Greetings, I am working to restore and convert to DCC several old hand built small steam locomotives. My big headache is reliable electrical contact. Small engine like a 4-4-0 or an 0-4-0 have very few pick up options if you can't split and isolate both the drivers, and any pilot or trailing trucks the engine may carry, and of course the tender trucks. So, does anyone have the name of a supplier that would carry such things? Thanks.
Welcome to Trainboard. You give little info regarding this problem. WE don't even know the scale, but I assume it's HO. Please supply us with more info so we can direct you to the proper source. Thanks. Stay cool and run steam.....
Welcome to TrainBoard!!!!!!! Trust me, Bob can help you as soon as he knows more about what you are dealing with. :shade: :shade: :shade: :shade:
Good point, more details would probably help. Ok, these are HO scale engines, hand made by my grandfather in the 40's. The larger ones are have been no problems. It is the smaller ones, the 4-4-0 for example. (picts) Reliable pickup for these engines was never an issue on the old high powered cab control layout. The new DCC is a different story. The problems are many, but this is the one I am working on first. Increasing the number of active pick up points on these smaller engines. Pictured below, on this engine you have two, and only two active right rail contacts. One for each driver. On the tender you are blessed with four contact points for the left rail. What I am looking to find is a parts suppliers that sells tender trucks that pickup from both rails across all wheels. It would be nice to find a pilot or trailer truck that would pick up from one if not both rails. But maybe that's asking too much. Anyway, that is the quandry I am facing. Well that and how to keep 50 year old brass rolling stock from shorting out my system.
I would suggest posting this topic in the HO forum. I'll move it over for you. Stay cool and run steam......
Thanks Bob, I thought this was the HO board. At least that is what it said at the top of my screen. LOL TrainBoard.com > Model Railroading Forums > HO Scale
Thanks for the welcome. I see you made a simple wiper pickup for the wheels. That is something I have toyed with. The problem I am running into with wipers are shorts. If we derail or run over an open turnout, well screeeeching halt is called for. I am hoping, fingers crossed, that I have other options. Rail wipers are definitely out as they short out every turnout. Then there is the problem of the very short wheel base of these old 19th century engines and tenders. One thing is sure, it definitely makes finding the short comings in my track work easier. But then again, that is why I love this hobby.:unsure8ao: Thanks, Michael
I don't know if any commercial parts will fit, but NorthWest ShortLines (www.nwsl.com) is one of the bigger suppliers of replacement parts. Maybe they have the insulated wheelsets, trucks and other parts you need? Andrew
Wolfgang has the 'tried and true' method most often used. On occasion, pick up wipers have also been made from .005" thick spring brass or stainless steel shim stock and allowed to drag on the rail surface of the wheel's tire (circumference). We found these sometimes collect gum off the rails in time. Contacting the inside surface of wheels proved to be the best. For secure operation, these wires can be mounted to the (* 'top' side ) of tender trucks, and hidden from normal view by simply painting them and the feeder wire going up inside the tender body. Only the actual contacting portion of the wire should be left bare, and it can not be seen at the 12:00 o-clock position anyway. (This position helps protect it from damage during handling and derailments too.) These can be mounted to all wheels of both engine and tender if a tender is present. Spoked wheels required we bend a sort of 'shoe' on the end of the wire to ride across from spoke to spoke if the wire got bent during a derail accident. ** We file a bit on the bolster to get clean metal, then wipe a thin layer of '3-minute' epoxy on to make an insulator base and let it set up. (We have soldered a feeder wire to the pick up piece and trimmed off any excess.) Then we place the pick up assembly on the epoxy base we made, and locate it so it will flex a bit when the wheels are replaced later, and clamp it in place. Another mix of epoxy is then applied and allowed to set up. We remove the clamp, clip off the straight pin and we are ready to replace the wheels and run. Make sure the 'hot' wire is securely insulated when attached to the truck bolster or engine frame. The 'other' or ground wire can run on the axle of the non insulated wheel as usual. Edit: The clamp mentioned above, is the one we make by drilling a .025" (#72) hole about 3/8" deep into the ends of both jaws of a spring type laundry clothes pin. By inserting ordinary straight pins in the holes, we have made a tiny clamp for use in this type of work to hold things together during gluing or soldering. The pins are expendable and are clipped off, or in some cases used to solder feeder wires to. Even though the pin or wire used may spring a bit allowing the clothes pin to close, the pin's wire has enough 'memory' to hold things in place. We often would bend various shapes of wire and hold them in place for soldering this way, especially when adding pipe to steam boilers.
Thanks. If nothing else is available, I might have to settle for building my own. Just hoping that perhaps tender trucks with split axle and bolster pickup were commercially available. Also, a real long shot I am sure, would be to find a split axle pilot truck. Even if it were live on only one side, that would effectively double the contact points under the engine. ( I seriously doubt I'll find split axle drivers so I figure the best I can hope for is single rail pick up from the engine.) Not really expecting to find what I'm looking for, but it never hurts to ask.
If you can substitute insulated wheelsets in the pilot and insulate the wiring from any metal that might be in the truck frame, etc, it might be do-able... Same approach for the tender using insulated wheels... Andrew
When selecting decoders look for types that allow the connection of a power pack (capacitor) such as the ZIMO decoders and some others. This will keep the decoder going when power is lost and may eliminate the need for power pick-up improvements. Regards, Art ZIMO Agency of North America www.mrsonline.net
