Best Of New Brass EP-2 assembly & Mod clinic

[u18b]

Alright.

If I was going to use one decoder, I would have to use the plan with the following changes.

[garethashenden]

I'd vote for two decoders if only to simplify the wiring. Speed matching is a nice bonus but that massive wiring loom looks like you're just asking for trouble down the road.

[peteski]

Also, while TCS does make a 6-wire plug and socket in the micro size...
http://tcsdcc.com/public_html/Zen/images/6-Pin%20Colored.jpg

I bought one for experimentation.  And while I like it, plugging in 6 pins is a whole lot tougher than 2.  It will put a lot more wear and tear on the bundle.

If you were to home-brew the 6-pin connector using a dual-row 0.050" spacing headers from Digikey, you would have much more compact connector (2x3 pin arrangement).

I really need to take a photo of one to show you how I build them using 5-minute epoxy for strain relief, but I don't have any of them handy right now.  I would need to build a sample one while taking progress photos. But that won't happen in the next few days.  As far as the wire bundle goes, if you use the flexible wires from TCS (32 ga. for power pickups and motor, and 36 ga. for lighting), the bundle will be very flexible.

[mmagliaro]

Yuck.  I forgot about all the extra wires for the decoder outputs and inputs.
Yes, I can see your point to reduce the wiring bundle.

Okay... carry on.  I am interested to see how it comes out.  I'm sure it can work with 2 decoders.
I was just thinking of them as added complexity, but I supposed reducing the wire count is just as
good as reducing the number of decoders.

[peteski]

I'm not sure why is everybody so worried about a "massive wire bundle".  Come on, most N DCC steam engines have just such wire bundle between the loco and its tender.   Nobody complains about those. 

[nkalanaga]

Yes, these were famous for their lack of noise.  With no gears, the only sound was the air compressor, as they didn't even have traction motor blowers.  The model will probably be noisier than the prototype, not to mention trying to find a decoder with the shrill whistle. 

[spookshow]

An early Prius, eh? I wonder how many people got mowed down because they didn't hear it coming?? 

Cheers,
-Mark

[u18b]

I've never read that an accident happened like that.

However, I have read accounts of people that were surprised when the EP-2 showed up because they did not hear it coming.

As for the warning device.   They were built in 1919/1920 and had some features common with typical steam locos of the day.  An example is that it originally came with some kind of whistle.

But for the life of me, I've studied countless photos and can't identify what that whistle looks like.

Some time around the early '40s, they replaced the steam-sounding whistle with a typical one-chime horn.

[nkalanaga]

Most of the MILW's electrification was through relatively unpopulated areas, so there weren't too many people to be surprised by them.  That's one of the main reasons the MILW is gone...

I couldn't find any mention of where the whistle was or what it looked like in my limited sources.

Trivia:  With the pans down, the highest point on the motor was the smoke deflector on the boiler stack.  Sounds a little odd to have a smokestack on an electric, doesn't it?  Oil fired steam generator, which, according to the firemen who fought with it, never worked right.

[delamaize]

From what I understand, they had an electric bell that rang constantly, when in populated areas, because of the lack of "traditional" noise.

[u18b]

If anybody knows where that early whistle is, please speak  up.

Sorry for the slowness of my work.
My next update will be about tuning the Cabs.

After that, I'll be moving to installing LEDs and special circuit boards.
Next step after that will be cutting a hole in the vestibule for the rest of the wiring harness.

[nkalanaga]

Mike: I've read that as well.  Another reason given for "ringing continuously" was that it was an air-operated bell, the control valve had a habit of sticking, and it was surrounded by the high-voltage wiring.  Engine crew preferred letting it ring to digging around in hot wires while moving.  Either way, it was supposed to be rung whenever there were people or vehicles around, and was used a lot more than on other classes, steam or electric.

[spookshow]

I'm not sure why is everybody so worried about a "massive wire bundle".  Come on, most N DCC steam engines have just such wire bundle between the loco and its tender.   Nobody complains about those. 

I've never been a fan of the "Big Bundle O' Wires" on steamers (particularly the ones where they aren't tucked away in the drawbar). And I always thought that that single wire connecting the cabs on the old NJI EP-2's was particularly dorky looking. But I'm sure that whatever solution Ron comes up with will be much more elegant than that

Cheers,
-Mark

[nkalanaga]

The prototypes almost certainly had a "big bundle of wires" connecting the cabs, as they usually ran from the leading cab while using the trailing pantograph, and most of the electrical equipment was in the end hoods.  There had to be both high voltage and control wiring between cabs, and probably more than one air line, all of which could be used to disguise model wiring.

[u18b]

I'll make a final decision when I get to the DCC stage.

But at this point, I've decided that I will not use the 6-pin plug.

However, if I go with one decoder, I'll use 2 plugs.  One 2 pin- which I was going to use anyway, and one 4 pin.

The 2 pin would be the red and black track wires-- so no change there.

The 4 pin would use the orange, gray, blue and yellow wires.

I hope to post some simple tuning photos tonight.