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OBB X534 - upgrading


Vecchio

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Some of you may have seen I bought this platform trolley before Christmas. For those who didn't - here it is.

 

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Now it is time to do something. First I need a decoder - I do not even have a DC controller....

The decoder is found, it is a MX623, originally purchased for a H0e loco, but it was too big so it went into the bit box. But now it is of use. There is just enough space for it under the roof, and as space was limited I had to cut away the shrink tube. As it goes between two plastic layers this should be ok.

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So far so good. Now I need to think about lights. The rear end is simple - there are clear lenses present, this just needs some leds behind them. 

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The front end is more tricky. Here the lights are just painted on. So I need to drill them out and find some lenses. Here I am during the drilling. I gradually increased the drill bit size.

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Now I need material for the lenses. Best is to use the remains of a plastic kit. No idea what it was originally.... The brain works slow - a few days later it came back - they are ice blocks from a Walthers kit (icehouse and icing station - I bought the kit 2006 as I used the icing station for a completely different project.Unloading ramp for a mining train..)

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Happy to have a lathe, I can shape the lens as I need it.

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I polished the end with 0.3um wet abrasive paper (good that I had a past with fibre optic accessories - still have a collection of fibre polishing paper...) and pushed it into place. The bigger ones worked as a press fit, the top one needed a little amount of glue.

The result looks already better than the painted on lights.

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Now I need a small LED - well I found a small one...

The soldering is not perfect - but it was more guesswork than seeing what I am doing...

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And it even works...

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Now a short brake - Vecchio has also to make some money and will be on a trip for the rest of the week....

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Back home again, and time to proceed. After wiring 3 leds (and losing 3 as the snipped away from the tweezers) I glue them into position using 5min epoxy resin.

 

The led is so small that it goes easily into the 2mm hole I have drilled for the lens. I filled the gaps with 5min epoxy. I have ordered the correct colour of matt paint to correct that bit later. Expensive - 10£ (plus postage) for a miniature tin!

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The led for the top light is fixed with a drop of epoxy. I blackened the plastic around it to be sure no light comes trough.

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By the way the wooden peg in the picture is a miniature peg. A normal size one wouldn't fit there.

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And a bit further.  I soldered the LEDs outside the loco - making a sort of harness.

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unfortunately the red one did shine very strong into the others - so I had to remove it and replace it by a standard 2mm one, where I blackened the whole body so the light comes out at the tip only.

 

Finally all LEDs are in and the wiring is almost done. The blackened LED is on the right of the picture.

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After some fight to close the loco again a few pictures.

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Here a detail of the back of the lights - you may remember the front lights - which were painted on - are in these wing like flanges. I painted the back with what should be the same colour as the loco.

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I am quite happy with this, the LEDs are practically invisible, also the wires are rather discrete. Another close up from the front, showing the home made lens.

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Now I can think of other improvements like additional earthing poles or gas bottles.

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Fitting those mini LED's is such a fiddly job, it drives me nuts as my fingers are so big and you need a third hand to hold it all. Definitely a job I avoid unless there's no other way. Very neat install as usual :)

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Excellent work Vecchio, you mentioned additional earthing poles - you might like to consider removing the moulded on insulators on the pantograph mount as the pantos on these vehicles are connected directly to the metal body and are used as an earthing device, not for pickup or anything. Brian.

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Brian,

 

You are right, I just checked a picture on the internet. They probably used a standard panto for other locos like the 1042. As far as I remember they have a wire inside the insulators - so replacing them by 3 pieces of brass tube shouldn't be a problem.

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The first picture shown by the Dutch master is the same I was looking at - and it gave me a slight shock as the 3rd headlight is different. But this must have been a newer version - on the second picture the headlight is where I have it... 

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