No.1 Porter – Page 2 – Frédéric Zamit

Porter and Tender: Coupling

Vierkantmutter und Gewindestange verlötet, mit Unterlegscheibe — M1,6 square nut soldered to threaded rod, with washer

Of course, the electrical connection between loco and tender made it necesarry to add a coupling between the two before there could be any test runs. In order to stay close to the prototypical concepts and to make a long-lasting connection, I wanted to use threaded rods and square nuts. Unfortunately there was not enough room on the loco to use nbw on both ends, so I soldered a square nut onto a threaded rod with a diameter of 1,6mm. That way it looks like a genuine nbw from the outside, but can be screwed into the thick plastic frame.

Porter: Conversion to Battery Power

Porter Lok zerlegt für Umbau — Porter loco disassembled for conversion

Now that the tender’s basic construction is finished, I wanted to achieve operational readiness. That required the porter loco to get converted from rail to battery power. The most important thing to keep in mind is to insulate the loco’s circuits from the rails in order to avoid “supplying” the rails with the battery’s current. Only then one is completely independent from other loco’s and can really enjoy the advantages of battery power.

Porter Tender: Stake Pockets

By finishing the tender’s frame (german version, translation pending) it’s about time to focus on the side walls. Quite an important part is to build the stake pockets, with the prototype they form the link between the side walls and the frame, with the models most of the time it’s just cosmetics. Since I’d like to build as many parts as possibly by myself and some prototypical pictures revealed that sometimes simple solutions prevail in the 1 : 1 scale, I chose the most primitive approach.

Porter Tender: Blueprints

After the basic requirements regarding the dimensions were cleared, an extensive online Image research took place. Apparently, opinions are divided whether a model Porter with a tender is a prototypical sight. Fortunately, I can avoid this topic altogether because I’m not going to model an explicit prototype. Instead, I’ll experiment with different themes and decide on a case-by-case basis whether and to what extend I’ll let the prototype reign supreme or just get some inspiration for my own creations.

New Construction Report: Porter on Battery Power

Since last September I’ve worked on a project, which I’d like to present now. It’s about a small Portor steam locomotive by LGB, which I want to switch over to battery that is accumulator power, controlled by R/C. At a later time I’d also like to adapt the looks.

This loco is supposed to make the starting point for my own garden railway, hopefully within this year. September and October were spent with some experiments to place all the necessary components within the locomotive. Alas, I had to take away too much of the lead ballast, so the loco wasn’t able to transmit its motive power to the rails.