Niles Project ~ Motorin'

Installing a Hollywood Foundry Half Floor Motor Mount and Level Shifting Gearbox on Niles #107.

Right out of the box the mechanism is a pretty good fit. This is going to work just fine.

The immediate problem that presents itself is that the mounting holes don't line up with anything to screw into. The second problem (that I wish I had taken a picture of) is that the gearbox is too low. The drive shaft to the truck is on an angle. And while that would still probably work, it seems to me a level drive shaft would be the most efficient and problem free.

Both issues are easily remedied in one fell swoop by soldering a length of 1/16" x 1/4" brass bar stock to the frame.

Fortunately I have the good folks at the Southern California Traction Club (and their drill press) to help me drill and tap the holes for the screws. The motor also came with a silicone mounting pad to absorb the noise. I cut it to size and placed it between the new brass bar and the half floor mount as seen in the photo above.

Between the new brass mounting pads and the silicone pads, they lifted the motor to just the right position for the drive shaft to the new LowBoy Trucks to be perfectly level. And the motor is still below window level. All thats left now is to transfer the sideframes from the old truck to the new truck and wire the motor to the decoder. Then this car will be ready for a spin around the test track. Yes sir! All ready for a spin around the test track!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ New Mechanisms for the Old Girls.

Looks like Hollywood Foundry has two mechanisms that will potentially fit the old Suydam Niles cars. The Half Floor Gearbox or the Gurzeler, both used in conjunction with the BullAnt LoBoy Trucks.

Both mechanisms have their advantages and disadvantages of course, but really, the disadvantages are very minor. So either mechanism should work just fine for these models. Therefore I have ordered one of each to try them both out.

Also worthy of note, I'm very impressed with the Hollywood Foundry's new Diablo mechanism. The Diablo could be used with these cars, but not without some major modification to the interior bulkheads that separate the enclosed center and the open ends. If your okay with hacking away at these bulkheads then the Diablo might be a good choice. But I'm not so much, so I won't (But I am excited by the possibility of using the Diablo to remotor my Pacific Traction, San Diego 400 series, class 5 cars in the very near future!).

According to my calculations, the 10 Series Half Floor Gearbox with a 1024 Motor will fit below window level of the car, maintaining that realistic see-through look (unlike Birney 301 which has a big ol' motor blocking the windows). The only downside is that the gearbox is a little noisy. I only say that because we are spoiled these days. The Gurzeler is very quiet and the Diablo is practically silent. The Half Floor Gearbox is noisy only in comparison to these. But really, its not all that bad!

The Gurzeler (also with a 1024 motor for consistency) will sit slightly above the bottom of the windows, but not by much. But instead of a gearbox, the Gurzeler uses a belt drive (with a real belt, not an O ring!). Therefore, as I mentioned before, this mechanism is very quiet.

#105 will be fitted with the Gurzeler and #107 with the Half Floor. After living with these for a while, I will decide which mechanisms to use for #109 and #110.

All the cars will be fitted with Hollywood Foundry's LoBoy Trucks. From what I understand, Geoff Baxter (of Hollywood Foundry fame) designed these trucks to directly replace the old Suydam trucks that had a bad habit of splitting their plastic gears, rendering them all but useless. Kudos to Mr. Baxter for this. Because of his efforts, these 40 year old Suydam cars can be built into fine models that can finally perform every bit as good as they look. Cheers to Mr. Baxter. Yes sir! Cheers Mr. Baxter!


Dandy

Birney Project ~ Test Run

Birney #301 takes a test spin around the Southern California Traction Clubs test track.

Wow! I'm really late with posting this! I apologize. Took the Birney for a spin around the test track and it performed as expected. A little noisy though, club members ( having the bull session in the background) thought I was making margaritas or something.

Hollywood Foundry is now making the BullAnt with a belt drive, so the mechanism is really quiet now.

I can't wait for the next set-up of the clubs layout so this little guy can ply its trade on the streets of the big city. Yes Sir! Ply its trade!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ Turning Radius

The Factors That Limit The Turning Radius Of The Suydam Niles Cars.

Previously I mentioned that there were a couple of factors that limit the turning radius of the trucks. Here is an illustration of that:

The side frame of the truck on the left is contacting the motor. Hopefully the new BullAnt motor will eliminate this problem. While the truck on the right, the drive shaft is contacting the wheel (or gear when rotated the other way). There isn't a whole lot I can do about that. Fortunately, this truck has a tighter turning radius than the other.

So with the new turning radius of the left truck and the possibly already sufficient turning radius of the right truck, hopefully this car will get around my curves. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed. Yes sir! Keep my fingers crossed!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ De-PE'd

Re-San Diegoifying Suydam Niles Cars by Removing their Pacific Electric Details

These Suydam cars are a hybrid between the San Diego details and Pacific Electric details. The trolley poll positions are correct for San Diego, but the trucks and a couple of details are PE.

The signboard and retriever are really the only things that need to be removed. The Point Loma car (on the left) had a different pilot, so I removed that too. As you can also see on the Point Loma car, the removal of the signboard left a mounting slot and holes on the roof.

To fill in this slot, I used Squadron white modeling putty. Its readily available, really easy to use, and dries fast. I simply squeezed a small amount out onto a piece of card and applyed with a small screwdriver. After it dried I sanded it down flush.

As for the trucks... In San Diego the cars had a 6 foot wheel base while the model sports the PE 5'4" wheelbase with 30" wheels. I'm afraid that if I go with the longer wheelbase, it might jeopardize the turning radius that the car can make. As-is, the trucks are making contact with the motor on my curves. The new BullAnt motor should eliminate this problem, but the drive shaft from the motor to the truck is what is going to limit its turning ability now. Another factor as to whether or not to change the trucks is if the side frames are available commercially. Because if they're not...

Well, the tearing down of these cars went easy enough, a lot easier than the Birney! Now its time to build them up. So far this project is moving along just fine. Yes sir! Moving along just fine!

Dandy

Niles Project ~ The Grand Plan

The Three Prototype Cars That These Models Will Represent.

Overall the cars will look the same. They will all be painted San Diego Electric Railway mission yellow with mahogany trim (Apparently the SDERy shops did all the painting for the various traction companies around San Diego). The only thing different will be the lettering schemes. Each car will represent the different company names that they ran under in San Diego.

Car #107
San Diego & South Eastern
(Monogram style) :

This model will become SD&SE #107 (I have other plans for #105. See below) with the nice monogram logo on the sides.

Car #109
Point Loma Railroad:

This model volunteered to become the Point Loma car when it lost it pilot! Originally I was going to go with the 402 number, but I have since decided to use its original number to help separate it from the SDERy class 5, 400 series cars that would come later.

Car #105
San Diego & South Eastern
(Wells Fargo style) :

Okay, I'm going to use a little modelers license here. #105 didn't become a combination car until it was in the hands of the PE. But I'm going to do a "what if". SD&SE #101 (non-Niles car pictured above) was involved in an accident and was rebuilt into a combination car. But "what if" it was #105 that was in the accident instead? I'm mean, why not? It became a combo car eventually.

So that's the big plan for these cars. I think its a good plan. Yes sir! It's a good plan!

Dandy

Birney Project ~ Installing the Bullant

Easier said than done. Somehow I have to install the new Bullant drive mechanism where the old motor is now.

I have no idea how I'm going to do this. So, as usual, I'm just going to have to take it one step at a time. Yessir! One step at a time.

The first order of business is to remove the old motor and see how the Bullant relates to the frame. First off, its apparent that the Bullant will not slip right in. The wheels prevent dropping in the mechanism down from the top, and the bolsters prevent it from coming up from the bottom. So somethings got to give.

Looks like I have four choices at how to do this. 1- build a new frame, as Bruce Battles of Menlo Park, CA seems to have done with this single truck streetcar ( I don't know Bruce or how to contact him, If anyone knows this guy, I sure would like to correspond with him about his modeling, and probably ask permission to use above photo ~ eep!). Or 2- modify the existing frame. Or 3- mount the Bullant directly to the Birney shell. Or 4 – glue the truck side-frames to the polystyrene side-frame supports on the Bullant, and then mount the side-frames to the trolley body.

As you can (barely) make out in this photo, the mounting bolsters of the Bullant are actually higher than the top of the chassis frame. So options 3 and 4 are out. But if I could just slide in the Bullant into the chassis frame, then the mounting bolsters could be mounted from the top.

So as you can see, I decided to modify the frame (Option 2). If I mess it up, then I'll simply build a new frame (Option 1). I cut a piece of the frame out so that the Bullant could just slide in. This kind of compromises the integrity of the frame, but note that the mounting holes are on either side of the cut, so when bolted in place on the Birney body, things will be rigid again.

And sure enough, the Bullant slipped right in!

Whoops! Things are sitting kind of high. The Birney body needs to sit lower so that the center of the side-frames are equal to the center of the wheels. More fiddling needs to be done. But we're getting there Huh? The Bullant is in there!


Spacers between the frame and the bolsters will raise the Bullant / lower the Birney body, so I cut some from brass stock and soldered them to the frame. Now this is funny; I wanted to screw the Bullant to the spacers so the Bullant could be removed from the frame. But while I was trying to center the mounting holes so I could mark their location for drilling, things kept sliding around. So I temporarily super glued the Bullant in place. Well, the super glue has worked so well, I think I'll just go with it for a while. Yessir! Just go with it for a while!


I did it! I actually pulled it off! The Bullant is in there, and its in there solid! I'm just so proud of myself. I wish I could test it. What I need to do now is build a test track. Yessir! I need to build a test track!

Dandy

Birney Project ~ BullAnt Drive Mechanism

Oh it’s always such a happy occasion to see the UPS truck pull up outside. And today was no exception. Today he delivered to me the long awaited BullAnt Drive Mechanism I ordered from Hollywood Foundry Railway Products. You know what that means... Time to rip open the Birney box!

Hollywood Foundry (of Australia of all places) builds these finely crafted mechanisms built to perform and last. So I had them build one for my Ken Kidder Birney.

I say that I “had it built” because you can order you mechanism built to your specifications.

The specifications I used for the Birney car drive mechanism are: 28mm wheelbase, 26” wheels, Mashima 1024 motor, a 31:1 gearbox reduction ratio, and wired for common wheels and trolley pole reversing.

Time to build up the momentum on this project again and get it moving full steam ahead. Yessir! Full steam ahead!

Birney Mania!

Having worked my butt off, I now require a procedure to have it reattached. This procedure, known technically as a “vacation” takes about two weeks to complete, and will commence immediately!

This Birney project is at a good stopping point anyway (if a project coming to a stop could ever be a good thing). I’ve done as much as I can at the moment while I’m waiting for parts orders to come in.

A very important component I’m waiting for is this: Hollywood Foundry has announced that they are putting into production a “Ready-to-go” chassis for HO 4 wheel Birneys! According to their website, this chassis will feature:

* Fixed 28mm wheelbase, suited to 8 foot wheelbase Brill 21E trucks

* Mashima 1015 motor with 15:1 gearing, both axles driven.

* Cast brass Brill 21E sideframes.

* Etched brass life preservers under both ends.

* Operations mode switching between 2 rail DC, DCC and common rail with trolley pole switched overhead.

* Provision for LED head-lamps and interior constant brightness lighting.

* Choice of HO Gauge (16.5mm) or HOm (12mm)

Perfect timing on that announcement! Any later and I would have missed it.

So it’s with some disappointment that I have to box up this project for a while. I never really gave Birney cars much thought until this one showed up on eBay for cheap. I knew that San Diego Electric Railway had Birneys on their roster, so I bid on it ~ and won! My excitement for the project grew as I researched this funny little car. Coincidentally, even my Yahoo groups HO Traction Modeling and Interurbans (and of course Birney Cars) were having a flurry of Birney topics! Then came the announcement from Hollywood Foundry! It was in the stars! I was on a real high, feeding off my infatuation of the Birney car to keep this project moving forward. So, yeah, it sucks, but I got to box it up.

The thing about boxing it up is, that it will be out-of-sight, out-of-mind. Then when the day finally arrives when the chassis shows up in the mail, I’ll open up my Birney-in-a-box and I’ll experience a renewed rush of Birney Mania, yessir! Birney Mania!!!