When I came across this locomotive at a local flea market it was in rough shape. The gentleman running the booth selling various toys and collectibles usually only dealt in HO and N scale but he was hoping someone might want it as a mantel piece display or something similar. This Weaver RS-3 had started life with a Western and Maryland paint job, but at some point a well intentioned modeller had given it a crude CN orange and black paint job.
The orange ends looked like they where painted with a brush and had obvious brush strokes in the paint. It looked like the CN logo decal had been cut out in place and there where deep cuts into the body in various places around it. A number of the hand rail stations had been broken out of the sides of the running boards. In addition the wiring was a mess and it did not run. For me it was still a deal I couldn’t pass up. Although I can’t remember how much I paid for it it was definitely under $100 an I think it was even less that $50, and anyone who has priced out 2-rail O scale engines can tell you that’s a steal of a deal. At the time I was a member of the London Model Railroad Group which had one of the largest of not the largest O-scale layout in Canada. This played a large part in my interest in acquiring an O-scale locomotive of my own. A couple of the guys from the club helped me out and one of them used some of his own parts and got it up and running mechanically for me which was much appreciated. It is worth noting that before acquiring this locomotive I knew nothing about RS-3’s. I didn’t even know which end was the front (RS-3’s ran long hood forward by the way). After much poking around the Internet I was starting to get an idea of what would be required for work and parts to get this thing in the shape I wanted it to be in. It was also around this time I decided on the green and gold paint scheme. Like many, I love the CNR green and gold but since I model mostly modern in HO I had few excuses to have locomotives in this scheme, however the London Model Railroad Group modeled roughly late 50’s early 60’s and CN’s RS3’s where both contemporary to the period and originally painted green and gold. Perfect! With the help of some of my fellow club members I was able to acquire most of the detailed parts I required and picked up a set of appropriate decals from one of the local hobby shops. It was around this point I really started paying attention to the details of a CN RS-3 and specifically the difference vs the American prototype this model represented. The horn was different, most of the Canadian locomotives had winterization hatches on the large fan. The bell was in a differently location. The front and rear grab irons where completely different. And then there is the number boards. Oh the number boards. As with many locomotives there where also a lot of differences one to the next as well. As with other projects I chose an amalgam of the locomotives I felt both represented the class as a whole and gave my model some interest. I also chose a road number that I couldn’t find any pictures of so I wouldn’t have to adhere to a specific example. So with a rough plan in place it was time to begin work on the shell.
The first step was to remove the current paint job. This was done by soaking the pieces in Pin Sol for a day or two and then scrubbing with a tooth brush. It was also at this point I discovered that the previous owner had simply painted over the factory paint with the orange and black.
The next step was to begin updating the body. Cutting off the cast grab irons and even cutting out the original fan grill was relatively easy, but the number boards made me nervous. As I eluded to earlier this locomotive was based on the American prototype which has the number boards mounted on the sides facing sideways (see the first picture). CN RS-3’s had the number boards mounted on the corners at an angle so they where visible from both the front and the sides. I was concerned that if I removed the cast number boards I wouldn’t be able to get the curve of the locomotive correct and it could end up being obvious I had hacked something off where the old number boards where. In the end the wrong style number boards where just too much of a glaring inaccuracy for me to live with so I bit the bullet and carefully removed the cast number boards. After carefully sanding down the last of the original number boards the next scary part was to drill holes where the new number boards would go so I could light them.
I started out intentionally undersized the holes and then slowly used a file to enlarge them trying to keep the holes as even as possible. Despite some nerve wracking moments this all turned out fairly well. The new number boards where the next challenge. My original plan had been to find brass detail parts and drill them out for lights, but I had trouble finding appropriate O scale number boards. This left me with few choices but to try and make 4 identical number boards by hand. This it when I really came to terms with the fact that although O-scale is twice as big as HO the parts can still be REALLY small. I created the 4 number boards by eye, making one and test fitting it and then using that one as a template for the next 3. I didn’t have any reference to what angle they should sit at relative to the rest of the locomotive so I eyeballed it based on a bunch of photos of CN RS-3’s. Once they where attached I used Gap filling CA to make sure there would be no gaps.
Around the same time I also Added the etched brass fan gill, winterization hatch, radio antenna, horns, and bell, all of which where relatively simple additions. Next I created the grab irons on the body, this was a little time consuming and fiddly but otherwise straight forward. I used the spacing of the original cast rungs plus the photos of the prototype to get the placement as close as I could. After adding the grab irons and with most of the body details in place it was time for a coat of primer.
The next trick was the stations for the end platform. Canadian prototypes had a different configuration than their US counterparts and no one made the CN version in O. I solved this problem by cutting up brass US versions and soldering them back together in the CN configuration. I also had to patch a number of places on the deck with filler putty, where handrail stanchions had broken out of the side. After this it was a relatively simple matter to glue the new stanchions in place and add the handrail.
Another challenge was the marker lights. I wanted to be able to light them, however the castings had obviously been made for jewels not for an actual light bulb which meant I had to carefully drill them out with a pin vice to make a hole just large enough for a grain of rice light bulb. I would have loved to use an LED but I could not figure out a way to make even the smallest fit and still light the 3 sides. I did end up wrecking one of the marker lights in this process which necessitated me buying another package of the castings. I finished the marker lights with a coat of black paint on the outside, and Testors Aluminum for the reflectors, and then I used a drop of Microscale Micro Kristal Klear for the lenses.
Now came the painting….. Painting has always made me nervous. You have all the details meticulously added, and now you have to not screw it up! As I mentioned earlier, I have always loved CN’s green and gold paint scheme and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to have a large scale locomotive in those colours. I had acquired an air brush some years prior but really hadn’t used it until now, and my unfamiliarity with the airbrush only heightened my anxiety. As it turned out the airbrushing went easier than I expected and with a little experimentation on some scrap I was able to get a nice even coat. Probably my number one lesson learned is that I had to do many light coats which took some patience but avoided problems of globing or running paint I had experience before.
After a good base paint job was applied it was time for the decals. I had acquired a set of Microscale decals for a CN RS-3 from one of my local hobby shops before I had even started the modifications to the shell. One of the draw backs with the green and gold paint scheme is that the decals are actually fairly complex, which created new opportunities to screw up this project. Parts such as the yellow on the ends of the hoods are actually 2 part decals the yellow conspicuity bar along the deck of the locomotive also comes in two pieces and stretches almost the entire length of the engine. These decals there for require careful alignment and in some cases a little paint touch up to make them look right. With a little patience and care this went fairly well but I did end up destroying one of the CNR heralds that where located on the ends of the hoods, and there was not an extra of the same design in the set (by the looks of it newer versions of these decals to have extra heralds). Lucky for me I had some of the Testors decal paper and was able to create a replacement herald using my trusty inkjet printer.
With the decals done the aesthetics of the locomotive where finished, only leaving the wiring to be completed. My original circuit was based on a continuous lighting circuit from an old Model Railroader, which utilized ni-cad batteries, however these days ni-cad batteries are getting harder to find and if I was going to redesign the circuit for different charging currents then I might as well design my own circuit from scratch.
I had some basic requirements. I wanted to power head lights, classification lights and number boards. The head lights and number boards would be LED and the class lights would be incandescent. I wanted the head lights to be directional, and the forward headlight to be bright when running forward and to automatically dim when stopped, but stay on. The marker lights could be turned on or off, and lastly the whole thing could be powered from a display stand when not being run on a layout. I also thought I would try using super capacitors instead of traditional batteries in this design. Most of this was fairly straight forward for me having some education in electronics but it was not without its challanges. This was another case where I realized just how small O-scale still is, despite it being twice the size of HO, when I had to make the circuit fit into the shell. The other thing I discovered was that the high capacity of the super capacitors and the high current draw they have when they first start charging make a 1/4 watt resistor VERY hot.
In the end I solved the problem with a 5 watt ceramic resistor to handle the relatively short period of high current draw, as well as adding some heat sinks to the voltage regulators to try and reduce any chance of over heating and potentially melting the locomotives shell. You may also see I used some diodes on the motor to create a voltage drop to insure that the headlight would come on before the locomotive began to move. Over all the electronics work as I expected and although unlike the batteries the super capacitors don’t keep the headlight lit for days without power, they are still more than enough to keep it and the number boards lit for tens of minutes after it is no longer receiving power.
With The electrical complete I could finally, after several years call this project complete. Not long after finishing I was able to test it out on the London Model Railroad Group‘s layout on a trip back to London.
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