One Last Shorty

Where users can chronicle their builds. Start one thread and continue to add on to it.

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Odyknuck
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Odyknuck »

The short version is add a resistor in series with LED lol
ccvstmr
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

DETAILS - Marker Lamps, Part 4

To complete the marker lamp preparation/install for car #7, have just a few more items to share before moving on.

One matter that came up was how to mount the marker lamps to the car body. Figured early on, the lamps would mount on the poplar wood trim on the ends of the observation deck wing walls. Since that trim piece was almost a 1/2 round, needed to cut a recess for the marker lamp hinges. 1st step was to determine the how high above the deck level the lamps would be positioned. Part of that consideration was to make sure the lamps would swing "in" under the roof eave extensions. Decided to have the marker lamp "vents" be no higher than the bottom of the signboards on the side of the car.

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At that point, trim wood was put in the mill and a ball end mill cutter used to cut recesses. Good thing the trim pieces were still loose at this time. After those cuts were made, the trim could be glued, nailed and prepared for priming.

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On the other side of the shop wall, the marker lamp lighting control panel build was in progress. Car #7 marker lamps could be powered (2) ways depending on the type of operation. For night running, a 9 volt battery would power the LED's. For daytime mixed train card order switching operations, the marker lamp LEDS would be powered by the 12 volt battery that's included on the remote brake unit. At 12 volts, the marker lamps would produce an even brighter light to be seen by train crew people.

The control panel included (2) switches. The 1st switch was simply for ON/OFF. The 2nd switch would select either BATTery or REMmote brake operation. All connections would be made with a 2-pole trailer connector to connect the remote brake unit and 2-pin electronic socket connectors for each of the marker lamps. The electronic plugs would be single point.

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Didn't know if an interior designer was going to select furnishings for the car interior, but just in case such attempts WERE made to provide interior furnishings...decided to locate the marker lamp control panel at the back end of the car. The panel was modified 2x to reduce the panel height. Didn't want the panel to be visible when looking thru the rear door window.

A wooden cleat was fastened across the floor to keep a remote brake unit from sliding around. The gray tubing that comes up thru the floor was the connection point for the brake pipe air line. This way, kept all the brake hardware together.

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With the marker lamps at one end of car #7...and the lighting control panel at the opposite end of the car, needed a way to get wiring from one end to the other. Didn't want the wiring exposed or hanging loose. Too easy to snag the wires if/when putting things in or taking things out. Realized, I'd have to make some wiring conduits.

Grabbed a few lengths of 5/16" brass tubing. Used 3/8" brass tubing to make conduit couplings. Flat brass strips were used to make mounting straps. After soft soldering, sand blasted the pipes and painted them gloss almost like the rest of the car interior. Ran the conduits down one side of the car body and across the deck end mounting the straps to the top wall frame member.

The 5/16" tubing was just large enough to push a single point electronic connector thru the conduit when 1 wire was already there. That, or fold one connector back. It was a tight fit, but managed to push the wires and connectors thru.

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And lastly, how did the marker lamp(s) look powered by the 9 volt battery when the shop lights were turned out? More than acceptable!

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With the marker lamps behind us...will get back to some of the mechanical details left to explain and describe. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
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NP317
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by NP317 »

Enlightening!
RussN
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Steggy
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Steggy »

Odyknuck wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 7:17 pmThe short version is add a resistor in series with LED lol
The short version is to add the correct resistor in series with the LED. :D
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Music isn’t at all difficult.  All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!  :D
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Steggy
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Steggy »

NP317 wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 12:28 pm Enlightening!
RussN
Yep! We can give Carl’s work a “glowing” review. :shock:
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Music isn’t at all difficult.  All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!  :D
Odyknuck
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Odyknuck »

Steggy wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 4:50 pm
Odyknuck wrote: Mon Feb 27, 2023 7:17 pmThe short version is add a resistor in series with LED lol
The short version is to add the correct resistor in series with the LED. :D
I stand corrected :wink: lol
ccvstmr
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

Russ, Steggy and Ody...

Thanks for the continued support of my shorty pass car project.

Will add...looking for LED resistance info? Check out some of the on-line websites. As long as you can punch in your: 1) source voltage, 2) LED voltage drop and 3) the LED current value (usually in milli-amps), a good program will spit back the resistance value needed AND the resistor wattage needed to dissipate the heat. Else, resistors too small tend to run a little warm! Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
Odyknuck
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Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2022 4:21 pm
Location: Chardon, Ohio

Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Odyknuck »

LED's typically require 2 to 3 volts DC, so when using 12 VDC the resister needs to be a higher wattage as something needs to remove the heat created by the circuit.
ccvstmr
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

DETAILS - Brake Wheel Wonder

Okay, time to get back to some mechanical thingy's. With that, here's a quick hit item regarding a brake wheel.

Knew a long time ago, there were a couple of shorties in the future at that time. Honest Dave wanted a couple Central Pacific passenger cars. Another friend wanted me to build him a wood sided caboose. So the supply was getting used up. However, for car #7...would only need (1) brake wheel. Here's how this was incorporated into the platform detail.

Was lucky enough several years ago to visit an area train meet where a guy was selling a bag of plastic molded brake wheels. The bag said "$5". At first, thought that was PER WHEEL. Still, wasn't a bad price (I thought). Upon inquiring, the guy said, no, that was for the entire bag. My response...SOLD! At the time, didn't notice the square hole in the center of the wheel.

Platform width on the shorty passenger cars was somewhat restricted by the brake wheel. There were instances on some passenger cars where the brake wheel(s) were made with a pivot. Decided to incorporate that feature in the brake wheel for car #7.

Once again, thanks go to Peasleecreek for providing inspiration here with a folding brake wheel. Started with a photo of the back end of a D&RGW observation car for reference.

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Basically needed to fabricate a clevis. Didn't seem like a big deal. When the other brake wheels were used, had to figure out how to make a round brass rod square on the end fit the brake wheel. Measured the square hole of the brake wheel (which had a slight taper). From there, fired up the CAD program and drew the square and determined the diameter of a circle that included the square.

The next two photos were taken from the brake wheel preparation for cars #5 and #6. For car #7, would follow the same basic procedure starting with a piece of 3/8" brass rod this time. Drilled/tapped a 5-40 center hole for a holding screw once the brake wheel was in place. Machined the end of the rod in the lathe to the proper diameter.

Pulled out a 3/8" 5C collet and a square 5C collet holder and tightened the collet in the holder with the brass rod. Then, over to the mill. Brought the cutter down and machined one side of the square to the proper depth. Flipped the holder 90 degrees and repeated several more times until all (4) sides were cut. (note: photo shows 1/4" brass rod used for #5 and #6).

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Here's how the square end machined brass rod fit in the brake wheel.

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The butt end of the brake wheel insert was machined with about a .100" flat on center and maybe 1/2" long. The clevis was made from another piece of 3/8" brass rod, but this time, the center was milled out so the .100" flat would fit smoothly in the gap. Back in the lathe, the clevis bottom end was drilled/tapped with another 5-40 hole for the brake staff.

Cross holes were drilled in the clevis and brake wheel fitting for a 2-56 screw.

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One corner of the brake wheel insert fitting was rounded so the brake wheel could be swung down to maximize the platform width access. Might have elongated the brake wheel adapter 2-56 hold so the brake wheel had to be pulled up slightly to pivot the brake wheel to one side.

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Brake wheel and parts were eventually sand blasted and then painted satin black. And thus...car #7 had a folding/pivoting brake wheel. Next time, will dig out another quick hit detail. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
Odyknuck
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Odyknuck »

Thats really cool Carl. I like your attention to detail on the car. I think you would be considered a Rivet counter in the HO model railroader world lol
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Steggy
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Steggy »

Odyknuck wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 6:02 pmLED's typically require 2 to 3 volts DC, so when using 12 VDC the resister needs to be a higher wattage as something needs to remove the heat created by the circuit.
It depends on the forward current.

The LEDs you see as indicators on the front panel of your PC typically draw 10 to 15 milliamps, with a forward voltage of 2.1 to 2.3. The power dissipation is trivial—about 34 milliwatts, and can be readily handled with a 1/4 watt resistor. On the other hand, the LEDs Carl is using in his project can draw quite a bit of current, necessitating the use of a substantial resistor, which will get quite warm.

Don’t try to Easter Egg something like this. The on-line calculators that Carl mentions are generally accurate and will help you avoid that vile-smelling smoke that comes out when you goof.
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Music isn’t at all difficult.  All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!  :D
ccvstmr
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Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:37 am
Location: New Lenox, IL

Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

Odyknuck wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 7:05 pm Thats really cool Carl. I like your attention to detail on the car. I think you would be considered a Rivet counter in the HO model railroader world lol
Hi Ody...I do have an HO sectional RR I'd love to sell. Designed to fit a 10' x 22' room. A "rivet counter"? Not hardly. I'm more of a 10 foot scale model builder. That is, looks great from 10 feet away! But if you want to see some real rivet counting model builders...check out the work of some model engineers. Some of those guys make EVERYTHING...including small hex head bolts. Sorry, that's not for me, but I can appreciate their efforts. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
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