I have two Atlas “O” switchers, I thought my one project drive had been converted already. But when I got a phone call from a friend asking about Atlas SW wheelsets, I checked the model and it did have an upgrade set of wheels but they were the .145 NMRA wheels.
No problem, I had a set of P48 wheels on the shelf for a while (check out the old packaging), but the retainer plates I just got in a couple of weeks ago from Right-O-Way.
The retainer plate replace the original Atlas part. They are very simple to install, just unscrew the original plate and replace it with the new one.
Here you can see how much the ROW retainer Plates pull in the truck side frames. It’s a very simple conversion, four screws remove the retainer plate and four more hold the side frames.
I really should have painted them BEFORE installing them. But my “mistake” allows you to see them more clearly.
All done. My Frankenstein SW9/NW2 project back together. Still not sure this project will continue or be turned back into an SW9.
The Right-O-Way Proto48 Retainer Plates combined with the NWSL Proto48 Conversion Wheelsets really make this a simple and much improved looking conversion. I’ll time it next time, when I do the other switcher. It could not have taken more than a half hour to complete. The only tool required was a Phillips screwdriver.
Right-O-Way sells the retainer plates by themselves or with the conversion wheelsets. They really do make a big difference in the appearence of the trucks.
Well, the thing that dominated this past week was getting my second shot of the Covid vaccine. It had me moving a little slow this past week.
My Pearl kept me company. She stayed with me as I moved from room to room looking kind of silly at times.
The LNE offset twin hoppers were still on the bench. I was hoping to get them through the weathering stage this week. That didn’t get as far along as I had hoped.
Before that could happen, I needed to add the coupler cut levers to the cars. After examining some photos, I was able to determine that the bracket that held the coupler lever was mounted to a diagonal plate running from the step to the end sill.
Here are four sets of the brackets I built up. I should have paid more attention to the brush I grabbed to apply the solvent. Apparently, there was still some paint residue on the brush. The set on the left got swapped out for some of the extras, but some how it made it into the photo. Don’t know why I didn’t photograph it again.
Then it was time to bend the levers and attach them to the cars. Here I’m attaching the cut lever. I secured the one end with a tiny amount of ACC to the coupler box. You can see the bottle of Dull Coating used to hold the lever in place while I glued it up.
A little touch of black paint and it looks like it was always been there. It is amazing, you take the time to install these details and when the black goes on, it’s like they disappear.
Not looking bad for Lionel cars. Next up, DullCoat and weathering. I hope.
Last week, I finished up ten pairs of Intermountain Trucks with Protocraft Wheelsets installed. Well, I had to find some models to place them under. So, I dug out some Lionel offset twins I’ve been working on.
I had four of the twins that I had mounted couplers and installed PSC bolsters on a number of years ago. I forget what they were decorated from the factory, that lettering was removed long ago and they were painted black on their way to become something new. About a month ago, I used CDS dry transfers to decorate three of the cars for Leigh & New England. This fourth car was still waiting.
You can see from this view. These were not extensivly rebuilt from their 3-rail origins. The center sill is drilled and tapped so that a Kadee coupler could be installed. The 3-rail bolster was ground flat and a Precision Scale bolster glued onto the car. I’ve done about a dozen cars in this way, but I’m looking into doing a different type of conversion the next time. One which rebuilds the bolster sheet into something a little more prototypically accurate.
I was going to just mount the trucks on the cars, but the couplers needed to be changed out and checked against the gauge.
I was thinking of just using the last set of transfers I had for the LNE on this car but I do have a love/hate relationship with dry transfers. I love they way they look on a car. We won’t talk about applying transfers to ribbed cars. That is one experience I can live without ever again.
I really wasn’t looking forward to doing another car with the CDS set. The transfers are getting old and one of the sets I used wasn’t sealed properly. It really gave me a hard time applying them to the car.
As I looked closer on the cars I thought were done, I still had the ends to do on two of the cars. So they still needed a little work in addition to the truck installation.
I had picked up a set of decals from K4 Decals with the thoughts that I might be able to use some of the little bits to complete the cars lettered with the transfers. I thought it might be a good time to try out to letter the fourth car.
I started applying the decals and I really wasn’t happy. The logo was thin and oversize compared to the car lettered with the CDS transfers on top. The reporting marks were a different font even though they were the same scheme. It reminded me of using a set of Champ decals.
Nope, they had to go. Back to the black car.
I thought about using the last set of CDS transfers I had on the car. Instead, I decided to used a set of decals from the same company for the San Serif scheme. The logo was smaller than the first set, closer in size to the CDS logo. And since the other three are done in the Roman scheme any problem with the decal lettering won’t stand out as much.
That looks better.
I finished up the lettering on the ends of the other cars also. I needed to change the numbers around and it’s a struggle to do that while looking through the transfer sheet.
I burnished the numbers onto a blank section of the decals. Then I could just apply them like decals on the ends of the cars and change the number sequence as I needed to.
Since the cars were sitting on the workbench and my order for the air hoses from Hi-tech Details came in. I thought I’d instal them next.
They are very simple to install. The bracket mounts onto the end sill and the air line feeds through the opening on the bracket. I usually just tie the air line into the cars air line by just glueing them onto the side of the existing air line.
Two cars completed, two more to go.
Here are the four car with the air hoses installed. They have been touch-up with a little bit of Vallejo Model Color Glossy Black 70.861. Their lettering is a combination of decals and transfers. Next up for these cars is to install the uncoupling levers, overspray the decals with Dull Coat and then it’s time to weather the cars.
It’s funny how sometimes the simplest of things will lead you down a rabbit hole. I am continuing to clean the train room and put stuff away. I noticed an Intermountain truck I had assembled with San Juan plastic Proto48 wheelsets sitting in it. They fit perfectly and roll great. But they are plastic wheel sets so you can’t polish the wheel surface and plastic wheels tend to pick up a lot of dirt.
Having that truck in my hand and a having a clean workbench, led to pulling out a Protocraft wheelset to look at. Which led to measuring the wheelsets and then the next thing you know out comes the wheel puller and more mearuring to see if the wheels could be placed on the San Juan axels. Nope, they would need to be machined to fit properly, not a quick solution.
This led to thinking about adding a point to the ends of the Protocraft axels. Which meant the Shereline lathe came out onto the workbench. Which led to the question, how can I hold that tiny axel in the lathe?
I looked at trying to hold Protocraft axel in the chuck. Not the best of ideas because of all the erregular surfaces of the protocraft axel. Might have worked with a straight axle. Which led to should I make new axels? No, this is meant to be a simple solution. Which lead to finding my collets…. which lead to a whole other search. Turned out the collets were where they should be and I just looked right past them. That really wasn’t the best way (for my set up) to hold them either. Which led to thinking about a set up I’ve used to polish wheel treads using the chuck and a steady rest.
Now before the machinists in the crowd start rolling their eyes, I should remind you that I did not take metal shop in High School, I took art classes. And as a machinist, I turned out to be a good Graphic Designer.
Well it worked, but putting the wheels back on the axel turned out to be more to think about. They were is perfect gauge from the manufacturer and when the day started. A simpler solution was needed.
As you can see I found a simpler solution, leave the wheels mounted on the axels. The axel is held by the chuck, supported on the other end by the steady rest. The wheel treads get polished and a file is used to add the point on the axel.
Here is the before and after of the Protocraft axels. They now drop into the Intermountain truck and it rolls great.
I tried cutting the point but that put forces on the axel in this set up which caused it to move. If I had used a collet and just held the axel then that would have worked. But I didn’t need close tolerances on the point, I just needed a point on the end of the axel.
I also want to mention that I said in the last post that the workbench would not stay as clean as it was. It didn’t.
That worked so well, I built up ten pairs of trucks.
The imported trucks from Protocraft and RY Models are GREAT! I own more pairs of them than I want to admit. Sometimes, you just don’t want to put a $52 pair of trucks under a $20 freight car.
Putting away one Intermountain truck with San Juan plastic wheels led to this. But notice, I was good about putting away the lathe and I’m back to a clean workbench.
Now, what cars do I want to put these trucks under…..
I realize I haven’t posted much recently, it doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on anything. It really just means I haven’t had time to write about anything I’m working on.
Rather then just post images with no words, as some do very effectively. I thought I’d start a new on-going series about what’s on the workbench. I’ll try to write just a few words so there is a better chance of it getting me to post in a timely manor.
I’ll start this off with a simple image of the workbench today. It’s way too clean. I can guarantee it won’t stay this clean.
I have spent the last few days moving the desk, bookcases, drawing table and just about everything in my train room in an effort to make the space work better for me.
Just before I did start cleaning, I did manage to get some decals down on a PSC PRR H25. I had painted the car a long while back and it had sat on the shelf waiting to take the next step.
I used a set of Rich Yoder’s PRR H21a decals to letter the car. It still needs more work. The decals need to be over sprayed, air hoses attached and weathering done. But at least it’s no longer sitting with naked paint on the shelf. It most likely will be back here again as it progresses through the shop.
