Large Scale Central

LGB 2018D Mogul - Cable From Cab to Tender Kaput

Jon,
I used to use the JST between 4 Aristocraft PA’s for MUing. Pulling 100+ freight cars.
Never had a problem. I used them on all my conversions.
Then a friend who runs Large scale DCC (Zimo) was using the servo type. They are smaller and the wires look better between the locos. I asked about problems, and he said none.
I now use the Servo’s exclusively.

The JST wire is regular wire, which can be stiff.
Servo’s use silicone coated wire, with finer copper strands. It’s very flexible.

JST cables are flowing…CINCHOUSE made an AMAZON order, and I piggybacked off of that.

Eric

Cool. But you didn’t say what CH will use her JST’s for…?

Oh, she’ll probably just give them to me or something… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Cables are on hand…Waiting for a good opportunity to install them!

I carry the replacement LGB type plugs and sockets, if you need any. Go to my Website’s Plugs & Cables page. LGB Trains | Old Dominion Railways | Repairs & DCC Installs | United States

Thanks! I appreciate the information.

Update…

Being at “all stop” for want of the correct idler gears to repair Gustav, our LGB m2071D ( LGB 0-6-2T: BadMotor, Bad Gears, Both, or Something Else?) , I turned two on this, the next item on the Triple O - 2023 Plans & Objectives list, but only after I did some M.O.W. work to get trains rolling. I find I work better with the rolling motivation in the background!

Once that was done, I reread this thread. I also did one last cost-benefit analysis of adding a battery and, possibly, an R/C system. I decided to just fix the cable as I would need that for a battery conversion, anyway, and a battery system beyond a DPDT switch would destroy my budget for the next 6 months. Maybe I can get some Lithium Ion batteries my next run to CONUS, as the shipping is outrageous.

O.S. was working on his plane, so I had his company. Other than that, it was just the 1:24 gang, the tech manual, and I. I retested everything to make sure I understood the problem then proceeded to break down Nuernberg.

There are some tricky screws, but nothing like North Star, our venerable B’mann 4-6-0!

I checked one more time for broken soldering points…


…while the paintshop added a dollop of white to the female connector in the tender to make sure I didn’t short the motor (note: ultimately this was the wrong side!).

From there, I clipped off the old cable and soldered on the new one.

Naturally, at least one solder joint failed.


The one guy in the lower right of the picture had just passed out after thinking I made a soldering joint without screwing something up. Fooled him!

I fixed that and decided to give the motor box a thorgough cleaning. There was some “gear-fetti.” I used Q-tips and alcohol to remove the old grease before adding a smidge of fresh gear grease. I also took the opportunity to oil the running gear. While beginning reassembly, I noted that one of the bus bars had come out of alignment. Closer inspection indicated both may have been kapakahi for some time. I also noticed the springs in the pick-up shoes had long ago lost their springiness! New shoes are now on my parts list. After getting everything back in place…

…reassembly was pretty easy (I did drop one screw…a small one…naturally). I tested as I went to make sure that I had not knocked anything out of place. My test track decided to give me grief, so the 1:24 gang and I took Nuernberg out to the tracks, and gave him a run…

Video: Nuernberg on the Blocks

It has since dawned on me that this tested nothing since, of course, the drivers picked up electricity from the tracks via the test rollers. Not to worry! Remember those unspringy-springs? Because of this, the pickup shoe dipped under the flange of the closure rail on a switch that is partially disconnected from the ties. I assure you, all now derailed drivers turned mightily with only the cable from the tender providing power!

I jammed a bit of HardieBacker under the switch mechanism, and all was well. It was nice to see how slowly and smoothly “he” could pull with all wheels sending power to the motor. To be honest, this is the best Nuernberg has run in years. All that was left to do was to let the crew high-ball
back to the shops and Pu’u’oma’o…

Video: 1:24 Crew Heading Home

…and celebrate my success!

Thanks for all the tips! On to the next project!

Eric

1 Like

Huzzah!!!..!!!

I rebuilt two LGB Moguls to install Rail Pro with battery power and I used plugs from a kit I purchased on ebay, wiring connectors kits for 18-26 gauge wire for sale | eBay
Since I wanted plugs that were a minimum of 8 wire connections (engine to tender) I just purchased a kit with several numbers of wire connections, as I would have other uses for the other plugs. These plugs are for 16-26 gauge wire which will cover all the size wires needed for Rail Pro operation and for most engines electronics used today. I also purchased wire (stranded not solid wire) on ebay in 5ft. lengths and in several colors so each light, etc. has it’s own color code. I believe I purchased 22 gauge wire for all functions with the exception of 18 gauge for the power leads for the motor. Just remember to get the kit with the small/miniature plugs, as many kits have plugs that are too large for what you want to use for your engine.
trainman

Thanks for the tip, John!

Eric, here are a few pics of the wiring plugs that I made up from a kit. The wiring plug, new drawbar as I did away with the LGB hook coupler as there wasn’t enough room for it and the walk plate between the engine and tender. These were just a few of the updates to the two LGB Moguls that I rebuilt and added Rail Pro.
trainman




Thanks, Trainman! This is definitely the direction I want to take with this mugul, though I am probably going to leave it in its stock livery.

ERic

Should work out just fine doing it that way. I just like to re-due all my engines and rolling stock, it the part of the hobby I like best, being a modeler first and a runner second.
trainman

Hi all, I have a related question, can anyone tell if the 2018D will run WITHOUT a tender. I have an opportunity to acquire one sans tender. I can provide a tender, just not the LGB tender but I don’t want to buy something that would be a shelf queen without the LGB tender. Thanks

Vic,
I know nothing about them but I ask… “Why wouldn’t it”?
The pickups are on the loco correct?

i have one circustrain loco (the white one), that AFAIK is identic to the 2018.
that runs like any stainz with, or without tender.

Vic,

Yes, it will work. All six drivers and a pair of shies feed the motor. All the electronics, suck as they are, are in the boiler. The tender just adds more pickup points.

I did note that without the tender, ours will stall on dirty and worn turn-outs.

-Eric

Great! Thanks, I wasn’t sure. My Piko Mogul had wiring that had to be connected thru the tender. I had to disassemble the loco and reroute the wiring. Don’t want to do that again. Thanks again.

The LGB Moguls will operate by themselves without a tender attached. But why is it best to have an opeating tender? Because the tender provides two more track pickup points that supplement the power from the Mogul’s wheels and slider shoes. So, there are three track pick up points on the Mogul, front and rear wheels and sliders, but one of these wheels also has a traction tire on it which prevents reliable track power pickup on that wheel. So the Mogul has effectively three points on one side, and two on the other. And if the traction tire is on the rear wheel, then there’s very little distance between that front wheel and the slider, so going over dirty track sections, weak rail joiners and plastic track frogs all cause track power pickup problems if the tender is not connected to the Mogul. And, of course, many of the older sound Moguls have th Sound Board in the tender and if the cable isn’t connect to the tender from the Mogul, the the sound board will not receive the chuff pulses from the Moguls’ Pulse Generator…so no chuff sounds.