MRL 388 SD45 Build

[ednadolski]

Hi All,

I've recently picked up a Kato SD45 (thanks @Smike !) and thought it would be interesting to build it out as MRL 388.  I caught a pic of the prototype on Tehachapi Loop a little while back, so here is the look I am going for:




And here are a few pics of the model that I started from:







As you can see, it had the old, heavy Kato frame, so I had to mill it out for a sound decoder and speaker.  I also had to change out the original wheels for some low-profile flanges so that it can run on Code 40 rail.  Next step was to strip the factory paint, here are a few images of what the shell looked like after that.  The factory paint was rather stubborn, and took a few good soaks in the 91% IPA plus a fair amount of brush work to remove.












Those molded grabirons were just crying to be shaved off, so I obliged shortly after the above pics were taken .  I also filed the end pilots flat, to remove all the cast-in details.

The Kato unit is mostly a good match, tho the shell also needs a bit of work to make it more like the prototype. The main thing is that the proto had her brake lever on the conductor's side of the cab, but the model had a brake wheel on the rear of the long hood. So I am in the process of splicing in a more accurate set of door panels taken from a donor shell.  This pic shows the current state of fitting in the new part.  It also shows the frame with the decoder and speaker in place (I wanted to make sure this was working before cutting into the shell), as well as the trucks which now have the sideframes painted black.




If you look closely, you can also see the copper foil tape that I used, to help bring power from the pickups to the decoder board (since the original frame did not have the tabs to fit the decoder).

Once the body work is finished and shell is primed, then I can start on fitting the couplers into the pilots.  I am planning to install the LEZs, like the rest of my locos have.  I'll be posting more pics here as things progress.

Thanks for looking!

Ed

[pedro]

Fantastic! Was milling the old pre-DCC frame for the board-style decoder a better/easier option than using a wired decoder? I have a few SD45 projects on my to-do pile so I'm following along!

[oakcreekco]

Nice work and thanks for sharing.

Love the MRL scheme. This should be an excellent runner.

[Ike the BN Freak]

There was an article in N Scale Railroading years ago of using the Atlas/Kato GP35 shell for the donor parts. As the noses are the same or similar.  I did similar on mine, before I sold the loco, but used the nose from an SD40, as I needed the 45 nose for the 40 as the BN ones had the brake wheel on the back of the long hood.

[Smike]

Going to be another fantastic build @ednadolski Happy to see it’s reincarnation.

[keeper]

That is very interesting. Do you have a photo of the milled frame?
I have some of those old frames and I don't like the TCS CN decoders. 2 out of 6 were not ok. Although it is no problem to get them replaced by TCS, it is always a hassle.

Thomas 

[ednadolski]

Do you have a photo of the milled frame?

Afraid not, but honestly you're not missing much there.  It is none too pretty, as I used a mishmash of hackery including a Dremel, metal saws, and files.  A decent hobby mill would have done a much faster and cleaner job.   I was just trying to make sure not to remove too much material in the wrong places.

Was milling the old pre-DCC frame for the board-style decoder a better/easier option than using a wired decoder?

I didn't really consider any other decoder, as the ESU-58741 has sort of become my go-to decoder for Katos, and that is what I had on hand.  I really like ESU's sound file for the 20-cylinder EMDs 

One thing with these old frames is, you have to cut a hole thru each side in order to create an access to the motor terminals.  Otherwise there is no way to separate the motor terminal contact to the frame (the frame completely encloses the motor, as you can see in the one 'before' pic).  I also had to make some notches to allow for routing the wires from the motor terminals (I hard-soldered the wire onto these) up to the decoder board.  Also note the use of Kapton tape - I initially tried using shrink tubing over the wire/terminal joints, but that turned out to be too thick and I could not fit the shell onto the model.

Thanks for checking this out!

Ed

[jagged ben]

...

One thing with these old frames is, you have to cut a hole thru each side in order to create an access to the motor terminals.  Otherwise there is no way to separate the motor terminal contact to the frame (the frame completely encloses the motor, as you can see in the one 'before' pic).  I also had to make some notches to allow for routing the wires from the motor terminals (I hard-soldered the wire onto these) up to the decoder board.  Also note the use of Kapton tape - I initially tried using shrink tubing over the wire/terminal joints, but that turned out to be too thick and I could not fit the shell onto the model.

Thanks for checking this out!

Ed

On my TCS-CN installs I pulled out the motor brushes and removed the contact tabs.  You have to be careful of course not to lose the motor brush parts.  But it avoids some of the worry and extra surgery.