I noticed that the steps on both front and back are not sitting properly, so attempted to straighten out the back one and it is now lying on the table. So how can I fix this one without breaking the dang thing off?
See below picture , if it is there!
It would be nice to know what you are working on Pete?
i need to re read on posting pictures… again
It looks like some kind of diesel.
Ok I think that maybe i have this figured out… maybe. If anyone can see this and knows what i can do to fix the step above the coupler let me know
The first thing I notice is the coupler cut bar and the strait grab bar are in the wrong spots and should be reversed . The drop step is not seated all the way down on the right side . If I can remember right you put the drop steps into the opening and they lock in with a small plastic deck piece that completes the platform. Your handrails don’t look like they are seated all the way into he slots eather. You might have to ever so slightly open up the holes for those. Hope that helps some.
Good catch Mike, that lift bar makes me think it’s a USAT diesel, also with the square pin at the top of the coupler.
I agree, looks like someone put it together wrong. Stanchions on the right are bent.
Look at the video of the GP30 on their site, seems to be the one.
Also, it’s hard to tell, but maybe someone broke the right hand “finger” off the center step plate? it looks shorter than the left hand one but I could just be the picture.
You can get the instruction manual on the USAT site, besides watching the video where they assemble the railing.
Greg
As Mike stated reverse the cut lever and bar ,the pilot platform, stanchions just need pushed down. The eyelets for the cut lever on my loco are installed incorrectly however I got this loco used and they were glued in place so I left them like that .
The fine details on the front of USA Trains diesel pilots are very susceptible to damage.
I replace broken cut bar brackets with brass loops from the ship building section of a local hobby shop.
A small piece of 22 AWF gauge wire insulation is glued over the shaft to get the right diameter for the hole.
I use the eye from a fish hook.
Just make sure the eye will accept the cut lever. ( I brought one to the store and tried it out.)
I use to cut fish hook eyes as well. But I had to buy a $20 pair of cutters to remove the eyes because the hooks were so hard. The cut ends were also hard to file flat. The eyes did not hold paint well either. Then there was the problem of dealing with a bunch of very sharp but unusable fish hooks.
Yea, but in the jewelry department of most craft stores they have packages of metal rods with eyes on them for making bead type jewelry. They aren’t as hard to cut, and I never had the other end embed itself into my finger while I was cutting one.
You could just buy black!
I have to echo the difficulty with cutting the fish hooks, tough on cutters, sharp point goes flying, etc.
Brass or soft metal for me!
Greg
They won’t go flying if you work inside a gallon size ziplock bag! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Micromark has miniature brass eye pins that work great! Much easier to cut than fish hooks. Also darken easily with any of the brass blackening agents.
Bob
Cotter pins work quite well also
And I’ve used these eye pins from Michael’s with the heavier brass rod for home-brew cut levers…
Here’s some in use on my Porter…
Joe, the last time I find in a gallon ziplock was the early 50’s … ha ha…
Seriously, even with the bag, that sharp end will go flying and my hand is INSIDE the bag.
If I had to do it I’d wrap some masking tape in the curved end, and then that would cover the sharp end and the masking tape would keep it from flying far.
Greg
I just use the jewelry finds, they come in a few different sizes if you look. The whole idea of cutting hard steel fish hooks just sounds too dangerous to me.
