Hi Ray,

with your modelling skills, I'm sure you can fabricate your own dome at home for nothing, like I did.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,587.0.html


Jon

Finally got some video footage up.

Black and white

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/album508/aax


Colour

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/album508/aay


You Tube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTp1lsAdmZk



Jon

I repainted the DS-4-4-1000 into Erie colours before taking some video.








It still needs some dullcoat and a bit more weathering to hide the marks round the decals, but that's a minor job.


Jon

I went down to a swapmeet near Harrogate yesterday. Here are a few of the bits and pieces I managed to pick up.

Bachmann 2-10-2






Brass Baldwin 0-6-0 - oil tender








Brass Baldwin loco - sloped tender







They weren't cheap, but are exactly what I need to round off my Belt Railway of Chicago steam fleet.


Jon

Here is my most recent project - adding sound to a Stewart/Bowser DS-4-4-1000. Although it isn't a Bachmann product, I hope it gives some idea as to where to fit the decoder and speaker in some of the smaller diesel models.
 

Since I have no idea what a Baldwin engine sounded like I fitted one of the new Soundtraxx DSD101LC decoders with 1st gen EMD motor sounds and a 1" oval speaker(8 ohm).

Here is an unmodified chassis block and circuit board with 8-pin plug.







I cut away much of the front chassis weight to lower it to the same height as the rear weight - ie just above the worm gear housing.

I also stripped out the circuit board and cut the plastic holding lugs from the motor housing.

After adding some lead above the motor as a heat sink, I wired up the sound decoder, using the salvaged resistors from the circuit board for the LEDs.




The speaker is fully enclosed in a baffle made of plastic sheet and all holes are sealed with Squadron putty. the LED for the front light has been taped to the top of the baffle.






I have managed to fit everything under the loco's hood so as not to mess up the detailled cab interior at all, something I was keen to avoid.


Jon

Thanks uys

Quote from: lanny on March 03, 2007, 02:51:29 PM
Ray Breyer has sent me some hints about shortening the tender as well. All this is great info for ICRR modelers!

Ray sent me some excellent shots of the #908 tender - I still have a few bits to add - rear steps and such like...

Quote
If you have more photos of the process you went through, and have time, I would love to receive them via private eMail (editortcs@aol.com) if you prefer.

All the in-progress photos I have are probably already in this topic, but I can take some more pics of specific areas if you want.

Quote
could you post the dimensions (in inches, please :-) you used to create the Paducah style sand dome?

I'll get onto it as best I can - I'm a mm/cm modeller rather than an incher.


Jon

Painted and lettered









Comparison with an unmodified consolidation




All in all, a fun conversion/detailling project which took a few evenings. All the bits came from the spares box, except the soundchip and speaker.


Jon

Detail #2  the front end





detail #3  straightening the footboard and moving the Westinghouse pump





detail #4   shortening the tender




detail #5  adding tender sidesheets




Jon

It is reasonably well accepted that the basis for this loco is the Illinois Central 2-8-0.

Using the Model Railroader book on steam locos which has some photos and a drawing in it, I hacked off a few bits, moved some others and added a few more to come up with something resembling the IC prototype.


Detail #1  The sand dome (plastic sheet)










Jon

Quote from: chucknlead on March 02, 2007, 09:49:24 PM
Is that your layout in the background?

Also looks like a hand made track.

Yes, Sweethome Chicago. Lots more pics here.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/2703


The trachwork is Peco code 75. Their code 83 track wasn't available over here in the UK when I started building.


Jon

I find, in general, that DCC-chipped locos run better in DCC if the decoder is NOT set to also run in DC. This option is usually found in the Configuration part of the DCC programming.

Here's a photo of my 2-6-6-2, with Soundtraxx LC decoder in the tender




Jon

Hello,

I managed to fit a Soundtraxx DSD100LC into the 0-6-0 by flipping the motor so it now sits in the cab and the decoder is in the boiler - the speaker is in the cab roof - just.





Here is a video clip of the same loco - I have since synchronised the wheel quartering.

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/album508/aah


Jon