DME 6359 takes it all off !

Well, here is the Mt Rushmore engine, with the masking removed.  The Pactra masking tape came off very easily, as did the regular masking tape I used to cover the yellow band between the itsy bitsy Pactra tape on the edges.  This is just after the "reveal," and no touch-up has been done yet for the inevitable little "creeps" of paint.

A slightly more broadside view of the engineers' side of DME 6359

At this time, the engine had that "new locomotive" smell, or at least the "fresh paint" smell.....

A longer 3/4's shot of the engine in the front, and its power chassis to the rear. At this time, the Digitrax DH163AT decoder had been already wired in and tested.  I had rigged a little "sail" mast to keep the decoder and unconnected wires from dragging along the right of way during initial testing, but it had fallen over when the time came for this photo.  Won't be THAT long before that engine is together as EMD intended it to be!

The next item on the list for DME 6359 is to use the ever-finely bristled brush and touch up the "creeps" that occurred even with my careful and persistent "gouging" of the tape edges.  But, every few of them, and the "roughest" area turned out to be the fireman's side behind the cab around the tall standing equipment box and the turbo bulge.  There, I had to repeat a few light brushes of yellow to straighten out the top edge of the color band.  But it looks OK now.

More to come....

 

One last Look at a Taped-Up DME 6359...

In these two shots, I remembered to use the "close up" function on the camera for better depth of field and focus.  This shows the engine in its final view before the dousing of blue....the full width of the yellow/gold stripes are now covered with masking tape - had used that thin narrow Pactra masking tape for the outlines of the width.  Now, if I screw up the paint job from this point on, I've got fond memories!

I guess I'll spray one more light coat of yellow to seal up the tape edges, and go for the BLUE.

Pictures to follow when it's de-masked.

Progress again on the "Mount Rushmore" engine...

With the outdoor season here in KC just about over, the projects now move inside, and include of course, model railroad stuff!

I got back on track with the DME 6359 project.  I did some preliminary hole drilling and body work so that I wouldn't have to knock the shell around quite as much after painting to add the details.  I fired up my Badger air compressor for the first time, and using the "M" nozzle on the air brush, I hit it a few times with the Model Master "Deep Yellow" to have the yellow/gold band already over the gray primer.



There she is on the Coast Line diorama "staging track," sitting on pair of nice "shop trucks."  You can see the hole for the hood-mounted bell between the rear of the cab and the air intakes, and you'll also notice that I changed out the Athearn standard-equipped "brakewheel-style" hand brake with the older "lever-rachet" type as on the DME 6359.    

Here's a fuzzy close up shot of the fireman's side nose area.  You may notice that the forward battery box cover is a bit "askew," and that's cause I had to file it down in size a tiny bit to fit flush against the shell.  I'll be doing some body putty work on the lower edge to square it up.  Oh, I also had to add the "step" back on the walkway between the front cab door and the front porch, since the factory one had to be "removed" to work on the handbrake.

And then, it was time for me to jump into my first DCC decoder installation!  Using the Digitrax DH163AT, pulled the chassis apart from the trucks and drive shafts, and did the necessary work on the upper and lower motor spring clips. I then isolated the motor from the frame, and drilled and tapped a 2-56 hole between the front flywheel and lead truck pick-up tab to attach the "black" wire.  Maybe you can see that little brass head in the picture...

THEN, it was time to fire up the Digitrax on the diorama, and see what happens.  First I had to figure out a way to keep all those other wires (for the lights) and the decoder suspended and off the ground.  That accomplished, I cracked open the throttle, and it RAN!  First time luck.  Not the "silky smooth speed control" I had imagined, but it'll get better I thought.  Or not. 

Oh, maybe not so lucky....  after a few back and forth moves, it STOPPED.  Did not respond.  When thru the checklist of DCC "troubleshoots," and still nothing.  Gads, did I burn out a decoder already?  Nah, doesn't feel warm, and swapping it out for another decoder of the same type produced NO MOTION. 

Well, it was to to run to the AMC 24 and watch a cheap (5 buck) afternoon movie with Dr. Flynn - although I was still mulling over in my mind what I might have done, and what I had to do when I returned.  I knew the power chassis itself was in great shape.... I had of course lubed and tuned it up and then ran it for 30 mins in each direction at different speeds, on DC.

After the flick and before supper, I took the basic stuff apart again, and used a voltage tester to check for continuity in all sorts of places.  Seemed fine.  Oh, wait a minute.... why is the red wire from the DCC socket waving in the wind, and not attached to the shorter red wire with the two snap-on clips that "hard-wire" the two truck "pick up tabs?"  I look closely at one of the clips, and there it is-THE PROBLEM.  The wire came loose, or broke or whatever.  Out comes the pencil soldering tool, and then I reassemble everything very carefully, watching to make sure all the soldered joints and blobs are holding.  Back on the track it went.

AND IT RUNS, again!  So then I went to the next step in DDC, assigning a unique ID number in the system to run the engine, and get away from the "default code of 03".  This took me a little practice and repeating of steps.  But, I did get "6359" programmed in.  It then time to flip things back to the "run" mode, and dial it up.  WHOOPEEEEE !!!  It worked. But, it jumped from zero to about 40 mph as the throttle was cracked.  Hmm- I guess I need to go to the next DCC step, and adjust the CV's that control slow, medium and full speed.  I went thru the steps outlined with the decoder, and used their default values.  This also changed it over to 128-step throttle (I think), and this time, WOW - she really started at a crawl.  And ran very very smoothly.

Watch out world, I'm a DCC lunatic.  But, I now understand how important it is to have all the wires and stuff "packed in" carefully so the shell will fit!  I didn't try that, as I next figured I'd mask off the yellow/gold broad stripe and throw some blue on it.  Then, after touch-up paint and decaling, I'll attack the lighting (including ditch lights) and small details. 

The DME 6359 gets "Framed..."

Here's another series of shots as I go about fixing up the MILW RD "shorty fuel tank induced" frame.

(ABOVE)  An overhead view of the frame... the super glued brass angle is the "keeper of the frame."  I was hoping that perhaps the strength of the gap-filling ACC might be enough to keep the tight-fit between the left 2/3's of the frame (B end) butted up against the right 1/3 (A end), but I knew better from other work with cutting Athearn frames in the past making MILW RD SD40-2's. 

As you can see, there was just enough open space between the frame and the fuel tank to allow wiggle room, and I knew that would not hold up in a time span of the model.  On those earlier SD40-2's, I took care of this by gluing in the frames to the bodies - remember that those were non-powered efforts.  Not the case with the Mt Rushmore engine!

So, out came some brass stock, and the drills and taps, and tiny screws.  Ever find that as you get older, those 1/8" to 1/4" screws are a real bitch to get started into holes where you have limited finger room?

And, to make sure that things stayed fairly level and in line, I went ahead and drilled and tapped a 2-56 thru the brass angle form and into the frame bottom, As well as into the fuel tank end. There was just enough room left on the frame bottom to allow this and not get into clearance problems with the flywheel housing. 

Side view of the "new frame."  For some reason, the top of stock Athearn frame for the "A" (front) end of the SD40-2 is a bit higher than the rear portion as it approaches the fuel tank area.  This is matched up in the fuel tank area, near the depressed portions of the "A" frame that holds the flywheel.  I had to mill down this "reinforcement" brass strip, not for "matching up," but for clearance with the body shell.

Oh, and yes, I had to grind / fill out lots of the inside of the body shell down at the walkways to make this all fit in, including the small screw heads sticking out.  If I had put the crews on the inside, I was afraid that there might be too close or no clearance between the screw heads and the flywheels.

The shell is fitting to my satisfaction on the frame, and when the body-mounted coupler boxes are screwed in, the whole thing is fitting darned good.  Therefore, the next step is BODY WORK.

The DME 6359 Project begins!

I don't consider playing around with paint removers, scrub brushes and warm baths as part of the "building project."  But I've begun some REAL whacking away at the base model that will become the DME 6359. Taking one look at the tools in the process (picture below) might give you some idea of what the first "whack" was at - the frame. 

Being a former MILW SD40-2, the DME Mt. Rushmore engine had that "shortened fuel tank." You know, the one that some model manufacturers seem to forget about. It just ain't MILW with a hunkin' big fuel tank. I believe in the "good enough," "three foot rule," and "make it look family" methods of madness when it comes to working / painting / detailing model railroad stuff.  Yeah, the several hundred dollar items are great, but I don't want to spend money on something like that - see the peek view of another project on the "SP Coast Line" blog elsewhere. Same thing applies to working over some decent Athearn stuff instead of those 35 to 45 dollar kits or RTR things.   Anyway, doing this "hacksaw blade torture" goes back to the early 1980's when I first did it to make a couple of MILW RD SD40-2's from parts of this and that. 

Here's what the front end of the shortened fuel tank looked like right after the hacking was done with.  Just like a tree ring, you can see the various "cuts" made in the tank as I switched from side to side and top to bottom.  Of course, you have to make a "plug" end of styrene and then after superglueing it to the rough end trim it down to the correct contour. It's not an exact science, but it gets the job done and makes it look "family."

It really took only about 30 or 40 mins of sawing to get the tank shortened. As before, you end up getting a small fuel / water / oil tank that might come in handy on SP SD7 / 9's?  I still have the other two chopped off sections from nearly 30 years ago in the parts locker!  Just like the past, this weakens the front frame of the engine to the point that it sags at an angle if it is not positioned into the body shell.  So, I'll use some thin brass or metal stock to make angled braces that will join the front end of the shorty tank with the inner middle part of the front half of the frame. 

Before the bracing was done, and the trucks disassembled for painting of the metal side plates of the gearboxes, here's what the side view of the SD40-2 looks like at track level.  Can't miss that MILW RD style fuel tank, huh?

Time to Strip and Tease...

I chose to start with DME 6359 since I had the decals, a good SD40-2 base to work with, and it was the specially-decorated “50^th Anniversary of Mt. Rushmore 1941-1991” commemorative engine.  Not something that has been available commercially, and likely never to be offered as an RTR - “ready to roll,” or “ready to run” as they were called in the old days.

          I had compiled a huge pile of DME / ICE modeling data, magazine articles and pictures for that one-time planned layout, but of course they were now boxed up and not readily at hand.  Rather than launch a search and rescue, I went to the DM&E websites and RR Pictures Archives and came up with everything I’d need to know for the 6359 model.  Quite a help in modeling compared to the old days, eh?

          Let’s see, the 6359 is a former Milwaukee Road unit (MILW 193), so it feels right.  It’s got that basic SD40-2 look, with really just the usual MILW RD “short fuel tank” that makes it stick out amongst the thousands of other SD40-2’s.  Extended range dynamic brakes, and variously thru its current career, either a conventional straight-topped pilot snowplow, or a slightly-smaller “slacking back” plow.  And, it had the chicken wire style rear radiator grilles.  There might be many other “nitpicker” details that should be changed for a “museum model,” but I’m of the “three-foot rule” when it comes to the minute stuff.  I do enough to make it look a step or two or three above the beginning model, and make it look “family.”  If you are the type that insists on prototype fidelity in all regards, them you might want to stop reading and looking at the pictures in the blog now.  You can leave comments on this blog (and my others), but I won’t reply to them in that topic area.  It’s MY hobby, and I’ll do it MY way.  Into my stash of SD’s I go and pull out a Rock Island SD40-2, Athearn road number

4794.

It’s of late blue-box vintage (price tag looks like a purchase at Discount Model Trains in Addison TX), and the first thing I notice is that it lacks the old Athearn quartet of “nubs and holes” to secure the body shell to the frame.  Hmm, looks almost like a body-mount coupler box system to hold everything together.  Rather than use brute force and itty bitty common sense, I defer to the instruction sheet. Wow – an intriguing mounting system.  Not only a method to hold the shell on with the coupler pockets, but a couple of boxes that come apart and screw together and into the frame!  Say what you want, but Irv and his descendants have come a long way and are so responsible for getting the hobby where it is today.

With the shell off, the power chassis is something new to me in Blue Box stuff – it had the latest incarnation of the Athearn narrow motor, and those thin tubular drive shaft splines from the flywheels out to the tops of the power truck towers.  I place it on a pure DC-powered test track, crank the throttle, and am amazed at the quiet, slow speed and smooooooth running.  And this is right out of the box.  Nonetheless, I take the bottoms and tops off the truck assemblies, throw a little all purpose plastic compatible Labelle slippery stuff on the gears, and pop things back together.  Using a little foam cradle set-up, I run the engine at a moderate speed for about fifteen minutes in each direction, and then at a very slow speed for same time and change of directions.  So, I have followed the first rule of getting an engine ready for DCC conversion – make sure it runs good on old time DC.

Now, my attention is drawn to that nice bright red and “hurt-the-eyes” yellow ROCK ISLAND paint on the shell.  I notice that it’s also of the later design, as far as detailed printing of the smallest lettering of everything from DANGER 600 VOLTS to the EMD builders’ plate.  Seems a shame to take such nice clothing off and make it naked.  But it must be stripped.  And having used the commercial paint strippers from everyone that makes such items for us modelers, I seek out a more cost-effective, yet thorough and not too messy method.  Months back, I had picked up a thing of Pine-Sol at Home Depot at tremendous price cut, with this in mind.  And so the shell gets slipped under the waves of Pine-Sol in my metal “soaking tub.”  Coming back to the garage about an hour later, the smell of pine forest freshness almost knocks me out.  Does not appear to be any paint floating in the tub, but the Pine Sol is so damned RED!  Donning the latex gloves (pre-powdered inside by the maker for supple skin retention), I search the depths and find the shell and the detached cab section.  Using the new Crest toothbrush (firm bristle buck-99 type), I begin to scrub the shell, and, sure enough, globs of red come off.  Not real easily, but they do.        

To the tub it goes again for another couple of hours.  This time, a warm bath rinse takes nearly all the remaining paint off, save a few pesky nooks and crannies.  And, just as mentioned by those that have  Feels clean and smooth though.  And does it SMELL. 

Patty comes into the garage and for a moment, thinks the reclaimed Pine-Sol in the bottle is tomato juice. And is amazingly not thrilled with the “clean smell.” Neither am I. So, after supper, we stop by Wal-Mart and get two items for more body stripping research - some 91 percent isopropyl rubbing alcohol, and a container of DOT Grade 3 approved brake fluid. I had read on a website that you had to get the 91 percent solution (sold only at Wal Mart according to the poster) instead of the more common 70 to 80 percent stuff.  I pour the quart of alky liquid into the soaking tub and throw the shell back in. After just fifteen minutes, the wash, scrub and rinse routine leaves a nearly nude plastic form. The alcohol smell is much more tolerable to me, and it took most of the piney woods smell off the model itself. The garage still reeked of the Pine-Sol though. After a few minutes of elbow grease (the floor of the garage looks like a CSI crime scene - so much red and thicky icky), to the faucet I go, and with warm water and the brush and a bit of Imus Ranch environmentally-friendly Dishwashing Detergent, the shell comes fairly clean.

http://www.imusranchfoods.com/   

To the tub it goes again for another couple of hours.  This time, a warm bath rinse takes nearly all the remaining paint off, save a few pesky nooks and crannies.  And, just as mentioned by those that have done the Pine-Sol thing, there remain a few lite white blemishes on the dried shell.  Feels clean and smooth though.  And does it SMELL.  Patty comes into the garage and for a moment, thinks the reclaimed Pine-Sol in the bottle is tomato juice.  And is amazingly not thrilled with the “clean smell.”  Neither am I.  So, after supper, we stop by Wal-Mart and get two items for more body stripping research - some 91 percent isopropyl rubbing alcohol, and a container of DOT Grade 3 approved brake fluid.  I had read on a website that you had to get the 91 percent solution (sold only at Wal Mart according to the poster) instead of the more common 70 to 80 percent stuff.  

 I pour the quart of alky liquid into the soaking tub and throw the shell back in.  After just fifteen minutes, the wash, scrub and rinse routine leaves a nearly nude plastic form.  The alcohol smell is much more tolerable to me, and it took most of the piney woods smell off the model itself.  The garage still reeked of the Pine-Sol though. 

         

Into the SD stash I go again, and pick out a “Conrail Quality” blue SD40-2 non-powered engine.  Into the 91 percent solution it goes.  I leave it for a couple of hours, and it’s nearly 100 percent cleaned off.  After a scrub and wash, back it goes for another hour and I’m very satisfied with the results.  The Pine-Sol will be in the garbage pick-up Tuesday (it’s not considered HAZ- MAT, is it?) and the brake fluid will be returned and swapped out for 2 more bottle of 91 proof happiness.  Since then I’ve also denuded a CNW SD40-2, a Kodachrome schemed ATSF eng and a blue and yeller ATSF as well, with equally great results.  91 Proof is the way to go.          

 

DME 6359

THE DAKOTA, MINNESOTA AND EASTERN SD40-2 6359

                            (and why it should have a blog all its own…)

Well, the SP Coast Line diorama / test track is up and running with DCC (see the blog for it at http://spcoastlinemid60s.blogspot.com/), and as planned, it’s time to get lots of projects that were started over the past several years and those planned with the retirement layout in mind, UNDERWAY!

          In going thru boxes of accumulated stuff, I found (not unexpectedly) lots of Athearn Blue Box SD40-2’s.  The buying started back in the 90’s when I envisioned a layout based on some portion of the Milwaukee Road Transcon line.  Then, things turned towards the MILW’s “Corn Lines” for about a decade and a half (see the story on another blog of mine, http://spwpvalley.blogspot.com/).  So, I would still have some SD40-2’s, just not as many of them as I would F units.  Counting them up, a total of nine SD40-2’s - most powered, just a couple of them dummies.  Most all of the first phase of Athearn SD40-2’s – with the corrugated rear radiator grills and standard length nose.  However, I did find that my buying of these six-axles lasted long enough into the era of Irv’s “customizing” of body parts, and the newer “spline drive” universals and sleeked-up motors.  

          You will recall (if you read the other blogs about my adventures in the hobby) that I went thru a short, albeit intense period of IMRL leanings, along with a slide into the ICE era.

I had gotten a set or two of DME Microscale decals for the layout, since those roads’ units found themselves frequently on the neighboring regionals.  To be quite honest, it has been a good six or seven years since doing some bench work rebuilding / kitbashing / detailing / painting / lettering projects, and I wondered if I still had the touch, or the talent. After all, the eyes have shifted and the fingers have little twitches of soreness from time to time. 

          Concurrent with getting the SP Coast Line diorama / test track up and running, I  configured a “workshop” that would be the best I had ever assembled in my fifty plus years in the hobby, given the space constraints and current usage of the area.  Had plenty of storage in all forms - plastic parts bins, multi-level drawer sets, sliding drawers and everything else.  It was time to get back to a part of the hobby that has always been a top draw for me.

          Of course, my kitbashing had its origins back in the 60’s and 70’s, when those of us that modeled certain roads and certain types of engines and cars had to do it to create stuff we wanted on our layouts.  Naturally the selection, road names, varieties, detailing and availability of models has blown up a thousand fold since then – and of course, the PRICE of these gems has too!  Gawd almighty, if I was starting out in this hobby now, I would have to ditch my job of the past 32 years and find something that pays better than the railroad – which, for someone such as myself with two years of college and a vary narrow job category history (see my Face book page for that drivel!) would not be realistic.  So, back to my roots I go here in 2011 – ready and willing to play with sharp objects, sticky and colorful stuff that I can’t ever get off me, smelly but incredibly strong adhesives, very very thin but detailed decals, and the courage to cut, slice and dice plastic.