I finished working on the decoder for the General. I was assisted by advice from George Bogatiuk of Soundtrax. He suspected that the output for the headlight was damaged during my installation. He said repairs would be covered by warranty. However, if I only needed a headlight, he suggested wiring the headlight to the yellow wire that usually controls the back-up light. That sounded better than taking out the decoder and sending it back.
So that is what I did.
I also had to modify some CVs. Normally this would be a trip to hexadecimal hell. But this was very easy to do using the Blunami Ap - heck - even I did it. First, I did a total decoder rest by setting CV 8 to 8. You have to power down the decoder for the reset to take effect. Then I input 63 in CV 57 and 0 in CV58. Now the head light works. I used the ash pan effect on it per George's recommendation and it looks very much like an oil lantern.
I also had a scare as I tried to shoe-horn in as much weight as possible. I accidentally popped off the prop shaft to the rear gear box. Luckily I found it and was able to replace it.
I used my dremel tool to grind away the thick resin of the factory wood pile to make room for the speaker. It now fits snuggly on the loco but can easily removed for maintenance. Being thinner, it provided less muffling to the sound from the speaker below it. I sprayed it dark brown. I will finish painting it later.
Here is a quick video showing the engine in operation. It can easily pull six cars. I will do more testing to determine its maximum capacity. I still need to weather, paint the wood pile, fix the front link and add crew figures.
Bernie, I am curious about 1800's railroads as I am thinking of modeling the 1880's or 1890's era for Sn3 narrow gauge. Your engines are pristine and un-weathered, and I realize the motive power was a source of pride for the railroad and engine crews which kept them cleaned and polished. However do you think any light weathering on the engines running gear would be appropriate for your era and the later 1800's as I am thinking of modeling? Say in the form of some light dust or grime on the wheels or a little soot on the cab roofs? Or is it more plausible to keep them un-weathered as you have done on your layout?
ReplyDeleteJeff
All of my engines have some weathering on them. The only reason this one is not weathered is that I have not had a chance to do it yet. I am still messing around with the decoder and electronics. But if you’ll note in my blog post above, you will see that I am planning on weathering it
DeleteI guess I missed that in the archives, I will have to look that up, thanks.
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