I’ve started building the little 3D printed Schaefer locomotive.

It’s a simple task of gluing the main components together.

I found a driver figure (S and D Models OF342) who’s arm could be fixed in an appropriate position.

After a little cleaning up, some filler and primer the driver is looking good. The motor is designed to fit on the floor of the loco, but I decided to create a small base for it so that it will be more visible through the windows of the loco.

At Ely exhibition the Layouts 4 U stand was selling LED lights and I thought of creating a working headlight for the loco. An original LED is shown on the left. I modified the LED so that the resistor is connected directly to the LED (on the right). The reasons will become clear soon.

Then I disassembled the Kato 11-110 chassis by removing the plastic cover and the motor.

Some additional wires were soldered onto the connections….

… and the chassis was reassembled. (I cracked the cover, but it still ran – Phew!).

Next a small hole was drilled in the footplate of the loco and the LED inserted. The resistor and the shrink wrap cover provided a rigid structure to hold the LED behind the headlight.

A small hole was drilled through the body so that the LED was just visible.

A quick test showed the LED worked. (Again, Phew !)

The chassis was inserted into the loco and the wires from the chassis soldered to the wires from the LED. (Remember to solder the positive to the wire with the resistor or the light wont work).

A test run was in order… and Yeh!… everything worked.