SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

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senorgilamonster
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Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2017 1:37 am
Location: Puget Sound, WA

Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by senorgilamonster »

Welded up the 2nd truck frame today. It still needs to have the welds cleaned up, etc.
2Trucks.jpg
Got the seam welds in the cab as well. Only 1 burn through, minimal warping. I will still weld some more internal supports on, but for now...
cabwelds.jpg
This is the guide for cutting the roof profile in the ends of the cab.
cabForm.jpg
Tomorrow is the trip to the metal yard in Seattle, so not much else will be helping.
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senorgilamonster
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Location: Puget Sound, WA

Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by senorgilamonster »

cut and layed out the frame today. My bar stock ran out a bit too soon. Oops:
frame1.jpg
:

Cut up the $7.50 treadmill that I bought at the thrift store:
frame2.jpg
Ready for welding:
frame3.jpg
rkcarguy
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Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by rkcarguy »

Making good progress! Keep the pics coming.
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senorgilamonster
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Location: Puget Sound, WA

Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by senorgilamonster »

Started welding up the frame today. Some of my welds came out really nice...then I'd burn through. Aaarg.
1st problem of the day - despite my careful layout yesterday, the frame is 2" too short. Given the choice of buying another 12' of tubing along with the delay and cost, I went the pragmatic route and will shorten the engine 2". The rivet counters can bite me.
frame wels.jpg
Overall I am pretty happy. I took special measures to account for the end beam warping...but didn't realize that the frame sides would warp inward. Getting the last end beam in place required a loud curse at the same time as a big hammer blow (but it went into place). I could have prevented this issue if I had done my sequence of steps differently.
Frame SideView.jpg
There was another flaw that irritates me to no end. We'll see if any of you are observant enough to find it:
FrameTopView.jpg
Final notes: I used the deck plate for a welding table today...won't do that again 'cause now I have to clean off at least some of the splatter. And even though I went to pains to give myself a flat surface to work on so the frame would be true (which it is), one of the end beams is ~1/8" below where it should be (the one I had to hammer in place). Apparently I needed to hammer it down flush against the surface and didn't. It will not bee too visible if I finish it well.
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NP317
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Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by NP317 »

"The rivet counters can bite me."

I LOVE that! Build trains. Make our selves happy.
Way to go!
~RN
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senorgilamonster
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Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by senorgilamonster »

I should add that there are members of this community building exquisite trains that I only wish I could build. They inspire me to raise my skill level and keep on trying.

I just have no tolerance for anyone who wants to count MY rivets. :-)
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senorgilamonster
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Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by senorgilamonster »

Work came to a grinding halt today quite literally. The angle grinder gave up the ghost.

Below is the cab sitting on top of the deck sitting on top of the frame. The wood piece is the pattern for forming the nose.

The second pic shows the nose for from the side demonstrating the angle.
Attachments
HoodVisualization.jpg
NoseAngle.jpg
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senorgilamonster
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Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by senorgilamonster »

view from the other end
Attachments
Alternate view.jpg
Pontiacguy1
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Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by Pontiacguy1 »

Almost everyone whom I've ever had tell me something on my equipment was 'wrong' were people who didn't actually build anything themselves. Ditto for most of the people I know in the hobby who have had a similar experience. I just told them that they should build their own and then they can make it the correct way.

Keep on doing what you're doing. You'll be riding past most of the nit-pickers on your functional locomotive when you are done.
rkcarguy
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Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by rkcarguy »

I've opted to do some rivet counting on my build admittedly because I have time. I am building my setup with a purpose in mind however, and have even gone out on my own with scale and gage as to what I feel will suit my needs best. My S-12's body is wider than the prototype is because I worked my dimensions off of an HO scale model, and as it turns out I needed the extra width to fit the engine and hydraulics anyway. The part I really like about this hobby is you can just get things done and working on a basic level and add the details later as you have time and money.
A older friend of my dad's had worked hard all his life and never really got out there and had fun. He finally retired and bought his "dream" setup, a nice truck turbo-diesel super duty crew cab, a large enclosed trailer with sleeping quarters, and a couple of race cars......only to have a stroke 6 months later and lose most of the function of one side of his body. Then he passed away about a year later.
So get out there and enjoy it now while you can. I'd rather kitbash something together out of free junk(imagining the truck/train thing stolen from Bartertown in mad max lol) and cast pop-can and get out there and enjoy it than wait until I'm about to die to have it be perfect with all the details.
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NP317
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Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by NP317 »

rkcarguy:
I totally agree about getting out there and pursuing your desires.

2017 tried to kill my wife and me TWICE!
We beat the odds, and I continue to celebrate EVERY day alive, and follow our dreams.
You provide Good Advice.
~RN
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senorgilamonster
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Re: SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

Post by senorgilamonster »

thank you all for your support. Yesterday was a complete loss. I was trying to bend the metal for the battery box as the first attempt to bed the 1" radius at a corner on all 3 axis. I went with 22ga for this since I figured it would be easier. Based on all of the YouTube videos that I watched, I expected it top be a lot easier to hammer over. At the end of the day, nothing usable came out of it. I wouldn't be too bothered about just making the box out of MDF, but I have to do the same for the nose...
battery box.jpg
Today was much more productive. I formed the fuel tank, cut pieces for the coupler pockets, installed the center bearings on the truck frames and cut the cab roof to profile.
Fuel Tank 1.jpg
Fuel Tank 2.jpg
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