|
|
HOn30 Home Depot
|
As promised here is the long awaited "What I've done with my Forney" dissertation.
Brick's lamenting that no one has filled the corridors of the HOn30 Mail Car with Forney talk prompted me to spend a few hours last week to start the project.
First I read the instructions thoroughly which is something I usually leave to last,..... makes projects more interesting!?!.
I have set myself up with a small loop of track on a 57" x 35" arborite covered desktop that I salvaged from a bunch of junk thrown out at work. On this I have an oval of Kato track. I bought this a while back when my father brought me an n-scale Atlas GP38 that he found at a flea market for $5. The motor was burned out. Not wanting to disappoint my father by telling him I was not an N-scaler I bought the track and got the little guy running. To cut an already long story short, I never thought I'd use it for anything more because I was into HOn30 at the time. Now I'll use it for Brick's rail truck!
I use this table top for run-in purposes and as a work table for tinkering with mechanisms, very handy as I can vacuum of the track and clean it thoroughly without having to worry about damaging scenery or missing trouble spots in tunnels. If there's something wrong with a mechanism, it's the mechanism not some track problem or dirty rails.
I started running-in the Bachmann 0-4-0 and like the Plymouth it ran a little rough at first. I noticed a slight wobble as well which didn't please me. I removed the siderods and still noticed the slight wobble. I suggest removal of the siderods for run-in on this mechanism so all other small problems can be cleared up before messing with the valve gear.
I let it run at around 5-6 volts for a few hours and noticed there were no problems with excessive current draw. I use a laboratory power supply providing me with pure DC and a maximum current control. That's really handy in the event there is a short, the current limiting saves the motors from damage. I strongly suggest a current meter of some sort to alert you to problems. Mine draws less than 100ma.
As the mechanism runs in it will loosen up and start to run faster. When this happens I reduce the voltage to keep the speed down and avert any destructive heat damage. I always run any mechanisms as slow as they will go reliably when I run them in, and continually reduce the voltage as they become smoother running. Usually this speed is around 40 scale mph to start and slows down to about 15-20 scale mph. That is without pulse. I do all of this over a several hours on a weekend or weekday evenings. I set the table and power supply up in the living room so I can keep an eye on the patient while it is running. This way I can work/read/relax/model at the same time. I will usually not take a mechanism apart until it has had a good 10-15hrs run-in time, unless there is something seriously wrong with it.
I added a little bit of grease to the worm and gear after the first few hours. I use Labelle #106 as it is the best grease I have found for plastics. I also noticed on the Bachmann mechanisms that the bearings in the motors become tight after prolonged running. I put a *tiny* drop of Remington Rem-Oil on each motor bearing. This seems to do the trick and has worked for both the Plymouth and the Forney Bachmann mechanisms. The speed has reduced dramatically now and the mechanism is running a lot smoother than at first . It does still have that wobble and if I reduce the voltage even further there is a distinct bind every revolution. Time to take the mechanism apart and find the real problem.
To take this one apart all the wheels have to be pulled off. Take out the little screw that holds the wheel pickups on, this also holds the metal plate to the body. I took all the gears and cleaned them completely. I took all the little bits out of the gear teeth by running the end of a toothpick through them. I found no problems with the nylon gears. I also cleaned all the wheels. These have the backsides greased at the factory so they run smoothly against the metal chassis plates. Again I found no problems with these wheels. You can chuck these in a dremel tool by their axle and rotate them slowly to check roundness. There should be no wobble and there wasn't. So where is the problem? The problem lay with the little metal side plates. The holes had burrs on them and the plates themselves were not quite flat. These plates are punched from sheet metal and therefore have a sharp pronounced burr on one side. I deburred the holes with a large drill bit twirled with my fingers. Always use a drill at least twice the diameter of the hole you are deburring, otherwise the drill will catch and cause more burrs. Then I lightly ran a file across both sides of the plates to make sure they were absolutely flat.
Now I reassembled everything and tested each gear as I put it in for smooth and easy rotation. I attached the side plates, pickups, and then the wheels, gauged them and again tested for ease of rotation. I did not replace the grease behind the wheels as there seemed to be no need for it after the plates were smooth and flat. Any grease here will only aid in the dust collecting process and that's not something we intend to do on purpose. The plates are a copper colour after the filing and will have to be blacked again using some paint or a black felt marker. At this point everything should be relatively loose and easy to turn with no binding. It is time to mount the motor. I had to add no shims to the motor as the mesh with the gear was acceptable. Too much space between the worm and the gear make it run noisy and too little will show up any imperfections in the worm and gear causing binding, and due to the extra stress on the motor, overheating and burnout. To get the optimum adjustment I will hold the chassis in my hand while it is running and adjust motor up and down until the I get the quietest sound. This is the optimum mesh for the mechanism. Then shim to keep the motor in this position.
I then ran the mechanism slowly with out adding any grease. Watching to make sure I put everything together right. Then I add a little grease. I add the grease again by holding the running mechanism in my hand and slowly adding the grease to the running worm gear. This will automatically pull the grease into the gear train without getting it all over the chassis. Remember the only place grease does any good is between moving parts, not all around them.
Next come the siderods. Again deburr the holes as these pieces are also punched. Make sure the wheels are properly quartered. Attach the connecting rod between the wheels only, one side at a time and test run to check for binding, then the second side and run and check again. An hour or two of running with the siderods on will not hurt. Then reassemble the cylinder assembly with the remaining rods. Don't tighten the screws too much here as a little slop is what's needed for this type of mechanism to run well. Sometimes I will get a little squeak out of the valve gear on my HO locos and will add the tiniest bit of Remington oil only if I have to. Normally I will avoid adding oil to these areas as this is also a dust and lint collector.
I found on my mechanism that the rod end at the crosshead hits the screw on the driver every time it came around. This caused a bit of bumping along the track. I found that the cylinder assembly rotates a little bit on the single screw holding it on. I twisted the assembly a little bit and found a spot where the rod just clears the screw. I suppose if this doesn't work you can file a bit off the head of the screws. Leave enough there so you can still turn it with the screwdriver.
Mine runs very smoothly now for hours on end at about 10 scale mph with out pulse power. At this point add some cars with a little bit of weight and let the little fella do some work. I used my newly built flat car with the Plymouth on it!
I will later on remove the plastic cylinder assembly and attempt to replace it with a scratch built one out of brass. This will eliminate the bulky look and hopefully produce a less finicky mechanism.
This concludes the first portion of my report and hopefully helps all of you tune your "Swiss watches". Next time, assembling the basic brass superstructure of the Forney and mounting on the chassis.
Please, all criticism, good or bad, is welcome. Ask questions if you don't understand something. It can only make me write better articles in the future.
Adios, Aufwiedersehen, Adieu, and happy modeling till next time
Joerg Seiler
Here's my two cents on what I've done with Brick's Forney kit so far....
I assembled the cab and tender pretty much 'stock' - fitting in the tender was a bit tricky... next time I might think about soldering the roof on before the tender. I not sure if that makes any difference or not, but at one point I was thinking that doing it in that order would make the cab a bit more rigid sooner and make adding the tender a little bit easier. As I think about it know I'm not sure...
I started with the running boards that came with the kit, but decided I didn't like the way they fit on the bachman's stock ones ( too high), and took them off. I'm now using a pair of extra running boards from the diesel kit (they're wider), and bits of shim brass to help hold them to the cab.
Instead of the 0-4-0 chassis, I used a docksider one because it has a nice tab at the back. I soldered a brass bar across the inside of the cab about even with the cab doors, and will drill and tap it for 00-90 screws to hold the chassis to the cab.
I thought about turning a new boiler from tube, but decided to use the bachmann 0-4-0 boiler anyway. I ground it down a bit on the inside back to give a bit of extra clearance for the motor. I'm not going to use the plastic part of the boiler but am going to just butt the cast boiler up against the cab front and fill in the gaps with putty. I made a support for the front of the running boards from bits of sheet brass and sq stock ground down into small Uchannel and drilled for the screw that holds the boiler to the chassis. The new bachmann chassis isn't all metal so as long as you're carefull about what touches what, you shouldn't have shorts.
Later, I'm say more when I get more done ( I've done with the cab and tender, rear truck and am working on those running boards and the boiler...
John Sh.
Since I just got started less than a year ago myself, I think I can answer this.
I built my first Brick's kit (the forney, probably not the best one to start with) a few months ago. It came out surprisingly well except: in cutting off one of the domes for the new dome, I took a nick out of the firebox (I think it's the firebox, I'm not real good at locomotive parts yet)
I should have soldered instead of CA'ing. I screwed up one side of the tender and had to re-glue and de-glue and re-glue and deglue and I even got my finger stuck to it. (Had to de-glue to get the fingerprint off!) In fact thanks to the advice and help of the guys in the group, I've nearly finished a home-made resistance soldering unit to do my next two kits from Brick.
The visor on one side of the cab does not have a clean bend because I bent it against a cutting mat, which gave under the pressure instead of producing a clean bend. Brick recommends, I think, platypus pliers or something like that. I didn't even try to find them (no doubt I should have)
the tender is crooked, but only if you look at it directly from above.
the most difficult thing for me was adding the rear wheelset under the tender, probably because I used a Kadee [Micro Trains] set with truck-mounted coupler. I stuffed the tender with coils of lead used for tying fishing flies. (As I said I was new to this, but hey, it worked. It's nice and heavy and runs well.)
So it's not perfect. I used only Brick's own instructions in building it. Brick's instructions are very clear and I like that he includes both a drawing AND a photograph. You can see what it's supposed to look like.
I had, however, read thoroughly Brick's excellent book on modelling in narrow gauge. Buy it or, as I did, get it from the local library. It's really super for beginners and experts alike. In fact, of all the books on general model railroading I'd read, I found it the most helpful and the least intimidating.
I think you should just go for it. This was my very first kit other than a little plastic house and freight station. If I couls do it--more or less well--anybody can!
Kathleen
Here's my experience with improving the Bachmann 0-4-0 running characteristics. Hope this helps!
My Bachmann 0-4-0 shifter didn't run so well when I first got it - rather sporadic - would run okay for a ways and then stall, etc... I took it completely apart - which is not that big of a deal as they don't have many parts.
First, I took the motor and hooked some alligator clips up to it and ran some power to it to see how it functioned. It did not run smooth and upon further examintaion, I found that one of the motor magnets had come unglued at one end and was rubbing against the armature. I glued it carefully back in place with some ACC and the motor then ran quite smoothly.
Next, I took the chasis with just the drivers attached and rolled it down the track some and then along my fingers to see if there was any problem with the gears. I noticeda slight bind in the gears once every so often so I examined things closer and found a small bit of plastic that was occassionally getting caught in the gears. I removed that with an exacto knife and things ran smooth.
I reassembled the unit after giving it a little oil and grease, but I did not put the side-rods on. I tested the loco on a loop of track and it ran 100% better than before - as smooth as I've ever seen a Bachmann n-guage run before.
Lastly - I added the side-rods back onto the loco and sure enough, it ran sporadic again. I took the unit apart and removed the motor so I could rotate the drivers with the side-rods by hand. I decided that it was binding on both side-rods so I took them off and ground out the screw holes in the side-rods a little larger so that there would be a little more play in them. For this I used a rat tail file.
I then reassembled the unit and the loco ran, to use someone else's term, "like a watch".
Working on the loco is very simple - there's not many parts and if you take it in sections - motor, gearing, drivers, side-rods - and get each operating smoothly, the whole thing should run smoothly when the thing is put back together.
And I'll tell you one other thing - when you get your loco running like this - it gets you even more excited about the rest of the railroad!
Good luck to all!
Keith
>From my self-introduction: > ...but my best power seems to be "fake" shays that are metal > superstructures that > fit over N-scale diesels - you can run double headers very easily.... Cal wrote: ... >Can you tell us what N gauge diesels and what the mfg of the "fake" shay >that fits the N gauge diesel, thanks >calThe "fake" shays are basically scratchbuilt superstructures that drop onto the N-gauge diesel mechanism. These came about because I had worn out the gearing of my Joe Works shays at shopping mall shows, where I'd typically run each locomotive for 4 - 6 hours a day on a club display layout. I was looking for an inexpensive locomotive that was designed to run and run. The diesel mechanisms run so well that they now form the bulk of my motive power. In the context of my layout, when the shay is running through the rockwork, trees and such, it just seems to look right, and the lack of moving gearing and drive shafts doesn't bother me.
I have used Life-Like SD18 and FA-2 mechanisms, because once you pull off the body shell and weights, the motor and gear towers don't take up much space. I have modified a Rapido S-2 mechanism, but that's the hard way to do it, because you have to cut away so much of the one-piece metal body shell and frame.
The shay superstructures are scratchbuilt of from masters I made and cast, using the centrifugal casting methods published by Bob Brown and Bill Coffey in the Gazette several years ago. I use a low-temperature metal alloy, and cast in RTV rubber molds. The finished locomotive is really quite heavy, and I can pull 5 and 6 car trains (most of my cars are also cast in metal) up 6% grades. I file off the sideframes and glue on shay truck sideframes; the wide body and its overhang help conceal the lack of any functioning gearing.
I have compiled a list of Precision Scale parts (mostly Shay, other NG interest), including price (if not listed in Walther$) and availability; (N/A = not available, at least currently).
I'm sure you'll agree that it would be great if PS re-released some of the Shay kits. Note that there will be an update to this, as although the Casey Jones Railbus kit is not available, some (all?) of the parts are.
Precision Scale
P.O. Box 288
Stevensville, MT 59870
406-777-5071
FAX 406-777-5074
VISA & MC
Can also order thru Train & Trooper
HO-3224 air tank 8' 6" Shay HO-31836 bell W. Maryland Shay HO-31835 blower pipe W. Maryland Shay HO-3102 blow-off cock valve, Shay HO-3223 box, tool, Shay HO-3221 box, sand, rear, Shay HO-31834 box, sand, rear, W. Maryland Shay HO-31921 box, sand, rear, Westside #14 Shay HO-3101 brake cylinder, steam jamb, Shay HO-3233 brake cylinder, Westside Shay HO-3001 brake beam w/shoes, Shay HO-3002 brake beam w/shoes, HOn3 Shay HO-3094 brake controls steam/air, Shay HO-3130 check valve, flanged packing gland, Shay HO-3412 check valve, Westside, Shay HO-31851 check valve, W. Maryland Shay HO-31931 check valve, boiler, Westside #12 Shay HO-31442 check valve, Westside #14 Shay HO-3132 coupler, link & pin, Shay HO-31860 deck & boiler braces, W. Maryland Shay HO-31897 engine, 2-cylinder, Class A Shay (attn. Brick Price!!) HO-3250 engine cylinders, 12" X 15", Shay (N/A) HO-31852 engine cylinder heads, Pacific Shay HO-31889 engine crankshaft, W. Maryland Shay HO-31853 engine crosshead guides, W. Maryland Shay HO-31847 firebox, W. Maryland Shay HO-31848 firebox ashpan doors, W. Maryland Shay HO-3222 hatch, water, Shay HO-31922 hatch, oil, Shay HO-3234 hatch, roof, Shay HO-31920 headlight, Westside #12 Shay HO-31919 headlight, Westside #14 Shay HO-3122 headlight, bracket, back-up Westside Shay HO-3448 journal box lineshaft retainer, Shay HO-3286 lubricator, Manzell, Shay HO-31842 pilot beam, front, WM Shay HO-31843 pilot beam, rear, WM Shay HO-3241 pilot beam, front & rear, Westside HO/HOn3 Shay (N/A) HO-31854 pilot beam braces , WM Shay HO-31846 plumbing, engine oil for W. Maryland Shay HO-3129 plumbing, steam, packing gland, Shay HO-31858 plumbing, steam, lower steam pipe, WM Shay HO-31861 plumbing, upper steam line bracket, WM Shay HO-31845 plumbing, steam, exhaust pipe, WM Shay HO-31850 pop valves on plumbing, WM Shay HO-31859 power reverse bracket, WM Shay HO-3285 reverse lever, 50-70 ton Shay HO-31857 sander valves, W. Maryland Shay HO-3125 steps, Shay HO-3656 tender, etched brass, Shay (N/A) HO-3284 turret, 4-valve, steam, 50-70 ton Shay HO-10618 HO 20 ton wood Shay kit (N/A) HOn3-10620 HOn3 20 ton wood Shay kit (N/A) HO-10622 HO 20 ton wood/coal Shay kit (N/A) HOn3-10624 HOn3 20 ton wood/coal Shay kit (N/A) HO-10626 HO 22 ton oil Shay kit (N/A) HOn3-10628 HOn3 22 ton oil Shay kit (N/A) HO-10630 HO 22 ton wood Shay kit (N/A) HOn3-10632 HOn3 22 ton wood Shay kit (N/A) PK-10028 HOn3 Mich-Cal Shay kit (N/A) PSHO-3719 cab interior detail kit, Class B Shay $34.00 PSHO-3786 cab interior detail kit, wood/coal burning Climax $22.75 PSHO-3787 cab interior detail kit, oil-burning Climax $28.50 3732 cab interior details, #7 Westside Shay (N/A) 3733 superstructure details, #7 Westside Shay (N/A) 3734 cab interior details, #12 Westside Shay (N/A) 3735 superstructure details, #12 Westside Shay (N/A) 3736 cab interior details, #15 Westside Shay (N/A) 3737 superstructure details, #15 Westside Shay (N/A) 3753 cab interior details, 50-70 ton oil Shay (N/A) 3754 cab interior details, 18-20 ton wood/coal Shay (N/A) 3755 cab interior details, 26 ton wood HOn3 3-cyl Shay (N/A) 3756 cab/superstructure details, 26 t wood HOn3 3-cyl Shay (N/A) 3762 cab interior details, 24 t wood HOn3 2-cyl Shay (N/A) 3763 cab/superstructure details, 24 t wood HOn3 2-cyl Shay (N/A) 3800 non-powered Casey Jones Railbus (N/A) PK-10034 HOn3 railbus kit (N/A) HO-10900 inspection car, powered $67.50 (kind of an open Fordtouring sedan from the 1920s) HO-10910 inspection car, static (N/A)This is a neat little 4-2-0 HOn3 narrow gauge, could probably be "trimmed to fit" HOn30. Note, since the boiler is not available, it's a pain in the butt, but anyone can scratchbuild a functional boiler. If anyone decides to, I've got an HO scale schematic of the boiler.
HO-31365 pilot, Pioneer HOn3 $5.75 HO-31866 lead trucks, Pioneer HOn3 $4.50 HO-31871 frame, tender, brass, Pioneer HOn3 $2.50 HO-31872 frame, ,tender, plastic, Pioneer HOn3 $1.50 HO-31873 end beam, brass, Pioneer HOn3 $2.50 HO-31874 end beam, plastic, Pioneer HOn3 $1.50 HO-31863 headlight, Pioneer HOn3 $2.50 HO-31758 cylinders, Pioneer HOn3 $3.00 HO-31867 boiler, Pioneer HOn3 (N/A) HO-31865 cab, Pioneer HOn3 $4.50 HO-31868 drivers, Pioneer HOn3 $4.50 HO-31869 delrin driver centers, Pioneer HOn3 $2.75 pkg. 4 HO-31864 bell, Pioneer HOn3 $1.50 HO-31870 journals, tender, Pioneer HOn3 $1.50 HO-31912 tender front deck, Pioneer HOn3 $3.00 HO-31776 pilot deck, brass, Pioneer HOn3 $3.50 HO-31777 pilot deck, plastic, Pioneer HOn3 $1.75
Precision Scale has the following "Casey Jones" railbus available, on a part-by part basis. There is no discount (kit price) for buying all the parts at once.
Also available at Train & Trooper.
HO-3801 roof, Casey Jones Railbus HOn3 $3.50 HO-3802 sides, L & R, Casey Jones Railbus $4.50 HO-3803 front & rear ends, Casey Jones Railbus $3.50 HO-3804 doors, pair, Casey Jones Railbus $2.25 HO-3805 end doors, pair , Casey Jones Railbus $2.25 HO-3806 roof braces, Casey Jones Railbus $1.75 HO-3807 rear step/stirrups, Casey Jones Railbus $2.00 HO-3808 cowl, Casey Jones Railbus $2.25 HO-3810 radiator, Casey Jones Railbus $2.25 HO-3811 hood, Casey Jones Railbus $2.50 HO-3812 steering wheel, Casey Jones Railbus $1.75 HO-3813 brake lever, Casey Jones Railbus $2.25 HO-3814 floor, Casey Jones Railbus $2.00 HO-3816 driver's seat, Casey Jones Railbus $2.00 HO-3817 gas tank, Casey Jones Railbus $1.75 HO-3818 Delco(tm) battery, Casey Jones Railbus $1.50 HO-3819 Cadillac© engine, Casey Jones Railbus $5.50 HO-3820 pilot, Casey Jones Railbus $2.25 HO-3821 passenger seats, Casey Jones Railbus $2.50 HO-3823 lead truck, less wheels, Casey Jones Railbus $4.00 HO-3824 lead truck wheels/axles, Casey Jones Railbus $2.25 HO-3825 rear wheel pedestal L & R, Casey Jones Railbus $2.75 HO-3826 rear wheels/axle, Casey Jones Railbus $2.00 HO-3827 drive shaft, Casey Jones Railbus $1.50 HO-3828 differential, Casey Jones Railbus $2.75 HO-3829 chain & sprockets, Casey Jones Railbus $3.50 HO-3830 brake shoes/rods, Casey Jones Railbus $2.25 HO-3831 klaxon horn, Casey Jones Railbus $2.00 HO-3832 headlights, Casey Jones Railbus $1.75 HO-3833 broom & holder, Casey Jones Railbus $1.75Update:
HO-3822 rear seat $2.00 HO-3809 frame $2.00 (obviously very important!)Now, if anyone wants to do me a favor...
Precisin Scale doesn't have directions for the kit (it was never relased, the parts fit a bit roughly, it's a craftsman kit, not a shake-the-box). What I wuld like is if someone has a copy of "The Rainbow Route" by Sloan(e). Please contact me if you could Xerox pictures of this railbus in the book, nd send me a copy.
Update:
Just got my order from Train & Trooper. Total price under $ 70; $ 7.25
less if you don't need the Buick engine and broom.
If you remember this was all the parts from Precision Scale to make a HOn3 /30 Casey Jones railbus. Besides the parts listcd earlier, you will need a small motor and a small NWSL gearbox, part 207-6.
Mark Rollins
Just started a small, easy-to-do project to construct a free-lance HOn30 industrial loco. Will post summary and photos on WWW (http://www.mrollins.com/rail.html) page when done. I've left out some detail, like lubeing mechanism and source of other detail pieces.
>I am interested to learn if anyone has modified an MDC (Roundhouse) >2-truck, 3 foot Shay to run on HOn30" gauge. > >If so, I would be very interested in any specific modifications that >need to be performed to make this work. I have researched this and it >appears that the conversion is possible.Although I am upscaling the MDC HOn3 shay into a Sn3 shay (using a V&T conversion kit), down-gauging to 9mm *might* be a problem (and I'll check tonight). The housing, for the inner (and real) drive shaft & worm gear and truck axles & gears, seems to be about 9 or 10mm wide. If it is this wide, then it going to be tuff to reduce the width (not much material there). It's also made of Delrin.
There is also the metal electrical pickup plate that goes between the wheels and the side of (this) housing which adds to the total "thickness" of things between the wheels. Of course, the electrical contact plate could be redesigned and eliminated.
Later info as it becomes available.
Regards,
Tobias
Update:
Greetings gang,
I went home for lunch and took a few measurements. I'll have to correct myself. Technically, it's not a problem to narrow the "power truck housing(s)". The outer housing dimension is only 8.3 mm wide with the outer walls a thick 1.4 mm. The flanges roughly measured to .8 mm (add a little more for smooth running on curves), so by sanding down a little over .5 mm from each side, you could squeeze in the wheels. You would still have to forgo the kit-provided electrical pick-up plate, but from what I have read and seen, some (re-)work is required anyway.
I presume you know that this "narrow gauge" shay is just the standard gauge MDC shay with smaller trucks? This kit shay is a fair size beast even for standard gauge (I have the 3 truck NG version) and when place over or near a 3ft gauge track, it's just down right BIG. I found the visual difference laughable for 3ft. At the time, a friend had leant me his 2 cylinder, 2 truck brass shay (joe works?). It "looked" right for the gauge. The MDC was a whale. Period.
Although visual appeal is subjective (and to each his/her own !), you may have a center of gravity problem. The boiler is solid metal and you may not know for certain until you build it. If you do get it to work, please tell me (and the list) about it.
On this project, I will have to wish you "best of luck".
Cheers,
Tobias
Update:
>I did regauge one HO Shay to Sn3. Tobias, I think this would be easier than >starting with the HOn3 model. You do have to cut off part of the "ears" on >either side of the main truck center piece that holds the gears. I seem to >remember that for HOn3, the "ears" would have to be completely gone, so HOn30 >may be a problem. > >Dave HeineYou are correct in remembering the "ears" (for the rest of you on the list, these are stand-off spacers that hold the truck frames out to the correct spacing depending upon the gauge) for the HOn3 are completely gone. As per the instructions from V&T, one needs to remove 1/32 (or 1/16? can't remember now) from the standard gauge housing spacers. Actually, according to the V&T kit instructions, one needs to start with a standard gauge kit. In my case, I order two power truck housings and a standard gauge frame (all of about $14.00) to bring my original NG shay kit back to a standard gauge kit.
>Brian > >I am currently building (the project that lasts forever) somewhat slowly the >MDC shay as an Sn2 model. It would be estremely difficult to modify this >model to HOn30 as the truck gear box casting which delivers power to the >axles is too wide to allow reducing the gap between the wheels.Humm, if Brian is talking about the vertical gear assembly (and it's housing) that drops down thru the cab floor, he may have a point. But I think everybody on the list now knows this shay might (again, to each his / her own) be too big for this project and we're talking trival now. . . .
Cheers,
Tobias
As for the time spent on this? It took a little over an hour!
You may wish to ACC the model together if you don't like to solder.
I would really stress that soldering produces a sturdier model that will
better withstand life as road engine. Soldering is a skill that definitely
improves with practice.