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.
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 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!
