Atlas surprise coming at Trainfest

[davefoxx]

A P30CH would be a BIG surprise, wouldn't it?   

Just saying.

   Javier

This would keep me from wasting money on an SDP40F.  I'd be okay with that.

DFF

[tom mann]

This would keep me from wasting money on an SDP40F.  I'd be okay with that.

DFF

OK, we have our answer folks.

[mecgp7]

Right you are, however no self respecting U18B would want to wear Guilford grey( ) instead of Maine Central harvest gold( )! 

AMEN!

[cjm413]

Ideally (for me) this will be an updated version of the offset cupola Santa Fe caboose.  I'm tired of adding MTL hand rails and chimneys to the Atlas models, just to get something that is half-way decent.

But I know that it will actually be a ready-to-roll Caswell gondola (because I've just bought a bunch of undecorated kits to build.)

So go ahead Paul - break my heart.  (Again.)

Regards,
Ron

Atlas hasn't had a bay window caboose since the Atlas/Rivarossi C-40-4 was discontinued.

This leaves the Model Power/Lima model as the only current option for a bay window caboose with a diagonal panel roof (or a roofwalk)

[sirenwerks]

Atlas hasn't had a bay window caboose since the Atlas/Rivarossi C-40-4 was discontinued.

This leaves the Model Power/Lima model as the only current option for a bay window caboose with a diagonal panel roof (or a roofwalk)

A generic International bay window, with some bay options (straight/angled sides, full bay and 4/5 height, sloping/flat roof) and roofwalk or not, would be nice.  As long as it's something that isn't too modern, like a 426-460 or 461-465 series WP version.  [No, Phil, I am not thinking about modeling the WP again, just want a non-SP possibility for the 60s era Pac NW protolance I have in mind.]   

[nkalanaga]

For a "Pac NW protolance" how about the FVM MILW bay windows?  They could have been bought used, or, if your railroad goes back far enough, been built new by the Milwaukee Shops for your line.

[sirenwerks]

For a "Pac NW protolance" how about the FVM MILW bay windows?  They could have been bought used, or, if your railroad goes back far enough, been built new by the Milwaukee Shops for your line.

I see this road as a sort of cut-off to the SP - starting around Missoula and cutting through the Palouse, then sweeping through Walla Walla and central Oregon to Eugene, with a major branch through the Willamette Valley to Portland.  This is going to be an all Alco line, with a healthy mix of Centuries and RS units as primary power, maybe some Baldwin and FM if the models I want are ever released - AS616 and H12-44 with a porch.  I think an early bay window would be a good break, but I want to keep them from being a nod to the Espee.  I want it be a mix of influences from surrounding lines without being able to point at one as an obvious parent.  Also thinking about how to play with the Atlas Int'l cupola caboose without making it look too much like a Hill line animal or a logging line caboose.  The alterations I have seen to turn that model into a B&M caboose are kinda what I'm thinking of, maybe some with side doors.

[Englewood]

I've got my fingers crossed for MP15ACs. Or Tier 4 GEVOs.

[ryan_wilkerson]

I've got my fingers crossed for MP15ACs. Or Tier 4 GEVOs.

I would be in for a pair of either of those. MP15AC would be a great choice to go with their DC version.

[johnb]

I am hoping for a Baldwin DRS-1500-6-6

[nkalanaga]

Sirenwerks:  "starting around Missoula and cutting through the Palouse, then sweeping through Walla Walla and central Oregon to Eugene"

I don't know where you live, so if you live in the area, you probably already know all of this!

Going through the Palouse won't be easy, as you'll have to find a new pass, or take the long way to Walla Walla.  If it was my road, I'd go over Lolo Pass, take over the Camas Prairie, and cross the Snake at Lewiston.  That would give connections with the UP and NP in Lewiston, you could still build a branch into the Palouse if desired, and serve the farming country between Clarkston and Dayton. as well as the Camas Prairie's farming and logging business.

There was a railroad running a short way east of Dayton at one time, and many traces can still be seen.  Tracks still go to Dayton, through Waitsburg.  The NP(?) line directly from Waitsburg to Walla Walla is abandoned, so you could have that portion.  Another long abandoned line ran from Ayers Jct to Pomeroy, with visible traces remaining, and the Pomeroy-Delaney section along US 12 would fit your line.  Delaney to the end of the Dayton line wouldn't be that hard to build, if a little crooked, and the Clarkston-Pomeroy section could be done, with some grades.  Lolo Pass would be easy on the east side, and spectacular on the west, much like the Milwaukee's Missoula-Avery line.

I don't know about Walla Walla to Eugene, economically, but Missoula to Walla Walla, and then on to Wallula on the Columbia, would probably have been a viable line if built in the 1890s.

[sirenwerks]

I don't know about Walla Walla to Eugene, economically, but Missoula to Walla Walla, and then on to Wallula on the Columbia, would probably have been a viable line if built in the 1890s.

Still working on the routing but, yea, it would have been built during the northern route transcontinental construction phase.  Missoula to Moscow is a stretch, yes, (Coeur d' Alene might be a better starting point) but I want to skip the Columbia and go overland from Moscow to Walla Walla to Pendleton, Prineville and Bend and then passing by the Three Sisters to Eugene (from there the line would also traverse north up the Willamette to Portland).  I want to set it in the late 60s early 70s and imagine it competing, via a Eugene connection with the Espee, with the GN/WP connection - in the final throws, trying to compete with the BN despite having a more difficult route.  At first it's not going to be much more than a few scenes on a couple HCDs or shelves in a garage - basically, small towns with elevators and a mill - so I have time to work on the plan.

[C855B]

"Something new" and a "road switcher" could very possibly be an SDP35. This is something they've already done in HO that would fit on an existing N chassis.

It may not solve a gap for many folks (tho' @davefoxx would be one), but I hope so. This is something in my project queue, but I haven't had the heart/guts yet to start cutting-up the SD35 shell(s) to do it.

[basementcalling]

Still working on the routing but, yea, it would have been built during the northern route transcontinental construction phase.  Missoula to Moscow is a stretch, yes, (Coeur d' Alene might be a better starting point) but I want to skip the Columbia and go overland from Moscow to Walla Walla to Pendleton, Prineville and Bend and then passing by the Three Sisters to Eugene (from there the line would also traverse north up the Willamette to Portland).  I want to set it in the late 60s early 70s and imagine it competing, via a Eugene connection with the Espee, with the GN/WP connection - in the final throws, trying to compete with the BN despite having a more difficult route.  At first it's not going to be much more than a few scenes on a couple HCDs or shelves in a garage - basically, small towns with elevators and a mill - so I have time to work on the plan.

Keep your surveyors and track layers out of the way of the Idaho Belt  teams.   Though sounds like you are there a long time before my era.

[davefoxx]

"Something new" and a "road switcher" could very possibly be an SDP35. This is something they've already done in HO that would fit on an existing N chassis.

It may not solve a gap for many folks (tho' @davefoxx would be one), but I hope so. This is something in my project queue, but I haven't had the heart/guts yet to start cutting-up the SD35 shell(s) to do it.