Model Railroading > Scale Trains sander pipe details

I took the Southern SD40-2 pair to a friend's layout for a couple hours of break in time. There was some plastic clicking going around curves. I isolated that to the sander details touching body parts. Before I was done 15 of the 16 sanders were disconnected. Are others experiencing this problem? Will solvent cement work or will this take a flexible ACC? Is there enough room between the truck, stepwells and fuel tanks to support this level of detail?

Thanks



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/17 18:22 by fbe.

What was the radius of the curves where the problem occurred?

Somewhere in the 30" range.

FBE, this has been documented in a number of YouTube reviews on the Scaletrains SD40-2. There is a Tech Notes bulletin on their website addressing it (About Us -- Product Manuals). It doesn't seem to bother them all that much that practically everyone who has received a unit has issues with the sanding lines... Poor design, planning or both. I have an NS unit and it is the same way...

Bob

I spent some time working with the problem. The sandpipes are just too stiff to flex and stretch with the trucks swinging through curves. Also, if you secure the end to the lower part of the truck you will not be able to remove the truck for service without breaking the connection.

Fishermen tie wet flies using dark grey rubber elastic to represent flexible legs. This is usually square in cross section which might not look right but otherwise should work.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/17 21:49 by fbe.

Here is the tech note regarding the sanding lines for the ST SD40-2.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0642/8107/files/Service_Bulletin_-_Truck_Sanding_Lines-RC_SD40-2.pdf?10938241093717649015

Another idea might be to cut the sandpipes free from the underframe and attach them to the top and the lower sides of the truck sideframes so there is no need for flexibility. Replacing the cast sandpipes with stranded hook up wire might be a reliable option.

It is not uncommon to find the nozzles at the ends of the sandpipes removed. In the winter the pipes facing the direction of movement will fill up with snow. If that freezes or packs solid the sanders no longer work. The easiest solution is to remove the nozzles which allows the sand to flow and raises the end of the pipe where it is less likely to fill with snow.

I just cut mine off. You can't easily see them due to their being hidden behind the stairwells. I wish they had included the inboard sand hoses and had them attached to the back of the sideframes but not the body.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Not all railroads used front and rear sand hoses on each truck. Another reason to check the photos. Construction from stranded wire should not be difficult.

fbe Wrote:
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> Not all railroads used front and rear sand hoses
> on each truck. Another reason to check the photos.
> Construction from stranded wire should not be
> difficult.

BN is one road that did not have inboard sanders (closest to the fuel tank) on most of their SD40-2 fleet.

Cheers,
Harry

The joys of factory applied slippery delrin plastic details............

The hoses on my UP version were like that. Actually a couple of them were bent up between a wheel and the sideframe and had been compressed like that for so long that I couldn't reform them to their correct shape. The hoses and nozzles look good, but are poorly engineered.

I have my model disassembled right now and am working on fixing this. My plan is to cut the nozzles off and attach them to the brackets that are molded on to the sideframes. I'll cut the curved portion of the hoses off of the pipes that are attached to the deck and replace those with flexible electrical wire that's about the same diameter as the plastic hose. I'll strip the ends of the wire and drill holes in the nozzles so that I can press fit the new "hoses" in and remove them if necessary.

- Chris

Christopher Slemp
South Hadley, MA
Milepost 15

alto_towerbob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FBE, this has been documented in a number of
> YouTube reviews on the Scaletrains SD40-2. There
> is a Tech Notes bulletin on their website
> addressing it (About Us -- Product Manuals). It
> doesn't seem to bother them all that much that
> practically everyone who has received a unit has
> issues with the sanding lines... Poor design,
> planning or both. I have an NS unit and it is the
> same way...
>
> Bob
Think that's kind of a broad statement as they tried to put too much detail on there units is all and most could not even see some unless it was pointed out by the owner. Give them a little break on things
they are not the only ones who slip up sometimes. I own there GETL unit and had a little trouble with wheel gauge, result? They sent me a shipping ticket so it could be fixed and had it back in two weeks no problem and an apology for the problem great customer service. Will buy again from them much better quality for the price than others by the way.

Chris,

I wonder if it is possible to extract the wires from the insulation leaving just a hollow tube. That could then be slid over the stubs of the sand nozzles and the upper pipe where it is cut. I wonder if soaking the wire in hot water would help?

fbe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Chris,
>
> I wonder if it is possible to extract the wires
> from the insulation leaving just a hollow tube.
> That could then be slid over the stubs of the sand
> nozzles and the upper pipe where it is cut. I
> wonder if soaking the wire in hot water would
> help?


I considered this, it's not too difficult to remove the wire from such short lengths, but the insulation won't fit over the stubs of the plastic hoses unless I sand them down quite a bit and that seemed like more work. I'm keeping that option open though...

- Chris

Christopher Slemp
South Hadley, MA
Milepost 15

Now I am kind of glad the ATSF snoots are in the 2nd run. Hopefully most of these issues will be worked out.

Posted from Android

Was with my friend on Saturday and he got a pair of the Chessie units. The hoses were in the trucks and were a real problem. They had to be cut off. Sometimes too much detail is no good either. This was not really thought through. As stated, they need to fix this for sure. Thanks Bruce

The insulation tube could be laid into the recess the top of sand pipe lays in or into a hole drilled up into the frame. The nozzle might be replaced with a short piece of flattened wire.

I finished rebuilding one of the sand lines on my Scale Trains SD40-2. I chopped the nozzle off the ST part and glued it to the sideframe, then I cut the hose off at the first bracket where it mounts to the walkway. I drilled some holes for two pieces of .008" wire which I curved and attached to the nozzle and bracket. Next I took a piece of wire from an Athearn bulb I had saved, cut it to length and pulled the stranded copper out. The remaining insulation fits over the two pieces of .008" wire and when installed will have the correct curvature while still allowing the trucks to turn.

Took about an hour to figure out. The remaining one's should go much quicker.

- Chris

Christopher Slemp
South Hadley, MA
Milepost 15

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This does look like a workable solution. Thanks for showing your handiwork.

Was there any reason for removing the brake cylinders and the air line otyer than to protect them from damage?