45 tonner under the knife...

Cor it's gone all anorexic............
 
Don Gilham said:
Cor it's gone all anorexic............
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:rolf::rolf: I think you're right there Don! It looked a wee bit tall (in proportion to the rest of the plastic surgery) but it surprised me how tall it looked in the photo! So I promptly went back to the shed and gave it a haircut - knocked 5mm off the top. Maybe the surgery was a little drastic?
 
J2s said:
Splendid job coming on nicely :D

I've been tempted by one of these many times, its just that theyre so damn big(!) and I'm fairly sure if I took a saw to one all I'd end up with is a pile of melted plastic .
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He who hesitates ......... Yes I know what you mean. Up until very recent times it had only been out of the box twice. The first when I tried it - had to splay the wooden parapets on a bridge and take a 9" cutting disc to a (concrete) tunnel. The second time was to provide some photos in case anybody wanted to buy it!

I've contemplated for the odd year or two what to do with it - then went out this week and did it (well, still doing it). They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder - well I should have gone to Specsavers:rolf::rolf: Thanks for your comments.
 
Right! Knucled down this morning to sort out the cab ....

Its been cut and shut all morning, getting glue where it shouldn't be, and making progress. Viz:

The cab now glued or welded together...

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Looking through (from the engine compartment) - got a new driver - ex-fireman!

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The control cabinet as it was, glued to the floor...

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The newly re-arranged cabinet - lost at least 30mm and moved over too ..

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The roof (needs more work - filling, sanding, and painting) - a section cut out of the middle...

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The roof joint is braced with scrap offcuts and the cab light held in place with a couple of 2mm self-tappers...

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Roof temporary in position just to get an idea.....

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3/4 view...

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side...

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end on - cab height reduced in total by 10mmm

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hw is going mate... LET u know tht u want to chopped yr ton switcher up...for clearance..so lucky me tht i ave a spare motor blocks with me as a member pm me asking if i want body parts....without motors.coupling,weight....
so i thought it too big for my tunnel.....so i ave a great IDEA... chop it down and modfied into different way..lol....
so i need to know..I AVE to buy razor saw!!! lol.....CHOP chop CHOP!!!....
 
Much remains to be done of course, hand rails, drawgear (these are fastened, protypically, on the end beams - no good for R1's:rolf:), securing everything, and making it look more presentable.

Perhaps (rather belated?) a word or two about dismantling might be appropriate!

(1).First off would be handrails (held fast by open mouthed square "wedges" under the footpates.

(2).Next and metal detailing (like pipes, steps, pilot boards, knuckle couplings and mounts, etc) that might get in the way of cutting instruments.

(3). The dummy air receivers underneath - save all screws (maybe even tape them to the object you've removed if they don't interfere with handling).

(4). Unscrew the cab retaining screws and lift up. I cut the pair of wires leading to the cab light because this has to come out! Make sure the wires from the light are long enough to work with when reassembling. Put cap to one side for now.

(5). Unscrew the two (per bonnet) retaining screws, lift up and detach or severe wires to headlights. Same advice about wires (4).

(6). Unscrew the PCBs and lay to one side (wires are stll connected to truck mounts at this stage).

(7). Unscrew the two PCB boards, and gently slide up the wire/s which are secured to the bogie pivots - then undo these screws (one per truck) - this will also release the the remaing two wires (rescure the flat and spring washers). The whole electrical assembly can be safely removed and put somewhere safe. Before attempting to move the chassis or trucks, note that there are four spring loaded plungers per truck which apart from making contact with the trucks, also locate in the recently removed boards. These plungers need lifting out and storing. The thicker portion goes downwards for the truck contacts.

(8). The hoods, or bonnets, might have a cover over the exhaust and certainly have larger loose cover/s for access to the controls so put them to one side also.

(9). The floor can be released also.

(10). The cab roof is secured by screws, as is the cab light fitting. When the roof is off, the sliding windows will lift out, and all the others, apart from the three pane assemblies, will also push out. With regard to the glazing assemblies, these are glued to the bulkheads but will release with the aid of a flat blade.

And tha's the gist of it as far as I can remember - Monday seems a long way back:rolf:
 
Hi Steven, a hacksaw would be better maybe - Razor saws have a back (like tennon saw) and this can get in the way on long, deepish cuts. All you have got to allow for is the width of the cut (saw kerf) - always cut on the waste side of the line! A junior hacksaw might also help and a medium cut flat file.
 
trammayo said:
I've contemplated for the odd year or two what to do with it - then went out this week and did it (well, still doing it). They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder - well I should have gone to Specsavers
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They say there is a prototype for everything and in this case there is...... ;)

The BHP steelworks at Newcastle in Aust. had a 3' gauge rail system in a part of the plant with very restricted clearances. When the site dieselized they used GE industrial centre cab diesels that looked more or less like what you have built. They were only 7' 3" wide over the frames, but 13' 6" high, with a narrow squared off cab.

I vaguely remember seeing one on a work trip when they were still around and yes, they weren't the handsomest locos around. They were painted bright yellow by then, which didn't help, but originally they had been dark blue with black/yellow dazzle stripes on the ends of the hoods.

Can't find a photo online, as they worked deep in the steelworks, well away from railway enthusiasts with cameras and no-one seems to have wanted to preserve one. Can't think why....... 8|

Regards,
Graeme
 
The proportions look just right to my eye?

Well done to you sir....
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence Gizzy:thumbup:

Well Graeme - never expected there would be something like it - and mine, at 1:20 scale, isn't a million miles from those measurements - I feel a lot better now. Thanks vey much for that information. I'll get back to it with renewed vigour tomorrow!

Stephen - many thanks for posting those links - made my day:thumbup:
 
Cheers Don - done a lot more this afternoon - pics tomorrow when I get some batteries!
 
When searching for railway stuff on Google it often works better to put in the key words and do an image search, that way you don't get all the advertising links and you can spot what you are looking for much faster!
 
funandtrains said:
I've found a photo of one of the Newcastle centre cabs although it might be a standard gauge one:
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That's the standard gauge type, basically an Aust. version of the GE 45 tonner. The only photos of the cut down version that I've seen are in a LRRSA book on the Newcastle Steelworks railway system.

For those with even tighter clearances, the ultimate chop of Bachmann's monster would probably be a GE 23 tonner. There are a couple of ex-industrial ones running on 2' gauge at Edaville. There are plenty of photos of them online. It won't let me post links, but cutting and pasting these into your browser will show them I think.
photos.nerail.org/showpic/?2010112509100124975.jpg
photos.nerail.org/showpic/?2010112509100124975.jpg

The labrador puppy of the diesel loco world. From the size of the paws it will be the size of a GE Evo ES44AC when it grows up........ :)

Regards,
Graeme
 
funandtrains said:
When searching for railway stuff on Google it often works better to put in the key words and do an image search, that way you don't get all the advertising links and you can spot what you are looking for much faster!
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I suppose it helps if you know what your searching! Interesting links in your following post (food for thought on the drawbar problem).
 
GTB said:
For those with even tighter clearances, the ultimate chop of Bachmann's monster would probably be a GE 23 tonner. There are a couple of ex-industrial ones running on 2' gauge at Edaville. There are plenty of photos of them online. It won't let me post links, but cutting and pasting these into your browser will show them I think.
[style="color: #3366ff;"]photos.nerail.org/showpic/?2010112509100124975.jpg
The labrador puppy of the diesel loco world. From the size of the paws it will be the size of a GE Evo ES44AC when it grows up........ :)
Regards,
Graeme
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Now that is a narrow cab! I just wonder why Bachmann chose a standard gauge prototype?
 
trammayo said:
GTB said:
For those with even tighter clearances, the ultimate chop of Bachmann's monster would probably be a GE 23 tonner. There are a couple of ex-industrial ones running on 2' gauge at Edaville. There are plenty of photos of them online. It won't let me post links, but cutting and pasting these into your browser will show them I think.
[style="color: #3366ff;"]photos.nerail.org/showpic/?2010112509100124975.jpg
The labrador puppy of the diesel loco world. From the size of the paws it will be the size of a GE Evo ES44AC when it grows up........ :)
Regards,
Graeme
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Now that is a narrow cab! I just wonder why Bachmann chose a standard gauge prototype?
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Bachmann seem to often do this for some reason; the Connie is 2'6" gauge, Forney 2' gauge, Mallet never existed, some of the shays are painted for standard gauge railroads when they are models of 3' gauge locos, etc. All of these they could of choosen actual 3' gauge prototypes to model instead.
 
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