Large Scale Central

Class A Climax build

Modeling
#41

Timmy:

They probably require a little break in.

That is also the reason for wiring them together. When one is suffering from poor pickup, the other will supply the power. They will also have abetter life if you eliminate the possibility that one is ‘stalled’ (due to bad pickup) while the other one is trying to drive the whole engine.

Happy RR,

Jerry

#42

Ok… got it! I will wire them together.

These things stand really high which is going to raise my Climax up considerably. Not sure how that is going to look. But I will post pictures when done.

Thanks

#43

Brian,
the block that Timmyd purchased is the Aristo block designed for the railbus (#29358). It has male/female connectors which may be connected. The centre-cab block (part #29356) has both male connectors and it is not possible to mate the two male connectors together.

#44
Tim Brien said:
Brian, the block that Timmyd purchased is the Aristo block designed for the railbus (#29358). It has male/female connectors which may be connected. The centre-cab block (part #29356) has both male connectors and it is not possible to mate the two male connectors together.
Oh, the one sitting in my parts bin must be a railbus block then. I picked it up at a hobby shop without inspecting it too closely since it was for a future critter anyway.

-Brian

#45

Brian,
the railbus drive has coach sideframes. The centre-cab block has thin diesel truck sideframes. As far as I know they are otherwise identical, other than the shape of the plastic mount saddle and the wiring connectors.

#46

Ok… so I have the connector wires now. I have one female to female and one male to male. My guess here is that I need to cut these connector wires and splice together so I have a female on one end and male on the other… correct?

Thanks

#47

Timmyd,
to make it easier later when removing the drive blocks, it is preferable to incorporate the connectors. Basically, ensure that the wires you connect do not short out the drive when interconnecting between blocks. When setting up my blocks, I inserted small diameter wire into the connectors to find the correct terminal wires to connect. I then removed the connectors and hardwired the appropriate wires together. I normally use the Aristo-Craft loco to tender electrical disconnect coupling when wiring up my blocks, but you should be able to salvage the existing connectors to use.

#48

I purchased the appropriate connectors with wires attached from my local remote control hobby shop today. I wired up the blocks so that male from one block connects to female on the other block and visa versa. I ran the 2 motor block around the track forward and backward a number of times and they indeed have smoothed out. Next step now is to connect the motor blocks to the loco. Stay tuned!

#49

I connected up the motorblocks to the Climax and it runs nicely! My only complaint is that because these motorblocks are so big the loco sites up way to high.

#50

I used some Hartland motor blocks on my Climax A. Here’s some sizes of motor blocks:
http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/MLS-kitbashing-guide.html
As I recall, the Bachman 44 tonner blocks are pretty short also.

#51

Is there a bolster under the frame? if so eliminate it and use a sheet of styrene.

I mounted mine direct to the flatcar platform and covered the screw heads with the boilers and tanks.

#52

"Is there a bolster under the frame? if so eliminate it and use a sheet of styrene.

I mounted mine direct to the flatcar platform and covered the screw heads with the boilers and tanks."

I did the same. I put small pieces the same width as the frame so maintain the look of a bolster.
John

#53

(http://gold.mylargescale.com/vsmith/Class%20A%20Climax%20Vertical%20painted%2002.JPG)

(http://gold.mylargescale.com/vsmith/ShayKirk%20Painted%201.JPG)

Both these have the A/C brick mounted the way I described, had to carve away a good chunk of the undercarraige but it needed to be done, as such it looks much better

#54

I chatted with Ted Stinson via email yesterday and he agreed that the best thing to do is remove the strip wood underneath and mount the motor blocks directly to the floor of the Climax. That will definetly lower it, hopefully enough. This should not be an issue with the rear truck as you will not see the screw protruding through the floor as it will come up inside the water tank. But the front I will probably have to get creative with. I am probably still going to have to do something with regards to lowering the couplers but will see.

#55

I piled cut wood around the boiler of my 2 class A’s, hiding the screws.

#56

Alright… After some major surgery, I got the AC motor blocks as low as I could. I had to build up both the front and the back so that I could attach the couplers. Here’s a short video of the outcome. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.

http://timothydehan.com/redmondcreekrr/class_a_climax_first_run.htm

#57

That came out sweat. My kind of engine

#58

Way cool Tim, way cool!

Welcome to the Class A club!

#59

Tim,Very nice build,good choice of tunes on the video too.
Dave

#60

Nice loco.
I hadn’t seen a reel to reel tape deck in a few years either :slight_smile:
Ralph