DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

A (very) belated update as a result of modifications, track and floor testing, unreleased demo videos, soldering difficulties and other unexpected hardships. Nearly gave up again trying to (re)motorise this model.

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To protect the large crown gear from rubbing against the tiny shaft as mentioned, I removed it and went back to the earlier setup with the thick gear driven by the small crown on the motor; despite its problematic nature and tendency to disengage even when really close to what it powers. While it did make it sound like a steam outline diesel again, it brought back the better speed and made it significantly quieter. The wheelbase somehow became too short and derailed too easily, so it later had to be extended and weighted down at the front using two metal cubes (pictured below). Until that point, it was found to run better on TOMY due to that system's lack of outer rails.



Speaking of TOMY, I tried using a "new" type of loco-tender connection made up of Plarail style couplings (really my old 3D pen hook and the same loop I used before). Unlike on Plarail locos, the loop coupling is rigid in an attempt to keep the tender away from the cab (so the loop wouldn't turn with the hook when the loco or tender gets close). Sadly, it still isn't long enough and the tender will hit the cab and get stuck. If that's really where the problem is, I'll try redesigning the coupling/s before testing again.



Thinking it would make the motor less likely to disengage, I remounted it on top of the fourth gear like the first time I tried this setup. It will make the coal cover more difficult to design, but I don't plan to bring back the further details until after a successful track test in both directions. For a currently unknown reason, it works better going in one direction than it does in the other. While it may have a traction tyre on only one wheel, it performs pretty well when it doesn't jam or disengage. By coincidence, the motor disengaging can make a screech that nearly sounds like a whistle (but more like a European guard's). If I had recordable sound modules, I would've been able to implement such features intentionally.