Weekend Update 12/3/17

[up1950s]

[Dave V]

A little Colorado Midland goodness...

[SP-Wolf]

My SW-1




Thanks,
Wolf

[peteski]

Nice job Dave and Wolf!

I love the composition of Wolf's photo - especially the depth of the scene. Very realistic.  If that photo was taken with greater depth of field (as in focus stacking) that would look so very cool!


EDIT: Down vote for what?    I'm not supposed to offer my opinions?  I love the photo setting and composition, but it would look better with wider range of focus. Wolf probably doesn't have the means to do that, but why down-vote me for stating a fact?   The photo looks good, but would look *EVEN* better if more of it was in focus.    [insert a rolling-eyes emoji here]

[SandyEggoJake]

Yes, both look great!

And love that ol' time CM freight ... but your adoring public demands more! 

Wildflower excursion?  Even is just on a consist on a siding, with lasses and gents strolling in their Sunday best? 
https://issuu.com/lakecountypl/docs/midland_railroad_wildflower_excursi

[Dave V]

Yes, both look great!

And love that ol' time CM freight ... but your adoring public demands more! 

Wildflower excursion?  Even is just on a consist on a siding, with lasses and gents strolling in their Sunday best? 
https://issuu.com/lakecountypl/docs/midland_railroad_wildflower_excursi

I wish that proper Edwardian figures were more readily available in N scale!

[DKS]

I wish that proper Edwardian figures were more readily available in N scale!

http://davidksmith.com/n-scale-figures/stadden.htm

[Dave V]

http://davidksmith.com/n-scale-figures/stadden.htm

Painting N scale figures may no longer be in my skill set.

[MK]

Finally got a chance to install a decoder in my Kato Operation North Pole loco, F40PH.  I purchased the one made by TCS as it has automatic red marker lights when the loco is going in reverse.  I normally go for Digitrax since they are typically $10 cheaper than the TCS stuff.

I've done many decoder installs, including a few hardwired ones, but this one was absolutely a nightmare despite TCS' instructions on their website.  Took me a whole hour, which is incredibly long for my standards.  Half the time was trying to get the shell off without breaking it.  The usual "drop method using the jewel case" does not work due to the pilot and rear deck is NOT part of the shell.

A few notes for future reference in case anyone buys an ONP set.  They don't tell you this on their website.

1.  When TCS' website say to spread the front left and right rear of the shell to remove it, this is with the reference that the loco is on its wheels!  Not upside down on its shell!  Thus I had so much trouble removing it.  On those corners there is a clear inside piece that has a notch that hooks on to two matching tabs on the metal halves.

2.  When you wrap Kapton tape to the "long bus bars", you can only wrap a single layer AND you need to trim it flush on the inside edge.  In other words, the outside edge is insulated against short but the inside edge is not (not necessary).  Even with Kapton's thinness, any extra wrap on an edge will make the strip too thick and big to fit back into the slot.  With a single wrap and cut flush, you still have to give it a good push (with a toothpick) to seat it back into the slot on the gray plastic "frame".

3.  My copy of the decoder already have some of the material removed in the front of the PCB.  A trial fit shows that it's perfect to go into the light tube housing.  But, I filed it even a little more just to be sure. 

4.  You will have to solder the motor tabs on to the contact pads on the decoder.  The clip just doesn't hold them down reliably.  I say this as both my Kato F7A/B didn't require soldering and the clip held the tabs down just fine.

5.  When reassembling the shell, most lightly the front won't seat down properly.  That's because the front of the decoder is not aligned with the light tube housing properly.  It turns out you can move/rotate the decoder a little to the right or left.  Try to figure out which direction you need to do it and give it a little movement.  If it doesn't work, try the other direction.  Sooner or later you'll find a position where the front of the decoder fits right into the light tube housing, allowing the shell to seat properly.

6.  TCS' website say to set CV35=2 and CV51=16.  This will set the red marker lights to come on in reverse.  But the rear headlight comes on full bright and it's very annoying!  If you then try to turn it off with the typical headlight button (F0), the red marker lights will also go off!  However, you can set CV34=4 which will remap the rear headlight to F1 (the 1 key on a Digitrax throttle) and make it independent of the red marker lights.  Now you can just hit F1 to turn off the rear headlight without affecting the red marker lights.

[peteski]

I wish that proper Edwardian figures were more readily available in N scale!

I think you might find few suitable sets in the Pricey Preiser line. 

[peteski]

  Half the time was trying to get the shell off without breaking it.  The usual "drop method using the jewel case" does not work due to the pilot and rear deck is NOT part of the shell.

1.  When TCS' website say to spread the front left and right rear of the shell to remove it, this is with the reference that the loco is on it's back!  Not upright!  Thus I had so much trouble removing it.  On those corners there is a clear inside piece that has a notch that hooks on to two matching tabs on the metal halves.

I cringe every time someone mentions the "drop method"  It is really asking for trouble.
Also make a mental note - it will never work on all the full-width body Kato locos because those have latching tabs which need to be unlatched by spreading the body outwards.  There are 2 latches (like TCS mentions) and inserting 2 toothpicks works really well to unlatch them.

The latches are on the left front and right rear sides of the model.  Here is an E8 for example.



The latches consist of a protrusion on the metal frame and a slot in the "glass" insert of the shell. The toothpick has to go between the metal frame and the "glass" insert to release the latch.  You do have to do a bit of detective work on each different loco to  locate their location. The toothpick has to be inserted next to the latch (not right on it).


Front latch


Rear latch

Once the toothpicks spread the shell and release the latches, the shell can be pulled off the chassis. The toothpicks will go flying but that is not a problem.

[MK]

Exactly Pete!  Took me forever to find out since all my other Kato's have a different shell style and the drop method works perfectly on them.  No trouble at all and it works every single time.  We're not talking about a foot drop, just 1/2 to 1 inch.  Before I do that I check the construction of each loco.  That's why on this loco I didn't try it even once after inspecting it.  I don't do the drop for every Kato loco that I get my hands on.

I got the front latch off easily just by luck by spreading the shell in that area, not knowing you needed a toothpick to spread the latch apart.  The rear latch was a different story.  I guess I was jamming the toothpick between the glass and shell, which makes it worse and not work.  After I got the shell off I realize where the hang up was and how the mechanism fit in place.

NOTE: I modified #1 as I got my orientation incorrect.

[bbussey]

Finished the latest cover photo for the B&NL Facebook page.  Hope to resume construction progress later this month so I can have more vignettes to shoot.

[chicken45]

What's going on in this picture?
Click below to find out!
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=42457.msg552505#msg552505

[peteski]

Finished the latest cover photo for the B&NL Facebook page.  Hope to resume construction progress later this month so I can have more vignettes to shoot.

Speaking of focus stacking - this looks like a result of that.   Very nice!