For some time I have been looking at the Fleischmann 7000 loco, thinking it might be used in a simple freelance project, using the zinc alloy loco body itself. As I have two of those, and a spare body shell, I cut one of these down and fitted a Fowler chimney and a Baldwin dome. No cab yet, but this is how it compares to a Minitrains loco.
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With a new cab, it might be turned into a nice little freelance forestry locomotive inside an evening.
I even found a cab for this little conversion. It is the cab from a battered Liliput Waldenburg 0-6-0 body shell I found in the scrapbox.
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It is almost too nice not to follow up, and it shows how easily you can convert an N gauge locomotive into H0e or even 009. However, the idea I started out with was very different. So I'll leave the forestry loco and continue with the original idea - a project for Christmas. There is something American in it, and with reason.
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Guess where I started? The remains of the Mantua coach I butchered to build 'Coronel Lopez'. http://www.009society.com/forum/index.php?topic=764.0 (http://www.009society.com/forum/index.php?topic=764.0)
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The present idea is to build something on these lines. Obviously it won't be a single driver, and it has side tanks. The elegant boiler and fittings, and the beautiful panelling of the carriage body will be impossible to represent using readily available parts. Another thing to consider is the rigid frame. If I want to use it on Nixnie, the curves are too sharp. So the loco unit will have to pivot inside the carriage front.
Compromises all round. But still I like the idea!
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source: http://www.zeljeznice.net/forum/index.php?/topic/5284-slike-iz-povijesti-freak-lokomotive/page-5 (http://www.zeljeznice.net/forum/index.php?/topic/5284-slike-iz-povijesti-freak-lokomotive/page-5)
About modelling setbacks, stupid errors and an evening lost.
There are those evenings when you do best to stay away from any project you're working on. Last Saturday was one of those. As I explained above, I have two Fleischmann 7000 chassis, a plastic one and a metal one. Since the railmotor I'm building will not be used on a regular basis, I decided to use the plastic one instead of the metal one.
I started drilling a hole in the chassis behind the rear wheels, to fit a pivot screw for the carriage portion. Now the motor on this one was glued in, and I didn't want to remove it. I thought I was drilling into solid plastic with some 'meat' to go into. However, to my detriment I found out that the block is hollow. The drill suddenly went into thin air and bang... into the motor which is right above. Windings destroyed. Stupid, stupid... even after 45 years of modelling I make stupid mistakes.
End of story? Not quite, as I managed to make one working motor out of two wrecks. It took me an hour and a half though - the new armature is a different Fleischmann type, the brushes were different and making it fit was a pain. I managed to fit it with the old brush holder, and initially the brushes arced so badly I burned my fingers on the brush clips. A little running in at low speed and polishing the commutator in the end stopped the arcing and the heating. I've now got a running chassis again. It runs quite well, though it still tends to warm up a bit.... Probably improve with time.
A few days after the motor disaster I'm happy to confirm it runs as well as ever, with the kitbashed motor.
I spent some time arranging the lighting wires, since I want this to be a true Christmas train - lights and all. The problem here is you have to get the wires out of the zinc alloy body shell in such a way you don't need to wrestle with tiny wires each time the chassis has to come out. So I decided to lead thin insulated wires over the top of the tanks and fit inside contact springs.
First, an insulating patch of thin styrene was superglued inside the body.
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Then I drilled holes in the tank top and threaded insulated wires through. Finally, I soldered two patches of phosphor bronze (from defunct pick-up contacts) to the wires and superglued them on the plastic patches. They were folded in such a way that they touch the pick-up terminals when you put the body on the chassis.
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Then I had a loco with four wires sticking out of the tanks.
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In the end I needed only one of those on the right hand side, so the other could be snipped off. Next I had to find a place for a 1K resistor to protect the headlight LED. I put this behind the dome, where it will be shielded either by the cab front, or by a pile of firewood. The LED wire was then led back over the tank top. On the other side, one wire goes forward, the other to the rear. I soldered a LED to the wires and stuck it down with superglue. The glue will insulate the LED terminals. These will also function as supports for the large oil-burning headlight I'm planning to fit.
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After testing the LED I sprayed the entire assembly matt black - any embellishment will follow later.
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The two wires at the rear end will probably terminate in a piece of PCB glued on the back of the body shell. Here I can connect the interior lights and the tail light.
Yesterday night I built a pilot deck and stays, a cowcatcher which is a cut down Langley Baldwin cowcatcher, and a huge oil-fired headlight. The cowcatcher may seem a little wide, but the carriage portion will be wider than the tanks of the little locomotive.
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For the moment I'm satisfied. More later!
Looking good, keep up the photos.
Andre
Thank you for posting all this!
Thanks, all - meanwhile I have made some progress. I first made up the chassis of the carriage portion. This is a rectangle of 1mm styrene which fits into the rear end og the carriage body. A brass strip was cut and bent to size to match up with a pivot screw under the chassis - the one that caused the original motor to be ruined. The bogie is of American origin, with Parkside wheels. The bogie pivot is tightened so it has very little sideplay. Effectively this gives the carriage three-point suspension. The method of fixing the pilot deck and cowcatcher can be seen as well - I used the buffers on the chassis as supports.
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Next, the 'pi
The first coat of paint, still fresh:
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We're now slowly progressing to the detailing stage.
LIGHTING UP!
I wanted to fit interior and tail lights to the model, and since I like LEDs better than bulbs, LEDs it was. The interior light is a pair of LEDs snipped off one of those cheap battery powered strings of Christmas lights available from various supermarkets. They are high brilliance ones with a warm white shine. I need two, since the carriage will have to stay lit when backing up.
First I made up a PCB unit that would fit inside the roof. I'm lucky in that the Mantua coach has low windows, so the lights can be fitted in the roof without being visible through the windows. I filed one side of the LEDs flat to gain some height.
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Next, I got two red LEDs shaped like marker lights. These will be painted and dressed up as lanterns.
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The pins were bent and inserted into two tiny holes drilled into the sides of the carriage body. I had added the necessary resistor and patch wires to the print. The feed wires are at the other end of the print - these come from a short length of record player cable which is very flexible and is connected to the patch on the back of the locomotive body I mentioned before. The print was inserted in the roof, the LED legs bent to shape and soldered to the print:
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I tested the lights with the feed leads held to the track, then soldered them to the locomotive. Then I fitted the carriage body, and did a trial run:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysg_oUqw8QE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysg_oUqw8QE)
Next, detailing and painting, and fitting an interior, passengers and a crew need to be done.
to be continued!
Excellent Ted! You'll soon have more steam railmotors than locos at this rate!
Mick
;D The present number is 4. I'll have some catching up to do!
Fitting a PCB unit in the roof is clever. Thank you for posting all this!
It only works with low 'colonial' windows and an excess of space in the roof.
I just fitted a LED strip in a cupboard, cutting off the excess. The excess strip yields a number of flat mounted LEDs embedded in a flexible plastic. They would do very well in a coach roof. I'm not going to change the present set-up, but it's something to remember in the future.
Yesterday I had several hours of model making - outside the house the gale roared and it rained and rained. SWMBO was away at work and I had the house to myself, ideal modelling time.
I first completed the coach interior of the railmotor. I had fitted some Faller wooden benches on the floor a few days ago - the same I used for Nixnie - and now I set to work painting some Langley Victorian figures to install on the seats.
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Painting the interior and fitting the window glazing was rather taxing - there has to be a recess in the carriage to accommodate the motor, which made the forward windows almost unreachable. Some bad language and perseverance eventually resulted in success....
The tanks and domes of the locomotive were painted crimson lake as the carriage body was touched up. Unfortunately, the paint was marred by dust and swarf during subsequent handling, so some of it has to be stripped off and re-done. We'll do that tomorrow.
Next, I painted a Victorian couple that would occupy the rear platform. I made up the platform steps, a simple barrier and a brake stand. I fitted cab steps (which are off a Tri-ang Jinty body) and set up the vehicle for more photos. We're slowly getting there - a few more details, a crew and touching up the paint is all that's left to do.
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That handwheel on the end is a bit too coarse - I need to do something about that.
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Here is what will probably be one of the final posts about the Christmas Folly. I completed the railmotor today, apart from coupling links (since these things ran in link and pin era), a bell cord and a name to put on the coach sides. That can wait as far as I'm concerned - I have to prepare Nixnie for the Christmas display.
A very difficult job was fitting in an engine crew. The driver is only represented from the chest up, as his back is fixed to the coach bulkhead and the motor swings right below him. I made a door on the left side to hide the mutilation. The fireman is a shop attendant with a broom which I cut about. He lost his broom and I cut away most of his legs. He loiters nonchalantly in the doorway - probably banked up the little firebox a while ago.
I added a huge whistle (a gold-plated print connector), two spare brass makers' plates, grab rails next to the footplate steps and stanchions on the pilot deck above the cowcatcher.
I'll leave you to judge the results.
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The paintwork needs a little touching up - but then this is an unkind close-up!
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Very nice Ted, well done, another gem of a model.
Regards,
BrianT.
Seconded!
Wonderful!
Thanks, all!
The final post in this series is this one.
I set up Nixnie and tweaked the scenery a little with snow - not an easy thing to do as the snow will have to come off. The railmotor then was put on the layout for trial running, as it will perform during the Santa Specials of the Valkenburg museum, after Christmas.
Here are some photos. A video has been published HERE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy-nMEzPsOs).
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Merry Christmas to you all!
Ted, that's absolutely lovely. Happy Christmas from all of us in the Sussex Downs group. See you in March
Martin
Thanks Martin - very best wishes from me as well! I'll make sure the snow will come off before I bring Nixnie to the show...