7mm Richards P48 US Thread

[richard carr]

Dave

There's a bit more clearance than the photo suggests, but no, there isn't going to be any OHLE.

Richard

 

[richard carr]

So construction of the first part of the turning triangle continues.



The first thing was to cut a piece for the bridge deck with a jigsaw, and then test it in position.



I have fixed a piece of 4 x 2 under the bridge for it rest on. Then a few other bits of 4 x 2 at the other end.



I then found the remaining bit of plywood worked well for the next piece of the bridge over the tracks..



The switch has been largely finished and powered up with a cobalt motor, I use a 12volt lithium battery to test these so I know it works before it gets wired into a control panel at some point. Here's a view from the other side. At the moment it is just sitting in place it hasn't been fixed down at all. The underneath of the bridge piece has had a couple strengthening pieces glued and screwed in place to keep it rigid.

 

[richard carr]

The second part of the bridge is actually just a bit too small in width, so I decided to cut a new bit out based on the shape



All ready for the jigsaw, and here it is in place



This is now going run back down the middle of the shed on the S7 layout at a raised level, like this and then re-join the main circuit so that it makes a big return loop.



But next I need to build the switch for the 3rd leg of the turning triangle.

 

[richard carr]

So on Sunday I started to play around with what the turning triangle might look like in terms of where the switches would go etc.



It will just about fit inwith everything using the 1 metre radius curves

 

[richard carr]

The Sunset SD40s started to arrive at the beginning of June, mine were waiting for me in Chicago.



Here's the CP one being run in on the rolling road. and below the Mopac one



The SP one is a tunnel motor so it looks quite different at the back.



Fortunately Right O Way offer drop in wheel sets to convert these to P48, it's a bit more complicated than the GP9s as the trucks are sprung.



So for each axle you need to remove the axle box keeper plated the gear box keeper plate and remove the old wheelset and axle boxes, you just need to eb careful not to lose a spring or a screw.



These are nice models, but there are a few howlers !
You can barely see the air tanks when they should stand out a mile, the inertial air filter shouldn't have a surround, and there are n frames under the trucks, but most people will never notice.

The one thing that does confuse me is that the marker lights are all set to come on in the direction of travel, whereas on all my Atlas models they are set to come on in the opposite direction to travel. So I suspect these SD40s are wrong . Does anyone know for certain ?

 

[timbowales]

The Sunset SD40s started to arrive at the beginning of June, mine were waiting for me in Chicago.

View attachment 218930

Here's the CP one being run in on the rolling road. and below the Mopac one

View attachment 218931

The SP one is a tunnel motor so it looks quite different at the back.

View attachment 218932

Fortunately Right O Way offer drop in wheel sets to convert these to P48, it's a bit more complicated than the GP9s as the trucks are sprung.

View attachment 218933

So for each axle you need to remove the axle box keeper plated the gear box keeper plate and remove the old wheelset and axle boxes, you just need to eb careful not to lose a spring or a screw.

View attachment 218934

These are nice models, but there are a few howlers !
You can barely see the air tanks when they should stand out a mile, the inertial air filter shouldn't have a surround, and there are n frames under the trucks, but most people will never notice.

The one thing that does confuse me is that the marker lights are all set to come on in the direction of travel, whereas on all my Atlas models they are set to come on in the opposite direction to travel. So I suspect these SD40s are wrong . Does anyone know for certain ?

Richard, I can only quote the 1962 Canadian Uniform Code of Operating Rules (UCOR)
Rule 19 states that red markers should be displayed at the rear of the train, nothing on the loco rear.
Rule 20 covers the markers at the front of multiple sections of a timetabled train which shall be green
Rule 21 covers the markers at the front of an "Extra" train, i.e. one that does not have a timetable schedule, they carry white markers at the front.
From your description above it looks like markers at the rear is wrong so the new ones are right!
HTH

 

[richard carr]

Thanks Tim

But these are all white markers so maybe not a definitive answer. That's also a bit early for me as mine is for 1980 onwards and things did change.

I have a feeling that they just didn't use them by then.

Richard

 

[timbowales]

Thanks Tim

But these are all white markers so maybe not a definitive answer. That's also a bit early for me as mine is for 1980 onwards and things did change.

I have a feeling that they just didn't use them by then.

Richard

Yes, IIRC markers were definitely a thing of the past on locomotives by the 80's

 

[Jordan]

mine is for 1980 onwards and things did change.

I have a feeling that they just didn't use them by then.

I think so too. I know the Atlas "white front/red rear" markers seem rather inaccurate; I think on all mine I've removed them anyway while fitting DCC!!
But then, I did the same on my Heljan UK diesels too, as in the 70s headcodes & marker lights were so feeble in daylight they were only apparent in tunnels!!! Retina-searing LEDs are just totally inaccurate!!

Will you have to move the sideframes inwards too on the SD40s, Richard?

 

[mickoo]

Markers are I think in reality classification lights as touched on above, Canada used them….or retained them longer than the US, in fact their Dash9 models were still being fitted with them from new. In Canada they fitted three distinct lights, in the US it was one and they had a little lever on the front to change lenses I believe.

I think the SD40 only had two lenses, clear and green but I’d have to check the EMD parts catalogue to be sure as my memory is a bit dim from a conversation I had with Jim on this a few years back. The only Railroad I know that used markers as we understand them was Conrail, their Dash9’s were built with red marker lights in the nose and still often used in CSX days from what I saw in Florida. They would be switched on at which ever end was trailing when used as a DPU. I also believe all were turned on when the brake was set to emergency. I have seen the head end on when a train is tied down and they supplimentary the EOTD at the rear and do not replace it.

The problem with markers/classification lights is that they’re often Railroad specific so you can’t really apply CN, UP etc to a SP unit. If your modeling the 80’s then it’s a safe bet you can leave them off and in many cases, blank them over but that may have become more prevalent in the 90’s

 

[mickoo]

Here we go, Phase II EMD engines have small lenses that can be flipped over the light to give red or green aspects, item #9 is the little lever.



Phase I engines had a little holder inside the light unit with free standing lenses so you needed to open the door and manually swap the lenses around.



That doesn't help with when they should be on other than they are listed as classification lights and not marker,s so I would expect them to be exhibited at the front of the direction of travel.

 

[richard carr]

Thanks Mick

I've been poring over photos and as far as I can see they just were not used from the 1980s onwards by either SP or Mopac.

So best to leave them off I think.

Richard

 

[richard carr]

Hi Jordan

Yes it would be nice to narrow the trucks a bit but this would be difficult, the trucks appear to be a one piece brass casting with spung axleboxes to get the wheels in and out of, ie no separate side frames, so it isn't going to be worth the effort.
By comparison to Atlas these are pretty narrow as they are.

Richard

 

[mickoo]

Thanks Mick

I've been poring over photos and as far as I can see they just were not used from the 1980s onwards by either SP or Mopac.

So best to leave them off I think.

Richard

In all my 40 tunnel motor photos off the web (300 or so) only two had distinct white classification lights visible, the rest were off or blanked over. The ones that were off may have been genuine non sectioned trains so the white/green/red classification was not needed, or they may have been sectioned trans and left off because no one bothered to put them on. Importantly, when on they were at the leading end.

Copyright exists with owner, unknown at current time.



I'd say it's safe to leave them off if you're modeling the 80's onward and if they were still in use, then it wasn't very often.

 

[Lancastrian]

Chaps,

"Tunnel motor"?

 

[Stephen]

Chaps,

"Tunnel motor"?

Someone will be able to put it far more eloquently than I, but the SP & DRG had SD40-2Ts and Other SD variations) built with the air radiator intakes built lower down on rear section of the body. This was due to trying to get cleaner air in when working through tunnels in mountainous areas. These variations were known as ’Tunnel Motors’, and received the ‘T’ suffix.

Cheers,

Stephen

 

[Stephen]

The Sunset SD40s started to arrive at the beginning of June, mine were waiting for me in Chicago.

View attachment 218930

That is a cracking livery! Did you get a CN version ordered as well?!?

I have regret for not ordering one, although an SD40-2 would be way out of my modelling era, and would have been the opening of Pandora’s box to lord knows what! I’ll just have to admire from afar!

Cheers,

Stephen

 

[Jordan]

Chaps,

"Tunnel motor"?

As per Richerd's picture here...

Western railroads with long (as in miles) tunnels, often through mountains and on a grade, found standard locos with the radiator intakes at the top of the long hood (like the CP Rail one above) had cooling problems in those tunnels, especially mid-train & rear Helpers, as the lead locos had also heated up the air in the tunnel.
So - the solution was as per the SP one above - the radiator intakes were built at the bottom of the hood, just above the frames, to get cooler air from lower down in the tunnel. Hence, "Tunnel motor". It's a design designation, as well as 'spotting feature'.

 

[mickoo]

Chaps,

"Tunnel motor"?

If one goes back about four or five pages and it was all explained then in a bit more detail, but Steve is right, EMD revised the radiator section (larger in volume) and placed the fans below the cores and drew air up from grills mounted lower to try and get cooler air when working in long tunnels.



Red - Airflow
Green - Radiator cores (two vertical ones on standard engine, large flat slab on Tunnel motor)
Yellow - Fans

As Jordan notes, this is a spotters term and a builders term, aka SD40T-2, 'T' stands for tunnel. Only two (see below) production lines carried the T for tunnel nomenclature, SD40 and SD45, the GP15 has an identical radiator set up but is not classified as a tunnel motor as it's basically a switcher and not a general main line engine; spotters often call them 'baby tunnel motors'. There is a very small production run of GP15T but in this case the T stands for 'Turbo', just to confuse matters.

Only two Railroads took EMD up on the tunnel motors, D&RGW and SP.

 

[Jordan]

I have regret for not ordering one, although an SD40-2 would be way out of my modelling era,

In my case they're spot on for my Era, but waaaaay beyond my pocket!! I don't know if a Soo Line version was made. I know there's proposals for a brass GP30 (not sure if it's the same manufacturer) and Soo Line & also Wisconsin Central liveries have been proposed, but again, way beyond my funds.