1. Home
  2. Model Railroad Forum
  3. Big Ugly.

Big Ugly.

Confession: I'm a steam guy who harbors a secret love for certain diesels. The bigger and the uglier the better. I've been through the

12-step program, but so far it's only enabled me to enjoy throttle settings of up to 8.

Anyway, here's my latest project with a few of her friends:

formatting link
I picked up the Alco-made model of a real-life Southern Pacific DH-643 on Ebay for a nominal sum because -as with most of Alco's Japanese- built models- the power-train was good only for scrap. I then spent a couple of months researching, detailing, building and installing an entirely new power-train, and then painting the results. There's now a new Buhler can motor inside, driving two healthy flywheels and a pair of Stewart trucks from an Alco Century-series diesel which happened to use the same ones. I've never painted a diesel before, but it turns out not to be all that different from -and no more difficult than- painting a steamer.

formatting link
This is one of the locos I'm planning on running her with: An S.P. U-50. Quite possibly the only diesel of that era which could compete with the DH-643 in terms of sheer power and sheer ugly.

formatting link
And this is the lash-up I normally use to power my 106-car '60s ore train: a U-50, a DD-35, and a second trailing U-50. Alas, I just finished converting the ore train from plastic to metal wheelsets, and it now rolls so well (and weighs so much more) that these three locos are no longer able to pull it up our 2 1/2% grades. Sooooo....

formatting link
We add another 2 pounds of motive power to the front end...

formatting link
And Hey-Presto! The "Lashup From Hell": a DH-643, U-50, DD-35, U-50 combination that turns out to pull the ore train just fine! ( Note that all 4 of these locos are of the dual-engined sort that were tried for a decade or so beginning in the early '60s. )

That means 30 powered axles all pulling at the same time; and while I've yet to measure the full lash-up's pulling power, I know that each U-50 pulls about 18 ounces and the DD-35 pulls only slightly less, so there's probably going to be somewhere around 4 pounds of total pulling power here.

I wonder exactly how much stress a Kadee #5 can take?

(BTW: You can click on the "+" sign above each picture to see a blow up.)

Enjoy,

~Pete

Reply to
Twibil
Loading thread data ...

On 9/16/2010 3:26 PM Twibil spake thus:

A diseasel, eh? I don't know, Pete: we're going to have to reconsider your membership in this group in light of this ...

Reply to
David Nebenzahl

On 9/16/2010 3:26 PM Twibil spake thus:

Nice woik. I can just see the rails bending underneath this beast.

The weathering on the fuel tank is especially noteworthy and realistic-looking. All those fuel/oil drips.

Reply to
David Nebenzahl

Thanx. I worked from a picture of a DH-643 taken while it was sitting in wait for that final trip to Chrome Crankshaft. (Locomotive scrappers.) Needless to say, the S.P. hadn't bothered to paint or clean it for several years before the pic was taken.

It matches pretty well.

~Pete

Reply to
Twibil

Twibil wrote: : Confession: I'm a steam guy who harbors a secret love for certain : diesels. : : I picked up the Alco-made model of a real-life Southern Pacific DH-643 : on Ebay for a nominal sum because -as with most of Alco's Japanese- : built models- the power-train was good only for scrap. : I dunno. I understand ALCO's really, really, tried to be a steam engine, at least from the stack...

Bruce

Reply to
Bruce Burden

Nice looking loco.

wolf k.

Reply to
Wolf K

I think you're right. The Alco models are the only ones I've ever seen. (U.P. locos?)

inner trucks twisted apart.

It's difficult to make suggestions without being able to see exactly what you have to work with, but you could probably cobble something together using the same flexible neoprene tubing that model airplane guys use for fuel line. I use it to replace the worn-out rubber tubes that originally connected the motor's driveshaft to the gear housings in brass steam locomotives, and Overland uses *exactly* the same stuff to connect the paired trucks on my U-50s. It's available at most hobby shops, it's cheap, and it works like a champ!

I keep a 1' roll of the stuff in my parts cabinet at all times, and the only problem with it is that after 10 years or so the stuff gets pretty stiff and needs to be replaced

~Pete

BYW: Nice sig line.

Reply to
Twibil

Thanx, but I suspect "purposeful" is more suitable than "nice looking".

If the DH-643 had been a woman, guys would describe her as being "a great little cook with a fine personality" just before they left the vicinity at a dead run.

~Pete

Reply to
Twibil

inner trucks twisted apart.

This loco had the 2 outer trucks powered from a massive central motor in the body, then the gear shafts in the 2 inner trucks were coupled to the gear shafts in the outer trucks by these tiny spring couplings. It was a B-B+B-B arrangement for those readers not familiar with the C-855. I was thinking of trying the NWSL universal couplings that I have used on a number of locos to replace worn out rubber tubing couplings, but have not gotten a round tuit yet. The spacing is very close between the trucks.

Something my random tagline generator picked. I rarely select the tag-lines specifically for a posting. Of course, I do have to collect the tag-lines and put them into the files the tagline generator pulls them from.

Reply to
Rick Jones

e 2 inner trucks twisted apart.

Mr Jones,

Where can I acquire a random tagline generator? I have a book of taglines that I'd like to use.

Reply to
Special Agent Melvin Purvis

.... and miss out on a good deal more than good cooking.

;-)

wolf k.

Reply to
Wolf K

I use a program called KookieJar. I believe you'll find it on Sourceforge.net

Reply to
Rick Jones

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.