Hi all, here are some news regarding the 4-6-0. Again I was not happy with performance of tender power pick up. It was very difficult to avoid wheel sliding and there were some short circuits from I don´t know where. So it had to wait for another solution. This materialized with Rokuhan Shorty Chassis SA004-1: It has tender power pick up: I removed the Rokuhan couplers, installed a MT-coupler on rear end of chassis and tested coupling with car. To make room for the coupler box I replaced one wheel with plastic MT-wheel: All fitted, so I cut the chassis and glued the pivots on the Märklin tender frame. Besides the pivots I milled the slots for wiring: Yesterday evening ended with this: The wiring should be no problem. But does anyone have an idea for truck side frames (etched parts or so)? At first I wanted to glue plastic side frames on the Rokuhan frames, but this would make the truck to wide. Another way is to make small prints and to glue this on the Rokuhan frames...
Funny, the tender you've used is from the first AZL mikado to sell-out. Why did you scrap such a rare and hard to find engine?
Hi Commodore, no, this tender is from the Märklin 2-8-2. I would be glad to have an AZL-tender as spare part, but it is hard to find one engine on sale for repair... I had to repair my AZL-Mikado by use of Märklin 2-8-2-gearing, but this is another story: http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/azl-mikado-gearing-blocked.98428/
Thanks Steffen, I can sleep better now... BTW: Shortpainter figured out how to attach side frames to Rokuhan trucks in his SW 1200 project.
I have one of those tenders, with a Zeletory conversion under it. Just need a loco to go with it......
We have an 8807 on Ztrack Resale right now for a really good price. It has HOS so it will need cleaned and re-oiled. Here is the link: http://www.ztrackresale.com/index.p...5045ef934cbe528c14478291&keyword=8807&x=0&y=0 Rob
Thanks Steffen Hope you are well. Have you done anything more with this? I am interested in following your progress. This conversion ( like your mikado ) is way over my skill level. I also want to hear your thoughts on the running characteristics and if you like it, am considering the loco for a Christmas train. Thanks again for sharing your inventive work. Rory
Hi Rory, hi all, all I can say today is: This is a REAL long way to go! Eventually in September I found truck frames on shapeway for EMD SW1200, based on Rokuhan Shorty: https://www.shapeways.com/product/M...k-fuel-tanks?optionId=65583260&li=marketplace I thought this would be good enough for commonwealth style tender trucks after a bit of work removing the outerside break shoes (ok, the switcher has roller bearings, I know...): Then I wired the tender chassis and trucks. Soldering the trucks was not a good idea. Although I was careful heat was high enough causing incorrect positions of copper power pickups now touching the wheel discs and causing no free rolling wheelsets. Further more the wire is still too stiff for both free truck motion and connection between loco and tender. I used wire called "decoder litze" AWG 36 with silicon isolation, thought it would be soft enough. All in all the loco now needed a significant amonut of its pulling power moving itself! That was definitely NOT what I want. Until I have a better solution the Tenwheeler get a new Märklin tender with AZL trucks and no power pickups. While being part of the annual train show at Emleben / Thuringia I worked the cab roof. The current status of my 4-6-0 is this, waiting for its running gear (valve rod, cross head guide) and then a paint shop: @Rory: Running characteristics are quite good for a Märklin loco You can see a short video somewhere in this thread. My has the 5 pole motor and blackened wheels. OK, it is not AZL, but you get a nice detailed and robust loco for a good price.
Thanks Steffen I appreciate the answer. I'm going for one as my new Christmas loco ...at your recommendation. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Hi all, the last days I spent with assembling the valve rods and painting using vallejo and powder paints. I think its done for the christmas traffic. The final steps would be highlighting some details and to apply decals.