Weekend Update 1/7/24

[nkalanaga]

Bryan:  I have MT Z/Nn3 couplers on a few of my N cars, including all of my ore cars, and they work fine with MT N and Accumate couplers.  I don't know how well they'd work with McHenrys.

[Hatchet]

Chris- what decoder did you use in your P42? Did you mill down the frame yourself? I just got a new Kato P42 and am thinking of trying to do the same.

Thanks!

Mark

[TW877]

Chris- what decoder did you use in your P42? Did you mill down the frame yourself? I just got a new Kato P42 and am thinking of trying to do the same.

Thanks!

Mark

I used the ESU 58941 decoder. It basically is the Loksound 5 Nano decoder and comes on a board made to fit Kato wide-body locomotives. Fits perfectly, you just have to isolate the motor leads with some kapton tape as you would with other decoder offerings made for this type of loco.
I cut down the rear end of the cast frame for a 11x15 speaker. Just used the standard one supplied by ESU with the decoder (not sure if the US retail version includes it, the packaging here in Europe does have a speaker and two LEDs in it).
Just be very careful when cutting or milling the frame. The area where the trucks mount is very delicate, this can snap very easily if you clamp the frame in the center and use a lot of force on the rear. The plastic part with the coupler is a good guide for the horizontal cut, remove it and then clamp the frame right there, that prevents excessive force being transmitted through the truck mount area. You also need to cut down the plastic insert in the roof area to create space for the speaker.

Chris

[NtheBasement]

New adventures in rotary couplers for me.

After reading a thread about couplers, it occurred to me that some magnets that I bought for under-track uncoupling might be strong enough to hold a train together.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09CL1H4ZM
I took the cover off an MTL medium shank, removed the contents, and found that there was more than enough room to glue one it.  In fact it was too thin to fit snugly so I added a paper shim to get some control over it - these things are almost too tiny to pick up.

When I did it to a second truck I found that they repelled each other.  Rats, need north up on one and north down on the opposing, so I repeated it on a third truck and installed them four and five cars back on my unit train.

There are 20 cars following the couplers.  My silo ran out halfway thru and I spilled coal on the track refilling it.  Uh oh, watched the cars bump up and down over the coal and sure enough the magnets uncoupled.  After blowing off the track they only bumped up and down a little (vacuum needed) and stayed coupled the rest of the run.  And it worked great in the rotary dumper and during the push out of the dumper.  I'll keep them and see how things play out, but it looks promising.

For those who are into operations, this can be your chance to duplicate breaking a coupler by failing to take up the slack when you get rolling.  Caveat being the cars can't be coupled to the "wrong" end of their neighbor.

[Scottl]

Very cool

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I didn't know you did a nose job on these! Pics?

They are not perfect. I still need to add cab signal boxes and 6444 really needs number board help. 6444 also has a 81" nose  It was the first attempt and I made corrections with 6508. I may need to rebuild her.

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Next to the real Kato mid phase. The BN has the right front handrails but also has ditch lights on deck. So the snoot is still probably the best choice.

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Oh I did up a SF snoot too:
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[dem34]

For those who are into operations, this can be your chance to duplicate breaking a coupler by failing to take up the slack when you get rolling.  Caveat being the cars can't be coupled to the "wrong" end of their neighbor.

TBF, this is prototypical.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

They are not perfect. I still need to add cab signal boxes and 6444 really needs number board help. 6444 also has a 81" nose  It was the first attempt and I made corrections with 6508. I may need to rebuild her.

Don't forget the Sinclair antennas. The Custom N Scale etched ones by @sschaer are awesome.

Otherwise, they look good!

[Hatchet]

Thanks, Chris. Sounds good and I will take your recommendations to heart making my modifications.

Mark

[screeh]

Thanks!

Have you seen the bulkhead I did with the leftovers and a $5 CLC car from a train show?

Ooh, very nice - I have now, and I might borrow that idea!

[John]

Working on some bridges for the new layout





STL File below

Thingiverse

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6427088

[sschnabl]

Nice bridge John.  Very cool.

[wazzou]

Looks good John.  Do you still have the same printer that you started with?

[John]

Nice bridge John.  Very cool.

Thanks

Looks good John.  Do you still have the same printer that you started with?

I’m using a photon mono. 

Working on some bridges for the new layout  ...

Looks great, John! Sort of looks like you printed that without supports. Yes? No?

Yup .. flat on the build plate .. unfortunately the mono will only do a 60' model if printed flat

[C855B]

Yup .. flat on the build plate .. unfortunately the mono will only do a 60' model if printed flat

I think I'll give it a try! D2 appears to be good for an 80-footer. The vat needs a complete cleaning after an "oopsie", but maybe I can get something going in the next day or so.