Original page created on 15/09/2020.
CC 40105 LS Models lowered, small steps mounted.
The consequences of an accident
I started improving this machine soon after purchasing it. This consisted mainly, as often, in separating the red lights from the white, and changing the pantographs. Indeed, this machine, among the first releases, was equipped with Sommerfeldt pantographs…
Perhaps these improvements did not deserve an article, but a particular circumstance led me, or rather forced me, to revisit the case of this machine. Indeed, following a stupid manoeuvre, it fell one meter on concrete slabs! It ended up exploded into pieces, of course, but, by some pretty incredible luck, virtually no breakage! We will see that on the next page.
So I’m going to go over things in chronological order, starting with the electrical work.
Separation of the lights
The handling is quite simple. We must unscrew the printed circuit, because the intervention takes place on the hidden side. Beforehand, it is better to disconnect the two flexible circuits which go towards the lights. Putting them back in place is not difficult. Two tracks are to be cut and two wires are to be soldered. I used a Lenz Silver+ decoder with 8-pin interface. The wire not connected to this interface, coloured purple, is to be soldered directly in the place indicated, or, better, via a small connector with tulip contact. A (preferably green) wire is to be soldered on a terminal of the decoder connector.
- Track cut
- Purple wire coming directly from decoder
- Green wire to be soldered
The outputs A and B remain connected to white lights resp. front and rear; outputs C and D are now connected to red lights resp. front and rear.
Changing pantographs
Shortly after the release of this machine, LS Models produced their own pantographs, not perfect but significantly thinner than the Sommerfeldts. So I bought a box of them, and installed them, modifying their fixing slightly: I don’t use the central fixing screw, which gives a rather coarse appearance to the panto support. In addition, in the event of hooking, the panto takes off easily and is more likely to remain intact.
However, the fixing holes must be plugged, both in the body and on the supports. In both cases, a small piece of ⌀ 2 mm polystyrene rod does the trick. For the support, M2 threaded, I threaded the rod to fix it more easily. It is enough to level it then. Finally, a little paint, Humbrol No. 32 matte dark grey for the supports, and a silver pen touch for the body.
Then, I noticed that one of the single-phase pantographs is not horizontal when folded down: it tends to touch the front headlamp! I think the lower leg connecting rod is a little too long. But shortening it would be very tricky. I was content to dig a little under the front insulator, without being able to fully restore the situation.
As on all my electric locos, the development of the pantos is limited by a small polystyrene wedge 0.35 mm thick. See the photo below.
Other details
The roofline is incomplete. It lacks at least its connection to pantos. I made this connection with bare telephone wire, diameter 0.5. It is simply glued with CA on the concerned insulators.
We can distinguish in this photo — more easily by hovering over it with the mouse to see more details — the limiting wedges as well as the plugs of the fixing screw holes. The added link between the pantos deserves a refresh of its painting…
An oddity: the jack rods of the 1500 V DC pantos are correct (left part of the image), but those of 25 kV AC are inexplicably too short and are cantilevered (right part)!
