PRR A5 in N Scale

[towl1996]

Interesting kitbash! I wasn't sure how the milling process was going to turn out. Can you post a picture looking from the rear of the loco towards the front to show the relationship between the B6 smokebox and the milled frame. Is there a gap that's visible? Thanks

[VonRyan]

Sure thing!

I took two angles just to be certain.




Since they are iPhone 5 photos, they don't really show how roughed up the top of the Atlas boiler is. It's making me think that milling it flat and replacing it with brass stock might be a good idea.


-Cody F.

[VonRyan]

So I haven't forgotten about this project.

I did some more cutting of the B6 shell.

It's now in three segments. Each segment needs to be shortened in one way or another.
My big concern is making all these cuts, and keeping them square. The slot in my mitre-box alows my Zona saw a heck of a lot of side-play. Filing is just too imprecise.

The lack of progress is more or less my admittance of fear.

Perfectionism is a cruel curse. It also does a great job at killing motivation.


-Cody F.

[garethashenden]

I'd say use a file, go slowly, and check often.

[wazzou]

Yeah, what he said.  Filing can be very precise as long as you're not applying to much pressure and taking off too much material at each pass. 
Ideally, you'd be working with a large flat file, larger than the diameter of the boiler so your not filing just one side at a time.
Better yet, get a small section of glass and some thin 3M double sided tape and adhere some sandpaper to the glass so you have a true surface.  Vary your grit as you get closer to where you need to be.


Edited to correctly spell "you're."   

[mmagliaro]

What they said.

Big flat file, forward strokes only.  And turn the work every couple of strokes to help keep your surface flat and straight.

I don't know how many frames, boilers, engines, parts, I've had to file like this.   You can do it.  Don't obsess too much over it.
I'd be more focused on how you are going to piece the three sections together once you file them down.
I have just butt-glued things like this with JB Weld before, and they hold.  But I wouldn't do that these days.
I think I would at least drill some holes and put some wires in with the JB for added strength.  Make the holes
a little bigger than the wire so you don't have to worry about precisely drilling them for perfect alignment of the
sections.  That will drive you mad.  Just load up the wires and the joints, wiggle the pieces together on something nice
and flat like a piece of glass (I have an old marble block that works well).  Then sight along the top and sides.

If you use JB, let it ooze out of the seams and sand it flush later.  It will do a fine job.

You'd be surprised, the Mark I Eyeball (tm)  still does a good job for things like this.  (and credits to Victor Miranda for his
unpatented phrase "Mark I Eyeball").

[Dave V]

Speaking of whom, what became of Victor?  He kind of disappeared when the A Board did.

[mmagliaro]

Speaking of whom, what became of Victor?  He kind of disappeared when the A Board did.

Nah, he does pipe in here occasionally.  It's just infrequent.

[VonRyan]

Well, it'll be slow goin then. But at least it'll keep on going.

I took a break from the engine to focus on the tender. Working on putting in the holes for the Bachmann power pickups. I just have no idea how to put the trucks on.


-Cody F.

[mmagliaro]

Well, it'll be slow goin then. But at least it'll keep on going.

I took a break from the engine to focus on the tender. Working on putting in the holes for the Bachmann power pickups. I just have no idea how to put the trucks on.


-Cody F.

Post some photos of the tender bottom (and show the trucks in one, just for reference and to refresh peoples' memories).
I bet we'll have some ideas.  My first thought is to just drill holes and insert some styrene tubing pieces that
the Bachmann trucks will slip over, and then tap the inside of the tube for a screw you can put in to hold the truck on. 
I do that with Trix K4 tenders when I retrofit the trucks.  Styrene tubing has a pretty thick wall, and you can tap threads
into it for 2-56 screws.

[VonRyan]

Post some photos of the tender bottom (and show the trucks in one, just for reference and to refresh peoples' memories).
I bet we'll have some ideas.  My first thought is to just drill holes and insert some styrene tubing pieces that
the Bachmann trucks will slip over, and then tap the inside of the tube for a screw you can put in to hold the truck on. 
I do that with Trix K4 tenders when I retrofit the trucks.  Styrene tubing has a pretty thick wall, and you can tap threads
into it for 2-56 screws.

I'll have to grab pictures tonight.
I got the tender with no trucks, and one of the holes was already reamed out. Oddly enough it's even the same size as the drill bit that I have in my pin vise. So I reamed out the other hole. Which really wasn't much anyhow.

The Bachmann screws didn't have any bite into the hole that was unreamed, so there's no loss by having reamed it.

The more I look at the Minitrix tender floor, the more it looks like someone overtightened the screw and made the floor a little bowed. I tried holding it in front of my space heater to soften it to flatten it back, but no dice.

If it doesn't seem to affect anything once all's said and done, I won't worry about it.

Once I get the boiler pieces figured out, it'll be on to removing any unsightly molded-on details.


-Cody F.

[VonRyan]

The tender is now set up for the Bachmann trucks. Reamed out the holes in the tender and replaced it with tapped styrene.

Just need to figure out a new drawbar connection... I was thinking of transferring the original Atlas drawbar with the two thin strips of metal (to keep things simple), but that may not prove feasible. Plus, since the decoder is going in the tender, it'll be more of a matter of stringing wires rather than just a couple screws.


-Cody F.

[chicken45]

I remember Max telling me that you should hard-wire  whenever possible. I've had some trouble with my L1s on DCC, so I'd do what he did and drill holes in in the loco frame, insert a screw, and solder a wire to the screw.

[mmagliaro]

Be aware, that while I do hard-wire my motors, there are limitations.  For one, you won't be able to separate the tender
from the engine.  But in this case, with such a small engine, I don't see that as much of a drawback.

Also, you have to be careful *what* kind of wire you use for this, or you will have frustrating times with the solder
joint breaking off or the wire breaking.    I only use Ngineering's super flex stranded wire for this.  Any other really high-quality
flexible stranded wire should work, but I have never found any other ones that can truly stand up to everyday use without
eventually breaking somewhere.  It was the super flex that sold me on the practicality of hard-wiring to the motor and no
longer worrying about wire breaks.

One other clarification: I don't exactly solder to a screw.  I won't say I've *never* done it, but what I usually do is
drill and tap a 00-90 hole, then solder the wire to a 00-90 brass washer, and put that washer under the screw when I screw it into the tapped hole.   That does allow you to remove the screw and unhook the wire without unsoldering anything for disassembly and repairs.

[chicken45]

One other clarification: I don't exactly solder to a screw.  I won't say I've *never* done it, but what I usually do is
drill and tap a 00-90 hole, then solder the wire to a 00-90 brass washer, and put that washer under the screw when I screw it into the tapped hole.   That does allow you to remove the screw and unhook the wire without unsoldering anything for disassembly and repairs.

I now recall that is what you actually said to me. Time has eroded my 30 year old brain. Maybe I should send my L1 to you! haha!