Pick up a MTH Premier Santa Fe Blue Goose Hudson in late June. The locomotive was missing all the electronics and wiring but was otherwise intact. The tender was just the shell. I was able to get the tender frame, trucks, and steps from MTH. About 2 weeks ago I finally installed a PS3 kit and LED lights. So now it's running and running great.
Posts by lou1985
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I have started rebuilding my MTH FEF. Most parts except the boiler have been stripped and repainted black. Major missing pieces like the front truck and tender frame have arrived. Motor mount made and Pittman motor installed. Next hurdle is to complete the smokebox front.
Here is what I started with.
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Frame with front truck installed and 9433 15.1v Pittman. I may swap the motor out for a larger 9434 as there is room. After tuning it draws .1 amp at 2 volts.
View attachment 513952
Pete
How do you plan on handling the MARS light with the PS3 kit? The MARS light only comes on in reverse or an emergency stop, but the PS3 kit doesn't have the wiring in the boiler to deal with that.
I'm curious what you do. Someone I know locally wants to convert a Weaver FEF to PS3 and is trying to figure out the MARS light situation. My thought was to run a small two pin harness, connected to the reverse light, to trigger the light when the locomotive goes into reverse. But then there is that small two pin harness next to the 10 pin one.
The red light on the FEFs had 2 settings:
If the locomotive was in reverse it was solid red.
If the locomotive was in emergency brake/stop then the MARS portion of the light was activated.
This little detail is what's stumping me. I figured best case would be to somehow wire the light to the reverse light (using an extra small connector between the locomotive and tender) and just have it come on solid red when the train is in reverse, skipping the MARS effect. I can't figure out a way to make both happen from the PS3 steam upgrade kit. Not enough board outputs. Although a factory MTh Premier FEF just has the red light come on solid in reverse, so that's an option.
Actually it was from the first issue, which had PS2 5V. The missing parts were gone because it was part of a group of extra locomotives produced during the run by MTH for spare parts. That's why the boards, tender frame, tender end steps, tender toolboxes, and tender trucks were missing. Otherwise it was like new. The motor had never been run and the wheels had never rode on rails till I got it going.
I got it from a guy who gets bunches of Premier steam in similar condition from MTH when they get rid of extra stuff. I can't say where it comes from so the guy doesn't get bombarded. Plus I need to keep my line a secret. I should have another project from the same source soon.
I'd be interested to find out if the MTH version was capable of that from the factory. Seems like the best I could do with the Weaver FEF for my buddy with the PS3 kit would be having the red light come on in reverse. Having the PS3 board from the kit send a signal to another board to flash the red light when the brake button is double tapped on the DCS remote might be beyond my capabilities/the capabilities of the PS3 board in the kit.
Nice job on combining the MTH and Lionel parts into one boiler front btw. Looks great. Hopefully you'll have it up and running soon.
Looks great. Are you going to gloss coat the model before decals are applied? I'm guessing you are using Microscale decals?
So you are going that route. I'm considering that for an upcoming project where I will be converting a Premier WP GS64 to a SP GS6. I think it will end up turning out better than using Microscale decals. Just put the lettering on and over coat everything in satin clear, in my case.
The real 844 does it so it would be neat to have that feature. Not that it would get used much.
I just like to make things more difficult.
Which one are you going to permanently use? If the one with the red light for now I would just add a small harness to light it when the reverse light is on.
I read it on the internet. Here, as a matter of fact, so it must be true.
Pete
It's actually rule 17b in the Uniform code of operating rules:
"Rule 17 (b). Red Oscillating Headlight.-- On engines equippped with a red oscillating headlight, such headlight will be displayed by day or by night when train is stopped suddenly under circumstances in which adjacent tracks may be fouled, or when head end protection is required.
The red oscillating headlight must be extinguished when necessity no longer exists.
A headlight burning red is a signal for an approaching train on the same or adjacent track to stop before passing such headlight, and be governed by conditions."
I always forget that you end up having to Bondo holes in zamac. If you can blend it well it should be unnoticeable. I also prefer the front sans MARS light. I'm guessing that the smoke deflectors are going back on as well?
Flashing red light when the train is stopped for an emergency. So it could be activated when fully stopped or when slowing for an emergency stop. I'm still unsure how to make the light flash when stopped for an emergency. Lighting steady in reverse is easy but flashing when stopped is a bit trickier.
Could that MARS light simulator be run off a PS2 3V or PS3 steam conversion kit with 7 other 3mm LEDs without overwhelming the circuit? It seems like it would work.
Cool. Thanks. I though the PS2/PS32 board headlamp output was pure DC, 6 volts DC to be exact?
Ah. I've been powering 3mm LEDs from the circuit using just a 560 ohm resistor on the power side without issue, so I thought it was straight 6V DC. More expensive than your solution but would ngineering's 8101 power source work as well? https://www.ngineering.com/accessories.htm#N8101
I don't have spare parts lying around to build one, so if I ordered stuff I figured I might as well pick up their power module. Do you sell your module John? Looks easier to use than the ngineering one, since it's larger in size.
I'd have to order all the parts to make one, so it's probably best for me to just buy a completed one. I'm only going to need one, so no sense to have extra parts around. That ngineering power source 8101 I linked to should work fine to power their MARS light simulator from the PS2/PS3 headlamp output though correct?
Well nuts. Looks like I'll have to make it then.
That might work. Peak voltage out of the PS2/PS3 headlamp circuit can't exceed 22v, or at least track voltage. Cap across the leads and it should be good. Only real pain is adjusting the output voltage.
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