LOWERING ARISTO FA-1/FB-1 DIESELS TO IMPROVE THEIR SCALE APPEARANCE
This article has been under construction for a long time, and I still plan on doing more to it, so please bear with me while I add the appropriate photos and diagrams to help illustrate the method.
Last reviewed and revised June 20, 2002(When writing my articles, I have tried to be conscious of the time it takes to view them. Some modelers only have a dial-up connection to the Internet and sizeable image files imbedded in the text can slow viewing down quite a bit. To counteract this, I have kept my images hidden behind key words in the text so that you view them only when you click on those words. This also has the benefit of opening a seperate window with the image in it so that the text and the image can be viewed side by side. As a result, imbedded in this article you will find some underlined words that hyperlink you to photographic images illustrating the point being made. I have deliberately tried to keep the image files small so, necessarily, the images are pretty low resolution but I hope that they help in any case. Enjoy!)
Introduction and Credits
Well, to use a cliché, here we go again!
I am an EMD F unit Diesel fan and have loved the appearance of these locomotives for years. As such I never gave much thought to the Alco FA-1, EMD’s primary competitor, until I decided to jump into LS29 model railroading. The shear numbers of Aristo FA locos out there and their easy affordability forced me to re-evaluate and I have since come to respect and admire both the performance and the appearance of these models. Many others have reviewed them, given historical prototype information, technical details and categorized their scale fidelity so I won’t repeat what they have written. Suffice it to say that these are really nice locomotives.
Like the box cars, one thing, however, is immediately obvious. The locomotive stands too high off the rails!
Photo #1 illustrates the amount of daylight that can be seen between the floor and the trucks as well as the relative height next to a lowered Aristo box car.
Sometimes the best way to judge the height of a piece of rolling stock is to look at the roof lines and Photo #2 illustrates how high the stock Aristo FA is in comparison to a scale 14 ft. 11 in. box car.
Now, if you are anything like me, the thought of taking a $150.00-$200.00 locomotive and reducing it to so much scrap plastic in a failed attempt to lower it is a little frightening. So I went out on the web and started scouring the LargeScaleOnLine site for hints on how to do this. One generous LSOLer took pity on me and pointed out that there had been an excellent article written by Orlando Pinelli in the August/September 1993 issue of OUTDOOR RAILROADER (page 64) that showed one way of accomplishing this project.
I dug out the old issue and poured over it intently and discovered that others had also noticed that this loco seemed too high off the rails, that others had successfully lowered it and that the results were outstanding! Well, I was ready. Now all I needed was a basket case loco to experiment with so that, if I messed it up I would minimize my losses. About that time, I acquired just such a loco and gave it a try.
The results were fantastic!
Photo #3 shows the converted FA unit next to the same box car so you can see the improvement in the roof lines.
Photo #4 shows a before and after view using the same loco paint scheme on both locos so the difference in height and amount of daylight between the floor and the trucks becomes much more obvious.
Photo #5 shows a before and after view of the roof line, using the same loco paint scheme, so you can see the dramatic results of the lowering project.
Well, needless to say, I immediately began a program of converting all my FAs and I have now done over 30 of my own locos. In the process I have made a few minor modifications to the method that Orlando described. I thought maybe some of the rest of you might like to do it too.
Note: I published the first version of this article on September 9th and almost immediately George Schreyer saw it and was inspired to try it too. He has published the results on his tips site so you can go there to see for yourself how well his project came out but here’s a sample. (His site is a must for all LS29 advocates…a veritable encyclopedia of really in-depth and useful information!)
Throughout this article I will refer to some of the excellent images George has made available on his tips site to help me illustrate my message. My thanks to George for his kindness and cooperation. He is a real assett to the hobby.
The Pinelli Method with My Improvements
Before we get started, let me warn everyone who is thinking about this project that the hardest part of the job is simply disassembling and reassembling the locomotive. The actual changes we will make between these two labor intensive efforts are a piece of cake!
Now on to a description of what I do.
Basic Disassembly
The first thing that you will need to do is disassemble the whole locomotive and this process is, in itself, a little intimidating. Don’t worry, though, when you are finished with this project you will be so familiar with this loco and how it is put together that you will be able to fix almost anything that ever goes wrong with it!
-
Start by inverting the loco and setting it in your favorite padded work stand.
-
Mark the front end of the Fuel Tank casting with a pencil mark for correct re-assembly later. Now remove the two screws that hold the fuel tank casting and the casting (by the way….starting now put everything you remove from the loco in some kind of holding container so you don’t lose it…I use a large ziplock plastic bag) and put them all into the holding container you have chosen.
-
Remove the 8-10 screws that hold the floor in the body shell and put them in the holding container too.
-
Carefully remove the floor from the loco. A couple of things may hang you up; wires and the back bulkhead.
All of the wires are terminated in removable connectors so all you have to do is slide them off and reconnect them later. (Caution…Orlando very correctly points out that you should disconnect these wires by grabbing only the plastic connector. Do not pull directly on the wire unless you are a wiz at repairing things with a hot soldering iron.)
The bulkhead, however, has given me some anxiety when it sticks and refuses to come out. Not to worry, you can even force it a little by prying and, even if you break off the tabs that secure it to the floor, you will do no real harm to the locomotive. Just get it out of there.
Set the body shell aside for now. We will come back to it later.
You should now have a locomotive chassis/floor/frame with power trucks, weights, wires, circuit board, back bulkhead, and diesel motor/prime mover casting attached. Set it upright on your workbench.
Further Disassembly - Stripping Components off the Frame
We gotta get all this stuff off of that basic frame casting, and we have to do it without cutting any wires!
-
Lets start by removing the two miniature phillips head screws that hold down the prime mover casting and putting the screws and the casting in the holding container.
-
Now proceed by disconnecting all the wire connectors on the power truck assemblies. There are two for each power truck.
-
After disconnecting all the power truck wires so that they are floating free, remove the screws that hold the circuit board to the loco frame and put them in the holding container.
-
You may find that you need to remove some screws that hold the interior light bulbs in place too. Make sure that all these components go into your holding container so they won’t get lost, but don’t cut any wires.
-
Next loosen the bolts that hold the weights in place and remove the weights. Put them, and their attachment bolts into your holding container.
-
Now try removing the bulkhead. If you haven’t already broken the tabs on the bottom, pull the bulkhead straight up until it disengages from the frame. You may find that tipping it toward the rear of the loco helps some. Now you will find that the bulkhead is still attached to the circuit board by some soldered wires. Don’t cut these. Since you already have detached the circuit board, all you need to do is wrap the wires around the bulkhead and place the whole assembly in your holding container.
-
Next we will remove the power trucks by removing the pair of phillips head screws that are holding the “A” frame swing bolster in place. Place these screws and the circular metal plate that they go through in your holding container too. The power trucks should now drop free, with the “A” frame attached. Pull the wiring through the holes in the frame and set the two truck assemblies aside. We will look at them again later.
-
Lastly, let’s remove the step castings, noting which holes they came out of, and put them into the holding container. Set all these parts in the holding container aside for now. We will only be working on the floor.
Well, if all this disassembly has gone well, you should now have a frame that looks like this from the top, and like this from the bottom.
These close ups show the area we are concerned about, the flattened bump that the trucks ride on from the top (inside of the loco) and from the bottom of the locomotive.
Don’t worry….I’ll help you to remember where everything goes. We will get it all back together and there will be no pieces left over.
The Surgery Begins
Look carefully at the cross section diagram of the loco floor. You will note that the power trucks attach to a flattened bump cast into the bottom of the frame. (We will refer to these flattened bumps as “bolsters” from now on in the article.)
Our job is to make that connection point level while still retaining the strength of the original casting. In the process we will lower the locomotive by 3/16ths of an inch, or approximately .20 inches.
Start by cutting the two bolsters/bumps off of the floor from the underside. I have tried many different ways of doing it and someday I’m going to succeed in making a tool that will make it easier, but for now the best way is just a bare hacksaw blade and elbow grease. Make sure that you keep the hacksaw blade level with the underside of the floor and don’t be surprised if the blade bends a little as you get all the way through.
It is important here to get a cut that leaves as smooth a surface as you can on the underside of the floor.
I end up cutting around the bolster in little sections until the whole thing comes off rather than cutting from one side all the way through to the other. I even deliberately bend the blade to make sure that it does not scratch the other parts of the frame as I am cutting.
If you are careful with your cutting, you will find that your hacksaw blade intersects with the inside of the casting in such a way that, when the bolster is removed, the opening left in the floor has a smooth surface and is perfectly round.
This Photo shows the resulting hole in the frame from the top and again from the bottom. You might need to trim some small burs off with a sharp knife but I avoid making too much work out of cleaning it up.
Now repeat this process for the other bolster and set the floor with the two new holes in it aside. We are going to work on the bolsters you just cut off so get ready for some fun.
Cutting Down the Bolsters
Orlando Pinelli, in his article, described a neat little arbor that he made out of a bolt, some nuts and washers to hold the bump in a drill so he could cut it down. That approach works just fine and I recommend it to all of you. However, I own a small metal lathe that is just great for these kinds of cuts so I put my arbor in the lathe.
George Schreyer used this arbor to turn down his bolsters. He point out that the washers are 1 1/4 fender washers that are the exact diameter of the hole created in the frame floor so you can trim right down to the washer in making your shoulder and it should just fit the hole!
Orlando recommends cutting the bolster diameter down until it just fits inside the openings that are left in the frame you just worked on. Orlando then glues these modified pieces in place. I tried it and found that, unless I was extremely careful, I got a weak glue joint because of the thin gluing surface the frame thickness presents.
This is where I have made a minor improvement in Orlando’s method. What I do is start to cut the bumps down, but I only cut enough material off to create a shoulder. The narrowest part of the bump then goes through the hole in the frame until it’s underside surface is flush with the bottom of the frame. The result is a much larger gluing surface that gives me a lot more strength when I glue the modified bump pieces in place.
When you have trimmed both bumps down, oriented them properly according to the diagram, and test fit them carefully, it’s time to glue them in. When you are finished, your loco frame should look like this from the top, and like this from the bottom.
Decisions….Decisions
Well, we are at an interesting point in the project. We have power truck assemblies sitting on the side and we have a body shell sitting on the side.
If there is anything you want to do to the power trucks, now is the ideal time to do it. I remove all the axles, turn down the wheel flanges and then put shear pins through all the center gears to prevent any gear slippage. I then reassemble the trucks and tune them up meticulously. When I’m done, every single loco just growls contentedly, draws less than 1 amp and runs like a sewing machine, and all this out of the older design power truck without the ball bearings!
If there is anything you want to do to the body shell, now is also the ideal time to get that task done. I install RAM bright white LED headlights in all my locos at this point.
Just think things through carefully and anticipate fully what you want to do before you close the puppy up cause it’s a lot of work taking it apart again!
Putting It All Back Together
-
Start by purchasing some 1/4 by 1/4 basswood or balsa wood. Cut 4 pieces that are each 2 inches long. Glue them on the topside of the frame, toward the outer edge of the frame just beside where we have just glued the modified bumps into the frame. The pieces of wood will become the supports for the weights so that they do not sit directly on the screws holding the trucks in place.
-
Now, reattach the truck assemblies by feeding the wires through their respective holes and putting the metal disks and two phillips head machine screws back in place.
-
Put the weights back in place by replacing the original machine screws with longer ones. I use 4/40 screws that I can get from the local hardware store. You will need 6.
-
Reattach the steps and make sure that the two special end steps are placed in the same position that you removed them from.
-
Now reattach the circuit board, interior lights, and reconnect all the wires.
-
Place the end bulkhead in it’s proper place and press it into it’s tabbed slots.
This is a good time to test run the loco chassis/frame. It should run nicely without the body shell and this test run will tell you whether you got any wires crossed in the re-assembly. Make sure that it runs the same direction as all the rest of your locos. Keep troubleshooting until the beast runs correctly, and the interior lights work properly. When you are satisfied with the setup, go on to the final set of steps.
- Reattach the prime mover casting with the generator towards the front of the loco.
Carefully connect the smoke unit wiring connector to the pins on the rear bulkhead and gently drop the body shell onto the chassis making sure that the end bulkhead goes into it’s correct groove. You might need to fiddle with it to get it to drop down all the way.
-
Test run the loco one more time to make sure that the headlight comes on in the forward direction and not the other way around. Correct the polarity of the headlight wires until it works the way it should
-
Once you feel the body shell is properly seated, invert the locomotive and place it in your padded workstand. Reinsert the 8 screws that hold the body shell on the chassis and tighten carefully.
If you are installing body mounted Kadee couplers, as I do, this is the time to do that.
Now put the loco back on the track, and set it next to an unmodified brother unit to see the impressive difference your labor has made.
As I said earlier, I now have close to 30 locos that have been converted this way and it is real joy to see an ABBA lash up pulling a long train of correct height freight or passenger cars. I hope that you enjoy the fruits of your labor on this project as much as I have.
If you have any questions or comments about my methods, or about 1/29 model railroading in general, please Email me at [email protected].
Thanks again for your interest.