# Installing RC in Mason Bogies



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

This is how my buddy Wesley and I installed radio control on our Mason Bogies. None of the valve gear operated smoothly so the first thing we did was to remove the stock reach rod, J-bar, expansion link and all the valve rods. After filing all the edges to remove the burrs, shortening the slide pin in the expansion link and getting rid of the spring loaded detent, the valve gear operated very smoothly. We also modified the J-bar and quadrant to make it work with a servo.
Stock J-bar









Modified J-bar also shows the servos installed.










I fabricated a new reach rod and lift rods with adjustable clevis ends. Side by side comparison of the stock and the new reach rod and lift rods. (stock on the left)










Lift rod with adjustable clevis ends










The servo mounts are fabricated from brass sheet and screwed to the floor. We drilled and tapped holes in the floor to make the mounting easier. The throttle servo drives the throttle shaft with sprockets and chain which I find works better than leavers. We used a 16 tooth sprocket on the servo and a 12 tooth on the throttle shaft.
Servos top view










We fabricated a mounting plate for the switch and charge plug which slips into the space next to the water reservoir along with the battery and fuse holder.










The RC receiver is mounted on the bottom plate of the fire box. Wesley's San Juan has the axle pump which uses up the space in the fire box, so we mounted his receiver on the tender tank between the water legs. The RC I use is a Spectrum DX6, Wesley's is a DX6i and has a smaller receiver. We used Hitec HS-82MG servos and a battery with 4 AA NMh cells. Both our Bogies are very controlable with the RC which makes them a joy to operate on our hilly layouts.










I added wood floor boards and running boards and a ‘tarpaper’ roof to my ‘Ten Mile’ to match the rest of the locos in my stable.









This is my 'Ten Mile' with the water car I built. It has a water tank and an electric pump so I don't have to stop to pump water from the tender resevoir. The tank and control panel are visible inside the box car door. 









I also added a coal load using Kevin Strong's method written up in "Garden Railroads", i.e. a base made of wood glue soaked paper towels covered with crushed coal. This is a view of the underside and shows that I removed the metal box that sits in the middle of the deck and also some of the deck and the left tool box to give the gas line more room so it doesn't kink.









The coal load installed.


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## llynrice (Jan 2, 2008)

That is a very neat installation, Winn. Most of the 1:20.3 models seem to offer just enough room to make a clean installation with a Spektrum control. I'm sure you must be really enjoying steaming your loco.

Llyn


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Winn, 


That looks good - not much space in the cab was there, you have done a very good utilsation of the space avaiable. 

Thanks for the photos


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## Westcott (Feb 17, 2009)

Very neat! 

What are the steam pipes lagged with?


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Guys!! Wesley and I enjoy working together on projects like this. Today we did some major tune up on his American which now runs very nicely. We ran it and my Bogie before dinner this afternoon. The Bogie didn't do so well, about 50 feet down the track it blew a hose on the feedwater line, so I will have to come up with a better solution for getting water from the water car to the boiler. 

Westcott, the insulation I use on the steam pipes is Scotch 27 glass cloth electrical tape rated for 266 degrees F. Got it from an electronics parts store. I cut the tape into about 1/4 inch strips before wrapping it around the pipes and oiler. The easiest way to cut it is with a sharp Exacto knife, it sticks to scissors and makes it very hard to cut that way. Then I put it in the oven at 250 degrees for half an hour to set the adhesive. Works quite well. Not sure how much heat it saves but the pipes don't burn your fingers when you accidentally touch them. I also think it looks some what prototypical.


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Winn, that's an absolutely beautiful piece of work! I'm afraid, however, that what you've accomplished is frankly beyond my skill level! Any hints if I'm willing to be satisfied with a simpler R/C throttle control, and do the reversing manually?


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## Wesley Furman (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Gary, 
Wesley here. 
Yes the linkage for the Johnson bar was the most work. RC can be done with only the servo/gears/chain on the throttle you can see in pictures 2 & 5. You still need to do the battery install in the tender compartment seen in photo 5. My Receiver is mounted in the cab just in front of the gas tank and under the gas valve. 
Only "Manufacturing" would be the: throttle gear mount, servo mount, and the battery switch/jack bracket. 
A major issue to you might be that to install the servos we had to remove the rear truck, tender, and cab to get to the floor and mount the bracket. That's a lot of work for 2 to 4 screws. Things are really tight in that area. And of course put it all back together again. Maybe someone could do it without removing the cab with a premade servo mount (Servocity.com) and very long tools. I wouldn't use tape or glue since there is some torque to resist. 
I have to admit that I am very spoiled having Winn as a friend, probably would not have tackled the job if I had to do all that work by myself not to even mention figuring out how to. 
I can't express what a joy it is to run the Mason with RC. Winn's solution for the Johnson bar makes it move smooth as glass. Just cleaning up the burs with a file left on the linkage by the manufacture would be a big improvement. 
Wesley 
SA#212


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

After posting this thread I found out that mounting the RC reciever in the ash pan is not t good idea. While running at Railfest in Durango some water sloshed on to the cab floor and ran down into the ash pan. Suddenly I had no control of the loco! After a week of drying out the reciever did recover and was remounted on the front of the tender between the water legs. There have been no drowing problems since then. I have also replaced all the check valve balls with EDPM balls from Small Parts. They are rated at a little higher temp than the nitrile. So far , working great. The water car with the small displacement Regner pump seems to almost exactly keep up with the boiler demand when running continuosly. I want to add a radiant screen to the boiler and maybe a flue baffle as there seems to be a problem getting enough heat to the boiler at our 6000 foot altitude. The cylinders appear to be about the same size as those on my C16 but use a lot more steam. Not sure why.


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## Andre Anderson (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks for the ideas, I still have to RC my Mason. Could you tell me what size the EDPM were? Are these for the backhead check valve or are they for the axle pump? I think that I have a problem with the check valve on the backhead. When I fire it up I get steam from the return line in the water tank till I shut the bypass valve, once it gets running then the check valve seems to work right.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

I used 5/32 inch balls on the backhead and on both the hand pump valves. I don't have an axle pump.


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## AwPinales (Aug 16, 2016)

I can't wait to do this to mine! I need to install an axel pump as well, so hopefully that isn't too difficult! 
Adam


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Adam, Welcome to MLS. Wow! I'm surprised to see this pop up after 5 years!


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## AwPinales (Aug 16, 2016)

I searched the threads, found info I needed, and will probably re post a new thread. My first run was 5 min ago, and I have many questions!!!!


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## AwPinales (Aug 16, 2016)

This really is one of my favorite threads. I stare at the pics figuring it all out. I've never played with servo's before, so I'm pretty excited to do so. I do have a few questions, 
Where did you get the gears for the throttle? How is the gear mounted to the throttle? Do the reach rods need to be rebuilt/replaced? 
Thanks, 
Adam


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Adam, The sprockets and chain I believe I got from Servo City https://www.servocity.com/motion-components/rotary-motion/sprockets-chain/sprockets . I made a hub for the throttle sprocket from brass. The sprocket is glued and pinned to the hub. The set screw attaches the hub to the throttle shaft and allows adjustment.The changes to the valve linkage were mostly cosmetic although the stock linkage has way too much lost motion due to the slots in the lift rods ends. You will also have to get rid of the detents in the expansion link and the J-bar quadrant. I modified the quadrant but really all you have to do is remove the detent screw. You can use the reach rod as is. Let me know if I can be of further help. I can take more photos if necessary.


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## AwPinales (Aug 16, 2016)

Awesome! Looks pretty straight forward, but No sense in not asking! I do like your valve linkage, but if it doesn't improve performance, i think I'll spend my time on somthing else. Unless, you feel like building another set!!  I'm going to send it to Accucraft to have them install an axel pump before I add RC. 
Adam


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> The sprockets and chain I believe I got from Servo City https://www.servocity.com/motion-com...hain/sprockets . I made a hub for the throttle sprocket from brass. The sprocket is glued and pinned to the hub.


Winn,Adam,
Servo City now sells sprockets with a boss and set screw in them. I don't know what shaft sizes - maybe 1/8" ?
For several of my r/c conversions, as I don't have a lathe, I used the collar they sell, which has the set screw in it. I bolt the sprocket to the collar.


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## AwPinales (Aug 16, 2016)

Perfect!!!


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks, Pete, Good to know.


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