Finishing the ramp upgrade

Well, it took me a while to find the ballast I had used in this area as I have about 4 ballast types on the layout. Here you can see the ballast has been added over the magnets and I have to spray them with water and then drip on the glue. I covered the area around the ramps with paper to shield the undisturbed areas.

Ballast in place and ramp area sprayed. Glue has been added and absorbed. 

I initially tried putting the water in place with an eyedropper but that disturbed the ballast and did not look as good. The track at the top of the picture shows that. It motivated me to get out the sprayer.

A closer look at that area.

 Here is the main line, now ballasted and glued. As an ironic touch, I used an old Micro Mark catalogue as my source of paper for the masking. 

Upgrading Older Magnetic Ramps

As I operated the layout, it became apparent that some of the early magnetic ramps were set too high and caused the glad hands of the couplers to scrape the tops of the ballast over the magnets. You can see the lighter color as a result of the scraping in this picture. On the main line, I was also getting false uncoupling as the strong magnets drew the cars together. 

So, I have to remove the old magnets and reset the screws for the magnets to get more clearance and a slightly lower strength. You can see that I have rewet the glue that holds the ballast over the ramps. You can see the heads of the screws after I removed the magnets. 

I then had to go back and clear out the old ballast once the water evaporated and the ballast was loosened. You can see the depth gauge that I will use to reset the screws. This was not a major problem because it was essentially setting the screw tops even with the subsurface material under the track. I used the broken toothbrush head as my scrubber/broom to clean out the area. The old magnets are lined up along the right side of the picture. I cleaned them up once they were removed and reused them. I was surprised that some had started to rust so I am hopeful that this process was only short term. 

This is a finished installation using the old magnets awaiting paint on the tops of the magnets. After that dries, I will insert replacement ballast and then glue it all down. 

Here are a couple more installations on the main line. The top ballast has been removed and I am about to tighten the screws down and clean out the old ballast. 

depth 

Here are a couple of views as I use the depth gauge to ensure that all screws are the same before I place the magnets back in place. 

A closer look of the gauge engaging the top of the screws. 

A finished installation of the ramp awaiting a top coat of ballast and glue. The magnets have been painted rail brown to avoid seeing their silver color. 

This whole procedure is a multiday process due to waiting for the paint to dry and then the glue to dry once the ballast is replaced. I am going to have to spray paint the track to try to blend the new ballast with the old. 
 

Another source for a tender

So, a more recent model than the 50 year old US Hobbies I1, is the Sunset I1. It has a short tender, the 90f82 as well. It, too, is a bit deficient in its details so I had to rework one. This is an overview of that tender with some pictures to show the difference. I had to move the hatch rearward, add details to the deck and rear, very similar to what I did to the older tender. 

It also did not have any water valves so they were added. 

The rear conduit was improved, a class plate added, and new markers installed. This body was nicer in that there is no rear seam in the body.  

I could not do the applique as easily so I had to forego it. I had a more difficult time with the grab irons up the back of the slope sheet. Drains were moved to the correct location as was the water hatch. This left me with a very large hole in the tender deck which required quite a patch job. 

I added the steam/water lines to the dog-house as well

Here is a comparison of the stock (painted ) Sunset tender, with the improved tender. Quite a change for the better.

The look in the rear. 

I am showing that I milled out the opening in the side of the frame for the lower water valving. 

Here you see the water valves on the top of the legs of the tender, which are missing on the original model. 
 

Updating a 50 year old tender - A PRR 90f82 tender from an I1

These photos are from my recent work to bring a US Hobbies tender into the current age with additional details. They are a bit out of order, but I hope to give you an adequate overview so you can understand as you look at them all. This is a rear view of the almost completed tender. It has many new details including the electrical conduits on the rear, upgraded marker lights, headlight, tender hatch, drains and lift rings.

A down view showing the hatch, and tender drains. You can also see the plugs that I made to fill the holes in the deck from the old details which were in the wrong locations. 

Here you can see the applique that I added to the rear coal sheet to allow me to add rivets and braces that ran up the back of the coal space. I also added two cast grabs from Precision. The hole in the deck is for the dog-house that will be added separately. Also added is an L brace along the top of the coal sheet. It covers the seam between the applique and the original coal sheet. 

The front of the tender did not have any details, so the water valves and the brake shaft have been added. 

This is a comparison between the almost competed tender and another one that just has the electrical conduit and the marker lights added. I have also begun the blending process of the hole fillers on the deck. It also has the applique added. 

another view

A close up of the lesser detailed tender to show the plugs in the deck. There are 4 holes that have to be filled. The hatch is a casting that goes right on that last rivet line before the back of the tender. 

This is a comparison of the as built tender on the right with the upgraded one on the left. You can see the water valves clearly. 

This is how the conduit is added. I had some custom cast clamps made and this is what holds the conduit to the rear of the tender. I have also now added the PRR tender class plate on the rear, underneath the ladder. Many of the castings, like that one holding the junction box, come from a project that was going to produce an H10 by Sunnyside Models but it was never completed. I was fortunate to be able to obtain them. 

We have now added lift loops to each side of the tender deck, close behind the deck drains. 

Final check and a trip through the dishwasher have prepared the tender to be primed.

I am using Tamiya surface primer in fine grey. The details really begin to pop. 

Tender body is done!

Dog house and its interior are also done. These are Overland parts from when they imported the M1a and M1b series. In O scale, you are always on the look out for parts!

Here is a look of the primed tender. I subsequently removed that blob of solder on the lower right of the coal sheet. The primer really showed that one up.

Viewed from the other side. I also noticed that the headlight casting has a crack on the top so will fill that before painting the final color.