Monday, July 6, 2009

Remotored Roundhouse Boxcab breaking in on New Test Track

A re-motored Roundhouse boxcab
A re-motored Roundhouse boxcab

A comparison of the out-of-the-box configuration (lower) and remotored and weighted chassis from Ron LaFever (upper).
A comparison of the out-of-the-box configuration (lower) and remotored and weighted chassis from Ron LaFever (upper).

Activity on the New Test Track

Last week I created a test track loop to break-in locomotives. I used some code 83 weathered Micro Engineering flex track on top of a door/worktable. I quickly made a note at how difficult it was to work with the rail joiners straight out of the pouch, so I started to pry the openings up a little with the tip of a file so that they would go on the rail more easily. I then soldered the joints between the four pieces and set my re-motored GE-IR boxcab off in circles. I sent this little guy off to Ron LaFever to be remotored (exchanged, actually, for another rebuilt chassis), and the results were very good. Very nice work. The only problem that remains is the noise of the gearing, which is a result of the design, but hopefully the break-in will help with that. In the meantime, I have the radio turned up pretty high to cover up (some) of the noise.