Updating a dinosaur!

Hi All,

I need a break from all those EMD E diesels. The Life-Like FP-7 arrived yeasterday, so I thought an hour spent on reviewing what needed to be done on this model would make a nice break.*

This model was made in 1990, so 35 years old. According to Spooknet it's a good runner, but the body seemed oversized. That's probably because the label says F-7, it's actually an FP-7 with a longer body to accomodate the steam heat boiler installed by EMD at the factory (rather than an F7 modified with a steam heat boiler by the railroad in their shops).  Some of the things that were immediately obvious:

No windows in the portholes.
One set of grills too many.
Rapido couplers at either end.
Large slot in the pilot to accomodate toy train radii.

On a positive note, it had F unit number boards (no number) that were lit from behind, 2 back-up light representations on the rear bulkhead, and a good representation of the roof radiator grills and steam boiler air intake and exhaust. It even has the dynamic brake radiator grill just behind the cab. EDIT. SEE NEXT POST.

So, off with the body shell and a look at what's inside:

Two large lead weights at either end, 43g at the front and 69g at the back (and yes, there were positive for lead). The rear weight could lose some weight to give space for a decoder and some off the front some weight for a speaker.
No flywheels (although with all that lead who needs them).
Coiled spring connectors between the motor and the worms. EDIT. Never seen this.
Taking the lid off the worms showed it needed a clean and some fresh lube.
The wiring is backwards for DCC (red should be in the RHS looking forward) but this is pre-DCC. All the wires are exposed, making wiring in a decoder an easy task.
There is nothing that physically connects the weights to the chassis. It's just a tight fit in the body shell.

Overall, not bad for a dinosaur. It's a good runner, so is this a go/no go? What needs to be done is not onerous, so yes, it's a go. I am not going to do anything with the chassis except give it a degrease and some fresh lube. If those coil spring connectors fail they can be replaced with silicone tubes. I suspect the motor generates a lot of torque, hence the coils. Test running showed the springs flexing as power was increased. And I will reduce the height of the rear weight to make some space for a DCC decoder. Windows are easily addressed with some transparent plastic sheet or canopy glue if my hole cutter doesn't have the correct diameter die. That set of extra grills? I can live with that. The front pilot with the gaping hole for the coupler? Adding a snow plow will cover that. The Rapido couplers? Some body- or chassis mounted knuckle coupers rathet than truck-mounted Rapidos is an easy fix.

It looks like a relatively painless updating (famous last words). At least the wiring is not complicated.

Some photos below.

Cheers,

Nigel

*I try and do an hour a day modeling, weekends tend to get filled with other things. It's currently income tax season here, so it's a nice break from dealing with US and Canadian taxes and not getting double taxed. Being retired there is no such thing as PAYE, lump sums at the end of the tax year.








 

Hi All.

After checking photos and details of the Southern Railway FP-7A roster, it looks like I do have some body modifications to make. None of the FP7As had dynamic brakes, so the fan has to go, and they all had a large air-cooling coil on the LHS of the roof looking forward. That will have to be fabricated. They also had 5-chime Nathan air-horns and a radio antenna over the cab roof. Those I have.

The photo below (taken from P.K. Withers et al, Diesels of the Southern Railway 1939-1982, reproduced in the interests of research and education)  shows the absence of a dynamic brake radiator fan grill in the access panel immediately behind the cab, and the long air-cooling coil on the LHS of the roof. This cooling coil is clearer on the RHS of the second FP-7 which is running in reverse. The 5-chime horn and radio antenna on the roof of the cab are very clear. Note the difference in placement of the horns and antenna between the 2 locomotives. pays to study pictures carefully.

These 2 FP-7As were pulling 3 older cars (I baggage/mail, 2 passenger), which is a lot of horsepower  - 3,000 - for a very short passenger train. The route is very hilly, crossing quite a few moutain spurs with short tunnels. Postcard of Burgin Tunnel, NC, in 1910. The train has just exited the tunnel.

Edit. I just spent an hour looking at the route. Six tunnels (including one 75 feet long!) and a series of horse shoe curves in the space of 10 miles as the line crosses the Appalachian ridges on it's way from Old Fort to Asheville, NC. The line is still used today for the industries along the line. Through trains stopped several years ago. Begs to be modeled.

Cheers,

Nigel






 

Hi All,

Bit more research showed that the Southern FP-7 did not have dynamic braking, so that radiator fan just behind the horn will have to go. A bit more body work. The weather is nice, so I'm off outside to take some metal off the weights and get rid of that fan.

Cheers,

Nigel

Comparing the model with the prototype photo, it appears to me that the side vents are facing the wrong way.  They appear to be horizontal on the prototye but vertical on the model.  Sorry if you have already mentioned this.

Terry

Hi Terry,

I had noted this. I have horizontal etched replacements. Of course I could just cut them out and rotate 90°. But then again, life is too short. Easier to sand out and replace.

Cheers,

Nigel

Hi All,

I looked up the dimensions of the EMD FP-7A versus the EMD F7A. As I remembered, it's longer (55' 2.25" versus 50' 8"). It's also slightly wider (by an inch). Life-Like's take on the FP-7A, for all it's body faults, matches the length of the prototype. Slightly wider by a scale 6", probably to accommodate the width of the motor. That extra length was to accommodate the steam heat generator, with plenty of room for the additional water tank. Those steam generators guzzled water faster than the diesel engine guzzled diesel fuel. F7As that had steam generators installed post-manufacture were pretty cramped inside and often needed body modifications to deal with the heat.

I took a fair amount of metal off the weights, the originals were 46g front, 60g back, now down to 29 front, 28 back. Plenty of space for an N-scale sound decoder and a speaker. Couple of coats of black epoxy paint. Photo below. Red arrows are where metal was removed to give 2 shelves. Speaker at the front, decoder at the back.

Cheers,

Nigel

That's a lot of wreight lost Nigel - it will be interesting to see how it effects the tractive effort…………………

Hi Peter,

That's what I thought. However, it still weighs 50% more than a modern (and new) F3A from BLI. And it's never going to pull more than 3-5 passenger cars. My Southern Railway efforts are purely passenger, no freight cars.

Nigel