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Model Forum / General / Railroads / September 2010Big Ugly.
Confession: I'm a steam guy who harbors a secret love for certain diesels. The bigger and the uglier the better. I've been through the 12-step program, but so far it's only enabled me to enjoy throttle settings of up to 8. Anyway, here's my latest project with a few of her friends: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/4996537753/ I picked up the Alco-made model of a real-life Southern Pacific DH-643 on Ebay for a nominal sum because -as with most of Alco's Japanese- built models- the power-train was good only for scrap. I then spent a couple of months researching, detailing, building and installing an entirely new power-train, and then painting the results. There's now a new Buhler can motor inside, driving two healthy flywheels and a pair of Stewart trucks from an Alco Century-series diesel which happened to use the same ones. I've never painted a diesel before, but it turns out not to be all that different from -and no more difficult than- painting a steamer. http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/4996540887/ This is one of the locos I'm planning on running her with: An S.P. U-50. Quite possibly the only diesel of that era which could compete with the DH-643 in terms of sheer power and sheer ugly. http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/4997151328/ And this is the lash-up I normally use to power my 106-car '60s ore train: a U-50, a DD-35, and a second trailing U-50. Alas, I just finished converting the ore train from plastic to metal wheelsets, and it now rolls so well (and weighs so much more) that these three locos are no longer able to pull it up our 2 1/2% grades. Sooooo.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/4996547893/ We add another 2 pounds of motive power to the front end... http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/4996551181/ And Hey-Presto! The "Lashup From Hell": a DH-643, U-50, DD-35, U-50 combination that turns out to pull the ore train just fine! ( Note that all 4 of these locos are of the dual-engined sort that were tried for a decade or so beginning in the early '60s. ) That means 30 powered axles all pulling at the same time; and while I've yet to measure the full lash-up's pulling power, I know that each U-50 pulls about 18 ounces and the DD-35 pulls only slightly less, so there's probably going to be somewhere around 4 pounds of total pulling power here. I wonder exactly how much stress a Kadee #5 can take? (BTW: You can click on the "+" sign above each picture to see a blow up.) Enjoy, ~Pete On 9/16/2010 3:26 PM Twibil spake thus: > Confession: I'm a steam guy who harbors a secret love for certain > diesels. The bigger and the uglier the better. I've been through the [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/4996540887/ A diseasel, eh? I don't know, Pete: we're going to have to reconsider your membership in this group in light of this ...  SignatureThe fashion in killing has an insouciant, flirty style this spring, with the flaunting of well-defined muscle, wrapped in flags. - Comment from an article on Antiwar.com (http://antiwar.com) On 9/16/2010 3:26 PM Twibil spake thus: > Confession: I'm a steam guy who harbors a secret love for certain > diesels. The bigger and the uglier the better. I've been through the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/4996537753/ Nice woik. I can just see the rails bending underneath this beast. The weathering on the fuel tank is especially noteworthy and realistic-looking. All those fuel/oil drips. SignatureThe fashion in killing has an insouciant, flirty style this spring, with the flaunting of well-defined muscle, wrapped in flags. - Comment from an article on Antiwar.com (http://antiwar.com) > Nice woik. I can just see the rails bending underneath this beast. > > The weathering on the fuel tank is especially noteworthy and > realistic-looking. All those fuel/oil drips. Thanx. I worked from a picture of a DH-643 taken while it was sitting in wait for that final trip to Chrome Crankshaft. (Locomotive scrappers.) Needless to say, the S.P. hadn't bothered to paint or clean it for several years before the pic was taken. It matches pretty well. ~Pete : Confession: I'm a steam guy who harbors a secret love for certain : diesels. : : I picked up the Alco-made model of a real-life Southern Pacific DH-643 : on Ebay for a nominal sum because -as with most of Alco's Japanese- : built models- the power-train was good only for scrap. I dunno. I understand ALCO's really, really, tried to be a steam engine, at least from the stack... Bruce Signature------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I like bad!" Bruce Burden Austin, TX. - Thuganlitha The Power and the Prophet Robert Don Hughes > : I picked up the Alco-made model of a real-life Southern Pacific DH-643 > : on Ebay for a nominal sum because -as with most of Alco's Japanese- > : built models- the power-train was good only for scrap. > : > I dunno. I understand ALCO's really, really, tried to be > a steam engine, at least from the stack... (grin) Alcos were indeed known for smoking more than other diesels... http://nevadanorthernrailway.net/images/PhotoShoot/CD/The%20Alcos.jpg ...but the thing is that they (the prototype Alcos) ran pretty well even so. OTOH, the diesel loco *models* that were imported by the *other* Alco -and made in Japan by KMT- were (and are) notorious for having poorly-designed and manufactured drivelines. The open-framed motors were weak, noisy, and unreliable; the drivelines themselves were often built to sloppy specs and were subject to a lot of vibration, and the axel gears were so well-known for splitting and/or jamming that NWSL has been selling high-quality replacement gearsets for 30 years now. While the KMT-manufactured models were okay in the detail and proportion areas (not up to Overland standards, mind you, but not bad either) any off-the-shelf $7.50 Athearn diesel could consistantly out-perform a KMT-made model in terms of innate running ability. The problem with lusting after a DH-643 is that (A) they were a rare locomotive, with only 3 prototypes ever having been built; and (B) to the best of my knowledge only Alco and Overland have ever produced models of them. The Overland version now sells for circa $1,200 on Ebay, so if you want a good-running DH-643 -and you're not willing/ able to spend that sort of cash on a single diesel unit- your best bet is to use modern components to entirely replace the original driveline in an Alco-imported version. The loco itself cost me only $150, a pair of Stewart Century-series trucks cost around $30, the Buhler can motor and flywheels were another $30, and I already had a spare parts box containing the drive shafts and universal joints I needed. $210 versus $1,200 looks really good in my book when you consider that I also had the fun of figuring out how to make all the disparate parts work well together: and, best of all *my* Alco doesn't smoke a bit! ~Pete > The problem with lusting after a DH-643 is that (A) they were a rare > locomotive, with only 3 prototypes ever having been built; and (B) to > the best of my knowledge only Alco and Overland have ever produced > models of them. Similar situation with my C-855: Only 3 prototypes ever built, an A-B-A set, and AFAIK only Alco models ever produced any. It suffers from similar noise problem as described earlier for your model, and only the outer 2 trucks are powered ATM. The spring couplings that connected the outer truck drive shafts to the 2 inner trucks twisted apart. SignatureRick Jones Remove the Extra Dot to e-mail me "The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause. A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other peoples' business." -Eric Hoffer > Similar situation with my C-855: Only 3 prototypes ever built, an > A-B-A set, and AFAIK only Alco models ever produced any. I think you're right. The Alco models are the only ones I've ever seen. (U.P. locos?) > The spring couplings that connected the outer truck drive shafts to the 2 inner trucks twisted apart. It's difficult to make suggestions without being able to see exactly what you have to work with, but you could probably cobble something together using the same flexible neoprene tubing that model airplane guys use for fuel line. I use it to replace the worn-out rubber tubes that originally connected the motor's driveshaft to the gear housings in brass steam locomotives, and Overland uses *exactly* the same stuff to connect the paired trucks on my U-50s. It's available at most hobby shops, it's cheap, and it works like a champ! I keep a 1' roll of the stuff in my parts cabinet at all times, and the only problem with it is that after 10 years or so the stuff gets pretty stiff and needs to be replaced ~Pete > "The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, > the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his > religion, his race or his holy cause. A man is likely to mind his own > business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off > his own meaningless affairs by minding other peoples' business." > -Eric Hoffer BYW: Nice sig line. >> The spring couplings that connected the outer truck drive shafts to the 2 inner trucks twisted apart. > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > the only problem with it is that after 10 years or so the stuff gets > pretty stiff and needs to be replaced This loco had the 2 outer trucks powered from a massive central motor in the body, then the gear shafts in the 2 inner trucks were coupled to the gear shafts in the outer trucks by these tiny spring couplings. It was a B-B+B-B arrangement for those readers not familiar with the C-855. I was thinking of trying the NWSL universal couplings that I have used on a number of locos to replace worn out rubber tubing couplings, but have not gotten a round tuit yet. The spacing is very close between the trucks. >> "The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, >> the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > BYW: Nice sig line. Something my random tagline generator picked. I rarely select the tag-lines specifically for a posting. Of course, I do have to collect the tag-lines and put them into the files the tagline generator pulls them from. SignatureRick Jones Remove the Extra Dot to e-mail me "All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit." -Thomas Paine, American Founding Father > > On Sep 17, 8:12 pm, Rick Jones<r.t.jo...@extra.sbcglobal.net> wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 48 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Mr Jones, Where can I acquire a random tagline generator? I have a book of taglines that I'd like to use. > Where can I acquire a random tagline generator? I have a book of > taglines that I'd like to use. I use a program called KookieJar. I believe you'll find it on Sourceforge.net SignatureRick Jones Remove the Extra Dot to e-mail me "Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. [There is an] inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and...degeneracy of manners and of morals... No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." -James Madison > Confession: I'm a steam guy who harbors a secret love for certain > diesels. The bigger and the uglier the better. I've been through the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/4996537753/ Nice looking loco. wolf k. > > Anyway, here's my latest project with a few of her friends: > > >http://www.flickr.com/photos/33885727@N03/4996537753/ > > Nice looking loco. Thanx, but I suspect "purposeful" is more suitable than "nice looking". If the DH-643 had been a woman, guys would describe her as being "a great little cook with a fine personality" just before they left the vicinity at a dead run. ~Pete >>> Anyway, here's my latest project with a few of her friends: >> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > ~Pete .... and miss out on a good deal more than good cooking. ;-) wolf k. |
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