New Motors and a New Buggy

 

One of my 2-6-0s with the new Minebea motor fitted. The shaft size was even the same as the old Sagami (lower right) so everything pretty much slipped into place. The 15mm square x 18mm long Minebea is at the center. It has a 2.0mm shaft (one-sided only).

The past couple of weeks or so have been a little frustrating for me. To start with, one of my locomotives lost most of its oomph. It could still pull cars but not at the same speed it had previously. After some thinking about the problem, I decided that the old Soundtraxx DSD 090 decoder which had been installed in 1998 had finally reached its lifespan and needed to be changed. It was duly replaced with a new Tsunami2 Steam-2 decoder which did absolutely nothing to cure the problem. More thought and some testing went on and I finally discovered that the motor was getting extraordinarily hot. I removed it and ran a test and it was drawing about .5 amps at 4 volts (normal is about .15 amps and 10 volts. Unfortunately, my stock of Sagami 16x20 motors was depleted. Fortunately, the Repower and Regear group have been talking about some Minebea motors which measured out to be about the same size with similar characteristics. Best of all, they were only about $3.50 each. I ordered a couple and installed it with great results. I haven't run it very much yet (no one to operate with) but I have high hopes.

     I no sooner had gotten that engine done when another similar engine exhibited the same symptoms. I changed both motor and decoder and now have two locos back in service and will probably order a few more of these. 

   

The new buggy sits on a road in Farmington. Both the horse and driver are figures made by Berkshire Valley. The horse seems to be carrying more heavy-duty harness than would be needed for a small buggy, though.

 Being somewhat tired of locomotive work, I noticed that Berkshire Valley Models (Berkshirevalleymodels.com) had a new kit for an HO scale buggy. Since the Jordan buggy has pretty much gone away, I thought I would check this one out. The kit is all laser cut and is easy to assemble. It took me less than two hours to get it all assembled and painted. While I was at it, I purchased one of Berkshire Valley's harnessed horses along with a driver. I was pleased with the results and recommend the kit to any who need a horse-drawn buggy.