Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)

[AdeV]

Way back when I was into DIY audio, I built a pre-amp from a kit (still have it).  Much of the wire I used was silver coated copper hook-up wire with a PTFE insulation. One of the advantages of this wire was the insulation is really tough and can withstand high temperatures which may be helpful for you.  You didn't need to worry about the insulation melting back when soldering, although you could probably damage it with prolonged high heat. This wire is stiff and retains it's shape which also nice.

I've got a bunch of wire that sounds very similar to that - it came from Cammell Lairds in the 1980s, and was apparently used on submarines. It's an absolute bear to use... I got 2 or 3 reels in maybe 1987-88 or thereabouts, and I must have used about 6 feet of it....

[Kim]

Way back when I was into DIY audio, I built a pre-amp from a kit (still have it).  Much of the wire I used was silver coated copper hook-up wire with a PTFE insulation. One of the advantages of this wire was the insulation is really tough and can withstand high temperatures which may be helpful for you.  You didn't need to worry about the insulation melting back when soldering, although you could probably damage it with prolonged high heat. This wire is stiff and retains it's shape which also nice.

I've got a bunch of wire that sounds very similar to that - it came from Cammell Lairds in the 1980s, and was apparently used on submarines. It's an absolute bear to use... I got 2 or 3 reels in maybe 1987-88 or thereabouts, and I must have used about 6 feet of it....

Sounds like a lifetime supply, Ade! 

Kim

[AdeV]

Sounds like a lifetime supply, Ade! 

It'll probably outlast my grand-children! And I won't be getting any of those for (hopefully!) at least 15 years!

[Kim]

A few posts ago we were having a discussion on step-off tables.  I said I'd be making a reply to this on a new thread, which I did just now.  If you're interested, it can be found here, on the Hints, Tips, and Tricks sub forum.  Seemed like a reasonable place for that discussion!

Petertha, you might want to consider re-posting your message there on that thread so that we have this whole discussion in one place. You had some great ideas there on a reusable spreadsheet for turning ellipses.

Kim

[Kim]

It’s been a busy week with many family-related non-shop activities going on. But today I got some time to start on my ad-lib conduit runs.  This is my own extension to Koso’s plans, so it obviously doesn’t have a reference in his book.  But I’m going to put a heading in the index just the same.

Kim’s Extra Stuff - Conduit Run

I knew how I was going to run the conduit for the engine since there’s a clear shot of where Kozo ran his wire in a picture in the book. But for the tender, I couldn't find anything.

I considered trying to run conduit through the tank, but that didn’t seem like a good option.  So I looked for various ways to run a conduit outside.  There wasn’t any really clean option that jumped out at me, so I just picked one.

I decided to run the conduit out the back of the little pedestal that holds the headlight, over to the right, then down the side of the tender, underneath, then turn and go to the front.  From there, the wires will go over to the engine.

The first thing I did was to put a groove in the pedestal box under the rear light.  I should have done this before painting the box and screwing it down, and sealing the tank to the base.  It would be a LOT of work to take it apart and have to redo that.  It wasn’t fun the first time and I really didn't want to do it all again.

So I chose to try and carefully create a groove with a little 1/8” burr using the Dremel.  I tried to cover all finished areas with protective tape (several layers) EXCEPT for the part I wanted to cut.


Then I went to town on it.  I went slow and tried to be very careful, so it took a while. But in the end, I got there with only a few mishaps.


With the tape lifted you can see one spot where I let the hand tool get away from me and it made a little gouge in the nice black paint of the tank.  But I’ll patch that. Overall, I’m relatively pleased with how it came out.


Then I annealed some 1/8” copper tube and bent it into fancy shapes to track the route I’d planned.  I started to worry I’d never get a wire through there, so gave it a try. And with some patience, I got there.  Yay! 


The tube came in 12” lengths so I had to splice a couple of pieces together to get the length needed.  I joined the tubes using 5/32” diameter copper tube that nested with the 1/8” just perfectly.  I cut a short length of the larger tube and silver soldered them together (you can see the join just to the left of the bolster in the middle of the picture.


On the top side, the conduit will be held in place in the groove by the cover for the rear light pedestal.  But for the bottom, I devised a little brass clip to hold it in place (far right in the picture.)


And here’s what it looks like completed.   Kinda ugly right now, but I think once it’s painted black, it won’t look nearly as silly as it does right now.


Oh yeah, and I had to drill the hole in the cover plate of the headlight pedestal.  It kinda makes it seem like Kozo didn’t electrify his rear light since there was no hole to get the wire up into the light.  Interesting.

Now I’ve got to do the conduit run for the engine headlight and then figure out how to mount the switch for the lights.

Lots of ad-libbing left to do!
Kim

[crueby]

Hi Kim,

One thing I've learned about handheld rotary tools is that to keep it from grabbing/pulling to the side, really high speeds are your friend. Learned that when I picked up a very high speed air powered handpiece that takes the same type of burs that the dentists use (bad memories of The Chair aside, it sounds the same too). At those speeds (400,000 RPM or so), its a lot easier to hold the positions when carving into metal. Best combination is very high speed with a very small tooth size, diamond coated burs being the best. They skim the surface more, and take really small chips (dust). A face shield is a must. If you dont have that type handpiece, and just a normal Dremel or Foredom style, crank up the speed as high as it will go and use as fine a tooth cutter as you can - and experiment with technique on scrap too. Holding it at an angle and dragging the cutter lengthwise into the groove works great, rather than at vertical like the mill does.

Looking great - got to be getting close to final paint!
 
Chris

[cnr6400]

 

[Kim]

Thanks Chris and Jeff! 

Good hints there, Chris. Thank you for the pointers.  Good to get some insight on this from a master carver!
I used the best tip I had (which probably wasn't that great) and held the tool VERY steady.  My Dremel doesn't have nearly the high speeds you're talking about, but I made it work and only had that one grab.  The rest went quite well.  But I'll do even better next time! 

Kim

[Kim]

Yeah, interesting idea.  I thought similar thoughts but didn't want to poke any more holes in the tank.  It's already sealed up and I'd have to take it apart and seal it again if I did that. 
Kim

[Kim]

Today I routed the conduit for the front headlight on the engine.   I based this on the pictures in Kozo’s book.  There are a couple of photos (including the front cover) where you can see a similar conduit line running from the headlight, curving down the side of the smokebox, and running along the running board to the cab.  That’s what I’ve done.

I made one hold-down clamp that I tapped into the smoke box with a 0-80 screw.  It seems to hold quite well. If I need another one, I could do it in the lower part of the smokebox or attach it to the running board.  I’m not going to do that yet though. I will also be attached at the cab-end to the yet-to-be-made switch panel.

Here’s a couple of shots of the completed conduit run.




Next, I’ll work on the switch panel.

Kim

[cnr6400]

  That oughta duit Kim!  Nice clean job, and when painted it will hardly be noticeable.

[crueby]

Looks great!  It won't  interfere with the sand dome pipes will it?

[Kim]

Thanks Jeff and Chris! 

It won't interfere with the sand dome pipes will it?

I don't believe it will... or if it does, I'll adjust the position a little bit.  But I think there's still room for them to squeeze through there... Guess we'll see, eh?  And I still have to get a water pipe along there and down behind the running board too! 

Kim

[kvom]

If handrail is hollow run it through there.

[Kim]

That's a good idea, and I understand how Kozo does the K27.  But no, my handrails aren't hollow, so that's not an option for me.

Kim