Instead of putting this all on my web site now, I thought it would be fun to just do a build log here. When I build my second one, I will do a more detailed article on my web site or possibly do a youtube video.
This will be the start of my build log. The Copper State Railway is my proto-freelance railroad. You can read about it on my web site. I need to update the story a bit because some things have changed. It is sort of in development still, but almost cemented. Just a few things to iron out. The route map is going to slightly change and some destinations will change. But for the most part it is good to go. The roster was setup for my HO stuff. It is going to change for the N-Scale version.
This first photo is basically the locomotive I will be building. As it sits, I have modified the snoot shell to fit the chassis of the most recent run of Kato SD40-2's. I still need to get seven more models to complete my roster. The lower shell portion that on the left side had to be trimmed just enough to fit over the blower duct. I still need to add a small portion of styrene under the blower shute. It does not quite make it down to the deck. If you have one of these shells, there is a detail on it that tells you how much you have to trim up from the bottom. It is the bolt strips on either side of the blower shute. Just trim th eshell up to the bottom of this bolt strip. I did this modification because I want to standardize all my SD40-2 fleet with the latest run Kato models. and I wanted my snoots to have the same ditch light setup as teh 88" nose versions I will build.
After I got the basic shell modifications done it was time to turn my attention to the internal DCC/sound and light installation. I want to thank John for his tips on sound installs. It was the catylist that sent me down this road. I really like sound and adding it to N-Scale is going to make for some really fun operations when I finally get my layout built.
This first photo of the inside shows the basic setup. I am still waiting on my four Loksound Select Micro decoders to come in, but it should be soon. What you are seeing is the left side. The speaker is in the center. It is located under the exhaust stack and first DB fan. I have about 0.015" clearance to the underside of the hood. It is basically sitting right on top of the motor mount tabs. Again thanks to John for the speaker suggestion. What you do not see is that I milled a wire channel down the center so wires can pass under the speaker. The speaker wires go through the speaker box and exit out the back. The box is 100% sealed. I used the existing PC board and cut it up. The two screws at the top toward the front is where the track power will go to the decoder. The decoder will sit under the shelf at the rear. There is 0.020" clearance to the underside of the shelf. I glued 0.005" styrene to the top of the frame to help isolate the decoder from the metal frame. On the vertical portion of the frame in front of the where the decoder will sit I have put some Kapton tap to isolate the frame. The track power feed wires will travel under the speaker to the two screws up front. I will solder them to the PC board and the screws will clamp down on top of the wires and make a very positive contact to the frame. The wires you see under the rear shelf are the speaker wires.
Going around to the rear of the frame. Here you can better see the styrene I glued to the top of the frame to isolate the decoder to prevent shorting to the frame. Also you can see the Kapton tape. The rear light is an SMLED buried into a piece of styrene. I made some measurements and it is centered on the rear light bar. I am using the stock light bar for the rear. I have first painted the area silver. A couple coats and then black. As it sits, light ONLY comes out the back and there is no bleed through from anywhere else. The red and green magnet wire you see at teh bottom of the photo are teh LED wires. They run along a channel under the shelf. I'll explain where the hookups will be in the top view photos.
This is a view of the right side. Not much to add here that I did not say about the left side except the cavity I milled for the speaker is a perfect fit. The speaker is snug in there. Again, I will explain more in the top view photos.
I can explain a lot more in this photo.You can sort of see the wire channel I milled down the center of the frame. Look in front of the speaker. Starting from the front. I basically explained what the front PC board is for. Again, it is for track power to the decoder. Then there is the speaker. After that is another section of PC board. This section is for the decoder to deliver power to the motor. The screws are isolated. I cut away the copper clad from the board. You can see the red and black wires coming up from the motor. I like the solid wires and a solid connection rather than the copper pieces sliding against each other. When I get the decosder installed, I will then strip the wires and solder them to the PC board at their respective holes. The wires from the decoder will come from under the PC board through the empty holes and be soldered to the pads to make the connection. The single 1K ohm resistor you see in the center of the PC board is for the rear light. The rear light wires will come out where you see the channel opening cut in the shelf between the two brass screws. That center copper cladding running down the center of the PC board is where I will solder the wire to. You can see that I soldered the rear reisistor hole to this copper path. The rear light wire from the decoder will travel under the PC board and come up through the hole at the leading edge of the resistor and I will solder it in place. The three 1K ohm reisitors on the rear shelf are for the front light and the two ditch lights. The shelf is a piece of 0.040" thick styrene sheet. I milled a 0.020" cavity to nestle the resistors into and give more clearance to the underside of the shell. When I get the decoder installed, I will put supports under the shelf to level it off so the rear light is perfectly aligned with the light bar.
This is just showing the top view from the other side. Nothing more to add here.
Here I am showing the location of the ditch lights. Prior to installation, I grit blasted teh handrail sections for paint. Also it gives some good "tooth" for CAing the ditch lights down. I first glued down a strip of 0.005" styrene. This centered the light on the light bar. I then located where I wanted the LED to sit and glued on a piece of 0.040" x 0.040" styrene block to sit right behind the LED for rear support and as a gluing block. When the glue dried, I trimmed it level with the top of the sub deck so it would not interfere with the deck piece that sits on top of it. I wanted seperate lights for each one so I can have them alternate when I activate the horn. I wanted to use the existing light bar and cut it. So I will cut it and polish the ends. They will sit right in front of these LED's. Again, I painted two coats of silver paint over it all, scraped it off just the face of the light and then painted it all black and scraped it off the face again. Light now ONLY comes out the face and there is absolutely NO bleed through. These lights are DANG bright and should show up good through the ditch lights. The ditch lights and the head light wires are going to have to run up the inside of the shell and then drop down from over the top of the resistors. It will be OK. I have worked it all out.
What you have not seen in the first photo is that I have already cut the nose light in and installed the Detail Associate light housing. The holes are drilled through. What you are seeing in this photo is the light bar for the front nose light. This is the light bar from the Kato Santa Fe shell with the 88" nose. It is the model I am using and have replaced the shell with the snoot. I cut the two head light tabs of and flattened out the front end. I still need to polish it. I put the light bar in my mill and cut a deep channel vertically. I then cut a cavity in the channel for the LED to set into. I then cut a piece of styrene to size to fit in the channel and lock and seal the LED in place. I drilled two 0.0083" diameter holes through the styrene for the LED wires to exit out the back. I now have to paint the light bar so light ONLY exits out the front behind the two head light holes. I have also painted the inside of the shell where the light cavity is so no light will bleed through. This light bar will be glued up under the nose centered on the light holes.
So far everything is going well. I really like this new run of Kato SD40-2's and look forward to finishing this model and the others for my roster. I am almost done with my decal sheet so I will be able to letter it as well. Since I need to build 12 of these things, I am considering having some custom PC boards made to fit my application here.
I will post more as I progress.
