Quote from: grumbeast on May 29, 2026, 06:36:14 AMa Dreyfus styled J3a for only $125CDN, but wait, upon testing part of the valve gear detached, so it needs work, so the chap said 'Its yours for $25!!).  So I have a little work to do with this one.  I'm unsure if its one of the pre-1987 or post ones (I suspect its 90s)

What a beauty!

Interesting looking loco! But did the cab really have no forward-facing window in real life? How did the crew watch for signals?

Cheers,

Chris

Quote from: grumbeast on May 29, 2026, 06:36:14 AMI think they all qualify as SPAM and I look forward to bringing them fully back to life!.

Great stuff, Graham.

On your behalf, I checked with Bertie Poppingham, Chairman of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Models (SPAM). Here is his response:-

"Absolutely, Old Thing. That streamlined Hudson is SuperSmashing, the LMS class '5XP' 4-6-0 is SuperSpiffing and the Kato 'F3' 'covered wagon' units are SuperSplendid.

All qualify as SPAM. I am delighted beyond words that SPAM spans the globe and wish all my fellow SPAMERS every success with their absolutely fabulous projects.

With the very best of good wishes.

Tickety-tonk

Bertie

PS Is it Opening Time yet where you are? They're closed here and I rather fancy a snifter."

Well, Graham, that looks like a definitive answer to your query and all I can add is to reiterate Bertie's good wishes for your projects.

With all best wishes.

Toodle-oo

John

Great finds, Graham. Hopefully we'll see them running in the not too distant future

Quote from: Papyrus on May 29, 2026, 09:35:27 AMInteresting looking loco! But did the cab really have no forward-facing window in real life? How did the crew watch for signals?

No, they had roughly rectangular front windows about the height of the cab side windows.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Hudson

Well I've had Renown apart and it seems her little heart is no more.  The motor casing is loose and when I do manage to coax a little life out of it, its very very weak.  Also the drawbar contact spring is broken. 

Apart from that, and the fact she is filthy inside (aren't we all really though I think she is in great shape (certainly the locomotive is very free running despite being one of the earlier models with the geared drivers.

Father's day is coming up and my wonderful daughter thinks a replacement micromotor one from Peter's spares will be an appropriate gift to give this lovely old girl a heart transplant.  Can't wait to order it when I'm back from Toronto in a couple of weeks

G.

Quote from: grumbeast on May 31, 2026, 07:32:17 PMAlso the drawbar contact spring is broken.

Tender frames and conductors can be rebuilt - new unused spares are still out there.

Cheers,
Alan

@grumbeast
https://www.petersspares.com/c/peco/peco-spares/peco-jubilee-spares?pg=3

Quote from: grumbeast on May 31, 2026, 07:32:17 PMWell I've had Renown apart and it seems her little heart is no more.  The motor casing is loose and when I do manage to coax a little life out of it, its very very weak.  Also the drawbar contact spring is broken. 

Apart from that, and the fact she is filthy inside (aren't we all really though I think she is in great shape (certainly the locomotive is very free running despite being one of the earlier models with the geared drivers.

Father's day is coming up and my wonderful daughter thinks a replacement micromotor one from Peter's spares will be an appropriate gift to give this lovely old girl a heart transplant.  Can't wait to order it when I'm back from Toronto in a couple of weeks

G.

i enquired at tramfabriek about the peco coreless conversion kit--but they are no longer available--so that  just leaves the peters spares version.  Has anyone done it ? Any hints would be appreciated---like how to locate the worm on the motor--the right distance? Only i messed up a minitrx dock tank and the result was laughable.

I posted this little Minitrix dock tank when I got it a few months back, and had the daft idea to DCC-convert it. I doubt I'm the first to do so, but I haven't seen anyone post pictures elsewhere, so here's my latest attempt at preservation. It's also my first DCC conversion, but I wasn't too worried about making a mess of it since I paid 25 quid for the loco - and that included a trio of wagons too! 

I swapped the motor out for a coreless one too. Rather than Tramfabriek I went for the Micromotor BR89/T3 kit, as it includes a rather smart resin housing that I figured I could plonk the chip on.



The decoder used is a Zimo MX615, which must be one of the smallest ones on the market (8mm x 6mm). Don't look too closely at the soldering...!



Once it was tested and confirmed to show life, it was tucked down on the front where the bulge is (oh, matron). Then it was wrapped in leccy tape and the body test-fitted over the top. It's a snug fit, but being so small it fits nicely into the space where the capacitor and suppression coil were on the original motor.



Once I figure out what to do with the videos I took, I will post them here too - but it does work! The wheels took a bit of cleaning to get a good contact, but after running in a bit it runs like a charm. It can do slow running and it even goes pretty well over points. It's rather noisy (especially in reverse), but that will hopefully be improved with a drop of oil.

Was it worth it? Well, as mentioned I paid £25 for the loco and three wagons second hand... The decoder and motor combined were nearly double that   Then again, I'm not in this hobby to be making sensible financial decisions! And for my first conversion I'm quietly rather chuffed with it.

It has given me the confidence I need to convert my Britannia, which I really don't want to mess up as it's in much nicer nick!

@TeddytheSpoon be careful about fully enclosing decoders in tape - they may overheat.  Yes you need to isolate from other metalwork but otherwise leave the decoder room to breathe

So who's getting a Dapol SPAM wagon?