Below is a story I would like to share with my friends here on Boomboxery. I hope it helps put you in the holiday spirit.
My father was born October 20th, 1942. On his 4th birthday in 1946, a year and four months after the end of world war two, my great grandmother bought him an electric train set. An American Flyer 322 Hudson and Gilbert locomotive, with tender, multiple rolling stock, and a caboose.
In order to pick up the train, my grandmother drove a 1939 Plymouth from Covina, California into downtown Los Angeles where the larger department stores were located. Keep in mind, they drove on all country and county roads as the freeways in Los Angeles weren’t built until 1955. A round trip that would take around an hour today (with light traffic) took them all day, leaving in the morning and returning at night.
As a child, I knew his trains were hidden away in the garage where I grew up. I occasionally peaked into the cardboard box, but there wasn’t much to see. Small paper bags and newspaper, dirt and dust was all that was visible.
My grandmother gave me my own set of trains when I was six years old, in 1974. I still have them, although I haven’t run them in eight or nine years.
Five years ago my father gifted me his train set. In haste, they found a shelf under my work bench. It was cast in line along with a hundred other “When I get time†projects. The very workbench where I have rebuilt most of my Boomboxes.
A few weeks ago, while cleaning out the garage and packing for Italy I pulled out my dad’s trains, the cardboard box now crumbling in my fingers. I knew I needed to at least transfer them into a plastic tub with a lid, maybe throw in some Desiccant packs with it.
The thing is, I had never actually seen the trains. NEVER IN MY LIFE! They’ve been sitting there for five long years and I never even had a look.
As I started to unwrap them, I had a look at the newspaper they were wrapped in. It was falling apart in my fingers. I tried to paste together pieces to find a date. There wasn’t much left. The newspaper was the long since defunct “The Valley Press†from the early days of the San Fernando Valley, a suburb of northern Los Angeles where I grew up. I was able to see it was Thursday, December 23rd. A quick Google showed that to be 1971. Two days before my 3rd Christmas.
I was born in 1968, my sister in 1966. (My brother Will many years later in 1977). So, my father put his prized possession, his childhood train set and for the most part, his childhood, away in this box, on December 23rd, 1971. I guess it was time for him to raise a family and be an adult. I remember having to do the same thing when I started my family.
The first item I pulled out was the speed controller. The wires that connect it to the track had cracked insulation, the metal wiring showing. I set that to the side with the first thought of “Fire Hazard†and possible “Electrocution†going through my mind.
The next thing I pulled out was the tender and it was HEAVY! It was in a small frail paper bag. When I first saw it, I was shocked on the detail and that it was all metal with wires coming from it.
Next came the Locomotive. A large 2 x 6 x 2 engine, again all metal, tons of detail with push rods and pull switches, pistons and connecting rods and tons of moving parts and I’m thinking “This thing is more like a watch than a child’s toyâ€.
Next was a flatbed rail car with an air raid search spot light on it with a light bulb and a glass lens in it. Remembering that it’s just after world war two, the idea of a children’s toy that includes a military searchlight to look for incoming attack aircraft is just amazing to me.
Next was a boxcar with sliding side doors and metal latching door handles.
Then there is the coal car with an electric solenoid to dump the load it carries. This car uses the siding switch to operate.
Lastly was a caboose with a light fixture inside.
Included in the box was piles of curved and straight track, 2 electric power switches and an “X†track section. This thing must be HUGE when assembled.
I dusted it all off, wrapped it all in bubble wrap and prepared it for long term storage AGAIN!
Then two weeks ago I started thinking. Maybe I could get just the engine to run and surprise my dad with it at Christmas.
I’ve had many trains over the years, O, HO, N, and even Z gauge. My father’s train runs on S gauge. I have a nice high end speed controller that I dug out. I figured I could at least hook that up and see if anything happens.
I then proceeded to unpack (again) a few sections of track and the locomotive. For giggles I plugged in the original speed controller and was shocked when a large green light lit up brightly! No smoke, no buzz or smell. The controller moved cleanly from side to side with no drama! INTERESTING! I put the multimeter on it and i'll be damned, correct voltage across the sweep!
With the frail wires connected to 3 sections of track, I put the Locomotive on the track, turned the dial and….NOTHING! I wiggled it and…..nothing AND THEN…I heard a tiny little hum and then…NOTHING!
The track was so filthy and oxidized. I knew it couldn’t conduct this way.
So into the house and onto YouTube!
I quickly found a tear down video. It took me time to find tools small enough for the job. I don’t normally work on items that pre date the Philips head screwdriver! Tiny wrenches would be needed for this job.
The disassembly was laborious, but like with my radios, I took tons of pictures, just as if I was restoring a Boombox. 20 minutes later, the engine was down to just wheels and a motor. It was a filthy mess of solid, chunky old grease. The drive motor was something I recognized, but what was the overly complicated barrel switch at the front with an electric solenoid actuator?
As I would soon find out, it was a 3 position, forward, neutral and reverse electric transmission that also happens to be the Achilles heel of this model train. It is a complicated device that relies on electricity, proper component alignment, delicate brass brush contact points, cleanliness and gravity in order for it to work properly. If just one of these planets are out of alignment, it will just sit still with an occasional stammer and stutter. It also features a plastic ratchet gear that is usually worn down to a nub.
However, this gear looked good. It all looked good, just very dirty and of course, not working.
The interesting thing about this “Toy†is, all of it was designed to come apart and be serviced. Nothing is riveted or snapped in place, it is all assembled with machine screws.
The drive motor was easy to clean and get back together. I managed to turn the transmission into gear at least for a test. I cleaned the short section of track with a brillo pad, wired up the original speed controller to give it a test. I set the bare locomotive chassis on the track and….NOTHING!
I dug into the small wiring harness with my multi meter. Tested every end, traced all the passages and they were all connected accept one! I could not find a connection from the track, through the wheels to the drive motor. I pulled the whole thing down to nothing and sure enough. I couldn’t find ANY way for the electricity to get from the wheels to the motor. I need a little break to think about it for a few.
Looking at all the cars laid out on the table, I knew that nearly every car was electrified. I figured they must be getting power from the engine, there were wires that connected from the engine to the Tender, then on to the spot light car and caboose???? I don’t know!!! What is happening here?
I started looking closer at the Tender. It was heavy and there was something inside. This needed to be opened. Four screws and the entire body slides up and off to expose a packed complicated mechanism that I have never seen and had no idea what it could possibly be. Was it a second tractive drive motor? Part of the speed controller? God forbid another transmission?
It was when I rolled it over and looked at the bottom that I realized what was happening here. The wheels of the Tender made contact to the track to send the electricity to the locomotive and not the other way around!
Once I determined that, I was able to figure out that the mechanism in the Tender was the smoke generator.
I put the loco and the tender on the track, plugged the two wires together connecting them and….PRESTO! We have a locomotive with the motor attempting to spin AND stuck in neutral!
Using a wooden Popsicle stick whittled down, I was able to switch the transmission into forward and it staggered forward for a moment and then off it went. FORWARD MOVEMENT, right off the end of the track!
Stage one complete.
I spent the next two days, assembling and disassembling the locomotive trying repeatedly to get that little transmission to work. I read up on it, watched YouTube video’s, cleaned it, reassembled it and it would do the same thing. Kind of work and then jam, usually ending up in neutral.
Then I stumbled on a YouTube video with what sounded like a 9 or 10 year old boy who explained its complex workings in just a few minutes. Once I had that knowledge, I was off and running. It still took me two more days to tear down, properly clean and adjust all the components to get all the planets to align. But after I had all the levers adjusted to fall into the right places, only being pulled by gravity, it began to work repeatedly and reliably. Now I can pull to a stop, throw the lever, add power and it drops into neutral, power down, then power back up, then power off, throw the switch, power back up and it drops into reverse. Add power again and we’re backing up! Kind of like double clutching! Repeat the entire process to go forward! See, EASY!
It’s so complicated, I’d swear it’s based on the real thing!
I spent the next night polishing track by hand. Twelve curves and four straights. I still have a blister on my thumb. I used a Dremel tool with a small polishing wheel and polishing compound to meticulously polish the ends to guarantee a connection. I tested each piece of track with a multimeter to make sure I wasn’t getting contact from rail to rail through the metal railroad ties. The steel rail is insulated with small pieces of paper and to my surprise, every single one of them was intact. All rail sections checked out electrically.
I next assembled a large oval on the garage floor, set the loco and tender on the track, turned the go switch and with some staggering at first it began to wake up and off it went, each lap better than the last. Stumbles and stammers were quickly replaced with smoother and smoother operation. A quick wipe down of the track with a fine coat of dielectric grease really helped with the connection. (later wiping it all clean again).
I had to see the whole train in a line rolling down the track, so I connected them all up and started the first pull. To my amazement, after just a few laps, the spotlight on the flat car began to flash and spark to life.
Now I know I’ve got something here.
I found a hobby store where I could buy replacement bulbs and replaced the bulb in the engine and in the Caboose. All the metal contact wheels on the Tender, spotlight car and caboose were polished with the Dremel. The electricity goes from the rail, to the wheels to the axle, to a brass contact to a center rivet, to a wire, to the lamp. Every contact needed attention on each car. It took hours.
Now, with the engine, tender and all rolling stock lighting up, her maiden voyage left the preverbal station with all lighting aglow. It was beautiful to see.
I was done at this point even though it wasn’t technically 100% working because the smoke generator wasn’t doing its thing. I thought about it and thought about it, knowing that if I open it up to try to fix it there was a chance of totally FARKING UP what I have just achieved I would be really bummed. But I thought I owed it to my dad to at least have a look.
The tender is more packed than the locomotive. It features and even smaller electric motor, with a worm gear feeding a fiberglass gear. That gear drives a paper bellows which blows smoke into a reservoir of smoke liquid over a small heating element, out a nozzle, into a thin rubber hose (missing) out the Tender, into the rear of the Locomotive, the full length to the front, to the smoke stack!
Tiny springs hold tiny carbon brushes connecting micro fiber wires to the heating element. All 71 years old! All greasy and all seized.
It seemed ridiculous to even touch. A 71 year old paper bellows? A 71 year old heating element?
Well, I guess I had nothing to lose. Moving the two springs allowed for the brushes to come out. Two screws removed the motor armature. One screw disconnected the bellows and suddenly it was easy to clean. A reassemble showed me that the chassis, a cast aluminum piece, was bent like a banana causing the bellows to drag on the base. IF the motor could turn, it wouldn’t be able to cycle. But bending it? I figured I would see if I could make the motor work first. With the armature back in, I placed the bare Tender on the track, hit the switch and…NOTHING! I tried to push start the motor. Nothing.
Three or four disassembles later and I got one revolution out of it! AH HA!
More tinkering, cleaning of the brushes again, dielectric grease on the motor contact faces and presto, it started to stagger to life. Many push starts and many stalls later. It began to crank over. And then finally it took off spinning. Speeding up and slowing down with the speed of the controller. And to my complete and utter shock! A tiny wisp of smoke wafted from the nozzle. We have a working heater coil!
Next was to get that chassis adjusted so the bellows wouldn’t drag.
A few stressful bends straightened out the chassis, the bellows now free to clear its base, the linkage connected and back on the rails for a retest. It took some assistance to get it started. The paper bellows had been in the relaxed position for 45 years after all. But after that, it began pumping with the distinctive sound of a steam locomotive and just a few moments later, large puffs of smoke were coming from the nozzle.
We now have a fully operating 1946 American Flyer 322 Locomotive and rail cars.
A quick run down to the local hobby store got me one foot of rubber hose and some smoke juice, Candy Cane scented!
A few more hours were spent tearing down the locomotive yet again to run the hose through its whole length and connect it to the tender, which in itself was a pain. Repeated attempts to hone the length of the hose so it wouldn’t bind on corners. Then one of the wires connecting the tender to the engine snapped off from it making the corner and straightening 50,000 times in its life.
FINALLY, after two weeks of grueling work. It was finally time….
Finally time to hook up all the cars, with the engine and Tender fully assembled. All the levers, and side rods, hoses, wires and smoke juice.
The first thing to do was to put the locomotive into neutral. Throwing the power switch lit up the rail cars, electrifying the locomotive. Next is to throw the switch on the Tender, firing up the bellows and heating element. As the engine sits idling in a slow chug, it begins to puff smoke. Rings of white clouds rise up and surround old number 322 as the transmission switch was thrown and the first lurch forward, all cars in tow. Adding power speeds up the bellows, the smoke stack pushing smoke under strain as the locomotive pulls away.
Smooth power can now be delivered up to full throttle speed and slowed down to a nice smooth chug around with no pausing or hesitation. Smoke billowing the whole time. All lights working with only the caboose showing tiny signs of missed contacts, almost resembling a lantern’s flickr. PERFECT!
After a few hours of testing (playing) the train is now packed up, all my tools, soldering iron, spare parts and anything else I might need to guarantee she makes a proper appearance this Christmas. The plan is to hand the box to my father and let him open it up and see it for the first time since December 23rd, 1971.
Wish me luck!
In closing I want to say, I don’t think I could have tackled this project just 10 years ago. It took me 48 years of life and experience tearing things apart and putting them back together to be able to even attempt such an undertaking. What a complicated little bugger! Hats off to the engineers in 1946!
OK, time to see her run! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0OqvVyoyYU&feature=youtu.be
My father was born October 20th, 1942. On his 4th birthday in 1946, a year and four months after the end of world war two, my great grandmother bought him an electric train set. An American Flyer 322 Hudson and Gilbert locomotive, with tender, multiple rolling stock, and a caboose.
In order to pick up the train, my grandmother drove a 1939 Plymouth from Covina, California into downtown Los Angeles where the larger department stores were located. Keep in mind, they drove on all country and county roads as the freeways in Los Angeles weren’t built until 1955. A round trip that would take around an hour today (with light traffic) took them all day, leaving in the morning and returning at night.
As a child, I knew his trains were hidden away in the garage where I grew up. I occasionally peaked into the cardboard box, but there wasn’t much to see. Small paper bags and newspaper, dirt and dust was all that was visible.
My grandmother gave me my own set of trains when I was six years old, in 1974. I still have them, although I haven’t run them in eight or nine years.
Five years ago my father gifted me his train set. In haste, they found a shelf under my work bench. It was cast in line along with a hundred other “When I get time†projects. The very workbench where I have rebuilt most of my Boomboxes.
A few weeks ago, while cleaning out the garage and packing for Italy I pulled out my dad’s trains, the cardboard box now crumbling in my fingers. I knew I needed to at least transfer them into a plastic tub with a lid, maybe throw in some Desiccant packs with it.
The thing is, I had never actually seen the trains. NEVER IN MY LIFE! They’ve been sitting there for five long years and I never even had a look.
As I started to unwrap them, I had a look at the newspaper they were wrapped in. It was falling apart in my fingers. I tried to paste together pieces to find a date. There wasn’t much left. The newspaper was the long since defunct “The Valley Press†from the early days of the San Fernando Valley, a suburb of northern Los Angeles where I grew up. I was able to see it was Thursday, December 23rd. A quick Google showed that to be 1971. Two days before my 3rd Christmas.
I was born in 1968, my sister in 1966. (My brother Will many years later in 1977). So, my father put his prized possession, his childhood train set and for the most part, his childhood, away in this box, on December 23rd, 1971. I guess it was time for him to raise a family and be an adult. I remember having to do the same thing when I started my family.
The first item I pulled out was the speed controller. The wires that connect it to the track had cracked insulation, the metal wiring showing. I set that to the side with the first thought of “Fire Hazard†and possible “Electrocution†going through my mind.
The next thing I pulled out was the tender and it was HEAVY! It was in a small frail paper bag. When I first saw it, I was shocked on the detail and that it was all metal with wires coming from it.
Next came the Locomotive. A large 2 x 6 x 2 engine, again all metal, tons of detail with push rods and pull switches, pistons and connecting rods and tons of moving parts and I’m thinking “This thing is more like a watch than a child’s toyâ€.
Next was a flatbed rail car with an air raid search spot light on it with a light bulb and a glass lens in it. Remembering that it’s just after world war two, the idea of a children’s toy that includes a military searchlight to look for incoming attack aircraft is just amazing to me.
Next was a boxcar with sliding side doors and metal latching door handles.
Then there is the coal car with an electric solenoid to dump the load it carries. This car uses the siding switch to operate.
Lastly was a caboose with a light fixture inside.
Included in the box was piles of curved and straight track, 2 electric power switches and an “X†track section. This thing must be HUGE when assembled.
I dusted it all off, wrapped it all in bubble wrap and prepared it for long term storage AGAIN!
Then two weeks ago I started thinking. Maybe I could get just the engine to run and surprise my dad with it at Christmas.
I’ve had many trains over the years, O, HO, N, and even Z gauge. My father’s train runs on S gauge. I have a nice high end speed controller that I dug out. I figured I could at least hook that up and see if anything happens.
I then proceeded to unpack (again) a few sections of track and the locomotive. For giggles I plugged in the original speed controller and was shocked when a large green light lit up brightly! No smoke, no buzz or smell. The controller moved cleanly from side to side with no drama! INTERESTING! I put the multimeter on it and i'll be damned, correct voltage across the sweep!
With the frail wires connected to 3 sections of track, I put the Locomotive on the track, turned the dial and….NOTHING! I wiggled it and…..nothing AND THEN…I heard a tiny little hum and then…NOTHING!
The track was so filthy and oxidized. I knew it couldn’t conduct this way.
So into the house and onto YouTube!
I quickly found a tear down video. It took me time to find tools small enough for the job. I don’t normally work on items that pre date the Philips head screwdriver! Tiny wrenches would be needed for this job.
The disassembly was laborious, but like with my radios, I took tons of pictures, just as if I was restoring a Boombox. 20 minutes later, the engine was down to just wheels and a motor. It was a filthy mess of solid, chunky old grease. The drive motor was something I recognized, but what was the overly complicated barrel switch at the front with an electric solenoid actuator?
As I would soon find out, it was a 3 position, forward, neutral and reverse electric transmission that also happens to be the Achilles heel of this model train. It is a complicated device that relies on electricity, proper component alignment, delicate brass brush contact points, cleanliness and gravity in order for it to work properly. If just one of these planets are out of alignment, it will just sit still with an occasional stammer and stutter. It also features a plastic ratchet gear that is usually worn down to a nub.
However, this gear looked good. It all looked good, just very dirty and of course, not working.
The interesting thing about this “Toy†is, all of it was designed to come apart and be serviced. Nothing is riveted or snapped in place, it is all assembled with machine screws.
The drive motor was easy to clean and get back together. I managed to turn the transmission into gear at least for a test. I cleaned the short section of track with a brillo pad, wired up the original speed controller to give it a test. I set the bare locomotive chassis on the track and….NOTHING!
I dug into the small wiring harness with my multi meter. Tested every end, traced all the passages and they were all connected accept one! I could not find a connection from the track, through the wheels to the drive motor. I pulled the whole thing down to nothing and sure enough. I couldn’t find ANY way for the electricity to get from the wheels to the motor. I need a little break to think about it for a few.
Looking at all the cars laid out on the table, I knew that nearly every car was electrified. I figured they must be getting power from the engine, there were wires that connected from the engine to the Tender, then on to the spot light car and caboose???? I don’t know!!! What is happening here?
I started looking closer at the Tender. It was heavy and there was something inside. This needed to be opened. Four screws and the entire body slides up and off to expose a packed complicated mechanism that I have never seen and had no idea what it could possibly be. Was it a second tractive drive motor? Part of the speed controller? God forbid another transmission?
It was when I rolled it over and looked at the bottom that I realized what was happening here. The wheels of the Tender made contact to the track to send the electricity to the locomotive and not the other way around!
Once I determined that, I was able to figure out that the mechanism in the Tender was the smoke generator.
I put the loco and the tender on the track, plugged the two wires together connecting them and….PRESTO! We have a locomotive with the motor attempting to spin AND stuck in neutral!
Using a wooden Popsicle stick whittled down, I was able to switch the transmission into forward and it staggered forward for a moment and then off it went. FORWARD MOVEMENT, right off the end of the track!
Stage one complete.
I spent the next two days, assembling and disassembling the locomotive trying repeatedly to get that little transmission to work. I read up on it, watched YouTube video’s, cleaned it, reassembled it and it would do the same thing. Kind of work and then jam, usually ending up in neutral.
Then I stumbled on a YouTube video with what sounded like a 9 or 10 year old boy who explained its complex workings in just a few minutes. Once I had that knowledge, I was off and running. It still took me two more days to tear down, properly clean and adjust all the components to get all the planets to align. But after I had all the levers adjusted to fall into the right places, only being pulled by gravity, it began to work repeatedly and reliably. Now I can pull to a stop, throw the lever, add power and it drops into neutral, power down, then power back up, then power off, throw the switch, power back up and it drops into reverse. Add power again and we’re backing up! Kind of like double clutching! Repeat the entire process to go forward! See, EASY!
It’s so complicated, I’d swear it’s based on the real thing!
I spent the next night polishing track by hand. Twelve curves and four straights. I still have a blister on my thumb. I used a Dremel tool with a small polishing wheel and polishing compound to meticulously polish the ends to guarantee a connection. I tested each piece of track with a multimeter to make sure I wasn’t getting contact from rail to rail through the metal railroad ties. The steel rail is insulated with small pieces of paper and to my surprise, every single one of them was intact. All rail sections checked out electrically.
I next assembled a large oval on the garage floor, set the loco and tender on the track, turned the go switch and with some staggering at first it began to wake up and off it went, each lap better than the last. Stumbles and stammers were quickly replaced with smoother and smoother operation. A quick wipe down of the track with a fine coat of dielectric grease really helped with the connection. (later wiping it all clean again).
I had to see the whole train in a line rolling down the track, so I connected them all up and started the first pull. To my amazement, after just a few laps, the spotlight on the flat car began to flash and spark to life.
Now I know I’ve got something here.
I found a hobby store where I could buy replacement bulbs and replaced the bulb in the engine and in the Caboose. All the metal contact wheels on the Tender, spotlight car and caboose were polished with the Dremel. The electricity goes from the rail, to the wheels to the axle, to a brass contact to a center rivet, to a wire, to the lamp. Every contact needed attention on each car. It took hours.
Now, with the engine, tender and all rolling stock lighting up, her maiden voyage left the preverbal station with all lighting aglow. It was beautiful to see.
I was done at this point even though it wasn’t technically 100% working because the smoke generator wasn’t doing its thing. I thought about it and thought about it, knowing that if I open it up to try to fix it there was a chance of totally FARKING UP what I have just achieved I would be really bummed. But I thought I owed it to my dad to at least have a look.
The tender is more packed than the locomotive. It features and even smaller electric motor, with a worm gear feeding a fiberglass gear. That gear drives a paper bellows which blows smoke into a reservoir of smoke liquid over a small heating element, out a nozzle, into a thin rubber hose (missing) out the Tender, into the rear of the Locomotive, the full length to the front, to the smoke stack!
Tiny springs hold tiny carbon brushes connecting micro fiber wires to the heating element. All 71 years old! All greasy and all seized.
It seemed ridiculous to even touch. A 71 year old paper bellows? A 71 year old heating element?
Well, I guess I had nothing to lose. Moving the two springs allowed for the brushes to come out. Two screws removed the motor armature. One screw disconnected the bellows and suddenly it was easy to clean. A reassemble showed me that the chassis, a cast aluminum piece, was bent like a banana causing the bellows to drag on the base. IF the motor could turn, it wouldn’t be able to cycle. But bending it? I figured I would see if I could make the motor work first. With the armature back in, I placed the bare Tender on the track, hit the switch and…NOTHING! I tried to push start the motor. Nothing.
Three or four disassembles later and I got one revolution out of it! AH HA!
More tinkering, cleaning of the brushes again, dielectric grease on the motor contact faces and presto, it started to stagger to life. Many push starts and many stalls later. It began to crank over. And then finally it took off spinning. Speeding up and slowing down with the speed of the controller. And to my complete and utter shock! A tiny wisp of smoke wafted from the nozzle. We have a working heater coil!
Next was to get that chassis adjusted so the bellows wouldn’t drag.
A few stressful bends straightened out the chassis, the bellows now free to clear its base, the linkage connected and back on the rails for a retest. It took some assistance to get it started. The paper bellows had been in the relaxed position for 45 years after all. But after that, it began pumping with the distinctive sound of a steam locomotive and just a few moments later, large puffs of smoke were coming from the nozzle.
We now have a fully operating 1946 American Flyer 322 Locomotive and rail cars.
A quick run down to the local hobby store got me one foot of rubber hose and some smoke juice, Candy Cane scented!
A few more hours were spent tearing down the locomotive yet again to run the hose through its whole length and connect it to the tender, which in itself was a pain. Repeated attempts to hone the length of the hose so it wouldn’t bind on corners. Then one of the wires connecting the tender to the engine snapped off from it making the corner and straightening 50,000 times in its life.
FINALLY, after two weeks of grueling work. It was finally time….
Finally time to hook up all the cars, with the engine and Tender fully assembled. All the levers, and side rods, hoses, wires and smoke juice.
The first thing to do was to put the locomotive into neutral. Throwing the power switch lit up the rail cars, electrifying the locomotive. Next is to throw the switch on the Tender, firing up the bellows and heating element. As the engine sits idling in a slow chug, it begins to puff smoke. Rings of white clouds rise up and surround old number 322 as the transmission switch was thrown and the first lurch forward, all cars in tow. Adding power speeds up the bellows, the smoke stack pushing smoke under strain as the locomotive pulls away.
Smooth power can now be delivered up to full throttle speed and slowed down to a nice smooth chug around with no pausing or hesitation. Smoke billowing the whole time. All lights working with only the caboose showing tiny signs of missed contacts, almost resembling a lantern’s flickr. PERFECT!
After a few hours of testing (playing) the train is now packed up, all my tools, soldering iron, spare parts and anything else I might need to guarantee she makes a proper appearance this Christmas. The plan is to hand the box to my father and let him open it up and see it for the first time since December 23rd, 1971.
Wish me luck!
In closing I want to say, I don’t think I could have tackled this project just 10 years ago. It took me 48 years of life and experience tearing things apart and putting them back together to be able to even attempt such an undertaking. What a complicated little bugger! Hats off to the engineers in 1946!
OK, time to see her run! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0OqvVyoyYU&feature=youtu.be
I was leaning into the screen thinking "Yeah.....yeah.........WOW!....yes...yes..........YES!!! I think I can now understand what all the fuss is about with 'train sets', these are not just the big boys toys I imagined them to be.
