G goose #2

[Doctor G]

Originally Posted by Bill Nelson

I was hunting for something in the garage, and found a box with some stuff from my Dad's old RR. Most of it was junk, but there was a 2 channel radio in there. I had one 2 channel radio, but hadn't been tempted to use it as it had a lot of corrosion in the battery area of the transmitter.


I had a radio car Dad had set up the throttle control uses a different style of plug for the receiver, so I need to splice on a different plug . I have tested the radio and it works, so when I get a compatible plug spiced on. I can start putting this stuff in the goose.


I have all the pieces except for the battery power for the motor in hand , so I can start to mount these peices, and look for a battery. I also need to look for another receiver on the same frequency, as I could use that , hooked up to another channel to run a throttle control for my Bachman G scale 10 wheeler, and run it and the goose off the same transmitter. I have a RPO car and a combine, so if I could get all that stuff rolling at once I could move a lot of mail in Tom's back yard

Great find. I am glad it still works. Looks like your dad was one of the pioneers in RC/Battery power for Large Scale trains.

My boys definitely need help moving the mail. Not much will fit in the Little River Motor Car #1.

In the pictures below you might be able to see the Radio Shack battery holder with 8 1.2 volt rechargeable AA batteries. It provides 9.6 volts of juice which has worked well. This was a pretty cheap set up, under $50 including the battery charger.

Unfortunately I will miss RR club tomorrow because of a Church Haiti meeting.

Tom

Tom

[Bill Nelson]

Tom, I have seen battery holder like that in fact that is what powers the goose's receiver. It would be as simple as pie to add another to power the motor.


I have the goose all apart to work on gear placement Once I know where everything goes, I will need to drill and cut some holes in the frame for the transmitter's on off switch, and the motor power on and off switch. after that gets done, then I will add some more paint to the frame. I'm thinking the frame might get just a touch of red auto body primer misted in for that slightly rusty look. I think that would look good, especially at the base of the snowplow.


while I had the goose out I did some hand painting n the power truck. using some black paint to cover some brass and some balsa wood that stood out. I also painted the sides of the drive wheels black, as all that shiny nickel silver stood out too much. I didn't have power hooked up to the wheel, so I couldn't roll the wheel, so the paint job is a little uneven, but I can come in later and touch it up easily.


also today I protected what letting I have done with some dull coat. the Dull coat fogged up the windows of the cab, but I was able to use some rubbing alcohol on a Q tip to remove the dullcoat off the "Glass". The dull coat helped the look of the Krylon Hunter green. I will have to get another can, so I can disassemble the Delton Combine and RPO car someday, and cover up the Colorado Southern paint scheme in favor of a STATE LINE approved paint scheme.

[Doctor G]

Nice job Bill. you are coming along nicely with this project.

I had the same thing happen with dull coat on clear pieces when I forgot to mask. I too used rubbing alcohol to get the clear pieces clear again.

Another 3 feet added to the LRRR line last month. Looking forward to seeing your new RC/battery creations strutting their stuff perhaps this summer.

Tom

[Bill Nelson]

I'm very close to having all needed on hand to get goose #2 operational. right now I'm just looking for plugs so I can disconnect the throttle control for the power truck and whatever battery I use; Dad had some plugs, but they are big hulking things. some of my plugs I have for ho would work, they look puny, but I will probably be running on 6 or 9 volts (it will likely be a slow goose.) so If I don't have it rolling in less than a month, I will be surprised . It is certainly closer to ready than any of my other RC projects, My Roman Bireme needs to have a lot of structral wood removed from inside the hull to get the hull lighter, and then it needs to have a new lighter rowing mechanism designed and built. It took me a year to build the last oar mechanism, and get the bugs worked out. My paddlewheel steamer's hull is done, but I need to scratchbuild some paddlewheels, make some sails, and figure out how to control them. Lots of folks sail R/C boats, but they are mostly into racing, and they don't share their secrets on the internet, hoping to maintain any advantage they might have from the way they have solved any particular puzzle

[Doctor G]

Originally Posted by Bill Nelson

I'm very close to having all needed on hand to get goose #2 operational. right now I'm just looking for plugs so I can disconnect the throttle control for the power truck and whatever battery I use; Dad had some plugs, but they are big hulking things. some of my plugs I have for ho would work, they look puny, but I will probably be running on 6 or 9 volts (it will likely be a slow goose.) so If I don't have it rolling in less than a month, I will be surprised . It is certainly closer to ready than any of my other RC projects, My Roman Bireme needs to have a lot of structral wood removed from inside the hull to get the hull lighter, and then it needs to have a new lighter rowing mechanism designed and built. It took me a year to build the last oar mechanism, and get the bugs worked out. My paddlewheel steamer's hull is done, but I need to scratchbuild some paddlewheels, make some sails, and figure out how to control them. Lots of folks sail R/C boats, but they are mostly into racing, and they don't share their secrets on the internet, hoping to maintain any advantage they might have from the way they have solved any particular puzzle

More good news!!

Tom

[Bill Nelson]

Since I figured out I'd be running this critter off of 6 or 9 volts, I raided my electrical parts stash doe some of the plugs I have used when making tender connections for dc Ho locomotives. If it has worked for 12 volts, 6 or 9 should be fine.


I have replaced two of the three that need replacing on this R/C car throttle control from my dad's stuff. It is at least 25 years old, but hopefully it will work OK. the plug that goes to the receiver is a male plug, and I need a female plug, so I'm going to cut one off of a servo. the receiver that I have that is set up for male plugs is on the frequency of the radio that Has all the corrosion in the battery drawer. It might be salvageable, so I will save the removed plug.


I used identical plugs for the power truck and battery connections. this is an engineering no-no, so to ameliorate this design problem, I made the battery hook up lead so short there is no way to get it to reach to the power truck. The next step is to locate the switches for the transmitter, and the battery power, drill the holes for the mounting screws, and cut out room for the slide switches to move.


after I have done that, and replaced the plug for the throttle control to hook into the receiver, I will need to put another coat of paint on the frame, possibly with a hint of rust ; and get some Velcro, so I can start to pile up the components in the feight body in a fashion that will fit. this is fun. time for a knap, as I will go to train club at 6:00 pm, and will have to be a work at midnight.


bill

[Doctor G]

Wow you are close. I see a 4 battery pack in the background of your picture. If you can wire in a second pack you are at 9.6 volts which works great powering these beasts.

If you get it running and want to take it for a spin in the mountains of the LRRR Sunday would be a good day. I will be at a Haiti Hospital meeting this Sat. all day in Nashville and at local Haiti meeting this PM.

Did another "home repair" on the big Shay way early this AM. It dropped a tiny screw in one of the valve rods somewhere in the vast wilds of the layout causing it to drop away from an eccentric on the crank. A tiny styrene rod filled the bill with a tiny drop of ACC and it is now functioning fine. This whole crank assembly is for show only, exactly like the HO MDC Shay. The power comes from three separate motors in each of the three trucks.

Any hows way there are no replacement parts to be had for the crank assembly and the entire crank assembly can be had for $100 (heck a whole large scale Shay can be purchased for $350 now) from B.mann. So homemade repairs are the order of the day and are very satisfying.

Look forward to more of your posts.

tom

[Bill Nelson]

The battery pack in the rear of the photo is what was provided to power the transmitter from the ancient radio equipment I found from my dad's collection. I wasted some time this mornig after getting off of work, and running some necessary errands. I wired the ancient motor control into a harness with modern plugs for the gosse. after folling around with the result ; I had forward contriol of sorts, but no revers, and apparently the reverse trim adjustments were broken. This I guess is why I never saw that battery car behind either of the two locomotives it was wired to connect with.

So I need to cut off all of the plugs I soldered on to that power control, and wire in one of the modern ones I have. unfortunately they don't have a remote switch to turn them on or off, but a button, and would require the freight shell to come off before and after operating, which might need to happen anyway for battery charging.


speaking of battery charging I left the transmitter on, and now have to charge it's 8 AA batteries before I play more

[Doctor G]

More progress. You are getting close to getting the Goose to rolling under its own power.

Tom

[Doctor G]

Hey Bill,

Thought you might enjoy these pictures from "Goose Fest" going on right now at the Colorado RR museum.

The pictures were done by a guy on one of the Large Scale websites.

Goose #2 is there in these shots in all its glory. Enjoy.

Tom





Some Geese in the barnyard.







They brought 4 and 5 into the barnyard.


Turning 4 on the "Armstrong" turntable



And the Gaggle














At 5:00 the beer garden opened for the VIP guests (read that "All you wanted") and dinner wes served at 5:30 Great BBQ. Come on, BBQ and Brew, trains and Geese on a beautiful Friday evening in the Rockies..it doesn't get much better then this.

Night shoot started at dusk.. it's 12:30 at night, and I haven't had time to do any special corrections on these, they are what they are for now.

[Bill Nelson]

This is cool, I bet this many geese were never together , even back in the RGS days, as the passenger geese rotated through the whole system each week, with one day off for maintenance. So they were all spread out . The RGS #1 is interesting, I thought it didn't survive, perhaps it is a reproduction, Tom did you know Bachman makes a model of it in On30 and large scale? It is amazing that almost all of them survived, at the end of the RGS's lifespan they were in pretty rough shape, it looks like they are in much better shape now.


Bill

[Doctor G]

Originally Posted by Bill Nelson

This is cool, I bet this many geese were never together , even back in the RGS days, as the passenger geese rotated through the whole system each week, with one day off for maintenance. So they were all spread out . The RGS #1 is interesting, I thought it didn't survive, perhaps it is a reproduction, Tom did you know Bachman makes a model of it in On30 and large scale? It is amazing that almost all of them survived, at the end of the RGS's lifespan they were in pretty rough shape, it looks like they are in much better shape now.


Bill

Hi Bill,

Glad you like the pictures. Yes, I believe RGS #1 is a reproduction. There was talk about its build on one of the Large Scale websites.

Yes, you are also right that having these all assembled in one place is very rare and the poster of the photos said that it would be unlikely to ever happen again.

Yes I did see RGS #1 in the Bachmann On30 and Large Scale lineups.

If more info surfaces on the "Goose Fest" I will try to post it here.

TOM

[Doctor G]

Hi Bill,

Thought you might enjoy these latest pics from a fellow at the the Goose Fests.......Cab rides.

Last shot is a pic of the interior of Goose #2. Man those things were cramped in the cab!!

Tom

Day 2.. BIG Highlight..Eat your hearts out... CAB RIDES in all 6 of the Geese.






















I really like this one, one that I will have to do some post processing on. Maybe it something about the water tank?




And my thrill of the day.. Cab ride in Goose 2, onto the turntable and parking is line.

[Doctor G]

Hope this is helping the thread. Here are a few more pictures from Goose Fest.

Tom

Geese by the dawns early light.



A Matched pair of the birds at dawn.




Goose beaks in the morning light.




Beak on with #4, this weeks star, they got her running this week, first time sense 1951, sixty years!




And #4 on her parade lap.




Goose #1 looking like she was back home on the RGS. She really is a small piece.



I think that a grainy B&W version of this pic could/would look quite old.

And todays show stopper..... The Gaggle




a Once in a lifetime event.. WOW what a weekend!