Steam Locomotive upgrades - HO

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

To get the layout ready for a big show in a couple of weeks in London, I’ve been busy fixing, tinkering, cleaning and generally upgrading some of the steam loco fleet over the past week. some of the improvements have been as much as a new speaker and decoder, others have had the speaker moved to the tender floor. Several have had repaints with new decals applied and one just got a wheel clean.

Overall, they are all looking, sounding and working better than they did before.

Here are some photos of the locos I’ve been busy with.

Jon

2

And the others…

Now to get on with something else.

Jon

3

That’s great looking work as usual Jon. It’s always a pleasure to see your layout. If I might ask, how do you make the raised lettering I see on some of your buildings? The variety of signage really adds to the effect. J.R.

4

The raised signs are done with the plastic lettering set from British company Ratio Kits.

Jon

5

Forgot to mention - some video of the other locos (Heritage 0-6-0s) worked on recently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrF5v2W066k

I’ll do up a new video with the more recent upgrades soon.

Jon

6

Lookin’ good, Jon! [tup][tup] I always enjoy seeing your work.

Wayne

7

Fantastic as always![tup]
Thanks! I was wondering about those raised letters too.

8

Nice modeling! Is #5 a Bachmann 0-6-0 switcher? If so, what modifications did you make. I have one that I didn’t take apart yet & want to add a decoder & some weight. Thanks…Jerry

9

Jerry, it is a Bachmann 0-6-0.

I stripped out the contents of the saddle tank to accommodate the decoder

This included sawing some of the weight off.

I built a cradle for the motor to sit in the cab. I used offcuts of plastic sheet and trial-and-error.

If Tsunami decoders were available when I did it, the decoder may just have fit in the cab without moving anything.

more…

Jon

10

A lot of the plastic cab interior was cut away

A speaker was inserted into the cab roof - the curve of the roof acting as the speaker baffle.

The LC decoder was shoehorned into whatever space was left.

Not much room was left in the cab…

but with the addition of some dirty windows and painting everything inside black, it is not too noticeable.

Hope this doesn’t put you off - the hardest part is making that first cut.

Jon

11

Jon, in the 0-6-0 in the video, what DSD decoder did you use?

12

Heck, why not put the Tsunami Micro in there?

David B

13

He said IF the Tsunami was avaiable at the time he would have put it in.

Rich

14

The Tsunami and Tsunami Micro are 2 different decoders. The Tsunami is quite large compared to the Micro.

David B