And when the volcano blew, it knocked all the trees down, (It only 'blew' a little) which makes it easier for the loggers!
Moose been working on cleaning and in some cases repair locomotives this week. Most of them were disease'els, and Moose sure nooo-one wants to read about those. But! Today, Moose worked on a Con-Cor S-2 steam loco! Disassembled the tender & tender trucks, cleaned all the contact surfaces, replaced the tender's Rapido coupler with a FVM 51000 coupler and added a 1/2 oz weight at the front end of the tender to improve tender conductivity at the front truck. Some sample photos:
My favorite photo is the last one when it is back together I am guessing it worked? BTW, any update on the Town & Factory build's? That's what I am looking forward too, when you have them done, or close to done
Yes sir, she runs much better now. One of these days, this moose will get up the gumption to carefully remove the plate below the drivers and properly clean the gears. If a traction tire could be found, moose'll install it where one is missing on one of the two aft drivers. The buildings are on hold until warmer weather. Will be air brushing primer, before painting them.
Moose has learned the hard way to stay away from touching the drivers and related gear. One of these days, Moose will try to work on those fiddly bits, but not today...
Great pics of the cleanup. Have you tried CRC 6-26? I use it to clean and lube and it helps protect against corrosion. A little bit of lead bird shot up in the empty spots of the tender shell will help get that bit of weight in there. I usually glue it in there with gap filling ACC, using a couple of coats to keep it in place. That will nearly double the weight you added.
@badlandnp Thank you very much, good sir! Moose used CRC QD Contact Cleaner (recommended by donzi on another site). The Pine Car Derby weight seemed to work ... so far ... Won't know until can spend some "quality time" in the train room ... ... ... And after Moose fixes the turnouts... Groan... Never ending list of "to do's"...
Moose did a "Quicky Lube & Coupler Change" on the other Con-Cor S-2. This is the partially stream-lined version with just the skyline casing. This will eventually receive a conversion to reflect a Baldwin-built S-1 as delivered to the MT&P Railway in 1930. This model is in fairly new condition. Moose purchased her from a local LHS vendor at a train show in November, 2012 -- more than ten years ago!!! The vendor stated that it was new at the time, except for a replacement boiler front. The Moose Works maintenance facility only tore down the tender trucks, cleaned the contact surfaces of the contact strips & plates and all of the wheels, replaced the original Rapido tender coupler with a medium length FVM #51010 coupler and cleaned the wheels. Everything done to her was similar to the first Con-Cor S-2 herein. One issue: The front coupler needs to be weighted down or something, in order for it to not climb the turnout points, frogs, etc. The beastie on the test track, before the maintenance job: And her on the layout, pulling low and slow...
That's an understatement. In years past, Moose attempted to convert some Bachmann & Con-Cor DCC-unfriendly steam locomotives that required full disassembly of the chassis to isolate the motors, and things did not go well. "Some day", Moose will return to those locomotives to give it another go. Getting the drivers absolutely aligned with each other is typically the biggest issue...
Moose might find a traction tire here: https://lovetrainhobbies.com/N-scal...action-tires-lovetrain-hobbies-mm-N-MAIN.html
Moose trying to redesign the control panel to be easier to use ... Comments or suggestions? LEDs within the schematic will light which routes are open (green) and closed (red). The toggles will be numbered and placed in the empty white space. Turnouts will be numbered to associated them with toggle switches. Turnouts facing each other will be operated as cross-overs with a single toggle switch for each cross-over (#2, #4, #8 & #16) Panel is ~ 8.3" high x 12.3" wide, angled so that the control box protrudes from the fascia by ~ 5.5".
There are two number one labels on the track in the bottom left. They look to be independent switches.
Sorry about the confusion ... They are operated by a single switch. Here's a sketch that depicts those tracks more fully. The outer loop is treated as a siding. The inner loop is treated as the mainline (previously labeled "Loop").
