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Post by corsair on Mar 24, 2017 14:41:01 GMT -5
Hello everyone! This is the first piece of equipment for my imaginary pike which services a twisting line into the Cacades from a BN interchange. I have always been fascinated by the way short lines in the PNW used tiny, highly optioned up switcher power. My company relies on this SW1 to make a daily run up the hill to a brewery at the end of the line. The major work to be done is adding a Cannon cab, Shapeways dynamic brake section and lots of work to the die cast frame. The model is an old Walthers Conrail unit which was stripped and torn down. The frame received lots of attention with a mill file to thin the pilots, remove the stairs provide clearance for the cab interior. The air piping was cleaned up a bit, although the cast metal walkway really limits how much can be done in terms of detail. Visible in the second shot is the depowered truck, an unfortunate concession to the cab. Next up while I wait on the Shapeways parts are the pilots. I'll be building up a mount for a plow, adding MU equipment and coupler cut bars. Thanks for checking out my work! I'm a newbie, so I will probably have lots of questions when it comes to electrical and finishing.
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Mar 24, 2017 17:16:02 GMT -5
Nice work on milling down the frame, that's no easy task.
What body details do you have in mind? The sky is the limit with a freelance unnit.
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Post by corsair on Mar 24, 2017 19:01:37 GMT -5
The biggest change to the body will be adding dynamic brakes. I want to replicate something similar to the LV "pups" used to haul coal. While a prototype SW1 was never configured this way, I looked at enough pictures of SW1 and SW8 prime movers and generators to decide it "could have happened." Maybe the shop crew got sick of replacing brake shoes! I'm modeling the 80's, so you figure an SW1 might have migrated pretty far from OEM. I have a Shapeways part on order that should provide a starting point, although it looks like it will need tons of putty work to match up to the Walthers shell. Additionally, I'll be doing full length handrails and removing the body grab. Pictures of industrial units configured that way show the lift rings retained with everything else covered over or pulled off. I would like to add class lights if I can make them work. I'm going to drive myself nuts trying to do an interior and lighting on the cab. It makes for a real rubix cube of assembly and paint order. So one question for the board: I'd like to source some nicer handrails for the ends without fabricating them. Kato sets from the NW2 are easy to find, are they as chunky as the GP35? I haven't found a source for P2K off the SW9, are they worth tracking down instead?
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Mar 24, 2017 19:37:18 GMT -5
The Kato handrails fit almost perfectly. That's the route i went on my TR4 build (SW7 based). Turned out great. They are a little thick but not terrible.
I think Keystone makes the interior, if you can find them. I gave up on the interior, the powered rear truck was more important for my build .
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Post by corsair on Mar 26, 2017 11:37:45 GMT -5
The Kato handrails fit almost perfectly. That's the route i went on my TR4 build (SW7 based). Turned out great. They are a little thick but not terrible. I think Keystone makes the interior, if you can find them. I gave up on the interior, the powered rear truck was more important for my build . Thanks, I love your TR4! They really turned out nice! Walthers has the Keystone interior in stock, but there are a couple of other things I need that won't be back for a couple of weeks. Caboose Hobbies is open (mostly) again and they order from Walthers. I may try to go through them so I can leave my money locally. In the meantime I have been working on the pilots. The front is finished, lacking only an MU multipin connection. I ran out of real estate, so it will have to go on a stand above the deck. Also visible in this shot is the etched radiator grill. The little piece of brass is my pilot template, which was reproduced with .005" sheet. Easier to see on the rear. This end will match the other when done. Real EMD switchers have an open pilot where the brass sheet is, along with 6 bolt holes for mounting whatever you want. 90% of them are open or have the skirting piece recessed into the pilot. Neither sounded fun to whittle from a cast frame. Instead, my railroad welds the plow to some sheet steel and bolts it on up to the front face. Airline and MU placement seems all over the map on modernized units, so it's hard to go wrong there. I can't really 'finish' the rear pilot until I get more cut bar brackets (one of the back order items from Walthers), so progress will be random as parts come in. By the end of the week I should have the DB section and Kato handrails. There is also a BN GP35 here which could use some love.
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Post by rbmn1547 on Mar 26, 2017 11:59:11 GMT -5
You said that lots of PNW shortlines used highly customized switchers, do you have any examples that I could do more research on? I love customized switchers used as road power.
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Post by corsair on Mar 26, 2017 12:24:02 GMT -5
You said that lots of PNW shortlines used highly customized switchers, do you have any examples that I could do more research on? I love customized switchers used as road power. Here's a good one: All that 'stuff' piled up on the unit is there to make a switcher act like a Geep while sticking to a 44' length and a weight of a little over 100 Tons. Many of the lines built for lumber and/or gold mining originally used Shays and the like, although explosives were good enough by then to build standard gauge versus narrow. This made switcher based power a perfect fit for any lines that survived into the diesel era. They were already built for slow speeds and tight turns. The dynamic brakes make perfect sense if you think about the work being done. Empty cars go up the hill, loaded ones go down. For my railroad, it was originally built to service gold mines, but they still haul aggregate from a crusher to a cement plant at the interchange. I would love to build a switcher/slug set for that part of the line, but the SW1 is "fully equipped" so that it can lend a hand as needed. I enjoy this part of freelancing. Working out what the company does, and how it does it. In this case, the company is built around a handful of things I would like to model when I have space for a layout. In its own way it is just as much fun as the proto research/work I'm doing for BN 2554.
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Post by corsair on Mar 28, 2017 10:25:10 GMT -5
My Shapeways box came in with my first 3D printed part! Prep wasn't terrible, especially considering this part was drawn for an Athearn SW7. I was concerned the print might be too wide, but it matches both the hood and cab. I just reduced the height a little to align the hood curves. Still needed are a 36" fan and some brass screen for the side openings. Nevertheless, I'm pretty impressed with my first shell splice!
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Mar 28, 2017 12:18:03 GMT -5
The Athearn SW series actually have correct width hoods.
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Post by rbmn1547 on Mar 28, 2017 19:47:11 GMT -5
That looks really good, have you ordered the air tanks yet? You should plate over the middle forward cab windows and put the air tanks there. You could even have the stack turn or curve away to fit the air tanks, I've seen a few instances of this. This looks like a lot of fun, I may have to start working on my own DB SW1. Does the Walthers SW1 have the metal frame, or was that your own addition?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2017 20:25:40 GMT -5
That looks really good, have you ordered the air tanks yet? You should plate over the middle forward cab windows and put the air tanks there. You could even have the stack turn or curve away to fit the air tanks, I've seen a few instances of this. This looks like a lot of fun, I may have to start working on my own DB SW1. Does the Walthers SW1 have the metal frame, or was that your own addition?. My sw1 has the metal frame first run so I'd say their still using the metal frame.
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Post by corsair on Mar 28, 2017 21:28:48 GMT -5
That looks really good, have you ordered the air tanks yet? You should plate over the middle forward cab windows and put the air tanks there. You could even have the stack turn or curve away to fit the air tanks, I've seen a few instances of this. This looks like a lot of fun, I may have to start working on my own DB SW1. Does the Walthers SW1 have the metal frame, or was that your own addition? The SW1 will keep more of a switcher profile than the unit in the picture. That one is just a great example of a really optioned out PNW shortline switcher. There was tons of variety as each prototype was custom built/rebuilt for its circumstances. Top mounted tanks means your railroad paid extra to mount that giant fuel tank. EMD had an extended range option already that lots of Class 1's used, but this is a unique solution. Either they have a long run, terrible fuel access, or both. As far as the Walthers model, the metal frame is stock and includes everything from the walkway down. If you invest some time, it cleans up pretty well. The casting is a little pidgin toed near the pilots. You can see it here if you look at the holes in the steps. I might redo one or two, but mostly I can live with it. It also limits how thin you can sand the pilot face, although I still got at least .030" off each end. This has been a fun project, so I would certainly recommend it. The beauty of freelancing is you can have a 600hp hill climber if you want one 🙂
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Post by jmlaboda on Mar 29, 2017 19:56:52 GMT -5
You know... the SW1 remained in production until after the SW8s had been produced. If you were to do the later cab with the shorter, newer windows you could argue the point that it was ordered with DB because it was a bit lighter (6 cylinders vs 8 cylinders than the SW8s though that may not be the reality of it. SW1s remained under construction until Sept. 1953... LV's DB SW8s were built in 1951.
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Post by corsair on Mar 30, 2017 21:11:20 GMT -5
You know... the SW1 remained in production until after the SW8s had been produced. If you were to do the later cab with the shorter, newer windows you could argue the point that it was ordered with DB because it was a bit lighter (6 cylinders vs 8 cylinders than the SW8s though that may not be the reality of it. SW1s remained under construction until Sept. 1953... LV's DB SW8s were built in 1951. That is very true! You nailed my 'excuse' for the unit though. The SW1 is a little under 100T, which is something like 15T lighter than an SW8 according to American Rails. It would be reasonable to say a line from 1880 built for a class C Shay at largest might have a bridge or two that caps out at a little over 100 tons. Operationally I could probably sell that by putting an empty flatcar between the locomotive and the loads to spread the weight. The story of my railroad is that it was built for gold mining and geared steam. A portion of the system lived on after gold serving online traffic. A small group of SW1s were purchased before the war to replace the aging steam. When new power was purchased in the 60's, the railroad bought a crate of extra parts to retain and upgrade one of the SW1's for use on the lighter parts of the line. The reason for the story is that an MDC Shay and some of the neat old craftsmen type rolling stock kits are very much on my modeler's bucket list. Making my short line operate a tourist train is a good excuse to build and run that cool old stuff and build a relatively large loco/car shop. Lots of inspiration for that type of operation living out here in CO. Moving the locale to Washington makes it easier to sell standard gauge steam, and gives BN more credibility for an interchange road.
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Post by rbmn1547 on Mar 30, 2017 21:31:18 GMT -5
I found a Kato NW2 for around 20 dollars on Ebay, so I might add DB's to that instead of a SW1 since I can't find a cheap SW1. Is the Kato NW2 a fairly decent engine in terms of running and scale accuracy? I don't care too much about the model being good, I just want something to practice on since I've never detailed a model before. This looks like a good project to start out with, thanks for the inspiration.
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Post by corsair on Mar 31, 2017 11:08:21 GMT -5
I found a Kato NW2 for around 20 dollars on Ebay, so I might add DB's to that instead of a SW1 since I can't find a cheap SW1. Is the Kato NW2 a fairly decent engine in terms of running and scale accuracy? I don't care too much about the model being good, I just want something to practice on since I've never detailed a model before. This looks like a good project to start out with, thanks for the inspiration. I haven't owned an NW2, so maybe someone can chime in who has. Kato's always run great, and you'll have a plastic sill and more options for shell mounting. I would have been happy to work with one of those, I just got lucky and found the SW1 for $20 at a LHS in Utah. I'm doing this model as a skill builder too. I haven't detailed anything in over a decade and I wasn't *that* good back then! I'm more patient now than I used to be 😏 A couple of things to consider: An interior on the cab means depowering truck. At worst, I'm making a locomotive that will only pull 2-3 cars. At best, I'm making the project more complicated and expensive. The weird construction of the SW1 leaves lots of space to pack in a current keeper along with a decoder et al. The final model will have pickup through the dummy truck and traction tires on the powered one. It's a big concession and probably a terrible idea without the current keeper. Second thing, EMD had two types of switcher dynamics. Small motor locomotives (SW8/900) had the low kind tucked into the body. Large motor locomotives (SW7/1200/TR5) got the bump by the cab seen on the Coos Bay switcher in the photo up top. The NW2 would probably use the latter one, but it's not like anyone can say you're wrong. From looking at pictures of gensets and torn down engines, I'm guessing the difference isn't the size of the prime mover per se. More powerful motors used larger generators, which reside in the hood taper. It looks like the larger diameter generator doesn't leave enough room for ducting air away from low mounted grids. Shapways has both and the both look pretty cool. Progress on the SW1 I got the Kato handrails in, but they looked almost as chunky as the Walthers ones, so I decided to try and rework the original parts. The handrail and pilot grab were replaced with .0125 wire, which turned out pretty well. The Cannon fan is also visible atop the DB section. I opened up a hole under it in the shell, which turns that area into a perfect place for a speaker. Nice bonus.
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Post by rbmn1547 on Mar 31, 2017 15:09:26 GMT -5
The NW2 has a V12 so I think that counts as a small engine. It's also not particularly powerful, so I doubt it would have a large generator. I could move the dynamics up a bit to add some interest. I was additionally thinking about attaching an Alco or GE air tank to represent an extra aftermarket air tank added to boost braking power. The backstory behind my engine will be that it had the dynamics added after it was purchased secondhand from Conrail since it was cheap and close to my line's Southeastern PA location, and then after my line started making money they wanted to upgrade it, and put the dynamics on it to make it easier to run on hills. The next engine purchased was an ex-NS SW1500 which I might add dynamics to later, I want to try it on this one first.
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Post by jmlaboda on Mar 31, 2017 17:59:56 GMT -5
Hmm... wonder if your SW1 was an experimental switcher EMD tried the dynamic brake out on first... before the LV units were produced...
(Dangerous thing me starting to think... lets hope it doesn't happen too often... LOL)
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Post by m a y o r 79 on Mar 31, 2017 18:39:22 GMT -5
Uh oh! No thinking around here. That's the fun of freelance.
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Post by corsair on Mar 31, 2017 20:13:24 GMT -5
Uh oh! No thinking around here. That's the fun of freelance. There's a grain of truth in that. I decided to go freelance with this one after picking a BN prototype put me into analysis paralysis. I like the look of these switchers set up as road power, and GN had many like that. By my preferred era, BN whittled them down to 3. The ones in actual branch line use were more plain jane CB&Q models. Of the 3 I would want to model, all were well accounted for in locations I didn't want to model. So do you beat yourself up after spending 6 months and hundreds of dollars making a perfect replica, just to throw it in a fantasy world? Freelancing sidesteps that whole issue and lets you approach the actual modeling side of the hobby in a vacuum. For a skill builder like this thing, freelancing is great. I can figure out what I'm doing without having to stress if it looks like the picture. I'll have enough of that when I get back to working on BN 2554. Lots of parts on order, LEDs should be here any day now. I ordered some hypodermic tubing and I'm going to experiment with trying to make functional electrical conduit for the cab lighting/rear lamp. Should be fun!
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