# It's the CHEESIEST!!!



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Vic Smith and I recently did a junkbox swap. One of the things he sent was an illco "Muppets" loco chassis. It looks a knock off of the LGB #207, but the fact that *Vic* sent it on for basically free probably tells a lot of you all you really need to know.....

The conversation went something like this: 
AV owner- "If the Borracho Springs, home of silver plated Cheerful, Cheap, and Cheesy LLC, couldn't polish that turd, then anybody with any sense could see it's completely hopeless!"
Head flunky and broom jockey at the Skonkworks - "Ah gots me abowt foh dollah, an' fifteen cents, boss!"
.............................. (WHY do we keep that guy around, again?)

Anyway, it was decided to turn it into.... something... for the kiddies to operate on open days.

First order of biznezz was to fix a gear that had slipped on it's shaft... then swap out the one wheelset with a spare Vic sent that had a crankpin boss. Followed by a couple air tanks made from 1/2" pvc pipe and a pilot from wood and styrene.









Boiler is 75c worth of 2" pvc drain pipe, stack is B'mann, smokebox door is Lionel - both outta my junkbox..... me heap big spender!









Assembled, BTW that drain pipe stuff smells exactly like sh#% when you cut it with an abrasive disc!









It was decided early on that this project deserved *two* skunks. So Stanley Stinkum tried to get his twin brother Sidney to pose... the photog gave up and snapped this picture while they were still arguing...









The major parts donor I need for this is one of those crappy old forward/reverse only r/c cars. When you DON'T want one, they're all aver the place at flea markets and yard sales for a dollar or two... when you do, they're scarce as hen's teeth.....


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

Watching this one closely, as I've got a few of them turds myself. Used the cars that came with them for the wedding reception centerpieces 10 years ago now. Not Muppets but Big Bird or Elmo. Big Bird came with flanged wheels & plastic track & 2 small gons similar to LGB's 4044's. Elmo came with non-flanged rubberized wheels for floor running, no track but the gons had Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster in them. 

Chas


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Nice project again Mik!


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

I figured if Mik can't make something cool out of it, no one can.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

A bit more progress...
Keeping with my no budget approach, I dug the B'mann Indie cab roof I've had for... 6 years? out of the "really junk" junkbox... it was too narrow. I only have ONE c-16 cab roof left- and it ain't gittin used for THIS, so the Indie one HAD to work...









Steam dome is B'mann Porter, sand dome is Kalamazoo. Cab sides are Delton c-16 'steel' cab panels (THOSE I still have, a few of), connecting rods, Lionel Polar Express, side rods Delton bits and brass. I made them extra sloppy (ala Aristo) since the wheels probably aren't perfectly quartered...Front crankpins I made from the old illco rods, and I'm still trying to scrounge a rear set.









The tender will probably be built up from a Hartland mini flat... we shall see

I decided late today that this thing would NOT be lettered for the AV -- rather I'd see if I can use some leftover dry transfers to make up ones for the (not so) legendary WBT&S (Wobble, Bobble, Turnover & Stop!)...


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Nuthin like quality.... 

While it was apart, I tested the motor (3v... and most inexpensive power packs actually start at slightly more than that!), and checked ALL the old wire connections (plus added that bit of speaker wire directly to the motor tabs for the LED headlight). 

Today I decided to try it with some good D batteries, and....................................... 

So I tried the power pack on the LED connection... it ran. On the battery connections, no dice. 

Time to take it BACK apart... This time I used a meter to check the continuity of each-and-every bit of wire, the reverse switch, and especially the wires from the battery terminals . And they were all FINE.... except they weren't.... It still wouldn't run! 

So I did exactly what most of you probably would at this point. (No, not throw the #@%$ thing against a wall, although it was tempting... but the other one)--- I grabbed aholt of the whole stupid lot of little worthless wires and yanked them out... 

Guess it was a good thing I was planning to finagle an r/c conversion anyway?


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