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CR Specifics
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0 horse power, no motor.
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Built from Alco RSD12 & 15s. |
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Originally had Alco trimount trucks but were replaced
with Flexicoil trucks which match Aristocraft's SD45 trucks. |
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And the chopping begins...
Well, here's the start of it!
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12/12/2003 Shortened frame:
This is a shortened SD45 frame and center beam to accommodate
the 53'-8" length of the MT6. |
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12/15/2003 Stair well mods:
Here's the start of modifying the stairwells to resemble the RSD-12. |
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01/15/2004 Split the Beam:
I had to cut the beam in half and bolt it back
through the plastic frame so that that batteries could be supported
between the two halves. |
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01/15/2004 Batteries:
Here they are. Twelve batteries total (notice
the two where the fuel tank will be). This is the only set up
I could get to work to keep standard with 18v @ 4.5AmpHr. |
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01/20/2004 Test Roof:
I curved some styrene and glued them together for
the roof. |
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02/15/2004 Shell Mockup:
Here's the shell partially complete with drawings
of future parts on it. |
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02/15/2004 Shell Mockup:
Different angle of the shell closer up. |
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02/22/2004 Shell Mockup:
Added on a few more details to the shell.
Still many left! |
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02/23/2004 Shell Mockup:
From a different side. |
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03/03/2004 Shell Mockup:
Added headlights and built fuel tank and air
cylinders. |
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04/03/2004 Painting:
Well I tried to get it done for the York PA show,
but didn't make it. Here it is painted up. Need to make
some decals before dull coating the shell. The hand rails are
painted and ready to be installed, after the stanchions are finished
up. |
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JM Enterprize Couplers
These are 1/32 scale working metal couplers and are
absolutely the best I've seen! However, they only couple with Kadee
#1-scale couplers (as far as I know). They are distributed by TrainModelSupply.com
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Frame Post:
I cut the original mounting post down to the level
the side tabs come out, then built it up a little thicker with
styrene to create a better platform. |
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Coupler Box:
Since I already mounted all Kadee couplers on my
engines and the coupler pockets that come with the JM couplers
aren't suited very well for loco mounting (although they are very
nice), I decided to clean out
the inside of the Kadee coupler box and use them for mounting. |
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Centering Springs:
I drilled a hole through the middle of the coupler
shaft and tapped in two small screws to hold the centering springs
in place, which were chopped up for the original Kadee mounts. |
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Detail Shot:
Here's a close up of the couplers awesome appearance. |
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Frame Beams
Since the dash 9's are coming soon (yeah, yeah, CR never
had any dash 9's, but they'll make a great later version dash 8 with some
chopping :), it was pointed out that the overall truck appearance and
stance of the loco isn't up to par. This seems to be mainly credited
to the lack of detail piping and frame I-beams that support the
loco. I feel these were left out because there simply isn't enough
room for them and for the motor block assembly to rotate under tight
radiuses (radii?). So, I gave it a go on this MT-6 and SD45s and think it will
work out nicely. I used a method of mounting the motor brick with four
bolts and trimming the brick mounting piece for turning clearance.
Please note that this alteration will slightly limit the turning radius of
the loco without further modifications.
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Mounting Holes:
Here's a nice blurry pic (sorry) of where approximately
the
mounting holes will go. I drilled these downward, but found it
much easier to drill from the bottom up to accurately locate where
the nut will be mounted from within the brick. These
particular holes go through the wheel pickup section of the
circuit board, but I don't care as I'm not using them. Keep
them as far out as possible for motor clearance!! |
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Nut Mod:
The nut needs to be trimmed down flat on one side
so that it can be placed as close to the inner brick wall as
possible and the other side needs to be slanted to allow for clearance
of the motor. |
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Chop Up the Mount:
Now the mount can be altered. The angles cut
here allow it to turn fully with out hitting the beam. The
four parts on the right were cut off the sides of the mounting block
that will be used to re-attach the side frames to the brick. |
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Slap it Together:
The assembly on the left is the original, while the
one on the right is the modified one. The screw heads were
slightly counter sunk and can be filed to allow for more
clearance. |
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Add the I-Beam:
I used a 3/8th inch Plastruct ABS I-beam, glued
on with Plastruct Plastic Weld. |
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Rotation Limitation Top:
Here's a top view of the section that limits the
rotation of the trucks. The truck mount
assembly clears the beam, but that actual corner of the brick hits the
I-beam as seen below. I don't plan on running these
locos on this tight of a turn (what radius can it handle, not sure
yet), so I feel it will be OK to leave. I will however alter
this area by adding extra breakers to stop the rotation earlier as to not allow the
brick to hit
the I-beam and possibly brake it off. |
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Rotation Limitation Side:
Here's a side view of the issue. I trimmed
the inside of the beam to allow a little more clearance. If
you need the absolute max rotation, I think you could safely cut
away the corner of the brick since this plastic is really
thick. Underneath this corner is the gear assembly box so
that is as far as you can go in. Some trusty (and thin)
black duct tape could be placed over the corner to prevent any
dirt from getting in. Imagine if the original mount was
there, the truck wouldn't turn at all! |
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Final Effect:
Here's the view of the beam. |
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