DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

I know this is getting repetitive, but I did have to see how the proposed belt drive would affect the gearbox in a tender drive chassis. When it had enough power to move it (3V or 5V), the speed turned out similar to the crown gear on the large gear and the torque will still be the same, which is great to know. Would've been easier if I had a proper round motor since they're more practical here, but the battery pack would still have to be next to the pulley. The original position for the motor caused a stability issue when the battery pack was more on the edge, so I only had to move it down. The current setup also has an advantage in that the pulley can be taken out through the bottom in case the belt drive messes up. More importantly, it ran very well on the track as well as on other surfaces. At the moment, it's basically the high torque version of the first chassis I made last year. After the ends were folded up, it was kind of able to move the 0-4-0ST without pushing it off the rails (which was what mattered to me at that point). Once the traction tyres and couplings are added, it should hopefully be able to do its job.



Right after testing the tender chassis, I removed the other gearbox from the 2-6-0 and replaced it with a bearing for the rear drivers. It managed to fix the "rough riding" and they now stay on the rails better. However, they currently don't always roll well and I'm not sure how the tender will push it.



As mentioned, I already installed lights for the headlamp and firebox glow. Now that the motor is no longer in the loco, I chose to use two LEDs from a redundant light string (already wired to each other) rather than incandescent bulbs. The firebox light has since been tinted with red and orange markers. Mild inspiration came from this improvement mod for the LEGO C.K. Holliday. The improved smokebox door (which no longer opens) was folded three-four times to give it an actual shape. It turned out more similar in diameter to a UK one, unlike the outline in the middle of the first version. However, it was later corrected with a repainted unused wheel glued in the middle.

Edit:



The cardboard strips for the running board were too thin and made it very flimsy (esp. after removing the gearbox), so I ended up replacing them with two skewers along each side. The cab was also cut down in height before being moved up, and the sides are a bit more level with the footplate. Prior to that, only one side of the running board was glued in the right spot and the footplate was wonky. A new top layer will have to be made for the chassis, because the two black bars were cut from plastic fence pickets and therefore sloped. Hope it will still track well after I reattach it.



Having seen how bright the headlamp and firebox are with one CR2025 (3V button battery), I was wondering how I could make a good holder for it instead of looking for one/"scrapping" an LED tealight. I found this incredibly simple design by HK Creates Unique and decided to try making a similar one. The metal strips were cut from the backs of picture frames, and I found they were conductive when other components were powered by them. I then added positive and negative wires and - for the first time - actually soldered them to the terminals (better late than never). Currently thinking to use a rubber band to keep the halves shut while still making it easy to open. Subsequent designs will have the positive terminal touch the 'side' of the battery, like in electronic tealights or other devices. Either way, it's a pretty good jumping off point. The on/off switch/button for the lights will be the whistle, bell or one of the domes when I'll get to the boiler.