GHQ PRR L-1 tender questions

[mike_lawyer]

I am assembling the tender for a PRR L-1 conversion kit.  I have a couple of questions regarding the construction of the tender.

The instructions state that the "lip" inside the tender around the housing for the weight and the power gathering strips should be removed.  I removed the lip, but cut a little too deep in that the plastic housing that covers the weight is not secure.  Is there any problem with securing it down with either CA or using tape?  I want to make sure there is no problem with electrical conductivity.

Second, the instructions state to remove the weight.  I am not sure why the weight should be removed.  In fact, I plan on adding even more weight to the tender so that good electrical contact can be made.  Any problems with keeping the weight in place?

Mike

[mmagliaro]

For clarity, here's a photo of the inside of a Kato Mikado tender (below).

I wouldn't use CA because you may want to get that plastic cover off some day to get at those conductor strips.
I don't see how tape would work.  That snap-on plastic cover keeps positive pressure on the centers of those two strips
so that they are held down firmly in the middle, but can "float" with spring pressure on top of the truck thumbs that stick up through the floor.  Can you just drill two small holes right through and sneak two 00-90 screws through there where the plastic pins used to be?  Even if you have to put 00-90 nuts under the tender floor to allow you to really tighten the screws well, that ought to work.  You might have to enlarge the holes in the phosphor bronze strips to allow a 00-90 to get through them, but I think they are wide enough to allow that.

As for weight,  All the Kato tenders I have, including the GHQ converted ones, have all the extra weight I can get into them.  Reading the instructions, not only do they say to remove the weight, but they give pointers on how to lighten the tender even more!  They were probably thinking that with the pewter shell, the tender would gain a lot of weight and it would be more than people would want - that it would put more drag on the engine.  Those instructions were probably written with a non-traction-tired Mikado in mind.  I'd leave the weight in there and add more if it were me, especially since you are probably using a newer urethane version of the GHQ tender shell, not the old pewter one with the ugly parting line across the side.

 

[mike_lawyer]

Thanks Max.  Is the middle tender insert held in place by the sides of the lip?  That is what I cut down and what seems to be what is not holding the middle insert in place.  For example, if I were to flip the tender upside down, the middle section might come out.

The two posts in the middle of the insert are fine and are holding the strips. 

I like your idea of running a few 00-90 screws in there.  I am also thinking maybe I could run a few strips of styrene on the inside of the lip to keep the center piece in place?

Thanks for the clarification on the weight.  I remembered years ago when I first built an L-1 that I packed as much weight as possible into the tender, so I was a bit confused by the instructions to remove the weight.

[mike_lawyer]

Max -

I was able to secure the middle piece with some strips of Kapton tape, so that appears to work just fine.  Thanks for the help on this!

Mike

[mmagliaro]

Thanks Max.  Is the middle tender insert held in place by the sides of the lip?  That is what I cut down and what seems to be what is not holding the middle insert in place.  For example, if I were to flip the tender upside down, the middle section might come out.

The two posts in the middle of the insert are fine and are holding the strips. 

I like your idea of running a few 00-90 screws in there.  I am also thinking maybe I could run a few strips of styrene on the inside of the lip to keep the center piece in place?

Thanks for the clarification on the weight.  I remembered years ago when I first built an L-1 that I packed as much weight as possible into the tender, so I was a bit confused by the instructions to remove the weight.

Yes, that's correct, if I understand what you mean by "sides of the lip".  There are 4 places on those sides that hold it down.  You can see them in my photo... There are two areas along each side where you can see some ribs in the vertical "walls".

If you got tape to work, okay.  That would still make me very antsy.  I would expect the the tape to lose its grip over time and let that center section waffle around enough to not keep pressure on those strips.

[mike_lawyer]

Max -

Good point about the tape.  I have a bunch of spare Kato Mikado tenders around, so for the time being, I might just start over with a clean tender floor.  I can file off just enough of the lip and go from there.  The screw idea is a good one, but I might leave that to a future project!

Mike 

[mmagliaro]

I wouldn't give up on the one you have.  You might be able to even just glue some styrene strips on the insides of those vertical walls to hold that plastic part down.  I think that plastic might be fusable with styrene cement (not Delrin).  Some .020" thick should be enough so that the plastic part can't pop up, and so that you can spread the walls with your fingers to let it come out if you need to remove it (like the original design was).  If liquid styrene cement doesn't work, some Walthers Goo surely will as long as you give it some overnight dry time to hold the plastic strips very firmly.