Bye Bye F7!!

ross31r

ross31r

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6"-7" Street and 10" mainline i think, should make the big beasts work for their living and keep train lengths resonably short. Besides, my biggest car is only going to be about 50ft long (once i find a suitable passenger car and a cab kit for them), I already have a tiny loco to haul my limited`s 36ft luxury cars.

Just hoping that i can mill the Athearn frames enough to allow that sort of bogie swivel for that curvature whithout loosing drive!
 
ross31r

ross31r

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well now ive hit a bugger - i cant figure out how to mill the athearn frames. the shell is complete and ready to go on but i cant alter the chassis to allow it to fit!
 
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interurban

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ross31r said:
well now ive hit a bugger - i cant figure out how to mill the athearn frames. the shell is complete and ready to go on but i cant alter the chassis to allow it to fit!
Click to expand...

Hello hello hello said the bobbie to the three headed burgular :eek:

I take it the white metal frame tha holds the motor and wheels /gear box assemblies
neds to be shortend as the body you have scratchbuilt is a tad to small?

It is white Metal chassie Ross? :p
 
ross31r

ross31r

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err, i dunno, im still using the standard Athearn frame, would it be easier to make a new one then?

Body i have scracthbuilt is exactly the right length to drop straight over the original chassis without problems provided i can get the chassis to clear the bogies around sharp bends and bevel the flat end to fit inside the bulldog nose.
 
ross31r

ross31r

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The bits i want to mill off are the end of the frame wher it is perfectly square to match the other end and the inset sections around the bogies which prevent them from tuning more sharply.
 
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interurban

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ross31r said:
The bits i want to mill off are the end of the frame wher it is perfectly square to match the other end and the inset sections around the bogies which prevent them from tuning more sharply.
Click to expand...


Drop the whole wheel assemblies out at both ends, then release the motor carefuly.
Now where the wheels fit, using a fiberglass dremal cutting wheel shim all 4 corners on both ends in a V shape .This will allow more turning ability.

Hope you can still shim to allow the body to fit, if not make the body bigger hehehe. :wave:
 
ross31r

ross31r

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the body is long enough to exactly match the length of the frame - the difficult bit is tapering the ends in at the full width end to fit under the bulldog nosed end thats going there instead
 
ross31r

ross31r

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Thats because it IS a model of the Keddie Wye!!!! its on my club layout, have a search for the Seaboard Southern in the NMRA British Region, will find the web address for you later if you want.

Good thing i have two F7A frames, i was thinking of cutting the frame down the centre of the fuel tanks and splicing them together there.
 
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Honger

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Bench Grinder time?

Having spliced two F7A cabs together for a similar project, I also ran into the same problem with the frame. I removed all the parts and just used a bench grinder to make the square end of the frame allow the bulldog nose of the shell to fit... worked like a champ. Need a pic? I could try to post one up tonight.

I wouldn't cut the frame in half though... that seams like a lot more work than grinding the frame to allow the shell to fit. Or am I missing some reason you don't want to do that?

Joel
 
ross31r

ross31r

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a picture would be greatly appreciated, but i have no idea what a bench grinder is, dont think we have them here in the UK.

I suppose i should actually clarify what i am doing.
I am cutting the corrdior (B) end off of one A unit approximately at the first seam line behind (ie towards the cab end) of the rearmost side door. The second A unit is having its cab removed from a point just behind the cab door and the cab/nose section will be joined onto the remaining cab shell section of the first A unit to create a twin-ended "streamlined" freight motor in the style of the CNJ "babyface" twin-ended diesels.
 
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Honger

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ross31r said:
a picture would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
I'll give it a try... lets see if I can figure it out.
F7AA0004web.jpg

And one more showing a close up of what I did to the frame.
F7AA0005web.jpg

Basically I grinded the sides of the frame down until the shell would fit over it. The length I spliced the shells to made it so the existing coupler pads would be useable through the holes in the pilots.
Ah, one more thing... clicky to see a bench grinder kind of like what I used.
 
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Greg Elems

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ross31r said:
Thats because it IS a model of the Keddie Wye!!!! its on my club layout, have a search for the Seaboard Southern in the NMRA British Region, will find the web address for you later if you want.
Click to expand...

The link would be nice, thank you. Are you making a double ended diesel or an electric? Australia had a neat double ended unit, a B Class. It ran on the first production SD trucks though. Or as rebuilt into an A Class as in this picture link.

http://www.railroadforums.com/photos/data/589/4033DVC00358.JPG

Another interesting point about these engines is they are broad gauge, 5' 3".

Greg
 
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