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R.T.M. M 67

This first production series locomotive, built February 1993, was sold May 1997, together with the other first series equipment, to R.T.M. in Ouddorp and was the first self-built locomotive made by myself.

All things assumed, it hardly had driven, if at all, in the 25 years it has been in Ouddorp

causing a bad NorthWestShortLine motor truck and different couplings.
Through the mediation of A. de Beijer (R.T.M. Ouddorp) with the board of R.T.M. this M 67 has been reacquired

as compensation for the restoration of their R.T.M. MABD 1602 'Reiger'.
This model was in Ouddorp at R.T.M until June 6, 2022 and now is back in my collection, fulfilling a long-cherished wish.
It still had an old N.W.S.L. power truck and L.G.B. bogie, which were

replaced by a HLW Urban with excellent driving characteristics.

A large 12V battery was housed in the luggage compartment, which provided the power for the lighting

and the smoke generator.
This battery also served as extra weight for better adhesion.
The smoke generator can be filled with real diesel.
A blower is placed in front of the exhaust that blows the smoke developed from the smoke generator out through the exhaust.
Because the battery provided independent voltage, smoke was already present when we drove away.
The entire roof panel can be removed for maintenance and service.

The negotiations to regain this very first railcar were successfully concluded.

The overhaul was started as an independent project on June 7, 2022 and completed on July 1, 2022, during which the large battery was removed, the motor truck was replaced, the entire (aluminum) frame was replaced by a brass one and missing items were reinstalled, so that the motor vehicle can be used again. is in service.
The locomotive is also prepared for conversion to DCC or battery traction.

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R.T.M. M67 in original version during the exhibition 125 years of passenger and freight transport in the old Zuid-Ooster bus garage in Gennep, November 9, 1996

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R.T.M. M67 still in its original version in the display case of the R.T.M. museum in Ouddorp, September 26, 2020

Recovery report from R.T.M. M67

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After a thorough inspection for missing parts and whether or not the drive unit, lighting, smoke generator, battery and blower are working, the following was drawn up:

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    1    The drive unit still works, but runs with difficulty (being preserved)

    2    The front lighting works

    3    The lighting behind only on the direction of the film cabinet

    4    The smoke generator still works.

    5    The battery is defective and no longer charges.

    6    The blower is defective and no longer runs

    7    1 side window is missing but is present

    8    The entry step is missing at the rear right

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All missing items are repaired, the battery has already been removed, the lighting is replaced by LED's and the blower and drive unit are also replaced.

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Testing the old N.W.S.L. motor truck, shortly before disassembly, M.B.S. workshop June 7, 2022

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This valuable information was located on the inside of the roof plate.

This data shows that M67 was previously designed as M69 and, in accordance with reality, also had a fire.

It appears to me that the locomotive  R.T.M. M 69 was painted in Revell 070 color, a completely different and wrong color.

Unfortunately, at that time I didn't knew better.

I do not have any photos of this version.

Built on February 8, 1993, this veteran became of a nice age...!

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I found this text under a floorboard, this is the date of conversion to M 67.

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The bogie of M 67, still completely intact.

This returns under the motor car, but with two axles with their own power pick-ups.

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The American-made NorthWest Short Line drive unit of M 67.

Intact and working, but unreliable.

The (cast) wheels are heavily corroded and some wheels even have a wheel fracture!

The truck is preserved together with the original frame.

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The new Hartland Locomotive Works Interurban drive unit of M 67.

These drive units have a axle distance distance of 64 mm and are ideal for self-build models.

Unfortunately, H.L.W. dicontinued production of all models a few years ago, including these motor trucks...

The M.B.S. workshop still regularly searches for this type of drive, the spare truck in stock has already been reserved for the M.B.S. EL 105.

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All no longer usable items from M 67 at display, including switches, blower, unnecessarily heavy wiring and old mounting materials.

At the top right of the image is a piece of lead that served as extra weight, as lead is poisonous when processed, this is also not reused.

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The dismantled wagon body seen from the right side.

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The wagon body seen from above.

The laminate floor part (remaining piece), which was used as a car floor, is now clearly visible.

Actually completely unsuitable for this purpose.

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And  the wagon body viewed from the underside.

Here you can clearly see the recesses in the laminate to allow the wheels of the truck and the complete engine block to function freely.

This was the reason to use L-profile 10x10mm when building subsequent models, in

instead of 10x10 aluminum U-profile with a piece of residual laminate clamped in between.

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These aluminum U-profile frame beams are painted black and visible in the photos.

Aluminum cannot be soldered and is therefore unsuitable as a frame.

During a technical work investigation in the workshop, I decided that the superstructure had to be

separate from the wrong aluminum frame  avoiding a complete rebuild.

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The frame has been replaced by a brass L-profile 10x10mm, newly built in accordance with all other motor vehicles.

The superstructure (or if you prefer, the wagon body, cabinet, etc.) could be detached from the old frame without any significant problems.

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This was relatively easy, as all posts were fixed to this frame with brass 1mm nails.

The same nails also held the woodwork to the upright posts, something that also had to be changed to 1 mm bolts and nuts, like EL 101, EL 102 and EL 104.

Because M67 is much older than the second series locomotives, it had a different mounting method.

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After 29 years, the wrong frame was separated from the cabinet, something that should have been done from the beginning.

The knowledge and experience was not yet at the level as it is today, nor were the materials and resources.

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The old case of M 67 will be cleaned and repaired where necessary and will be soldered to the new frame.

This results in a sturdy and rigid locomotive.

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The 10x10x1mm profiles for the frame have arrived and have been processed already.

This new frame, which still needs to be soldered, is held in place by the future weight plate. 
New to use profiles were immediately ordered, so that after completion of M 67, construction

of the M.B.S. EL 101 as a postal baggage car will follow immediately.
Although the collection includes R.T.M. 296 as a large 4-axle wagon, this is a general boxcar instead.

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Due to a calculation error by the workshop, the frame appears to be 40mm too long.

488.5mm instead of 448.5mm.

No problem, this is relatively easy to shorten at the correct length.

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The body of M 67 is mounted to the new frame.
It will now have its other items, such as the pivots for the bogies, the buffers, the steps, etc. attached.

When all items have been mounted to the frame, only then can the body (superstructure) be riveted.

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Riveting the old body to the new frame.

It is important to know the frame and body determine the design, not a drawing.

After all, the new frame is an exact copy of the old one, with no deviations.

This is also evident when the body is riveted to the frame, everything fits exactly.

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The right side view of M 67.

Only when all rivets have been secured to the frame I can start secure the woodwork to the posts and remove the many old nails.

These nails all will be replaced by 1mm bolt-nut connection.

This photo also shows the pivots for the motor truck (left), bogie (right), mounting points of the couplings, buffers and buffer plates.

The brackets for the steps will follow soon...

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The bearing axles now have been delivered.

Above, these are fixed onto the bogie, whereby disconnect the connectors makes it possible to remove them easy.
This bogie is maintenance-free, once fixed these axles no longer need to be removed from the bogie.

All traction vehicles and later all carriages and freight wagons were equipped with these axles.
Purchasing at one time financially is too much of a good thing, but proportionately this is doable.

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Between R.T.M. M 67 and M.B.S. EL 104 are 29 years of construction experience, this is clearly visible when both wagons are viewed on the same height and coupled, the construction method has remained the same and has been much improved.

Because the frame has been replaced, it has been adjusted to the same height, but the body has different dimensions.

M 67 was built from a less accurate drawing at the time and this shows.

This remains unchanged, after all M 67 is not a new build locomotive unlike EL 104.

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All old 'rivets' are replaced by the 1mm bolt-nut connection, which forms a more solid bodywork.

The left style still has the old rivets, everything has been removed from the middle style and the right style partly has the new connection fitted.

Due to its minuscule nature, this work is very time-consuming.

To preserve the character of M 67, both engine room grilles will not be replaced.

Also, only one roller shutter and one door remain movable, so it is as it was allready.

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An important element of the locomotive is the blower with smoke generator unit.

M 67 was the first of many to be equipped with this system devised in the workshop, in which a blower blows sucked air through a 6mm tube, which includes a smoke generator (closed system).

This smoke, together with the sucked air, is then blown out through the exhaust, similar to a combustion engine.

Because the revolutions of the blower dependent on the driving voltage, it seems as if it is being accelerated at higher driving speeds.

With the old system, the smoke generator received the operating voltage from the internal battery (12V=), while the blower started running when driving away.

Now the smoke generator is also supplied with driving voltage, so smoke development starts later...

When all equipment is adapted for digital driving, there permanently will be voltage on the rails, including on the system (lighting, smoke generator, sound system, etc.), but the blower will run with the regulated driving voltage or at the most favorable case even a completely separate arrangement with DCC.

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In the image above, the old exhaust is being modified.

The smoke generator hangs significantly lower on the exhaust to prevent the liquid from ending up in the blower.

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The blower with overpressure pipe to which the exhaust is connected.

To the left of this is a weight block that should eventually resemble an diesel engine.

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The workshop is working hard to get M 67 ready.

Partly to make room for the phasing out of finnishing M.B.S. AB 1 and AB 7, of which has been halted since January and partly to put M 67 into service.

There is currently no garden railway for test driving, but some alternatives are available.

All doors have been replaced, the engine room, both steering positions and the luggage compartment have been painted gray again.

The lighting has been reconnected and the engine room and luggage compartment are now also equipped with interior lighting.

After the engine and generator were replaced, finishing of the roof started.

The direction film cabinets are designated "Rotterdam" at the back steering position and "Hellevoetsluis" at the front.

The wiring is not connected and hangs loose under the locomotive, the PCB with switches and rectifiers is in the making.

The PCB with all components for lighting, traction, smoke generator, etc. hangs at the bottom of the luggage compartment of the M 67.

All switches have a label where the red position is 'on' and black is of course 'off'.

Here too, experience shows off; the print was made correctly in one go.

All cabling is neatly concealed in the locomotive, on the right of the image two cable harnesses go up in the double wall between the engine room and the luggage compartment for the power supply of spotlights, interior lighting and the lighting of the direction film cabinets.

The series resistors for the LEDs are included on the PCB for better accessibility if necessary. recovery.

The test connector is new to provide the locomotive with driving power on the test bench, without connecting to the wheels.

All self-built traction vehicles will be equipped with this over time and the test bench will be equipped with a connection for this.

The voltage regulator on the PCB is for the blower, so it is limited to 12 V=.

The rectifiers provide a fixed plus and minus DC voltage when the direction of travel changes.

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M 67 is in the workshop on the test track for further finishing and detailing.

As mentioned earlier, I decide to leave the appearance of the locomotive as original as possible.

The engine room grilles, doors and shutters have been left as they were on the old locomotive.

However, the thin metal roof has been replaced by a wooden one, like EL 102  and EL 104.

With the next construction project of EL 101, it will also have the same wooden roof.

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The 'sanding' of the roof before it gets the final gray color.

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A nice detail shot of the left front.
During construction in 1993, a similar color of brown paint was used
, but it turned out to be the wrong color.

The top half is already painted the correct brown color, while the bottom half still has the wrong light brown color on the posts.

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The old M 67 next to the slightly younger EL 103, historically this is not possible at all, but fortunately in terms of model it is.

They represent one and the same motor vehicle...!
This is one of the reasons why the wagon number of locomotive EL 103 D IV was changed to EL 102 D V.

Links in the current R.T.M. version and right in the pre-war M.B.S. performance.

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Three stages of removing the old and applying the new R.T.M. company logo.

The old one was once a paper cut-out, photographically reduced copy that looked super tight back in 1993.

Nowadays the workshop has more modern methods, such as laser printing on decal waterslide with beautiful results.

However, printing white ink is very expensive for consumers, so other solutions has to be found.

After cutting out the four logos, the frame of one was cut out generously.

This frame was used as a mold to apply white correction ink to the railcar, creating a white background.

After the white correction ink had dried, the logo was applied to this, which was then fixed with clear varnish.

M 67 on the test track to test all functions, such as lighting, traction,

smoke generator, etc., behind it is EL 103 D IV.
Technically, the locomotive is approved to drive on its own track and/or guest tracks.

Small items such as the steps and the tension supports for the frame still need to be installed and are in the making.

The recovery overhaul is to be completed tomorrow, July 1, 2022.

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As with most projects, an irregularity arises at the last minute.

In this case, the cable to the rear headlights was punctured when installing the step.

This has been professionally repaired by the workshop.

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On Friday, July 1, 2022, R.T.M. M 67 was completed by the M.B.S. workshop and put into service.

This completes this restoration project.

The entire frame, blower, all headlights, control board, ballast weight, roof, two partition walls, two axles in the walking truck, motor truck, direction film boxes, frame supports, steps, logos and couplings have been replaced.

All 'ironwork' and fittings of the railcar have been repainted in the correct colours, the woodwork is left unchanged.

The duration of the project was approximately 100 hours.

The repair approximately costs €175.

The old frame, roof and defective items have been preserved and stored.

An attempt has been made to leave M 67 as original as possible to preserve its original character

of the 1993 locomotive untouched and intact, the locomotive has certainly retained its identity!

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