Hi guys! I realize I’ve been asking a lot more questions recently than I am contributing to the forums, so I figured I’d share this little project I’ve been working on.
Do note I wrote this in great detail so feel free to jump around!
The Story: I ordered this Hallmark Santa Fe 2507 class 2-8-0 from an auction by the seller Trainz. They use Fedex as their shipping carrier, and while Fedex isnt the only one to blame for this, they have historically handled packages rougher, atleast for whoever delivers them in my area. Anyways, when the engine arrived, it had suffered damage on the front. The pilot deck was forced upward at an angle, scratching the paint on the steam chest(or piston assembly?), breaking the solder joints on the ladders which were sandwiched between the pilot and running bords to the point where they were barely attached, AND breaking off one of the support brackets on the underside of the pilot.
This was unacceptable, as I intentionally bought this loco to avoid the painting hassle. While the paint wasent great by any means (too thick and uneven in some areas), I personally dislike painting and so it was gonna be extra work for me to repair this since you cant repair solder joints effectively if the piece is still painted. Long story short, Trainz did give me a partial refund of $25, dropping the loco down to a staggering $155 paid (not including tax or shipping). This is a steal, especially considering I found a hidden Digitraxx decoder inside!
Good stuff, Trainman! [Y][Y] Thanks for posting and photographing “the process”!
I wish more folks would do this sort of thing on the forum. It’s informative on so many different levels and there’s always something you cn take away from it. I have a few unpainted brass locomotives that I’ve picked up over the past few years that I want to eventually paint & detail so this “how to” will be helpful to me.
And, to reciprocate, I like to use 34 AWG magnet wire for my SMD LEDs and solder them on myself. The wire OD is only 0.006" so a #79 or 80 drill bit will allow two wires to feed through the hole and they nearly become invisible.
I also use Testors Clear Parts Cement to insulate and mount the SMD LEDs inside the headlamps. For warming up my warm-white LEDs even more, I use a 2:1 mixture of Tamiya Clear Orange (X-26) and Tamiya thinner (X-20A). I will look into the Amber Gallery Glass though. Did you pick that up at Michael’s?
That’s a very nicely-done, and clearly written rescue of that locomotive. Conquering your dislike of painting looks like it yielded a good outcome, too.
It’s actually pretty easy to add pick-up wipers for the locomotive’s drivers. While my layout is strictly DC, the method works well for DCC, too. I use copper clad circuit board, available in both single and double-sided versions, and have done several of my older locos, putting wipers on all drivers and all tender wheels, too.
After using a cut-off disc in a motor tool to cut a suitably-sized piece from the copper clad board, I used a utility knife to cut the copper cladding into two isolated areas, and, where necessary, removed the copper around areas where screws were used to hold the board in-place. An alternative would be to use nylon screws.
With the board in place on the loco, I used .020" phosphor-bronze wire from Tichy to bend suitably-sized wipers, then soldered them in place.
Here are some photos of a DCC equipped Bowser PRR A-5 that I built for a friend…
…I also added wipers to the tender trucks…
and added plug-in connections between the tender and loco…
Thanks all for the kind words! Glad this post helped someone.
Ed, I agree I got no complaints with this hallmark engine!
Tom, I dont know how you manage to solder such wires on these microscopic LEDs, but that’s some impressive skill! Unfortunately I cant do that. I used to buy these LEDS with magnet wire but Ive had the wire touch the sides of the brass headlight casting enough times to burn out 2 decoders, so Ive switched over to a type of LED with just as fine wires but have proper insulation. You’re right I could defientely drill a smaller hole and I’ll try to next time but my luck with drilling small holes into brass without breaking the bit has been rather poor…
Tamiya clear paint can also work, but I read from somewhere which recommended gallery glass and while expensive, a bottle will last you a life time and it works very well! I know a few who use it to make marker light lenses, BUT Ive heard you can also make headlight lenses with it by simply making a bubble with this stuff, sorta like microscale kristal klear. Ive yet to try it though. I bought mine through amazon, I got clear, amber and red currently.
Wayne, I admit the main reason I havent tried is not knowing what supplies and where to source them. Thanks for letting me know what kind and where you got the copper wire from, now may I ask where you got the PCB from? Very impressive work on the install, Im sure the ground clearance on that A5s just dropped a tad!
That’s why I insulate the sides & back of the SMD LED with the Testors Clear Parts Cement and let it dry before mounting it into the headlamp. I’ve also noticed that sometimes those pre-wired LEDs do not have the neatest or straightest solder jobs done on them. If there is a wire that is pertruding out past or angled on the solder pad then that can be problematic and cause an inadvertent short.
Again, a VERY nice job on the brass locomotive repair and repaint, Charles. And the video was fun. And thanks for NOT starting out at Mach 1. [:S] I love seeing realistic starts & stops. [Y][8D]
The wire from Tichy is phosphor bronze, much better than brass or copper for retaining its springiness.
However, I’m afraid my source for copper-clad board won’t be of much use to you, as I get it from a fairly local source here in southern Ontario, called Sayal Electronics.
DOH! I wasn’t aware, until a few minutes ago, that they also have an on-line presence, so you may be able to contact them HERE.
The board material they offer comes in a variety of sizes, and as single or double-sided.
Here in Ontario, Radio Shack has been long gone, but I believe they’re still around in at least some parts of the U.S.
