New life for an old model
These two comparison views (above and below) show the Illinois Central unit, which has had its frame modified and shell adjusted, and an unmodified Atlantic Coast Line E8. Note that the ACL model sits higher on the trucks and the shell rides up slightly in the front.
A new coupler pad was fashioned out of styrene (top) for installation at the rear of the locomotive. The shape of the pad was designed to fit the contour of the frame (above). These underside views (below) show the Kadee No. 38 coupler mounted to the pad with a 2-56 screw and the added brass steam line from Coach Yard (bottom).
Close coupling One other thing I do on the Proto
the cover on the worm gear would still hold the truck onto the bolster when things were reassembled. A 2-56 screw was inserted in each hole, and the trucks were test fitted to make sure the length of the screw did not inter- fere with the gears.
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2000 E-units is replace the rear cou- pler mount. While designed for use on tighter-radius layout curves, the exist- ing coupler arrangement is not all that flattering and leaves a large gap be- tween the diaphragms. There is also some vertical separation between units when traveling forward and they seem to bunch up when reversing. To solve this issue I created my own coupler mount which attaches to the frame. Using various sizes of Ever- green styrene strips, I build a pad with an overall thickness of .100″. This gets attached to the rear end of the frame and cemented into place. Once the ce- ment has dried I drill and tap a hole for a 2-56 screw and mount a Kadee No. 38 coupler box on it with a standard No. 5 coupler. The reason for the No. 38 box is that it is short and the back of it ends at the mounting screw. The rear of the truck comes close to this mount. If I were to use a No. 5 coupler box the truck would not be able to turn. On most of my E-units I also add a
steam line. I prefer the one made by Coach Yard. It’s a one-piece brass cast- ing that’s durable and has good detail. Since I have some extra room on the coupler mounting pad, I mount the steam line next to the coupler box. With the trip pins removed from the Kadee coupler, I install the steam line so the gladhand does not go past the center pin of the coupler. This way when two units are coupled back to back they are not having the prover- bial sword fight as they roll through curves. It still gives the effect that the steam lines are connected.
Reassembling the drive
At this point I started to reassemble the drives. I broke down each truck and inspected the running gear. I can’t tell you how many axle gears I have re- placed over the years in the Proto 2000 models, but it never fails to have at least one cracked one in the bunch. I also clean and remove any existing lu- brication supplied by the manufactur- er. The lubricant works great when it’s brand new, but after a while it seems to
JULY 2012
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