The C.V.S.Ry. has a fleet of two General Electric 45 Ton Type IV-B2 Industrial Locomotives that have seen intermittent service since their arrival on the property in 2005. Numbered and lettered for the Canldewood Valley Scenic Railway, M-10 and M-11 have both been out of service since late 2014. M-11 was relegated to the dead line due to coupler draft gear problems and has only recently returned to service as reported in this thread . M-10 was fully torn down in 2014 for electrical upgrades. Due to budget and staffing issues it has seen nothing but a fresh coat of dust until now.

The goal for M-10 was to A) Remove all original electronics and smoke. B) Re-wire the body and replace white LED headlamps with CVSRy’s standard amber LEDs C) Add a speaker in the font hood for sound that originates in a trail car and include provisions to drive the existing speaker in M-11 for MU operation. D) Update coupler draft gear to be identical to M-11 and E) Repair any cosmetic damage.

Tear-down and design of the speaker upgrade was completed long ago as well as removal of factory electronics and completion of chassis power wiring. What remained was to build the speaker enclosure, swap out the LEDs and set up body wiring plugs. Also, the original multi-unit sound plan needed re-work due to the discovery that the on-board loco speakers are 4 Ohm, not 8 Ohm.

Over the last 10 days I’ve spent most every evening on this project and have finally gotten to the point of operational test today. I’m happy to report that after a brief bit of confusion over implementing the wiring plan, the operational test was successful. So without further pontifiaction, I present the latest spy photos from the CVSRy shops.

Step one was to install a new three conductor train line for the sound circuit at the front and back of M-10…

Next, Install our standard Accucraft coupler and add function to the lift bar…

Next was remove the factory white LEDs and replace them with my standard amber LED and an in-line resistor. Hot Glue and Heat Shrink Tubing are staples in the C.V.S.Ry. Electrical Shop…

Then wire everything together with a plug for the chassis attachment. Note that the rear LED (at left) is reverse polarity to the front one for directional lighting…

Next I built a speaker mount based on the design I came up with for M-11 a few years ago. This version incorporates a DPDT switch to change from parallel to series wiring of the locomotive speakers depending on if one or two locomotives are connected to the trail car’s sound board…

The switch is accessible via the removable cover in the front hood. The 4 conductor cable with plugs is a computer fan extension cable from Startech via Amazon. Next the train line for sound was wired up with the 4 conductor plug per the intricate wiring plan…

Before operational tests could be conducted, “Shorty” my Battery/Sound trail car (I call it an HEP car) needed to be modified with the addition of the MU switch and changes to how the sound train line connector was wired up internally…

With this complete I was able to run operational tests around the indoor layout without the M-10 body to confirm my wiring plan actually functioned…

The tests passed in all supported modes so tomorrow the shop crew will be tasked with placing the body and road testing.

Please make a video of the road testing. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

I’d love to Joe, but since closing my Youtube and Vimeo accounts I haven’t been able to get a self-hosted video to play on here.

Today was wrap up the loose ends and git 'er done day. Work began with the chassis, making the wiring neat and adding some weight under the rear hood. I don’t remember where this chunk of lead came from, but it was perfect. Held in place with high temp hot glue…

Another chunk of lead that used to be a big fishing weight was hot glued on the front speaker mount and colored with a paint pen so it can’t be seen through the louvers…

Unfortunately, I didn’t pay close enough attention when gluing it down and got it off center. I had to saw off 1/8" in order for the speaker assembly to fit in the front hood…

The speaker assembly was placed into the front hood and hot glued in place. Once the glue cooled I plugged the body into the chassis and prepared to screw it down…

Once the body was completely secured, the fuel tank which houses a battery / track power switch was attached…

The Speaker Mode switch is easily accessible from the top of the locomotive under the factory switch hatch…

A few pieces of pipe needed some glue as did the hand rails where they attach to the cab. It didn’t take long before M-10 was complete and ready for a dress rehearsal…

This close low-angle shot shows off the amber LED headlight…

M-10 runs much better as a single. M-11 has a low speed issue with one truck. Now that M-11 has been upgraded for sound it can run single unit while M-11 goes into the mechanical shop. By the time assembly was complete it was cold and dark outside. The operational trials will have to want until tomorrow.

M-10 running solo…

Successful projects are always uplifting. I like small engines, they have their own kind of character.

(I also like a 100mph GG1, too. But for whatever reason, small engines have a special place)

Operational trials today out on the railroad were successful. M-10 performed flawlessly, the track and ROW not so much. I cut the run short after once around due to several winter related issues that need addressing before trains can run reliably. I wanted to use my DSLR today, but the batteries were flat from sitting too long, so here are the best I could get from my point-n-shoot.

Approaching the future site of the Wall Passenger Shelter…

Entering Coal Dump Curve…

At Indian Hill Junction…

And passing Wall again on the return home…

See next post. Apparently you can’t edit a post with a video.

A short video for Joe - if it works…

Reminder to self: Don’t stand in the gauge when filming oncoming trains (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

Don’t stand in the gauge when filming oncoming trains

Don’t we already have a thread regarding that?

Jon,

Thanks for the video. See what happens when you “Play with Trains”. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

BTW, M10 looked real good (right up 'til the impact!) Nice job.

Sound in video is almost like there is a propellor plane around at beginning. And speaking of sound, the horn sounds good.

Thanks. Yes, there was a small plane flying over at the time. I am so used to that I didn’t notice or I would have waited to start the video.

I think I’m going to re-program the sound card for a Hancock whistle. I’m using that on my RS-3 plow train and I really like it. Should change the horn detail to be correct, but I’m too lazy (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

Ooo, Hancock whistles … (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)settled on those for my freelance traction line back when I did that in HO scale - in the days when one mostly had to imagine their own sound effects.

John, M10 looks good, give the boys in the shop an attaboy?? I like the wiring diagram shown in one of the photos. I probably need to do that with my shay when I get back to the wiring so I know what goes where in the future. Thanks for sharing the video.

Nice work, Jon… Was the photographer DOA??? (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)