Bill,
My OMI Mike has been through several configurations. It started out as
plain DC, then PFM DC, then Dynatrol Command Control, then an early
Soundtraxx decoder and then Tsunami. Someplace along the line I also
re-motored and added a flywheel, then tore it out and put the old motor
back in (hey you never know till you try it).
I've always been fairly happy with tender speakers mainly because it's
just too easy to upset the balance of the engine--especially medium to
smaller sizes. It you either remove or put too much weight on either
end, you're likely to have traction issues and derailments. I wish I
would have kept the original PFM speaker in the tender. It resembles a
typical 12" woofer that your home stereo has, but also filled the tender
edge to edge. The sound is still as good as anything I've heard recently.
Of course since you have all the milling equipment to do these mods, I
too would be tempted, but you're still asking a lot to happen within a
boiler area.
Many years ago I very very impressed when Bill Daiker (sp) showed me a
little Rex Dockside where he had milled a slot in the boiler to hold a
command control board of some kind. It looked like a slot and drawer
typically found in computers--everything was first rate. Of course,
Bill was a master of that sort of thing.
That gearbox you have must be some kind of one-off. The original
gearing was too slow, so Overland supplied a replacement gearbox plus
driver set. The original was only semi-enclosed and was multi-pieced.
The replacement was a cast gearbox nicely finished with access from the
bottom for lubing. I haven't had any issues with the drive nor the
similarly configured 0-8-0.
That shiny brass finish is something I hadn't seen in many years. I
only have two engines steam engines still in raw brass--my OMI FEF and
that little ten wheeler that Henry Spraque had built. Also apparently,
my hands are very acidic, because brass that I handle tarnishes rather
quickly, so what I have is more of a brown anyhow.
As I ramble on (who me!), I think I can put in a "what we need" in all
scales. That being a good way of running wires to and from the tender
or MU's. I've seen several folks talk about making them up but I've yet
to see anything solid or commercially viable. I think SHS had planned
to do that with their steam engine, but ended up using a solid
connection. My thoughts would be to use a hollow draw-bar with a
selection of wires contained within. However someplace along the line
there's the plug itself which seems to be the weak link. So if anybody
knows of somebody who makes these--let the world know.
Bob Werre
PhotoTraxx
On 8/17/12 7:52 PM, Bill Lane wrote:
This is a Light Mike I just finished installing a Tsunami in. Just
when you think you have it all figured out something you didn't see
hits you. I use RailMaster speakers only. For my locos I have used
only the DLG8. *It just would have not fit *without chopping the
already small boiler weight in half*.* That in itself **could be fun**
because I can use my milling machine! So I settled on the DBH23-8
which still JUST fit.
Anyway the surprise was I had to move the boiler weight towards the
cab for the speaker to fit so a bigger boiler weight would be tough
too. I am used to big Belpaire fireboxes. The Tsunami does not fit on
top of the motor. It is in the middle of the boiler now.
It is way tight running in spite of giving it a good lube job. This is
the first time *ever* I have seen a gear box like this one. It is
SOLDERED shut! There are no screws holding it together. You cannot get
to some of the internal gears!
Here is the a quick n dirty clip of its first run
http://youtu.be/mr6Ms35FBUs It is likely to be a temporary clip so
catch it while you can. I mostly made the clip to show my customer it
is done and running.
Thank You,
Bill Lane
