Nn3 Rio Grande Southern 2-6-0 build

[mmagliaro]

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...

As to Neolube, it's great stuff. PBL's $10 price is good, but they have a minimum $25 purchase plus minimum $12.50 for mandatory UPS shipping and not a lot of N Scale appropriate items to fill the order with. Maybe some paints and soldering supplies. So an order of Neolube becomes pricey in a hurry....

Good luck with this project!
Otto K.

Ouch!
They must have just recently instituted that.  Their website says it is "recent".
I ordered my last jar of it from them maybe a year ago, and there was no such restriction.


If you get it from MicroMark, it's $18.95 + shipping, which totals out to $27.50 for one jar.
Or you could get 2 jars from PBL + $12.50= 32.50     So at least you pay $16/jar that way.

Neither one is very handy.  2 jars is a lot of investment.  The stuff goes a long way and lasts
a long time. 

(Sounds like it's time for a few folks to get together and do a bulk order, and then ship
the individual jars around to each other).  The stuff is just graphite and alcohol, so it's not hard to mail
in a small box, wrapped in plastic inside.

[Cajonpassfan]

Max, sharing a shipment is not a bad idea, but you may want to revisit your math.... 
Otto

[Iain]

Chris,

How difficult would it be to have new siderods (qty=2) and tender truck pickup strips (qty=4) etched in stainless steel or phosphor bronze?

I am in town for a couple more days (I leave Saturday) if you would like to meet up so that I can measure things.  I can then draw them up for you.

[160pennsy]

In my search for z scale axle end pickups for the tender trucks I found the following 2 vendors that offer etched metal axle & wheel wiper kits for MT freight trucks. Like to hear if anyone has used these with success on their Z scale trucks.

http://store.sbs4dcc.com/wheelandaxlewipers-3.aspx





http://www.richmondcontrols.com/Wpr_reva.htm

If only these vendors offered the optimal version - thin etched metal strips along the insides of the truck side frames (like the ones Chris333 had) with small dimples at each end that engage with the needle point axle ends on metal wheel sets...   Since narrow gauge trains were typically short I might just go with the sbs4dcc kit and not worry about the extra friction on the tender axles? Price for the kits does not look that bad and it might be more cost effective that having some made for me.

[mmagliaro]

Max, sharing a shipment is not a bad idea, but you may want to revisit your math.... 
Otto

Max, sharing a shipment is not a bad idea, but you may want to revisit your math.... 
Otto

Okay, I'll bite.  I don't see my mistake!
10 + 10 + 12.50 = 32.50 for two jars.   32.50/2 = about 16 bucks per jar.

Micromark charges 18.95 and with the shipping, that will cost you about 27 bucks for one jar.

One thing I didn't consider... buying 2 jars from Micromark, but that's
about $47 , so you'd be paying about 23 bucks per jar.   PBL is still the cheapest deal.

Where did I go wrong?

[wcfn100]

Where did I go wrong?

Maybe that two jars at PBL doesn't make their $25 minimum.

Jason

[wazzou]

Sounds like it's time for a few folks to get together and do a bulk order, and then ship
the individual jars around to each other.  The stuff is just graphite and alcohol, so it's not hard to mail
in a small box, wrapped in plastic inside.

I'd be in for some to be sure.

[mmagliaro]

Maybe that two jars at PBL doesn't make their $25 minimum.

Jason

Aha!  Yes.  Now I get it.  Okay, you will have to buy some packages of styrene or something to
get the extra 5 bucks and get over $25.   The Neolube does still cost less this way, however,
unless you are buying styrene that is useless to you.

Let's see... 10 jars, $100 + $12.50 shipping = 112
112.  To mail each one OUT to folks would cost about $6, let's say.
So $172.
172/10 = $17.20

Rats.    That's still darn expensive.   Time to find an industrial supplier of this stuff,
buy a whole gallon, and rebottle it....

[peteski]

   Time to find an industrial supplier of this stuff,
buy a whole gallon, and rebottle it....

It might be possible that they make it themselves (or have someone make it to their specifications).  But maybe not...

[Chris333]

Time to find an industrial supplier of this stuff,
buy a whole gallon, and rebottle it....

Graphite Snot has a nice ring to it... 

[peteski]

Graphite Snot has a nice ring to it... 

How about (fire breathing) Dragon Snot? 

[Cajonpassfan]

Aha!  Yes.  Now I get it.  Okay, you will have to buy some packages of styrene or something to
get the extra 5 bucks and get over $25.   The Neolube does still cost less this way, however,
unless you are buying styrene that is useless to you.

Let's see... 10 jars, $100 + $12.50 shipping = 112
112.  To mail each one OUT to folks would cost about $6, let's say.
So $172.
172/10 = $17.20

Rats.    That's still darn expensive.   Time to find an industrial supplier of this stuff,
buy a whole gallon, and rebottle it....

Lol, Max, rats is right....
So I bit the bullet, and ordered three 1 oz. jars of NEOLUBE from PBL at $42.50, or $14.166 each. I just need one. First two guys to PM me can have a jar delivered by USPS for $19.50, PayPal preferred.
Call it public service  Or call it stupid, I may be stuck with a lifetime supply of NEOLUBE, and despite its name, it's not something one can use outside the train room 
Okay, regards, Otto K..

[160pennsy]

To Otto K,

The Neolube arrived and I will be testing it on some scrap parts soon...thanks for ordering extra bottles!

================================================================

Many items that I had ordered arrived over the holidays and I had a chance to test run the Markin 8895 on a loop of Rokuhan Z scale track. My DC throttle is an MRC 1400 and it does not have PWM, which I've heard can improve the slow speed performance of the 3 pole motors. Since this is not a true Z scale throttle (with current limiting circuitry) I made sure to not exceed 8 volts during the testing. The locomotive runs good but I did see some jack rabbit starts and intermittent stutters during slow speeds. My next test will be done using a Z scale throttle with PWM to see if there's any noticeable improvement. Will try to post some video of the testing now that I've opened a Vimeo account.

A second Marklin 8895 was acquired via Germany and the test runs were similar to the other loco. I decided to take it apart (and document my progress ) so I could practice getting the driver & rod assembly reinstalled correctly. Some cleaning of the chassis, motor brushes, wheel contacts & brush holders will be done as well as adding new lubricant before I try putting it back together.























Once I master the task of re-assembly then I'll feel confident in modifying the chassis (grinding/filing) to accommodate the RLW kit pilot & valve guide assembly. Still no luck on finding new longer main rods so I may have to cut the originals & solder in some brass strips to extend them. Will post another update once I get it cleaned, put back together and running again.

[Chris333]

There are a bunch of different throttles you could buy. For my small layouts I bought a Rokuhan ROK-RC-02 as seen here:
http://www.zscalemonster.com/rokuhan/accessories/

I use an AC adapter for mine, but can use batteries if you want. Also the dial has a adjustable stop on it so you can set it at a certain voltage and not worry about going past it.

I buy a lot of my Z scale from here: http://www.zscalemonster.com/z.htm good prices and quick shipping.

[160pennsy]

Sorry for not posting any updates on the build but I had been waiting for some parts to arrive. During the reassembly of the Marklin chassis I broke off a small tab on the clear plastic brush holder which holds the wheel wiper strip against the motor brush strip. Managed to find a vendor on eBay that does Marklin tune up & motor replacements and also keeps used spare parts. Once the replacement brush holder arrived I put the topside components back together and then figured out how to align the driver wheels and reassembled the complete chassis. Much to my surprise it even ran like it was supposed to on my test track so I now had to push forward with the build.

First major step is to attach the cast metal pilot assembly onto the frame but you have to cut & grind away sections (per the instructions) to allow a smooth fit. I clamped the frame in my vise and first used a thin metal cutoff disk in my Dremel to remove the large tabs on either side. Then followed that up with careful filing with some diamond grit needle files to get the final shape correct.

 

 

 





Some additional filling was required while test fitting the cast metal pilot until everything looked ok. Then a small batch of JB Weld was mixed up and applied to the underside of the pilot. A large pair of locking tweezers was used to clamp things overnight until the epoxy cured.


 





 While waiting for the JB Weld to cure I spread out the parts for the pilot truck kit. The sample photos and instructions in the RLW kit show a 4 wheel Marklin pilot truck but these are no longer in production, so you have to substitute the TRK-201/202 part. The kit assembly is pretty easy (ACC is used) and a gauge is also provided to space the wheels correctly. A small fret of wheel inserts with spokes is also included with the kit but I'll have to check some prototype photos to see if they had that type of pilot truck wheel. The top side of the brass pilot truck frame has a hole that comes threaded for a 00-90 screw that will be used to hold the truck to a pilot connection bar.


 





Once the pilot assembly was fully cured it was time to put the magnet cover back onto the motor and test fit the cab & boiler assembly on the frame. I also stuck the driver wheels and pilot truck underneath and the 2 photos below show where we currently are. Still need to fabricate that pilot connection bar from brass sheet supplied in the kit and attach the pieces that form the outside of the steam cylinders. The eBay vendor mentioned earlier was also able to solve my quest for longer main driver rods by selling me a complete wheel set from a Marklin 8896 chassis. Next update should show some progress on the tender and maybe a test run of the assembled cab/boiler/pilot...stay tuned.