Large Scale Central

My next battery conversion project!

General Discussion
#1

I’ve had this LGB Forney for 20 years. I purchased it new from Eastside Trains in Kirkland, WA. It never, ever ran well. I brought it to Dave Goodson about 3 years ago and he took it apart and fiddled with it and got it running. And it ran well! However, after about a year it stopped running again. Dave was not able to help me again as his health was failing.

I watched him take it apart which as he explained because it was a newer model made in China there was a different trick getting it apart compared to other LGB Forneys. He said there are tabs on it not on the other Forneys that are delicate and needed to be watched out for when taking it apart.

After a ton of research today and with the help of ChatGPT I discovered the model of this Forney is a 25251. There is no number marking on the bottom of this loco. It appears there is no exploded view diagrams for this Chinese model. However, ChatGPT outlined step by step how to take the body off an access the internal wiring/circuitry which I will be removing the majority of. The plan is to convert to Blunami 4408, dead rail battery power. I did drop the motorblock today and confirmed that the motor does actually run when power was applied to it directly. So that is good. I don’t plan on keep the smoke unit operable as I rarely ever run with smoke. I am going to attempt at putting the Blunami and battery in the bunker and see if I can get a speaker in the boiler.

The fun starts tomorrow! :slight_smile:

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#2

I spent about 4 hours today working through how to successfully get this Forney apart without damaging it

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. I did it! :grin: I’ve traced all the wires and have ordered the Blunami 4408, battery and wire harness.

#3

I don’t know if this would be helpful at this point, but I did write a how-to on my website about the Forney I have.

But, given how far you’ve gotten, it may be too late.

1 Like
#4

@John_Wilda Yes, that would have been helpful. What speaker did you use?

#5

I’m a fan of the LGB Forney but… I have a C&S one with the plow and bear stack and it has never been that great. It looks cool and is a nice size but it doesn’t pull much beyond 2-3 cars and the power pickups are questionable. It seems to stall out alot.
Maybe going battery is the way to go with these ?

#6

I finished the LGB Forney dead rail conversion to Blunami (BLU-4408) and battery power. The BLU-4408 is placed in the boiler replacing the original circuit board. The plan was to place the 14.8v battery and small speaker in the bunker. However, it turned out there was no way I could get the cab/bunker back on so I placed the battery in the trailing car. After running a bit I decided the small speaker I installed in the bunker was not beefy enough so I replaced it with a Visaton FR58 speaker from RLD Hobbies and placed it in the trailing car. I never really liked the way the Forney looked so i painted the roof red and painted over the Rio Grande lettering on the side of the bunker. With the help of ChatGPT I am creating a step by step PDF with pictures of the conversion and will post soon.

#7

Nice job!
You have more ambition than me. I just put all my stuff in a trailing car instead of cramming it in the forney. :slightly_smiling_face:

I noticed some guitars.
I played in a blues band years ago with my 1964 Strat. Foolishly I sold it years ago as well.
I’m still a blues fan. That’s all I listen to in my shop.

#8

Great job Timmy. Great to see you doing DYI. Sorry it took TOC’s demise to force you into it.

I hear lots of good things about the Blunami system. The controller is phone based, correct? That would rule it out for me.

I knew there was a reason I liked you!

#9

@capecodtodd I have 2 other LGB Forneys that have always run perfectly with track power. It’s just the LGB Forney made in China that didn’t. But now it runs fantastically!