Hey Pete, Great Video! Glad to hear you are heading north. I guess you feel you can get there without isolation for 2 weeks in each state. Hope you find things open when you get home. Please keep us informed.
Safe travels!
Ric Golding said:
Hey Pete, Great Video! Glad to hear you are heading north. I guess you feel you can get there without isolation for 2 weeks in each state. Hope you find things open when you get home. Please keep us informed.
Ric, we took the Auto Train. They insisted we wear face coverings in the station and while moving about the train, and fed us in our (bed)rooms. Apart from those minor inconveniences (oh - and they didn’t have coffee and ice in each coach, so I had to go to the Lounge car for it - another inconvenience,) we rattled along and arrived early. Got to our MD condo by 10am the following day; only 26 hrs door-to-door. We even loaded a kayak on the roof and it came for $0. THere were 4 hoppers, a caboose, and an EBT C-19 #7 stuffed in the car.
MD doesn’t quarantine Floridians - it’s Florida that quarantines Marylanders!
Now, what was I working on in MD? Ah yes, that big British passenger coach. First I have to sort out all the train bits, parts, and other goodies that accumulated in my “Take-to-MD” box.
OH now you tell me, you could have taken gobs more trains home inside the kayak! (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Jerry
Glad you made it home, Pete. Now back to last Summer’s project. 
Ric Golding said:
Glad you made it home, Pete. Now back to last Summer’s project.
Yes - one thing in the bag of mail that my neighbor collected was a package of resin parts from Smallbrook Studios, consisting of a British-style battery box for the underneath, and a pair of duckets for the guard. As you are not a Brit, the following pic is of a ducket, a place for the guard/conductor to stick his head out without getting wet!
OK. Over to the other thread . . .
Oh, I get it - “just DUCK IT (ducket) in there to get a look down the tracks”. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Pete;
I remember an article in Model Railways magazine quite some years ago, where the author had a mishap involving duckets. Seems he had built a new guard’s van without checking clearances on the layout. On the first trip through one tunnel portal, the duckets were “emasculated” from the van. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)Things got widened and repaired, but I’m sure his face was red when the mishap happened.
Best, David Meashey
Now where was I . . .
Oh yes, fitting battery boxes into the bodywork. Tiny screws hold them in place. I think the driver is going to get chopped off at the knees.
The boxcab also acquired a proper radiator, courtesy of “Bruce’s box of auto oddities” that ended up at Jerry’s place. I made a surround to reduce the chances of something hitting it.
The speaker for the sound system got a new box in one corner to improve the sound.
This pic is the roof with all wiring completed.
Top left is the manual speed control, and in the center of the roof is a reversing switch. Mylocosound “lite diesel” sound card bottom right, with an IR detector for programming and triggering sounds. The 2 sets of red/black wires heading out on the left are power feed from the batteries and motor feed from the direction switch. (Both have JST plugs on, though of opposite gender to avoid problems.)
I removed the blue tape to tidy it up, I could install a scribed siding roof panel to hide most of it, but it is hidden when sitting on the bodywork.
One thing I forgot to mention (and forgot to fix) is that these battery holders have one big flaw. Many 18650 batteries have a relatively flush end, unlike a regular AA. The plastic insulation hits the wire soldered to the end contact and the center of the battery does not. I insert a small screw or nail into the hole in the end contact to make it work.
The Boxcab now has a fancy electronics rig on the side wall, though I will probably cover it later. I got the 3 batteries installed and wired to the protection board.
Then I tested it, and although I get 12+ volts from the 3 (fully charged) LiIon 18650 batteries where they connect to the PCB, the P+, P- (PCB in/out) only shows 6.2V. I’ve had similar problems with other types of boards, and there’s no obvious explanation, though I’m sure an electronics guru could tell me why! Yesterday I had a few spare moments so I sat down at the bench and found I had 12.4V instead of 6.2V. By the time I had finished testing the sound system it had decided to drop to 6.2 again.
If it keeps playing up, I will replace it with 3 individual battery protection boards whish are very small and should give me some more flexibility.
I did replace the protection board, as it did keep playing up. (I started another thread under Electronics.) These are individual protection boards, designed to be used for one individual cell. As you can see I coupled them in serial mode.
This set-up seemed to work better, so I put it together and took it to Jack’s Calusa Creek.
(Sorry for the additional background in the first part.) The sound is Mylocosound Lite Diesel option 2, Rustom Hornsby 4-cylinder.
So it is done. Just need to tidy up the wires, make a [something] to hide the reversing switch on the roof, add the driver and her seat (it got broken when I was moving the battery under the front, and I think her legs are no longer going to fit,) and glue in the windows.
A few final pics. The interior got some tweaks and lots of flat black paint. The driver now has a control box with handle - don’t ask me if it is the brake or the throttle.
The reversing switch on the roof got a vent, complete with nbws and other additions.
The windows are glued in, and the door still slides, revealing the huge engine cover (!)
And that’s it. The wires inside are slightly visible from close-up, but otherwise I’m quite pleased with it.
(Did I mention that Ozark has no idea that this kit is still on their website?) Next up is a Banta boxcab on a Bachmann Davenport, once I have fixed the batteries in the steam donkey.
Pete Thornton said:
The driver now has a control box with handle - don’t ask me if it is the brake or the throttle.
Suppose that is the only option since you cut off her legs !
(Did I mention that Ozark has no idea that this kit is still on their website?)
Does that mean it is still available? I couldn’t find it.
Does that mean it is still available? I couldn’t find it.
Right. For some obscure reason their new ‘shopify’ website has the page but it isn’t linked on the list of kits. This is it - you have to google for it!
https://ozarkminiatures.com/products/backwoods-diesel-engine-kit
I just ordered it on that page and it turned up a week later. That was last May 2020.
Years ago I could just call the house to get that question answered! I would order it and hope. I got something once That wasn’t in the newest catalogue but was still on the shelf.
Awesome little loco! I like the blue color too.
Pete,
This little thing is a HOOT! Love it!
Eric
Pete,
.
Obviously the Box Cab can earn its keep. Great sound! Thanks for the build log.
Ric Golding said:
Pete,
.
Obviously the Box Cab can earn its keep. Great sound! Thanks for the build log.
You and Pete obviously come from the same" box cab" family that likes to cut off the engineers legs ! I’m not old enough for that just yet …I think ?