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General => Trains! => Topic started by: playmofire on May 06, 2018, 20:59:16

Title: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on May 06, 2018, 20:59:16
A short time ago a 4052 loco and a PRR tender appeared as separate items on Glendale Junction's website.  Both were very dusty and so thinking they might be at a good price, I asked for first refusal.  The price was £55 for the pair, plus £10 p and p.  and they are now mine!

The sellers had tested the loco and also reported that the tender motor was missing a tyre.

From the photos I could see that the front coupling loop on the tender was missing and that the water cover for the water tank, the drop plate and the "doors" on the tender were missing.

Broken coupling loops seem to be about par for these tenders and I wasn't surprised about the other pieces that were missing having seen the prices of "doors" for example on eBay and never having seen the drop plate for sale and bearing n mind that the cover of the water tank would obviously be taken on and off in play.

I have done a bit of testing and small 9v battery turns the wheels on the loco with no problem and showed the lights were working OK.

The motor in the tender also runs OK, although I imagine both might benefit from a bit of oil and a clean.

A bulb has been fitted into the tender lighting unit, but the lights don't work; I suspect a failed bulb.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on May 06, 2018, 21:02:16
The loco has n parts missing and is just very dusty as the photos below show.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on May 06, 2018, 21:27:00
The bell is yellowed, as are the connection rods and there is some dirt or wear on the skates.  But after a light scrub in warm soapy water, the cab roof comes up fine, so there's only a good clean needed.

Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on May 06, 2018, 21:34:09
The coupling loop on the front had broken off at some time and been replaced, but this too has broken off. However, it came with the tender and it looks that with a bit of cleaning up and good glueing it can be refitted.

The skates on the tender are worn or dirty, although, like the loco, applying 9v battery power to them turns the wheels OK.

I need to replace the tender bulb - does anyone know how to access it?

The drop plate and "doors" are missing, as is the water tank cover.  A single "door" on eBay was selling for £25 plus p and p, and I've never seen a drop plate for sale, so I'll do without the "doors" and make a drop plate of my own.

If anyone has a spare water tank cover for sale, please PM me.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on May 06, 2018, 21:35:53
Overall, I'm very pleased with my buy and plan to start cleaning it up and testing it more fully when I get back from holiday.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: Junker Jörg on May 07, 2018, 09:36:27
Glückwunsch zu diesem Neuerwerb. Wie Du schreibst, ist der Kupplungsbügel am Tender leider oft gebrochen. Liegt vermutlich dran, daß Tender und Lok auf schmutzigen Gleisen gegen- statt miteinander fahren und der Bügel als schwächstes Glied zuerst nachgibt. Eine Stromverbindung Lok-Tender sollte das Problem bzw. die Gefahr eines neuen Bruchs verhindern.

Die Fehlteile sind leider vermutlich schwer zu beschaffen. Sie sind auch so selten, daß ich sie noch nie in Resin gesehen habe. Aber vielleicht läßt sich über 3D-Druck was machen?

Great deal, congrats! That coupling loop unfortunately has a disposition to break as loco and tender tend to work against one another on dirty tracks. Loco running tender stopping make the loop the weekest part an give in. An electric connection between both motors can reduce that risk.

Those missing parts might be hard to come by. Often gone, rarely looked for and therefore unlikely to be resin-made. But maybe a 3D print might be possible to an acceptable price?

jj:
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on May 07, 2018, 12:19:42
I've been thinking that if glueing the coupling loop back on to the tender doesn't work, then I might fit a couple of "eyes" to the tender (screw them into a bit of wood between the two walls of the tender to help spread the strain) and then join them with a length of wire so that the tender will move on bends as it did with the original coupling loop.

If you scrool down the page here:

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/1-CHEMINEE-blanche-impression-3D-pour-locomotive-playmobil-4001-kamin/202283132329?_trkparms=aid%3D444000%26algo%3DSOI.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20170221122447%26meid%3Dce438ccf0d1f4accb35a20e8ebcdc878%26pid%3D100752%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D3%26sd%3D202283132322%26itm%3D202283132329&_trksid=p2047675.c100752.m1982

there is someone who makes 3D printed items for Playmobil, but not, as yet, the parts I need.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: Junker Jörg on May 07, 2018, 16:59:55
I've been thinking that if glueing the coupling loop back on to the tender doesn't work, ...
I'd say don't meddle with glue but mend with a screw  ;).

I asked a tinsmith to make me a matching strip of sheet iron to fix with screw and nut. That works fine.

jj:
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on May 07, 2018, 19:08:50
Yes, screw not glue sounds good advice.

I've managed to remove the clear plastic holder for the bulb on the tender, although not 100% successfully.

After removing the motor, it was fairly easy to prise the body off. The wires for the bulb have been soldered to the tags on the motor which didn't help too much.

Levering and pushing didn't work getting the bulb holder out and eventually a bit too much levering led to a loud crack and the main part of the unit came out, leaving the top lens still in. More pushing on that didn't work, so I decided to give the tender body a wash and scrub in warm soapy water and, lo and behold, the top lens suddenly slipped out! It is repairable and I'll see how that works. And I do have a spare bulb.

The previous owner has soldered some electronic gubbins into one of the wires to the lamp, I guess to protect it. I'll take a photo when I get back from my holiday.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: Tiermann on May 07, 2018, 22:56:06
I am also missing the tank cover off of mine, as well as one of the front baffle panels.  3d printing may be the future on these as we get farther and farther away from when they were in production.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on May 08, 2018, 00:39:43
I am also missing the tank cover off of mine, as well as one of the front baffle panels.  3d printing may be the future on these as we get farther and farther away from when they were in production.

So when it comes to it, Tim, we already have a multiple order for the tank cover!

It has been suggested that the tank cover may be the same size or very close to the same size as a number of LGB ones, which would provide another source.  I'll let you know which LGB items might work once I find out.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: csimas on May 08, 2018, 10:11:15
Nice buy, that train is superb equalizing whit the steaming mary  :love: and it can pull a lottt of wagons.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on May 27, 2018, 16:36:48
Time for a brief update.

All parts which can be put through the dishwasher have been through it.

Everything is dissassembled as a result and cleaning and polishing has started.

I started with the tender and one side has been finished. Removing the old stickers left a "ghost" of the lettering on the side, but a good polish with T-Cut, followed by two polishes with Turtle Wax car polish, another two rubbings with T-Cut and then five polishes with Turtle Wax has left one side of the tender nice and bright and polished and no "ghosting". The other side is next and then the rest of the tender doesn't need a lot of cleaning and polishing.

I have noticed that a handle on the boiler back has broken off (maybe it's there to open the firebox door) and so I will carefully drill a hole and insert the top of a Playmobil broom handle cut to length and paint it black.

I may also add a flickering LED to the firebox at this stage too.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on June 10, 2018, 20:55:50
In the last few days as tine allowed I've been doing a bit of work on the tender coupling.

Junker Jorg suggested that trying to glue the broken coupling loop on wouldn't be a long term solution and that a nut and bolt job was the answer. (He had had a local blacksmith make a loop for him.) To start with, I looked at curved drawer handles of the right size, but most of these were fixed by screwing from behind and this was not possible. A reference on another forum to meccanspares.com made me think of making a coupling loop out of Mecanno and so I ordered the parts I needed (I've put in two orders and both were delivered the following day).

The first thing to do was to cut off the remains of the original coupling loop ( photo 1) and then mark out where the Meccano replacement would go and do a test fit (photo 2). The third picture shows the Meccano coupling bolted into place.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on June 10, 2018, 21:04:52
I did the final fitting in a hurry and fitted the coupling loop higher than intended. Originally (photo 1) I meant to have about 2mm vertical clearance between the bottom of the Meccano and the top of the support of the coupling hook on the loco, but nw there's much more (photos 2 and 3). However, I don't think there's any risk of the two separating (photo 4).

Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: Junker Jörg on June 11, 2018, 13:55:09
That does look good!

jj:
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on June 11, 2018, 15:01:20
That does look good!

jj:

Thank you.   :wave:
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on June 11, 2018, 15:10:59
The next stage is wiring up the tender so that the rear lights can be powered from the motor and an "umbilical" connection made to the loco motor to guarantee smooth running over points, where otherwise one of the motors might "stall".

Not being a dab hand at soldering, I will use "chocblocs" and piggy back connectors with slide-on female connectors on the wiring.  Here are some photos showing what I mean.

Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on June 11, 2018, 15:14:57
For wiring, I have the choice of LGB wire or some OO gauge wire for points, which handily come with slide-on connectors already fitted.

For the "umbilical", I've got a ready made one from an RC car supplier.

Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: playmofire on June 11, 2018, 15:30:46
The loco motor and tender motor will both have the same wiring (lights and "umbilical") although the loco may also have a flickering red LED as well, but more of that later.

When it comes to running the wiring, the easiest route seems to be run the wiring from the tender under the front edge of the tender body, either centrally or where the "doors" would be fitted on one side and then straight across to the loco.

For the loco, the easiest route seems to be to drill a small hole towards the bottom of the boiler back plate in the cab and run the wires for the "umbilical" through the cab to join up with the end from the tender.
Title: Re: 4052 loco with PRR tender
Post by: The_Mad_Hadder on June 11, 2018, 17:06:47
Interested to see how this goes and how much attention is brought to the connecting wires by a purely aesthetic look