N scale "What's on your workbench?"

Mark Watson Oct 28, 2009

  1. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Nope tried two different speakers that I then used with another sound decoder (not in a loco) and they worked but not with the ESU decoder. Loaded the sound files twice myself with the same results. This was a bonus as I used the LokProgrammer and really like it so now will be using it more. The loco ran fine with the decoder but no sound. Sent it back and when I called Bryan about it he had gust gotten it and experimented with it while I was on the phone and had no luck either. He tested another new one and it was fine so it is in the mail coming back to me.

    I had probably the same sound file on it as you are using ( S0761 ). Look forward to hearing it. From what you're saying I won't be disappointment.

    Sumner
     
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  2. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    Been a minute since I did anything in N Scale, but I am scratchbuilding an N Scale 1960's Safeway grocery store for a friend. I am pretty much done with the structure, and am now working on the interior groceries.


    I like to add details all over, because I always see all kinds of funky electrical boxes and conduits, and fire bells, vents and stuff on buildings, so I got to it:
    N Safeway 1.jpg

    And I like to have lots of lighting so you can see inside better:
    N Safeway 2.jpg


    This is the loading dock side, and I made it so you can dig out some layout table top and have a sloped ramp for the trucks to back in:
    N Safeway 3.jpg

    And since the building is removable, held in place with magnets and using spring loaded pogo pins for electrical pickup, I felt all sides of the structure need to be superdetailed, as well as lots of funky roof detail too:
    N Safeway 4.jpg

    Ans here is a shot of some of the interior details, with isle shelves, fridges and freezers, fruit and vegetable bins, a bread rack, an old style coke machine, and a cigarette machine like could be found in the 1960's, all primed and ready to paint:
    N Safeway 5.jpg
     
  3. jwaldo

    jwaldo TrainBoard Member

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    James's Kato motor swap inspired me to try, but I figured I'd have a rummage in the parts bin before buying a motor. IIRC the Athearn motor came out of a first-run Ajin (Korea) F59PHI. As-is it's the perfect height, but adding 0.008" phosphor-bronze solder tabs to the brush caps added a little extra height. I cut a gap into the plastic motor bracket for the brush cap to fit into, and that seems to have sorted it out. I could also easily downsize to thinner tabs to really dial the fit in.

    With the new motor it runs at least as well as it did before, if not slightly quieter. And the new motor arrangement is isolated from the frame, so it's just about ready for DCC now too.
     
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  4. freddy_fo

    freddy_fo TrainBoard Member

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    Yep, that's the file I used. Good to hear you like the lokprogrammer app. One thing to be aware of with those sound files from ESU is that the motor control settings are not default, I'm guessing they were tuned for a specific locomotive make/manufacture. Kato locomotives seem to prefer the "default" app motor settings or at least that is a place to start. If you are happy as is no worries but I thought that was worth mentioning.


    [​IMG]
     
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  5. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks. If you do a reset will it then go to the default settings. Is that what you use (defaults)? Also are you running any type of a keep-alive like the small ones that help but won't run the loco for probably even a second? I made up some 940uF that I want to try. I only have one other sound at this point with a cheap XL sound and it can stutter some on track that is actually clean at powered frogs.

    Sumner
     
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  6. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks that is good info. I pulled a Con-Cor PA-1 I had apart and the motor appeared to be the same as in the U50 but the gears had a different tooth count. The gears do pull off but I have one with messed up gears and was interested if the gears on the PA would work on the U50 as you can buy a PA for less money than a U50 but they aren't the same.

    Sumner
     
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  7. freddy_fo

    freddy_fo TrainBoard Member

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    I believe if you do a factory reset it resets all of the CV settings for everything so it will knock out all the custom function mapping and tasks which will also change the mapping for sound functions. I've done that before when I've had problems with the program and that is what happened so after a reset I had to re-upload the original sound file.

    Best thing if you don't like the performance is to go into motor settings then scroll down to the presets link and click that where there is a large list of different motor types to try. Default is the top selection but don't be shy about trying different presets. It's easy to go back to whatever if you find one performs better for you than another. Mostly I find that the default motor settings on the sound files which also include all the function and motor configurations leaves a bit of jerkiness on the lower speed steps. This is also true for just about every factory loco I receive - Atlas, Kato, Scaletrains, Rapido, etc. It probably means I'm way to picky about low speed performance but I like a smooth creep as much as at cruise speed. I don't think necessarily that the factory is not as selective as I but more that the prototypes they used to create the initial program/file vary a bit from what makes it into production.

    I've used keep alives but they were the TCS versions. I've been watching with interest how you have done yours and may at some point ping you when I get to the point of making my own. I've got caps, resistors and diodes (all SMD components) in my ebay cart for just that purpose but I wasn't sure on the diodes which is why I haven't bought them yet. Like you I want to just do a physically smaller setup than the TCS that is enough to get over problematic turnouts and such for the locos that lack the room for a TCS keep alive.
     
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  8. freddy_fo

    freddy_fo TrainBoard Member

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    Much respect! I'm curious about how and where you acquired materials to make that.
     
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  9. jwaldo

    jwaldo TrainBoard Member

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    The PA-1s I had were the really old ones, with larger motors, but their gears were also sized differently from the U50. I was able to put the PA wheels onto the U50 axles, but only by drilling out the PA wheels' axle holes. The U50 looks MUCH better with the correctly-sized wheels, even though I did manage to drill one of the wheels slightly off center, so it runs with a bit of a wobble :oops:
     
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  10. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    The materials are all Raw Materials. Polybak, Cast Acrylic, Sandpaper, Mylar, 3M Transfer Adhesive, and Sandpaper for the roof. I used spring loaded Pogo Pins for electrical pickup, soldered to a bridge rectifier so I do not care if the accessory power is 16V AC or 12V DC, and 1K SMT resistors to drop the LED voltage. I used Edison Filament COB LED's for the main floor lighting and 0402 SMT LED's for the rest of the lighting, only 13 LED's total. I get everything mostly from Amazon, and eBay, and other sources on the web.

    Oh, everything is drawn up in Corel Draw and cut with my laser except the green AC on the roof. All else is done using both Raster and Vector engraving.

    So I purchased the small 1mm x 4mm gold plated pogo pins for my project:
    View attachment 268519



    Next I drew up some parts to make the power connector assembly:
    View attachment 268515


    I centered the pins between a pair of 1/4" or 6mm super magnets so there would be even pulling force to overcome the spring contacts. I have them mounted so they only protrude their total travel range, so the structures can sit flat, but if a particle gets underneath, they should still make good contact:
    View attachment 268516


    And, as I have been doing lately, a bridge rectifier is installed between the structure's base contacts and the interior contacts so you don't have to worry about polarity and nothing burns out. :D
    View attachment 268517
     
  11. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Fantastic stuff Robert! (y)(y)(y)
     
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  12. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    What did you end up doing to get around this:

    Thanks,

    Sumner
     
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  13. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    What did you do/use for the pre-cast concrete exterior wall panels?
     
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  14. jwaldo

    jwaldo TrainBoard Member

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    Some scouring turned up a dummy CC/Kato PB-1. Turns out the dummy PA/PB wheelsets have the same axle length as the U50 inner trucks, so it was a direct swap. Easiest part of the project so far!
     
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  15. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    It's just Polybak board that i raster etched with the laser. The magic is in how you draw up your Corel artwork. The laser eats away the material where it is black, and not where it is white. So 50% black eats half as much as 100% black. Red vector cuts all the way through:
    N Safeway 9.JPG
     
  16. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    I'm calling the N Scale Safeway done now:
    N Safeway 5.jpg

    N Safeway 6.jpg

    N Safeway 7.jpg

    N Safeway 8.jpg
     
  17. freddy_fo

    freddy_fo TrainBoard Member

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    Next up on my workbench is this walthers back shop. I've dreaded starting this due to the window muntins being molded into the glass which for me is very tedious to hand paint and get respectable results. I did a test earlier where I coated one of the pieces with latex masking, let dry then sanded off the masking where the muntins stick out. I then painted with enamel black using the airbrush, removed the masking with a sharpened toothpick so as not to scratch the glass panes and it worked flawlessly! I tried this before but with acrylic paint and the results were pretty much awful as the paint doesn't adhere to plastic near as good as enamel and a lot of it pulled away as I was removing the masking.

    So with this technique I think the build should go much quicker than I anticipated.

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    I would have took a silver sharpie or paint pen to them.
     
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  19. freddy_fo

    freddy_fo TrainBoard Member

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    I've tried that before and at many points the paint from the pen will build up and draw into the intersections requiring cleanup. I was never happy with the end result. This method so far is the most promising and time saving.
     
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  20. BigJake

    BigJake TrainBoard Member

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    How about a hard rubber, inked pad?
     
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