Triple O -- Bachmann 10-Wheeler Salvage Campaign

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

Archbar trucks are on our “bits list” for our next Trainli order, and we have the discarded elements of our submarine carrier waiting for a use, so why not a rocket carrier?

Meanwhile, “Big Bertha” is about to leave spacedock, so we are clearing the bench for “Broken” Emmett. I have told Kid-zilla to try and break her down himself, and promised a tender upon completion.

Golden Star has, unfortunately, suffered from Bachmann quality, and the stem connecting the pilot to the frame snapped at the pilot truck. For its part, the pilot truck already has cracks. We are going to proceed with repairs using the parts from Fred Mills (@freddy), but I am also considering new parts from B’mann. What is the word on the street for the new pilots, which mount via a “tongue” to the chassis? If we tap a hole in the frame to mount them, can the frame take the stress? Or are we better off just buying a new pilot from the “classic” chassis and hope that the CCP kleptocrat in Guangdong Province actually built the thing to spec’?

I am keen to find a permanent solution, as Oldest Son lost all interest in the hobby when his B’mann railtruck failed (for that sad story, see Onward the Pequod – Getting a B’mann Railtruck to Work Permanently ). I know the day of modeling alone is coming all too soon, but I’d like to keep that day at bay!

Have a great week!

Eric

[PeterT]

@Eric_Mueller

can the frame take the stress

I’m sure it can. Just don’t use too big a screw.

@Eric_Mueller

Archbar truck

I picked up a bag of Bachmann trucks recently. Plastic wheels and B’mann knuckles. Email me if you want some.

[Eric_Mueller]

@PeterT

Email me if you want some.

E-mail on the way! Thanks!

[Tim1 (Tim)]

I am in possession of two battery Big Hauler locomotives. The one runs (with the speed of a turtle and the pulling power of a hamster), but both are probably good only for parts. Still, those parts might let you ‘go battery’ instead of track power. And likely, there are other parts you could use

Interested?

[Eric_Mueller]

Tim,

Thanks. Let me see what Kid-zilla and the others may have in mind. We have enough bits, minus a tender, on hand to get one more Big Hauler into service. I am afraid if two more relatively in tact Big Haulers suddenly appear, our modeling fate is locked until they wear Triple O colors and are placed in service!

Still, the MIK is coming…

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

This weekend, we cleared the work area of almost-done stuff to prepare for the next 10-wheeler overhaul. This included fitting Golden Star with the last of our good pilots (Thanks again, @freddy !). The broken one went into a box with other partially repaired pilot trucks for experimentation on pilot truck repair. Luckily, we have a few unused chassis for these experiments. It also included getting Big Bertha out of spacedock.

Honestly, I had hoped that this and Kid-zilla’s other projects would buy me time for my own. Nope. He had also disassembled, cleaned, reassembled, and, where necessary, repaired the circus cars he got from the museum docent a couple weeks ago (maybe I should have hidden my bit box!). This left the picnic table awash with B’mann circus cars and us without a work area. We had to do something about that before proceeding, so we went out to the garage, where wooden slats from a neighbor’s junked toddler bed awaited conversion into something atop shelves salvaged from another neighbor’s bulky trash.

The spirit of the MIK runs strongly and in multiple creative channels!

Of course, neither of us had built shelves, but we figured we were up to it. So he got out his circus consist to do a rough fit test…

…before checking my measurements. He knew I would have to awaken Jig Saw from his slumber, so he took his time!

Next, as I had made fairly straight cuts, he sanded the edges and staged our newly cut bits.

He then helped me clamp everything, laid the glue, and held stuff secure as I screwed all the boards in place.

That all being done, it was off the hardware store for track shelving. He insisted I post the picture below to show his trains.

You’ll note his first scratchbuild in the lower left, a first responders caboose ( Mueller Mini-Mik). He’s come a long way, and I think it is a good visual way to express our thanks to all of you for being part of this journey over the years! The shelf - and the need for the shelf - are due to the free exchange of camaraderie and ideas on this site! Even something this simple was beyond me before I stumbled upon this crowd.

Kid-zilla, however, has not rested on his laurels. He keenly observed that there is room for one more shelf, and today he took a screwdriver to “Broken” Emmett. The rebirth of Golden Star has fired up the clan’s imaginations, and suddenly everyone has an opinion on how to paint the next in the Star series, further opinions on which star will give this loco its name, and even ideas on what the next Star will pull, to include a set of midnight blue coaches named for constellations…or stars in those constellations…or Hawaiian navigation stars…

So much for this project-mandated sidequest. The next update should include a B’mann 10-wheeler in pieces awaiting its turn for the paint shop!

Have a great week!

Eric

[David_Marconi_FOGCH (David Marconi CHHNNG)]

What a way to grow

Mind if I suggest one more piece under the center of the shelf spans if you have it.

[Pete_Lassen]

Or at least a 1x1 spline down middle on bottom to strengthen the board from sagging , or on the end and attached to the end of the shelf supports

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

It’s been busy as we’ve gotten ready to send the horde back to school! Not so busy, however, to preclude Emmett’s and Golden Star’s official blessing in honor of St. Christopher, patron saint of travel!

Our church bears the saint’s name, so we have a blessing of vehicles each year. We have been slowly working through our locomotives over the years.

The result of the blessing was that Golden Star did NOT shatter his new pilot truck on the curve which we thought was level.

Rather, a bit of soldering gave way on a motor tab, which, while annoying, was relatively simple to fix. We did, by the way, attend to that curve. We both found it strange that Emmett passed that curve flawlessly, while Golden Star got bound up on it.

KId-zilla, meanwhile broke down and cleaned Broken Emmett.

The cab has a chunk missing from the roof, and the roof vent is missing. Let’s see how he chooses to handle those issues! Once they are done, we’ll get a tender off e-Bay and proceed to painting. In the meantime, he has to start school. Poor guy!

Updates as required!

Eric

[David_Marconi_FOGCH (David Marconi CHHNNG)]

Good that the blessing was bestowed and travels were safe even with a mild mishap. Might could be a little stretching of the pilot spring for a tad more pressure on the truck is in order. Little bit at a time. YMMV JMHO

[Eric_Mueller]

Thanks, Dave! We’ll try that. I’ve been meaning to get some tire weights for another project, anyway.

• Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

We added weights to Golden Star’s pilot, per Dave’s ( @David_Marconi_FOGCH ) suggestion. It did track a lot better! However, we uncovered a new issue, in that the cowcatcher caught the rail of a switch leading to our engine shed. Switch and shed will move…next weekend! I wish I had a photo, but this loco looks beautiful out on the rails.

Moving on to ex-“Broken” Emmett, there is only one major development. Kid-zilla has christened this derelict Pre-Commissioned Unit (PCU) Silver Star. School started, so he has to finish his all-about-me diorama. This will include a semi-scale rendering of the Triple O and Golden Star, among other things. His idea, not mine! “PCU” is my designation. Old Navy habits die hard…

After which we’ll see about that cab. He is leaning towards a sliding hatch, but I am not sure how to make rails that will hold that hatch in place and still let it slide. As for the notch in the roof, we are both scratching our heads…The diorama will give us both time to puzzle that out.

Have a Great Week!

Eric

[Korm (Korm Kormsen)]

@Eric_Mueller

how to make rails that will hold that hatch in place and still let it slide.

for the door on the left side of the pic i used an H0 rail (Lima) with its bottom towards the viewer.

[David_Marconi_FOGCH (David Marconi CHHNNG)]

14" (35cm) OPAQUE WHITE POLYSTYRENE Z CHANNELS

I use the Z channel from ever green. one pack will last for years unless you do an outside frame boxcar. I don’t recall what size I have in my supplies but I can send you some if you need a few pieces

[Eric_Mueller]

Part the Third - Silver Star

Belated update…The diorama is done, so Kid-zilla and I can commence work on PCU Silver Star this weekend. Per your suggestion, @David_Marconi_FOGCH , we got some Z-channel and a sheet of thin styrene for the roof hatch (vent?). If I pick up HO scale rail, @Korm , he’ll start in on a mini HO scale layout! Got to keep the kid focused!

I think to repair the chunk of roof, I will cut a strip of that styrene and make it fast to the roof forward of the cab. That should give it a broad area for the glue to hold it in place. They, I’ll have him fill the gap with epoxy putty and shape it. The putty is easy to work with, and it should adhere at least somewhat to the edge where that chunk broke off, too. If need be, we can reinforce it on the bottom with some of that z-channel. We’ll see how far we get this weekend!

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

The cab was our focus this weekend, which was good, as two passing tropical storms put to rest any hope of spray painting! I am able to put more and more of this project into Kid-zilla’s hands, which is, of course, a goal. I still help with idea generation and provide safety overwatch, but it is satisfying to watch him choose materials, glues, sandpaper, etc.

He began Friday by cutting a strip of styrene and clamping it under the “brim” of the roof to serve as a base for the patch.

I helped to appley the MEK to serve as glue (He thought the idea of melting the plastic together was pretty cool!), and I helped for a CA glue fillet to hold the shape.

The next day, he filled in the gap between the styrene strip and the roof then formed a patch with epoxy putty, carefully molding it to shape.

He sanded it smooth this morning and said, “Hey! This looks pretty good!” In fact, it does!

Later today, he took to the issue of the roof vent, measuring both the rails and styrene cap by himself and cutting them to length.

A bigger chore proved to be grinding, cutting, and filing out the no-longer-needed plastic thing with the circle in it. Y.D. helped to spur him along, as she wanted him to go to the park with her!

I helped to mix some two-part epoxy to mount the rails, and voila! Ready for final surface prep, masking, and paint!

He demonstrated the hatch at dinner, and he declared it too small. That’s an easy fix, and I am sure we can repurpose the test part!

I told him that he has to mask the windows, inside and out, and make sure he was happy with his epoxy work. Then PCU Silver Star’s cab will be off to the paint shop! I should note, we also cleared some flashing from the boiler and smoke box and, after soaking the metal compressor and generator overnight in paint thinner, finally scraped off the thick, bubbly factory paint. The rest of this loco is also almost ready for paint, which is exciting!

Updates as progress merits!

Eric

[Rooster]

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

Kid-zilla got the cab masked and finished the sliding roof hatch.

Yours truly got the firebox, boiler, and smoke box primed.

It was very humid last week, so I am letting it cure. We should get most of the rest of it primed this weekend.

As a reward for prepping PCU Silver Star for painting, I introduced Kid-zilla to the marvels of e-Bay. A tender is now wending its way to Oahu!

• Eric

P.S. He has an AMTRAK project in mind, @Rooster ! Fear not!

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

Priming continued. I got lazy, and rather than cleaning the Palm of Spray Painting, I just laid down some newspaper over the grass clippings prior to priming the domes and running boards. The wind blew the paper onto the wet primer, and, of course, grass got on it anyway. At least it was the primer!

More importantly, the new tender got an operational test behind Golden Star.

The sound system works, and it rolls very smoothly! The battery hatch / water fill hatch has broken hinges, which we will have to address. Kid-zilla discovered mounds of CA glue only go so far…

I will note that Kid-zilla also did a bit of initiative MOW work. You may recall Golden Star was hitting the loco shed seen in the background. I was going to move the siding. He installed a spacer track. Problem solved with a LOT less work. The force is strong in this one, indeed, @Rooster !

Over the next week, I will continue to prime and paint the loco. I’ll have Kid-zilla break down and clean the tender prior to sending it to the paint shop, too. The cab could use some light sanding to remove some runs, but I want to see if he notices that. He does not feel comfortable with the spray paint yet, so I will continue to do that for him. Once it is all in or nearly in paint, I’ll let him pick out and order the engineer and fireman as a reward, then we will hand it over to O.D. for lettering. As I posted quite a bit of the masking and posting for Golden Star’s rebuild, the rest of this thread will probably only catch major milestones.

Incidentally, we kept the blue-grey and flat-black color scheme. It actually looks very pleasant on the railroad, and, as Kid-zilla often reminds me “O-R-O-R (Our railroad, our rules)!”

Eric

[Eric_Mueller]

Update:

More activity at the Palm of Spray Painting!

The loco and boiler are approaching reassembly and detailing. Meanwhile, the tender awaits its trip to the aforementioned palm.

Kid-zilla did this by himself, and he is quite pleased with the job!

Painting is going slowly. The high humidity makes a real difference in drying time!

Updates as required!

Eric