PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR Building a comprehensive test bench For engines and rolling stock/Pete Birdsong I
f you’re looking for creative ways to stretch your hobby dollars with an interesting and productive project, start by building an inexpensive test bench. It will reward you with valuable information about your roster and rolling stock and allow you to compare the performance of your engines to the ones you read about in the railroad press.
If you use it as intended, it will guar- antee more trouble-free operations from your equipment. If you want to get your equipment up to specifica- tions, this simple, one or two-evening project will cost about $60.00 or so in materials. Of course, you might even have most of the materials lying around. I built mine for almost no out- of pocket cost.
Construction We’ll basically start with a wood base that has engine and rolling stock test tracks. On this base will be a dy- namometer, an acceleration ramp and
The test bench (top) is shown in its entire- ty except for the weight scale. The postal scale is in the back corner (also right) and is hanging in the white foam board frame. To its right is the yoke car and an engine to be tested. In front of the scale and behind a volt/amp meter is the blue acceleration ramp. To the right of ramp is an Amtrak ex- press car to be tested and behind it an N scale ruler for measuring how far it rolls.
70 SEPTEMBER 2013
a weight scale. This apparatus should take into account electrical measure- ments and use of standards gauges and a power supply. The model shown and the specifications given here are for N scale, but you can use the design
for other scales by adjusting the di- mensions accordingly. If you don’t have the free “Handy Converter” software already, go to
www.stanstrains.com/ to download your copy. Also, refer to the materials list included with the article.
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