BL-2 and Split Gears

Despite telling myself that I didn't really want to take on any 'projects' as such, today I am introducing a potential new member of the YPRR fleet - a BL-2, lately in the service of the Monon Railroad.

 

This was a cheap speculative purchase from ebay. The model is an older Lifelike Proto 2K and needs some work, but I have always liked these ever since I first saw a picture of one, and have hankered after one for a while. 


The BL-2 is considered to be an 'ugly duckling' and a failed experiment at creating a 'branch line' engine that was a road switcher. The odd shape of the body sides was to allow the crew to view along the body, something that couldn't be done with the big road units 'F' types etc.. but ultimately a number of other designs with walkways which allowed crews to cover the length of the loco during switching without having to constantly dismount, proved more popular. There were other reasons too, I'm sure.

Despite it's lack of success, or perhaps because if it, I like it! (always a champion of the underdog, me!) Actually, I intend to get a Ford Edsel to park outside Smith & Hogg.

As to this model, I gave it a run on my test track - it is DC and will need chipping but wanted to make sure it was a runner. The motor is actually nice and smooth but there was definitely an audible thunk and a little stutter in it's gait. I suspected that this was the infamous P2K split gear issue. The internet came up trumps here in describing exactly what this meant, and how easy it was to remedy. I happened to have a later P2K GP18 that has been causing me issues for a while, so I decided to swap out the wheelsets. Although the replacements are slightly smaller in diameter, they actually look okay and the engine runs very well now.

It turned out that 3 of the 4 axles were affected, tiny little hairline splits that I most likely would have never noticed if I wasn't looking for them.

So the next big step is to convert this to DCC. Ideally I'd like to install sound. Initial investigation suggests either the Loksound Select (recommended by a friend), or the cheaper Digitrax SDXH166D.. before I choose either, I need to be confident that I understand the electrics on board and make sure that I identify anything that needs isolating. Someone has already swapped the lights and done some modification, so I'm just in the process of working out what goes where!

I shall upload a short video in a while.