Best Of Keystone Customs announces Angled numberboards for your SW Diesels

[coosvalley]

Just curious, was the loco an SW8 or an SW9?.....Or, did it have two exhaust stacks or only one?..I'm trying to find out which former B&M loco that is..

[Chris333]

Just curious, was the loco an SW8 or an SW9?.....Or, did it have two exhaust stacks or only one?..I'm trying to find out which former B&M loco that is..

1424, SW9, was built by Electro-Motive in May 1953, #18183, FN 4208-3, as B&M 1229.  It was transferred as ST 1424 and sold to LTE in July 2003

Used to be this loco:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=6940
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locopicture.aspx?id=12990
http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr0108/bm1229.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/photos/st/F6FAF98E50ED444A8E7E453DC364AF74/Bm-410.jpg
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?2016081609151214911.jpg

[coosvalley]

Nice, thanks. The loco I was considering visiting to get the box measurements is her sister, former 1228. They were both part of the same loco order...

This is one of my favorite shots of the 1229, street running with a plow, the only B&M SW9 to have one...

http://s3.amazonaws.com/rrpa_photos/78052/2'12'1982%201229%20on%20Commercial%20St.%20Portland,ME.jpg

Okay, back to the topic!

[Chris333]

Seems a different loco has it's own Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Save1423/photos/?ref=page_internal

[coosvalley]

Haha, that's the one I was going to go measure, but it is about an hour from me..I didn't know she had her own facebook page!

It seems I had encountered the 1424 way back when....East Deerfield , Ma, 1990:

[wcfn100]

Hey, next time you're over there, can you measure the diameter of the pipe and the space between on the fuel tank of that blue one?


Jason

[peteski]

Did you mean enLIGHTening?  See what I did there?   

That is exactly why I chose that word (followed by the telltale smiley). Looks like it was you who got the hidden joke. 

[tehachapifan]

I've been trying to follow this thread but I'm not entirely clear on something. Are these going to be reprinted using the above dimensions? I ask as I have a set soaking right now but I may hold off on installing them if this is the case.

 

[Lemosteam]

I've been trying to follow this thread but I'm not entirely clear on something. Are these going to be reprinted using the above dimensions? I ask as I have a set soaking right now but I may hold off on installing them if this is the case.

@tehachapifan ,Yes I know about your purchase and understand your dilemma.

Please hold off- I need to make sure the new dimensions are feasible (very likely).

If they are, I will get you and @coosvalley new ones at my expense shipped directly to you from SW.  Please PM me with your home addresses.

Just one final question for Joe- do you want the legs on or off, based on the pics?

[coosvalley]

I think the legs are ok, I would leave them despite being a tad too short.. The only request I have for those would be to give them a slight angle to match the slope of the hood, if at all possible...It's only a couple of degrees, but they would probably sit level on the model if that can be done...

[tehachapifan]

Thank you for the offer for new ones, John! Very much appreciated!

I think the legs are ok, I would leave them despite being a tad too short.. The only request I have for those would be to give them a slight angle to match the slope of the hood, if at all possible...It's only a couple of degrees, but they would probably sit level on the model if that can be done...

On my samples, the legs appear to be more of an L bracket than actual legs. I like this as it gives me a sturdy attachment point to glue on my own (slightly longer) legs (but wouldn't complain if a little more leg was printed). Since other adjustments are being made and since the railroads seemed to mount theses boards on what appears to be a 45 degree angle with the legs turned outward another 45 degrees, could this angle adjustment also be made? I know this came up earlier and it's no biggie if it cant be done.

...also, I may attempt to light mine as well. Seems very doable with maybe a 0603(?) SMD LED and a strategically-placed hole in the back or on the bottom. The semi-translucent finish of these printings will certainly aid in this.

[Chris333]

Nothing wrong with a little more leg 

[Lemosteam]

Yeah, unfortunately we will have to stick with the stub trunks under there.  SW has a limit on wall thickness that is unsupported on three sides-I am at the maximum limit now.

[peteski]

...also, I may attempt to light mine as well. Seems very doable with maybe a 0603(?) SMD LED and a strategically-placed hole in the back or on the bottom. The semi-translucent finish of these printings will certainly aid in this.

Maybe John could design a hollow version for you to do that/ That would save you from hollowing-out surgery. I would open it up from the bottom.

Not trying to be a Peteski-downer, but I suspect that because of that translucency (which is actually desired for the front side of this assembly) you will have a hard time keeping the light from leaking out of the enclosure. especially at the corners/edges and the raised details. When settling down paint pulls away from those features and it will be in such thin layer that the light will escape.  Well, you can spray multiple coats to build up the paint thickness to the point where the corners are light-tight, but then the paint on the the surfaces is on so thick that the details will be hidden under the paint.

Based on my experience, if I was going to attempt this, I would start with a layer of silver paint, then black (to make it light-tight). Then the final color coat (you might need a layer of primer between the black and final coat if the final coat of paint is light in color).

I'll be very interested in what you come up with - maybe I'll learn a new technique.

[tehachapifan]

On my SW1500 kitbashes with lighted numberboards, I had to address light-leak issues as well. Granted, the plastic used in those was not as translucent but I was able to address it by painting the numberboard box and surrounding areas black first and by using a pretty high value (proper term?) resistor with those LED's to make them pretty dim as numerboards are dimly lit anyway. I think I even had to turn down the brightness level CV's (Zimo decoders) quite a bit on top of that before I could not see any more light leaks while observing it in total darkness.

Here's a photo showing two units with the lighted numberboards (foreground and background). I believe I turned the brightness CV's down even more since this photo...