My latest victim to undergo an upgrade to DCC was this Atlas Amtrak Dash8-32BWH. I popped the shell and stared at it for a good while before starting. I managed to get it just to the point where I could remove the board without it falling apart on me. The last time I tried this on an Atlas engine, the board just would not come loose and by the point where I gave up, it was nothing but a pile of parts. A super kind person saved it for me after I let it sit for a yeas with being able to get it back together. This time everything went about as good as could be expected. I went way out of my comfort zone when I had to solder the motor contacts to the board but again, it went smooth. It went on the program track. Mind you, about all I do is change the address to the decoder. Still not so adventuresome as to mess with other CV's just yet. Then it was over to the layout to run for a bit to make sure all is well. Here she is pulling some freight to make sure all is well before drifting back to passenger service. That was my very first successful DCC install in an Atlas engine. With this install complete, all my operational Amtrak units are now DCC. WooHoo!!!!! Well, I do have an old either Model Power or LifeLike F40 that runs very poorly and will not get DCC. It's destine to have the motor removed and the car body converted into a Cabbage unit. That might be a later this year project, we'll see if I ever get around to it. Also ahead of the cabbage project will be working on my fleet of Superliner cars. All are older ConCor cars and not the super nice newer Kato models. All of them have M/T passenger trucks and couplers and are painted to match the scheme of the B32 and the P42's that I have. These cars are under weight so the want to wobble and don't necessarily track well. The one car that I added some weight to as a test way back does run pretty decent so I know that might help the others. I'l like to add interiors, people and lighting to these cars but not sure where to start or how to do it. I guess when I'm closer to starting that project, I'll maybe give it a thread of it's own. That concludes my Amtrak ramble for the day. Enjoy
Another project from the weekend was/is the M/T arroWedge kit. Actually a really nice little kit with simple to follow instruction, decals and a good diagram of where they go. Assembly was easy enough. I thought I was off to a great start on the decals. A couple were still damp in this photo. Per the instructions, I tried some decal setting solution. I almost always use this and very sparingly. Well, I didn't do so well. one decal completely mangled and another just ghosted away. I moved on from there and got the other side, the back and the top done. Later when I went back to look at it, one decal (the # 48') had shriveled up into a little ball. Ironically the same one that disappeared from the other side. The decal on the top was also gone. I've yet to figure out how it happened and where it went. So odd. I've reached out to M/T to see if they have an extra set that I can purchase from them and waiting to hear back. I can say I have never had that kind of issue with decals before and hopefully never again. If M/T doesn't have a set I can buy, my fall back will be to order a set from Circus City Decals. Regardless, I think this is a cool little model and will be happy to see it completed.
Yeah, that's weird with the decals. I've never heard of an ArroWedge before. Looks like a container to hold Top Fuel dragsters.
The wedge looks good! Some decals don't like setting solution. Usually the thinner film stuff. If you can test on a sacrificial decal in the set that is always a good place to start. As an example the decals that come with the showcase miniatures use a very thin film and I learned you cannot use micro set with those or they disintegrate. I recall the micro trains kits that came with decals were similar to the showcase ones. I did use micro sol after I put them down and dry out a bit as that is less likely to react as harshly as the micro set. But then after that you have to walk away and let them fully dry before handling again to apply more decals. It does require a bit of patience.
I agree with all that. One of the decals that disappeared and the one that shrivled were gone before the setting solution and only 2 of the other 14 had a reaction. That's what got me since the first couple I applied had no issue. Nothing that a couple of replacement decals won't fix.
The same company that makes the micro set also makes decal film that you just brush on the decals while they are on the paper. It dries super flat to the point you'd never know you applied anything but it beefs up the film for both old/cracked decals as well as these thin ones. I default to using that for these thinner decals but use the micro sol once they are placed.
Try giving the new decals a couple of very light Testor's Clear Gloss Spray paint. It helps on decals that are old or just too delicate.
For today's ramble, it's pipe loads As if that's not enough, more in the works. I have the materials so can't seem to stop myself from making them.
Here's one of the gons I picked up at this past weekend's train show. This is probably going o get a load of some sort so the cove will most likely not be used. When I picked it up, it seemed a bit heavier than it should (even for an overweighted car) and this is what I found when I took the cover off. It appears someone before me added and the started but never finished removing some extra weight. I was able to pop it out without too much trouble and this is what was left behind. I'm thinking if weathered good, that really won't look bad and plus a load would probably cover that up anyway. I'll replace the tucks and couplers with M/T's and add some metal wheels along the way. On the outside, I'm thinking maybe distress the SP lettering and update the reporting marks to UP and maybe even through a shield decal on it. Any other good ideas?
Gons carry just about anything imaginable ! The bottoms and even the sides should look much worse then that....
Richard, Your ArroWedge looks great. Please forgive me for butting in on your thread but here is a picture of mine. It is a Shapeways print from a while ago with Circus City Decals. Last Shapeways item I have ever purchased ! You can see that I made a track polisher out of it by gutting a Rocco boxcar and added the polisher to the bottom of the well car. Different, yes ! But effective especially for shows : Be well !
ArroWedge was a UP PR stunt for their employees and customers, but doomed from the start. It seems that carrying another revenue-generating container instead, and avoiding the logistics of handling the wedge (and the half-loaded railcar under it,) was a better idea. Go figure. Nowadays, perhaps an aerodynamic, double-stack-height battery car behind the head-end power would make more sense. But the ArroWedge is a great conversation starter on a model railroad!
Wow Carl! Really nice. I'm glad you shared that because I never heard back from M/T in the decals so I just ordered a set from Circus City. From your picture I now feel like they will be a perfect match with the M/T supplied ones.
I was actually surprised (but shouldn't have been) that this actually came about from a school project by some undergraduate college students at BYU. There is some video of the concept testing using some nice looking O scale models. The original version was no where near as streamlined but like anything else, the overall fuel saving dollars was not enough to offset the cost of the extra handling and the loss of one revenue spot on the train. Although, someday when fuel cost reach a certain point, we could very well see the arroWedge in wider use.
These things continue to multiply. & all finished up in the last 3 days. Here is a shot of this past weekends victim ready to be converted to DCC Light board removed and some Kapton tape applied. The new board in place and a test run before putting the shell back on. And now she's out pulling freight! More from the weekend later maybe .......
