Again this week’s post will be short as I haven’t had a great deal of time to work on any of the other current projects, but I did make some progress on the HO Baldwin DT-6-2000 body shell.

As this is a HO model, some of the details that were molded into the N scale body can now be made from brass, giving the larger model more detail.  For example on the front of the loco, under the marker lights, is a grab iron which is now made from brass.

The grab irons which run up the side of the main body have also been widened.  On the N scale model these were molded in, but when converted to brass, as shown below in a picture from a few weeks ago, I thought they looked too narrow.

I’ve now widened them and I think proportionally they look much better.  Also on the image below, you can see I’ve reduced the size of the windscreen wiper as it was a bit too chunky before, making it look out of scale.

The last big addition for this week is the cab lights; for this I’m going to use a tiny surface mount LED.  The LED itself only measures 0.9mm by 1.6mm and is 0.46mm thick.  Luckily DCC Concepts sell these pre-wired as shown below.

In the view below, which is a section through the cab, you can see the LED in the roof.  I’ve designed a recess for the LED to fit into, and a route for the wires to pass through, keeping them clear of everything else.

The route for the cables positions them in the center of the shell directly over the DCC decoder and circuit board.  The wires are also tiny so they and the LED can be glued into the recess to prevent them from moving.

Looking at the model for the HO scale, I keep finding little bits to re-design or change, but I think I’m now very close to ordering the first test print.  Having studied a lot of the real locomotives in photos, I realized that different railroads had different features which were quite prominent.  So as well as changing the shell to make it available as a Pennsylvania Railroad RT-624 I’ll also change it into a Trona Railway locomotive, for numbers 50 & 51, and maybe more if requested.  Also for the Pensy, it’ll be available with the phone antenna, and in the later version, without.

Now it’s back to the drawing board to get it finished.

This week will be a short post as I haven’t had a great deal of time to work on any of the current projects, but I did make some progress on the HO Baldwin DT-6-2000 body shell.

The shell from the outside, as shown below, is complete, and this is mostly due to the fact it was already drawn for the N Scale version.  The work I’ve been concentrating on is inside the shell.

Inside the shell, as well as the chassis, are lots of wires and these are often forgotten about when it comes to planning an install of a DCC decoder into a locomotive.  This loco will have sound, lights, working couplings, and maybe a stay alive capacitor as well, which will create a lot more wires and take up space.  Fortunately, being a HO scale loco there’s a good amount of space inside, but the wires can still be messy.  It can be really frustrating to get everything fitted only to find the shell won’t push down that last 1mm because of the clump of wires in the way!  So I’ve created loops for the wires to pass through which should hold them all in the right place and keep them tidy.

In the image below I’ve taken a section through the 3D model and you can see the wires running from the headlights and coupling motor up inside the shell and along the underside.

Each nose section has two loops for the coupling motor wires.  These may prove tricky to feed through, but I think it’ll be worth it and will prevent the wires from being visible through the mesh grill. It’ll also keep them away from the truck towers.

The wires then pass through three, or four, if required, loops on the underside of the shell.  I’ve allowed for more wire in case more things are added, such as number board lights or speaker wires.  The black is the common wire with the reds powering a headlight and coupling motor each.

In the middle of the loco is the cab, and the cab interior will be the same part used for the N Scale version.  My drivers, Bert and Ernie, will also be used again, one for each side.  Normally you’d be able to see through the cab to the other side, but there’ll be a DCC decoder and circuit board in the way, as represented by the green block.

Having the crew and cab interior, I think, greatly improves the appearance of the loco. I may even put a cable path in to allow a surface-mounted LED to be fitted in the cab roof.  Several HO scale locos I’ve come across have cab lights that automatically come on when the loco is not moving.

The shell is now very close to being finished, and I will get a 3D printed test model soon. There’s just a few more details I want to add and some checks to make, but then I think it’ll be ready.  I still need to draw the brass etching tool so that it can be sent off to the etchers, and I may draw in a compartment for the speaker;  I’m planning on fitting a new ESU V5 Loksound Decoder; these come with a small but powerful speaker and having a location for it to fit into will again make things tidy and easy to build.  I’ll share the final 3D model with you when complete.