways to the hood) are done with a conventional soldering iron and a large chisel-point tip which is ran along the joint.  They probably use a low melting point solder not to accidentally unsolder other parts previously soldered to the hood or the walkways.  That is probably why your loco got damaged while being baked.

My points that using resistance soldering for re-soldering the walkway to the hood might not be the optimal solution.

You are correct in that it was a good excuse... at least to start thinking about it again.
I didn't buy the set just because of the Trainmaster.
This is something I've thought about for years-- but the price was never just right.

The set I got sells new for over 500 bucks.  So 150 is more like my price range.

Aside from the Trainmaster, I actually have 2 or 3 other brass locos that need repair.
So If I can eventually fix 2 of them, then the unit will have paid for itself when I sell them.  How cool is that?

One funny thing I discovered is that the soldering unit was useless on the Trainmaster- with the primer on.
That Primer is so tough that it would have to be stripped to make repairs.

The real goal is now to be able to use this setup on the EP-2 project.

The heat-sinking nature of the brass model made the work I accomplished on the first one very difficult.

Some things I'll be using this set for on the EP-2:
-install those little jacking pads
-more cleanly repair solder breaks
-better install grabs
-remove the stock bell and possibly replace it with a bell by Miniatures buy Eric.
-install new step detail on the pair I am now working on
-better install the socked in the vestibule
-adjust the horn height
-more cleanly solder the new frame bars under the walkway
-I want to REMOVE a pair of sand boxes so that I can make molds and more castings so that I can add sand boxes not only to these models, but also old NJ EP-2s.
-and lastly, I might need to remove a roof detail or two for prototypical accuracy.

So as you can see, I hope to get a lot of use out of this.
I accomplished a lot on the first EP-2 with just a soldering iron- but this will now make it easier (and cleaner).