10020 Santa Fe Super Chief B Unit Question

[Jacobs Bogie Drifter]

Hello All,

In James' official instructions (image attached) for the Santa Fe B Unit it calls for this part in Light Gray:

Slope with yellow buttons and thick border

I can't find it anywhere. Does this part only exist in Black?

Please and thank you,

-JB

[Murdoch17]

@Jacobs Bogie Drifter yes, I think that part only comes in black, but I think it's actually supposed to be a stand-in for this part used on the original Santa Fe loco.

It was probably not used in the instructions because it may not have been in LDraw when the MOC was designed, or James was confused as to which was which. Who knows for sure though?

Edited May 22 by Murdoch17

[zephyr1934]

I agree with @Murdoch17, probably just found the closest thing available in MLCad at the time. I'm sure the build assumed you were MODing the normal 10020 set and would reuse as many parts as possible. Regardless, since the B-MOD is not an official set it probably is not critical to perfectly match the interior parts that no one would see. I made several MODs of 10020 and never bothered building the motor inside because no one would see it. If you are planning on using PU or PF, that's also a great place to put the battery box.

[Jacobs Bogie Drifter]

Thank you for the replies. That makes pretty good sense, probably the same situation with the decorated tile on the engine even though that one is an existing part. I actually will go ahead and use the ones that come with the original A unit.

I will probably add a PF V2 receiver and motors at some point since I have the parts and it is a heavy train by design. Been working on the project here and there for years, coming back to it now as I have quite a bit of spare time for the coming weeks.

[zephyr1934]

10 hours ago, Jacobs Bogie Drifter said:

I will probably add a PF V2 receiver and motors at some point since I have the parts and it is a heavy train by design. Been working on the project here and there for years, coming back to it now as I have quite a bit of spare time for the coming weeks.

Cool! Back in the day the stock two locomotives and 5 cars (so 7 rolling items) was at about the limit of what two 9v motors could do. A v2 PF receiver might get you another couple of cars but you will probably need to add weight above the motors. If you are aiming to go long with the train you could encounter too much drag. If that happens, the 3rd party ball bearing wheel sets could save you. They greatly reduce the effort to pull a car. I'll set a car with stock Lego metal axle train wheels on my layout and it will usually stay where I set it. Do the same with a car that has ball bearing wheels and it will roll away to find the low spot in the track. Heck, with big heavy trains equipped with ball bearing wheels you have to be careful about hitting the red "stop" button on the pf controller when train is moving fast, the cars will keep pushing the engine and the momentum could cause it to derail on a tight curve.

[Murdoch17]

5 minutes ago, zephyr1934 said:

Cool! Back in the day the stock two locomotives and 5 cars (so 7 rolling items) was at about the limit of what two 9v motors could do. A v2 PF receiver might get you another couple of cars but you will probably need to add weight above the motors. If you are aiming to go long with the train you could encounter too much drag. If that happens, the 3rd party ball bearing wheel sets could save you. They greatly reduce the effort to pull a car. I'll set a car with stock Lego metal axle train wheels on my layout and it will usually stay where I set it. Do the same with a car that has ball bearing wheels and it will roll away to find the low spot in the track. Heck, with big heavy trains equipped with ball bearing wheels you have to be careful about hitting the red "stop" button on the pf controller when train is moving fast, the cars will keep pushing the engine and the momentum could cause it to derail on a tight curve.

It's just like on a real train - throw it into emergency and you could have a pileup on your hands!