USA trains 44 tonner - how do I get the top off?

railwayman198

railwayman198

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I want to do a repaint on the 44 tonner I bought from Tennant's trains the other day. Only problem is that I can't get the top off....

It seems to be held on by a screw in each corner and 4 plastic lugs that hold the centre cab unit. The screws are no problem but the I cannot release the plastic lugs. It appears all 4 need to be squeezed together simultaneously to release the top and all methods I have tried so far have failed....any top tips for releasing these kind of fasteners?
 
ask mr.spockie as he got the same as yr loco into radio control..drop him a line
 
yb281 said:
When taking the glazing out of the cab of my LGB Diesel Kof (like yours Philip), I held two of the lugs out with coffee stirrers while prising the other two out with my fingers. Would that work?
Click to expand...

The problem is that these lugs are small but very stiff (no tittering at the back please). It's a matter of applying sufficient force without snapping them.

A couple of pics may help -

Here is the loco with handrails already removed
e92210fd1b4a41939da1c8f5f1c2d815.jpg


Here is the underside with the 4 lugs circled in red
edcce8aea8084a91b7ee0d7f912d1b61.jpg


A close up of one of the lugs
737e8c344d5d46bfadfdf7fbbe37f021.jpg
 
I'd use 4x flat blade screwdriver and wedge open each lug in turn. I keep a couple of sets of cheap jewellers screwdrivers for just such occasions. Alternatively, in the past I've used scalpel blades or whatever else comes to hand, but the little jewellers screwdrivers do the trick niceley.
 
Small screwdrivers or lolly sticks would be my method Phil....
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I had already tried small screwdrivers but these are particularly stubborn. I just wondered if there was some magic trick for making this job easier that I wasn't aware of. I'll try again tomorrow with a bit more brute force...
 
instaed off moveing the tabs, can u move the boddy?..
 
A spot of oil on the lugs - not too much or a blade won't get any purchase, might just help them to slide clear.
I have found with other items like this that easing one side (pair of lugs) at a time and then wedging the side up works.

If the worst happens and a lug breaks it should be possible to drill the remaing part and insert a screw.
 
I snapped two of them off on purpose as I could not see the point of them all, some of the ideas USA trains have to hold things together are a bit odd, ​
4597db4caa824f609e2e20e4543c61cc.jpg
once apart its easy to do things with it,I then decided to snap th rest off made my life easier
​
 
Just an update on this.

I did eventually manage to free the lugs, using 4 small screwdrivers and a helper...only to find that although the cab section would then slide up by half an inch or so, the hoods were still held firm - there must be yet more screws that are inaccessible without dismantling the power bogies. At this point I lost patience and decided to paint the thing without dismantling.

Here it is in authentic Jamaica Railway Corporation livery and 70's style sloping lettering. In fact it is now a pretty accurate representation of JGR no 70, a 44 tonner which was aquired from the U.S. military in 1950 when they wound down their base in the south of the island. It was the first diesel owned by JRC and spent many years as the Kingston yard shunter.

1016b1f5cf8440f8bcd2e32f6b4fe502.jpg


The model is missing a set of handrails so I will has to fabricate these when I get chance.
 
Yes there are small screws attaching the bonnets to the cab but there is also lots of wiring for lights and smoke units etc.​
​
the paint work looks very well done you must have a steady hand to go around the windows very nice[quote=railwayman198]

Just an update on this.

I did eventually manage to free the lugs, using 4 small screwdrivers and a helper...only to find that although the cab section would then slide up by half an inch or so, the hoods were still held firm - there must be yet more screws that are inaccessible without dismantling the power bogies. At this point I lost patience and decided to paint the thing without dismantling.

Here it is in authentic Jamaica Railway Corporation livery and 70's style sloping lettering. In fact it is now a pretty accurate representation of JGR no 70, a 44 tonner which was aquired from the U.S. military in 1950 when they wound down their base in the south of the island. It was the first diesel owned by JRC and spent many years as the Kingston yard shunter.

images


The model is missing a set of handrails so I will has to fabricate these when I get chance.

[/quote]

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