Sorry to jump in anothers thread but I cannot get anyone to tell me how to remove the smoke box front on a Spectrum 4-4-0 engine to access the headlight terminals. I tried Bachmanns via the site twice and twice by snail mail. I think I tried some weeks ago. Maybe one of you has done this before.
Thanks in advance.
rikc9

Quote from: Bill Baker on March 13, 2007, 10:12:05 AM
Craig,

There is a guy named Harold Minkey, who is a member of this board, and occasionaly he posts his website showing some of his scenery work.  Do a search for Hminkey and view some of his pictures.  In my opinion he is one of the best scenery craftsmen on this board.

By the way, did you try the Saran Wrap between your layers?

Is the the Harold you are thinking of.
http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/

rikc9

If you get ambitious, there is a chuff wire connection on the DSD-090LC so you can sync the chuff with the drivers.
It is alway good to belong to two or more mrr groups so more information can be shared. I have been on the 'Net for only twelve years and I have learned there is a tremendous amount of information available, though it is not alway easy to find exactly what you want. Ok, I am an Internet junkie. I admit it. I search a lot using Yahoo & Google.

rikc9

I  forgot to check Walthre's. They have this one.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/585-3088

Go to http://www.walthers.com/
Click on Advance search
Enter 585 for Manufacturer
Enter stack for keywords
Click search
Check them out.

rikc9

HO DCC & sound club & home. NCE. A little DC at both.
Lionel & Marx 0-27 three rail, AC

Quote from: BillD53A on March 10, 2007, 06:29:15 PM

All I need is a source of those stacks...

Precision Scale Parts has a cabbage stack in their newest catalog. It is part number HO-3088 for $4.50 but better call them or email them. They do respond. Unfortunately they sell the steam HO catalog for $18.00.
They have quite a few old time stacks in their catalog. I am looking at catalog 3.1 I received back in Jan 2007
http://www.precisionscaleco.com/
They do not have online catalog or ordering yet. I buy parts from them now and then.
If you want more information, contact me off the list.

rikc9

The Richmond tender come with a pole  on the engineers side.
I would doubt they burned wood but you never know. I know some well used 4-4-0s were used by lumber companies. It is possible one of the first series of Richmond's were worn enough to be sold off to a logging company. Some logging companies bought cast off locos when they did not have to worry about sharp curves and rough track that a geared loco could handle. I have a couple books by George Abdill that shows some well used rod engines used to pull long logging trains. No doubt the engines were no longer useful for main line service. I also suspect even if the stack has a screen top, they would not use wood for very long as some engines were converted to oil burners. Loggers were known to be very resourceful.

rikc9

I replaced the stock decoder with a SoundTraxx DSD-100LC generic steam decoder. It controls power to the engine and sound. Nothing fancy but it is sound. I think a Tsunami would fit. I think (you better check) that the decoder sizes are about the same. It is necessary to cut a post that supported the pc board. I used a Dremel with a fiberglass cut off disc. Also I had to solder spice the wires I unsoldered from the stock pc board. The is not enough room for connectors. I used the stock wires and connectors to the engine.
Tony's Trains offers the Spectrum with stock decoder, DSD LC decoder or premium decoder. They do not say what the brand of the premium decoder is.
Here are four of six photos. The install is not for the faint of heart. You need soldering and fabrication skills. I have been an electronic tech and then an industrial machine mechanic for many years.
What is annoying is, Bachmann would not tell me if sound was a future plan for this loco, or is the tender frame with speaker holes is used in another Bachmann Spectrum engine.
Bachmann can be very secretive. They have some great products but customer relations are rather poor. No doubt they are trying to do business with as few people as possible though they will never tell you that.

I am unable to upload photos. Apparently the Bachmann forums are not compatible with my Linux computer. I kept getting an error and the three files are small.

I would suggest going to Yahoo and joining the early rail group. It is free. The photos are there and you should belong to more than one model railroad group if this is your only one.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EarlyRail/

rikc9

Yeah the tender chains can be a pain. My new Spectrum arrived with two broken links where the chains are connected to the tender frame above the sort of center of the trucks. Also, one of the hooks at the tender frame is broken. I have a same type brass inside hook I can put in place. I have some chain the same size and I have to use one link to connect the chain again. Time for the Optivisor and steady hand. I have thought of cutting the chain off completely.
It is a very nice loco and even better now that I put sound in it.

rikc9

Caboose Hobbies
4-4-0 AMERICAN UNLTRD StCab DC+C
Roadname: Unlettered
Manufacturer: Bachmann Industries
Stock Status:
Our Price $145.97

I bought mine at Caboose Hobbies.  Tony's Trains has them also.

Rikc9

I did that to a couple Bachmann 4-4-0s with tender drives. With tender pickups and modified driver wheel bearings they run very well. Actually I bought replacement can motors from Mantua before they closed up. I did that also to a General. I have a small "can" motor out of an old CD rom drive for a third Bachmann 4-4-0.  It has a 1.5mm shaft. NWSL has a good variety of motors and the shaft adapters if you need them. Some small pieces of styrene gave the proper angle for the motor.
http://www.nwsl.com/
The online catalog can be difficult to read but be patient.
Three replacement motors are Mabuchi FK-050SH. Do a Google search. They measure 30 mm x 12 mm x 15.5 mm x 1.5 mm shaft, flat can motor.
The one out of the CD rom measures 28 mm x 12 mm x 16 mm X 1.5mm shaft.

rikc9

Quote from: Virginian on March 01, 2007, 12:12:46 PM
My Spectrum 4-8-2 Heavy has an LED, not a bulb.  It was blue, and I changed it to a yellow-white.

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Hi

I have a HO Spectrum 4-4-0 and I want to replace the LED headlight. I installed a DCC/sound decoder because the loco did not have sound. I did not realize the headlight was an LED and it blew out when I powered up the loco. The LED leads come out the back of the headlight, take a 90 degree bend downward and plug into the top of the smoke box. No doubt there are electrical connections inside the smoke box. With the new LED, I cannot make contact anymore. Any idea on how to remove the smoke box front? I cannot get any response to this question so far.
It is very frustrating as someone must have had to access the inside of the smoke box.
I am hoping your 4-8-2 headlight might be similar to mine.
Thanks.

rikc9

Call Tony's Trains. I have done business with them before. Others like them also.
http://www.tonystrains.com/about_tonys.htm
I suspect it will be a SoundTraxx decoder. Go and join (free) this Yahoo site for SoundTraxx discussions. Make sure to read their files and photos section. Search previous messages.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/soundtraxx/

rikc9

I have used thin phosphor bronze which is slightly springy  for a similar situation. About fifteen years ago I picked up a spool of phosphor bronze, .002" thickness. The width is six inches and it must be ten feet long. I would cut and snail mail a few inches of it to use but it sounds like you are doing ok now.

rikc9

My youngest step daughter who has a masters in Civil Engineering has gone back to work part time. She works at a small startup firm that reduces data taken by a low flying helicopter over railroad right of way. The 'Copter slowly flies at about 150 feet above the ground. The data is from GPS, photos, LIDAR and probably a couple other sensors.
I was amazed at the data reduction she does. She has two 21 inch LCD panels in front of her. Some kind of CAD software. It is something to see the different layers she makes up from the data. Railhead height, roadbed, structures, control boxes, under passes, over passes, culverts, power lines,  probably stray sticks, you name it. I think she is doing some data reduction for BNSF and CSX.
Here is a link a railroad that has done this.
http://www.njtransit.com/nn_press_release.jsp?PRESS_RELEASE_ID=625
I was not aware anything like this was going on but you can see the reasons in the article.

rikc9