The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[TiogaTracks]

Thanks DFF.  Sounds like we’re doing most of the same things, though I’m not going to body-mounts yet.  I like how truck-mount Aristo couplers work too much to go and replace them all, for now.  Seems like it takes a while of adjustments to get each car looking and working good, but then each car feels like an accomplishment.

-Steven

[CRL]

Just an n-scale guy offering an opinion, but since G-scale is so much larger than what I’m used to, have you considered using a very soft piece of foam rubber with the edges covered with a very lightweight cloth to act as a flexible diaphragm spacer between the cars? This way you wouldn’t see any daylight between the cars, yet it would remain flexible around turns.

I’ll show myself out now.

[TiogaTracks]

I’m only working with freight cars, but that would be useful on passenger trains.  Let’s just say even though I’m modeling roughly the same era, rural north-central PA wasn’t as populated or prosperous as the Carolina sandhills.

Sorry for the thread drift Dave!  But I guess that’s how things roll around here.

-Steven

[davefoxx]

What impressed me most, though, is the close coupling on the passenger cars.  It really sells the realism.

It just occurred to me that you may have been looking at the video on the prior page with the ACL E8 pulling the train when you made your statement.  If so, the illusion of close-coupled cars was made by shooting video from the inside of a sharp curve.  Works everytime! 

DFF

[TiogaTracks]

Yeah, the curve helps some.  But either way, they still look good, and all that car-by-car tinkering paid off!  It certainly refilled my motivation to keep adjusting coupler length on all my cars.

-Steven

[davefoxx]

The next ACL car arrived today.  This is an old IHC heavyweight 12-1 sleeper.  Check out those horn-hook couplers!  This car is going to take a little more work, as it’s very light, lacks an interior, has plastic wheelsets (“Ew!”), is missing its grabirons in the box, and will need to have bolster pins replaced with screws to minimize some excessive swaying side-to-side.



My wife loves the purple, which is good enough for me!  She was the one who insisted on the Life-Like ACL E8 in the purple scheme.  Who am I to turn down a train purchase that’s encouraged by my wife? 

Stay tuned (and wish me luck on the upgrades being successful),
DFF

EDIT: I found the grab irons in the box, but they'll need to be painted.  Paint ordered along with needed metal wheelsets!

[davefoxx]

Body-mounted couplers installed, weight added, bolster pins replaced with screws, and four of six wheelsets replaced with Kadee 36” metal wheels.  I ran out of wheels, so I’ll need to order more.  Thankfully, I had at least two wheelsets, because the thick IHC axles rubbed the screw head.  The Kadee axles cleared with room to spare.  I haven’t found an interior available online yet, but the car is running in temporary service tonight.  With the additional weight, it seems to track well now.  After a little work, I actually like this car a lot better than I thought I would, not to mention I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get it to run reliably.



DFF

[davefoxx]

The third and, for now, final ACL passenger car (I lost one auction) arrived today.  Need to pick a car number, decal it, and then work on body-mounting Sergent Engineering couplers.



DFF

[eja]

The third and, for now, final ACL passenger car (I lost one auction) arrived today.  Need to pick a car number, decal it, and then work on body-mounting Sergent Engineering couplers.



DFF

Who made this car ?

[davefoxx]

It’s a Walthers model of a Budd 46-seat coach.

DFF

[davefoxx]

Thanks for using Coast Line!

I haven’t yet completed the decal work, but I have this lightweight coach with purple letterboard in service with body-mounted couplers installed.  It seems to be running fine in the consist under initial testing.  Yes, my small fleet is a hodgepodge of cars, but that was typical for the secondary passenger trains on the ACL in the 1950s and 1960s and certainly as a fantasy excursion train in the 1980s.

DFF

[glakedylan]

kudos!


sincerely
Gary

[davefoxx]

I numbered the coach this evening, after poring through my ACL resources.  I chose No. 273, or, as I like to call it, “Kelvin”!



DFF

[davefoxx]

When the 1980s-era Seaboard System fleet is looking the other way, I sometimes do this: Atlantic Coast Line cab units circa 1957.  Shh, our secret.



DFF

[packers#1]

 

Filth