Model Railroading > Brass steam mechanics

This is for all those elbow deep into antique model railroad locomotives from Korea. That probably eliminates about 80% of the TO membership.

Let's talk about two logging locomotives. The first is a nice 2-10-2T which came without a box. The plate on the bottom says Japan. The crank pin on one side just keeps backing out and the next thing you know the rods on both sides are all askance. None of the three hex wrenches I have fit the rod screws so reassembly is a bugger. Is a touch of blue loc-tite the solution here?

On the other side the locking screw on the eccentric crank is twisted off so the crank and link sort of flail around. I have not been able to back this screw out or cut a slot to get more bite. Suggestions?

Next we have a Custom Brass 2-6-6-2T from Daiyang. The bottom covers on the bottom have two 1.4mm screws. Two of the four screws are stripped out. I am thinking of redrilling the holes then tapping them through for 1.7mm screws. Does that seem viable?

Thanks for your help.

I thought I would be able to install sound in the articulated it really looks like a 1" round speaker would fit in the top of the cab roof. Unfortunately, the cab is not screwed on but is solidly soldered in. It might be possible to cut out the floor and slide in a boxed rectangular speaker so the idea is not yet dead. Otherwise most wired DCC decoders should fit just fine.


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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/14 22:26 by fbe.

Blue might be the best solution, or just purple for less permanence. Just be sure to apply it carefully (like a toothpick to dot it down in the threads), and work the rod around after you screw it in, even coat the drive rod with a bit of oil to make any glue slip off.

Al, put a little solder on the threads of the screw that keeps backing out. Might be a pain to get it back on, but it shouldn't back out again, and wont' accidentally locktite the rods to the wheel. As for the sound speaker, you might see if it could fit in the smokebox with a hole drilled down through the stack to "vent" the sound.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Position the eccentric crank where it belongs and solder it to the crank pin. Brass makers have been doing that decades now.

Ted,

That sounds like a pretty good idea. It might work well if you used some of that braided copper to wick off all the excess solder from the threads before putting the pin back into the driver. That should leave just enough plating to tighten up the threads.

Loc-tite might work the same way, apply a light coating to the threads then let it dry before reinstalling.

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Tom,

Those cheaters! That leads to the question about the proper position of the crank. The best I can tell is the end of the crank is pointed towards the center of the driver. Does that seem right?

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The 2-10-2T is the Minarets type tank locomotive built for the Sugar Pine Lumber Company. It was the only 2-10-2T type built for a railroad in the U.S.A. The model was manufactured in Japan by Jonan and imported by Oriental Limited.

I have that loco and will shoot closeups of the rods and valve eccentric crank settings on each side and post them for your reference.

Jeff Johnston
www.trainvideosandparts.com

Thanks, Jeff.

The articulated loco certainly came from the estate of Pete Ellis of Cascade, MT. The Sugar Pine loco may have as well. He was a stickler for smooth running locomotives and developed some techniques to tame down the bucking broncos. It may be he bought some of his brass at swap meets from people who had given up on making them run quiet and smooth. Now I wish I could call him for advice I am sure he had some ideas. I bought as many of his chain drive parts to repower the old spring drive Suydam electrics and I have a few PE switchers to work on later.

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The 2-10-2T got the crank pins loc-tite secured. This stuff now is a gel. Good points and bad but at least it does not run where you do not want it. Note to modelers, you cannot install the crank pin and then expect connecting rods to lift over the end of the pin if they are connected to the other drivers so I got to do that job twice. The mechanism is getting a bit smoother but I hear a click, click, click from the front pilot axle and a squeak from the valve mechanism in reverse. Now it needs some run time.

I rooted through a box of misc parts and left overs and found a package of left over NWSL 2mm universals which gave me enough to convert the articulated tank engine over from a tube connection. That is a good thing since the rubber tube from the factory was not connecting with the lead power truck. The way the mechanism is designed the front truck must be removed to mount the body to the rear truck. Mounting the front truck then requires aligning the gear shaft into the tube and then shoving the joint together. I was unable to do that after numerous attempts, I am sure getting the eared ball into the cup will be much easier if the ball is held into the other cup with heavy plastic compatible grease.

The problem which developed is I noticed some heavy corrosion near the rear truck cylinder saddle. I just had to poke around and the cylinder assembly fell off. I am guessing it was an acid flux issue so I clean it with Windex and epoxied it back to the truck frame. I had to disassemble the valve gear to get it all aligned so that is where the project is now. I needed a break.

Brass locomotives, a mixed blessing.

SUNDAY, part 2

I reassembled the power truck and all the valve gear and main rods and golly it runs!

I can assemble the power train separate from the body so I have run it a bit. It has smoothed out upon reassembly but the NWSL nylon universals are not going to work here since the gear shafts are not lined up. Each time the direction changes the front gearbox shifts and changes alignment so it is back to tubing here as well.

There is a saddle which drops down from the boiler to connect with the cylinder saddle from the trailing truck. The tube to connect the front gear shaft to the rear truck gear shaft from the motor sits above these saddles. So when reattaching the lead truck you have to look into that dark hole to get it all aligned then find a way to hold it so the front shaft goes in to transfer power. When I took the front truck off the first time the gear shaft was only touching the tube and no tractive effort was being transferred. Is there anyway to do this with really strong magnets?

Also, I turned out the lights and gave the mechanism the traditional brass lock spark test which turned up a shorting brake shoe.

Wee hours Monday.

The universals were replaced with flexible tubing and the open mechanism has been run on a short test track. A hitch in the get along in reverse was traced to a side rod screw nicking the backside of the crosshead. I adjusted the crosshead guide rod out a bit to solve that.

I wonder how it will all work after disassembly for painting.



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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/14 00:40 by fbe.

There is no possibility of putting the speaker in the tender?

Both the engines in this thread are tank locomotives so there are no tenders.

The other thread about the NP 4-8-0 does have a tender. That project has room in the smokebox for a 3/4" speaker and a tender prepunched for a speaker.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,3471431



wabash2800 Wrote:
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> There is no possibility of putting the speaker in
> the tender?

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/14 21:54 by fbe.

Oh.

I am really going to be disappointed if I cannot get sound into the 2-6-6-2T since it has both high pressure and low pressure cylinders. I would really like to hear the chuff, whoosh sound of that if it is possible to replicate in a sound decoder.

Thanks for your interest.

UPDATE:

A stop at the hobby shop today resulted in an order for a Digitrax SDXN 136 sound decoder which should fit in the boiler cavity above the drive components. I guess the tank engine will sound a lot like UP 3985 until the proper 2-6-6-2 sound files can be found and installed.

Yes, I am a glutton for punishment. This is a locomotive with dummy couplers and draft gear soldered in and no provision for KDs at all. I will need to unsolder the castings and drill some holes to tap or just put an Accurail plastic coupler on one end of a boxcar or flatcar load of machinery and couple that semipermanently to the rear of the steamer as an adapter car.


wabash2800 Wrote:
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> Oh.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/14 15:56 by fbe.

Ted,

I have been thinking about the smokebox speaker install. I think the hole down the stack is just too small to be effective and many stacks are secured with a screw which kind of negates the whole idea. While looking at the NP 4-8-0 project I see there is a major boiler opening around the gearbox. So if the speaker is pointed towards the cab the sound would be directed out the gearbox/firebox area. The smokebox front could be the rear of the soundbox if the circumference of the speaker could be sealed with goop. So this could work though the bottom of the weight might need to be cut away a bit to allow the sound out.

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