That's cool, bet it was fun to take it for the first run... It would look great with the RR markings, even if you can't find the original, something close or personalized would be great, and the air horns are a must do!

I'll probably do something once I get it fully repainted in the original color. Gotta head out to the PPG store that sells industrial paint.

I also had some of the wiring burn up while out on the run. So I've gotta tear that out and replace it. Luckily I was planning on doing that anyway and it's not that complicated.

Took off the extra sides that the RR added and I've started planning out where to put the horn valve. My new spool of wire should be here tomorrow to allow me to rewire the burnt stuff.

Excuse the bad picture. I've got it loaded up for a speeder club event tomorrow. I stripped off a good portion of the paint to prep for re-painting it next week.

And here are the photos from the event. It was a combined day with the speeder club and the railroad historical society where speeder club members brough the historical society members on rides down the branch. It ran a little rough at first but then members of the club converged on it and made a bunch of adjustments and replaced the spark plug and it was running much better. Definitely one of the most welcoming and helpful groups I've ever been a part of.

Really enjoy the updates.

quote:

Originally posted by triggertreat:
Really enjoy the updates.

Glad you like it! I'll keep sharing as long as people like it. In the meantime here are a couple quick videos from yesterday.

How fast do these speeders go?

They can get up to 25-30MPH

I primed it yesterday afternoon and anticipated being able to paint it today, Thurs and Friday. And of course it rained which spiked the humidity and the primer still hasn't dried. Just my luck.

That thing moves along at a pretty good clip. I'm impressed, that looks like fun!

Updates are great, its a fun thread, it's great to get into a group where you get so much help and information like you did.

Rewiring the thing is probably a really good idea, can you get a wire schematic for it?

Might be a good winter project to replace every wire over the winter route out of the way, use zipties and ziptie anchors. Bad wires make fires...

There likely is one online, although luckily it's very simple wiring. It's basically just:
The ignition power to the coil
One wire to the timer on the engine
The spark plug boot
Horn
Front headlight
Rear headlight
Brake light/brake light switch

And that's essentially it

If you are looking for another project, I found this one on the way to Meteora Greece on our vacation trip last week. A little bit of wrench time and this one should be running like a top.

^^^ If that thing was over here I guarantee it would be fixed up and running by someone.


Got the first coat of paint on late last night. Hoping it only needs one more.

You know, the blue painter's tape color goes well with the yellow. You may want to consider painting trim/accents in that color.

Overall, what a great project! Congratulations on your success in pulling it off.

looking good, you work fast.

Just wondering on the wire did you find a cause for it heating up and melting, lose connection, bad relay, open part touching metal to ground, wires don't just burn up on their own, maybe age and resistance... Just curious if you found a problem.

You know if you could get some of the see through glass coverings with eyeballs the kids would go nuts, it would look like something out of the Cars movie... LOL

^^^Maybe those 'Cars Eyeballs' are available as a static 'cling' type stickers. You'd just need a lower bumper rail with the ends turned up painted in a contrasting color and you'd have a smile on your face!

Edited for the full 'Cars' effect...

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
^^^Maybe static 'cling' stickers are available for those 'Cars Eyeballs'.

Thats what I was thinking, they make them for rear windows in pickups with flags, marketing etc..

Like "Mater" from the movie Cars LOL or Lightining McQueen (Race Car) the kids there would go nuts over it...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Just wondering on the wire did you find a cause for it heating up and melting, lose connection, bad relay, open part touching metal to ground, wires don't just burn up on their own, maybe age and resistance... Just curious if you found a problem.

I believe that it's because they used THHN which wasn't really the right wire to use. It was old and brittle so I think it just got overloaded.

The yellow coat is finished and the compressor/air tank has arrived. Once the paint is dry tomorrow I'll pull the coverings and get it prepped for another day on the rails Saturday.