I am thinking of buying an A-B-A set of brunswick green 5 stripe Pennsylvania R.R. Baldwin RF-16 Sharknose diesels. Can someone post a photo of their diesels if possible. I don't want another catalog photo please. ;)
Cobrabob.
Hi Cobrabob,
Go on line toTrainworld website. Open up the second page for the Lionel sale flyer. ( Bottom Right) They have your Baldwin Shark on sale for 199.99 AA and if you ask for a free B they give you the B unit free.
I have the Sharks in the Delaware Hudson name Blue and silver. Good runner.
One challenge...the front trucks rubbed on the body shell. Simple solution, remove body 4 screws. Space front two screws to body with one small washer. Voila! No more rubbing. Just space the front two screws not all 4. Created a small pitch with the correct clearance. Not noticeable.
Hope this helps...671
Dear Bob,
Sorry, it's all I have.
(http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz296/joebarb/Untitled.jpg)
Joe
;D That's okay Joe!
I'll take it. Anyhow, today I ordered an A-B-A set of WbB Brunswick Green Pennsy Sharks from Trainworld/Trainland. For $199.99 I figured I could not go wrong. The free "B" unit was the deal maker. I sort of wish that I would have bought an extra "B" unit. An A-B-B-A lash up would look great on my layout!! ;) Hopefully they will perform flawlessly, like my other five Williams locos have. This is only the second time that I have mail ordered a locomotive, as I prefer to see them run before I plunk down my hard earned cash.
Cobrabob.
(http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x107/Coobrabob8/NEWLAYOUT58.jpg)
My Williams Santa Fe F3s pulling a seven car set of MTH Santa Fe streamliners.
Cobra Bob: I bought a Canadian Pacific ABA from Trainland. They made a mistake and sent me 2 B units instead of 1. I called and told them of their mistake. They thanked me for being honest and told me to keep it. I have been dealing with them ever since. Coolwaldo
Coolwaldo, Wow, that's great! I think that it is nice that they said to keep the extra B unit. They shipped my RF-16s on Friday. UPS says I should have them by Tuesday. I can't wait!!
Cobrabob.
Quote from: coolwaldo on September 29, 2012, 10:11:43 PM
Cobra Bob: I bought a Canadian Pacific ABA from Trainland. They made a mistake and sent me 2 B units instead of 1. I called and told them of their mistake. They thanked me for being honest and told me to keep it. I have been dealing with them ever since. Coolwaldo
That's great customer satisfaction! Anyhow it might cost them more for you to return the item to Trainland, so they let you keep it. You ship the item to them, they sell it and have to pay to ship it again, so it may cost them more for you to return in the long run.
Lee F.
There was something from UPS waiting for me today when I arrived home from work!! My Williams by Bachmann Baldwin RF-16 Sharks showed up. ;D I put the A-B-As on the track and fired them up for a test run and they performed flawlessly, OFCOURSE!!! Thank you very much WbB for another gem!! I now own six different WbB locomotives, and am very pleased thus far!
Cobrabob.
(http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x107/Coobrabob8/NEWLAYOUT141.jpg)
Pennsy RF-16 Sharks A-B-A
Pennsy Alco FAs A-A
Pennsy Small Hudson Steamer
Santa Fe F3s A-B-A
C&O BL-2
B&O NW-2 Switcher
Hi CobraBob8,
They look great! Did you experience any rubbing of the body to front trucks?
Trainland's Website has an E-mail sign-up. They notify you by E-mail of up coming sales. I would advise you to sign up for that.
I live on Long Island N.Y. approx. 13 miles from Trainland. They are always helpful in the store. They call me Mr. Williams because of all of the Williams products that I have purchased from them. ( 4 Steamers and 11 Diesels 4 Passenger sets ).
I have post war Lionel, but I can not seem to see the value in the new Lionel products. I like old school conventional trains. Williams @ Trainland gives me the best of both worlds. Quality and style that I crave, at a price that cannot be beaten.
This hobby is addicting. I need a bigger layout.
I modified the steamers with the bridge rectifier voltage reduction as per Joe Satnick. They run great and smoke 100% better. The whistle works better with this set-uo. I also installed an on/off switch for the smoke units. The switch is in the loco's engineer's area. I epoxy glued the switches out of plain sight, but still could easily reach with my finger. The diesels are all stock, no voltage or wiring modification.
I run them all with 275 watt ZW's, They perform flawlessly. I will in the near future increase the size of my layout. I am also investigating a DIY whistle/bell controller. With the ZW, as you know I can only blow the whistle.
Hope this helps...671
There is a Lionel Whistle control button. Modern manufacture. Place between the ZW and the track. Test it. If the black and red wires are one way, you get horn, whistle. Other, bell.
Now, you might want ato get FOUR, 2 for each of the long handles on the ZW. On older ZW's, it takes a lot of power to get the whistle to blow. With the new buttons, you should not have that problem
Hi Dominic,
I looked into the Lionel whistle bell button. Mixed reviews were the result. The devise apparently cannot not take high amperage loads. It has a tendency to fail.
I believe that I need to DYI a devise that will send a DC voltage piggybacked onto the AC voltage. This will trip either the bell or whistle depending upon which rail, center or outer rail receives the plus side of the DC signal.
I will need to tinker with this. If I come up with an answer I will let you know. Right now my plate is full with projects and Grandchildren.
This will be a good winter project. Thanks again for the info.
671
671,
thanks for the tip. If I notice any obvious rubbing I will take a look into your advice.
Cobrabob.
I use TMCC in conv., and W/WBB bells and whistles work. Litterally!
Too bad the CGW didn't have sharks, eh Dom?
I've got a set of demonstrator A+A sharks, but no B unit.
Now even I would have to seriously consider CGW F3 units if they were offered!!! ;D
Cobrabob.
Er, KCS and MKT did not have them either!
Dear All,
NOTE: SEE NEXT POST FOR CORRECTION
A crude Bell Button:
6 amp or larger diode (example: Radio Shack 276-1661 ) in series with one of the 2 wires between the transformer and tracks.
Jumper (short) across the diode for normal operation, temporarily remove the short (un-clip one end of the jumper) to activate the bell.
If you get the horn instead of the bell, turn the diode around (in the other direction).
Transformer Term. 1----------------------------->l-----------------center rail ( -->l-- = diode)
l l
l--short------l
Transformer Term. 2-------------------------------------------------outer rails
The reason I call it crude is because it will slow your train down as you activate it.
Not slowing down takes a little more thought and complexity in the design.
Once you get it working, buy a 6 Amp or better momentary-off NC (= Normally Closed) SPST push button switch to replace the jumper. Example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-BLACK-Head-MINI-Push-Button-Momentary-NC-SPST-ON-OFF-Switch-10mm-/160894894756?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25761542a4
Hope this helps.
Joe Satnik
Dear All,
A few more thoughts.
The reason the bell button from Brand L fails is because it's not made to handle a dead short at the tracks, which happens all too often.
(A derailed wheel touches both the middle and outside rail.)
Rough calculation with an old ZW:
275 Watts/20 Volts =~ 14 Amps, for at least as long as it takes to trip the ZW's internal circuit breaker.
The switch and diode in my crude bell button would be safer at 20 amps, not 6 Amps, so I'll look for more robust components.
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
Dear All,
Switches:
The Cherry E13 series 15 amp switches on e-bay would work, and are reasonably priced.
E-bay search word: cherry 15a
Either a 3 terminal (wired NC - COM, Normally Open "NO" terminal not used),
or the SPNC (Single Pole Normally Closed "NC") 2 terminal.
Both types are momentary.
One of the auctions is for a lot of 10.
Any of the auctions with the dollar bill in the picture would work.
Diodes:
Example:
E-bay search word: diode 15a 45v
The two outer terminals of the 3 pin tab diodes would have to be connected to one another.
The cylindrical Schottky diodes (2 leads) would be simpler.
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
Edit: Added diode info.
Hi Joe,
I think I have the answer to what I am looking for in a whistle / bell controller.
Follow my thought...
1. A double pole double throw switch of sufficient amperage. ( 20 amps )
1 3 5
Terminals on switch
2 4 6
Wiring... Transformer output to terminals 1 & 2
Track input to terminals 3 & 4
Cross wire terminal #1 to terminal #6
Cross wire terminal #2 to terminal # 5
This type of setup will allow you to use the existing whistle switch on your transformer ( I.E. ZW ) as a whistle/horn blower in one position and a bell ringer in the other position. By toggling the double pole double throw switch to it's other position, will allow the DC carrier to be reversed. This will then ring the bell.
What do you think?...671
Dear 671,
It could work.
One concern would be the "glitch" or "voltage dropout" that would occur as the switch contacts "break" then "make" to the other polarity.
Will that dropout be long enough to put the electronic reversing unit into its next step, which is neutral, stopping your moving train?
Even if the loco stays in forward, will it stumble enough to be visually distracting?
Another concern would be the transformer's inductive kickback from suddenly being disconnected from its load.
That's how an old Kettering (points) ignition system works in a car.
How about two 43 volt TVS circuit protectors, one across the lines on both sides of the switch?
1.5KE43CA from Digi-Key (or other sources) has a reasonable price and would do the job.
It's a nice experiment to try if you're not worried about the cost of the switch and the 2 TVS's.
Transformer terminal 1----------------------- ------dpdt--------------------Track center rail
l \ / l
TVS X TVS
l / \ l
Transformer terminal 2-----------------------------switch-------------------Track outer rails
Let us know how it turns out.
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
Hi Joe,
Thanks for the quick response. I think due to the fact that the Williams loco's have a capacitor in their electronic E-unit that momentarily holds the existing E-unit's setting when they cross a switch or rail crossing track, I should be OK.
I will try to do a test model this coming weekend. I will run Williams and Postwar Lionel as a test.
I will let you know the outcome.
671