Stewartstown 10 (was "Stripping Bachmann 44 Tonners")

[Ed Kapuscinski]

After finishing up a BIG GE, I've decided it's time to tackle a little one: Stewartstown 10



More photos: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=137773

In preparation, I wanted to start doing my research. I'm going to be stripping a Pennsy model, so at least I don't have a ton of crazy paint to worry about, but does anyone have any experience with these?

Will 90% IPA get enough of the paint off to do my job?

Do I need to step up to something stronger?

[randgust]

Possibly OT, but may be insight:   The decoder in these is a real POS if you are running DC and completely impossible on a transistor throttle.   I removed the entire decoder board on mine and left the choke capacitor only.   The performance on DC after I did that was just extraordinary.  The drive is really, really good, best little 8x8 drive out there for speed, pickup, and tractive effort.

My chassis ended up under one of my own resin GE 70-tonners, it was way better than my modified Kato.   I ended up reselling the body shell.

If you are repainting, take a look at the cab roof, the cab roof edges are too sharp and should be filed, the seam around the roof isn't there.   This happened because Bachmann copied the HO model instead of actually taking a fresh look at the drawings.   If you look at an HO one and the N one it's really painfully obvious.   This is the HO one, not the N:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bachmann-GE-44-Ton-Switcher-Painted-Unlettered-Yellow-with-Black-stripes-Locomotive-HO-Scale-DCC-On-Board/43598728

The other 'dumb thing' is it's too wide because they copied the HO model, if you look at the chassis the motor is actually narrower than the frame.  They inherited the hood width as well.   I didn't tackle that, I'd just like to slap the guy that made that decision.

Way back when I scratchbuilt mine from Ron Beardon's idea on the Kato drive, and when I put it beside the Bachmann, yikes.  But in the 'compared to what', it's still a pretty cool model and it runs really, really well, worth the work.

When I inspected that actual locomotive, I was floored on two things - it had never been modified or rewired from the manufacturer's specs  - which was Coudersport & Port Allegany, and it actually still had the original wooden poling pole hanging on it.   It's one of the most original operating 'museum piece' 44-tonners out there.  Most operators have found that original Cat D17000 impossible to get parts for or maintain.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

When I inspected that actual locomotive, I was floored on two things - it had never been modified or rewired from the manufacturer's specs  - which was Coudersport & Port Allegany, and it actually still had the original wooden poling pole hanging on it.   It's one of the most original operating 'museum piece' 44-tonners out there.  Most operators have found that original Cat D17000 impossible to get parts for or maintain.

Thanks for the info. Good call on the cab. I'll do that.

Also, that is all so typically Strt!

[wazzou]

The roof on the model is too flat as well.  I took a pretty hefty file to mine and put a little more curve on it.
I think the real disappointing aspect is the windows are really small comparatively.

[davefoxx]

Yeah, the windows bug me the most.  But, this will be a cool project, Ed, and I look forward to your progress.  Here’s two of my pics.  The great thing about them is that you were there!





DFF

[mu26aeh]

Pretty sure 91% will be fine.  Think I had to dunk the 2 I did for @RL Smith .  Can't remember what his 2 started as, but think it was basically just removing lettering/striping etc

[peteski]

Yes, the pillars between the windows are way to chunky, making the windows very small and narrow. The thick cab walls make things even worse. That to me is the most visible problem.  Roof is also wrong, and the hoot too wide, but those seem minor to me.


The cab looks lto me like either a 1-cell jail, or an old castle with those tiny wall openings for shooting through.
I was contemplating making a photoetched brass replacement cab.

[brokemoto]

Ninety-one per-cent will strip the NYNH&H version.  It should strip  the Penn.  The problem is those handrails.  They are glued in with some kind of super stick cement.  Some of the poles break when you try to remove them.  Some of the poles do not want to go back into their holes.

Erie Chris pulled the decoders out of his and was amazed at the performance.  He has a simple tutorial for wiring around it somewhere here on The Railwire.  I fried the decoder on two of mine, so I had to wire around it.  I. too, was amazed at the improvement in performance.  The creep and slow speed control is truly amazing.

[Chris333]

Think the decoder was programed poorly, so on DC it was bad. But when using DC you have no way to change the programing. So yank it and get instant results.

I guess DCC folks could play with the settings.

[wcfn100]

Ninety-one per-cent will strip the NYNH&H version.  It should strip  the Penn.  The problem is those handrails.  They are glued in with some kind of super stick cement.

IIRC, I had good success pushing out the handrails from beneath. The ones on the corners were a bit tougher to get at.

Jason

[peteski]

Think the decoder was programed poorly, so on DC it was bad. But when using DC you have no way to change the programing. So yank it and get instant results.

I guess DCC folks could play with the settings.

There is not much to program on those crappy bare-bones decoders.  Nothgin to play with. Doesn't even have a 3-point speed table.

[Chris333]

I thought you could change the speed steps and the higher you go the better. So it was set very low as a default.

But I know very little about DCC and it has been a while...

[peteski]

I thought you could change the speed steps and the higher you go the better. So it was set very low as a default.

But I know very little about DCC and it has been a while...

Yes, the 14 28/128 speed step selection is standard setting on every decoder (iinclusing the Bachmann), but that is for DCC only.  In analog mode the speed steps should be irrelevant.

Some brands of decoders handle DC running better than others, but I would say all locos factory-equipped with DCC decoders will run best on DC (especially when using pulse or PWM DC throttles) when the decoder is removed.

[sizemore]

You can wire in a DZ123 if you want to maintain DCC operation. Greatly improves the performance over the onboard DCC even when "tuned".

The S.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Was thinking about this some more. I know @Jim Starbuck did sound in one. Was there a build thread?