Best Of My Children have gone into the world (sniff, sniff) - Bearden Models

[peteski]

Wow!  That is like seeing a family reunited!  Like finding a long-lost son. 

[Kentuckian]

I was going to ask about the MRC Berk/RS 11 repower, one of the few steam projects. I remember that article. I didn’t have either locomotive at the time the article ran, but within six months I had both to do the conversion, no small feat in the pre eBay day. It did run well. I have the micro loco motion motor to take it to the next step, but it’s is still on the shelf since other Berk offerings finally were produced.

Great stuff, Ron! Thanks!

[u18b]

Two of my children have been replaced after sending them out.  I missed them so much I bought another.  Each has a small story.

Atlas RS3 SCL.   My first N scale locomotive was crap- a Model Power Shifty Sam 0-4-0.  Very frustrating to run.  Still have him, but he is dead due to horrible Zamac deterioration.

My second N locomotive was a white box Bachmann steamer (Mikado or Pacific).  It was also crap.

I was then at a hobby shop and the employee recommended I buy an Atlas/Kato RS3.  It was pricey for back then (the Bachmann steamer was $19, the Atlas RS3 was $34- not quite twice as much).  And I am so grateful I bought it.   That was a wonderful locomotive.  I eventually used the chassis for the U18B as my first kitbash.

So a few years ago I bought a “vintage” Atlas RS3 to replace it- just as a symbolic representation of my first quality N purchase.



OMI brass WM Shay.  At one of the national conventions I attended around 1990, I met a guy from California.  He was a wealthy retired banker.  He was 80 and was getting out of N scale.  He commissioned me to sell his collection.  I was about 29.  And I don't remember our arrangement, but I don't think I charged him much of anything to do it.  He sent stuff in increments.   When all was about sold, there was a brass WM Shay.   He said- why don'y you keep that.  I was flabbergasted.  That loco was only about 2 yrs old and was about $600 new.

It was finicky.  But I got it running well.  But hard times came and I sold it for $550 in Atlanta at a show in order to pay medical bills.

I really missed that loco.  Fast forward about 15 or so years.  On ebay, I discovered that Keith Wiseman had bought out all of OMI's stock of parts for the Shay.  Apparently they had a LOT.  He was slowly assembling them and selling them for about $1,000 back then.  But it was tedious work.   He finally decided to get rid of them.  So he sold “kits” in various stages of completion.  I bought one for about $250...   And still have it.  I cannot count the number of hours I have put into this loco, but it runs absolutely fabulously.  It will creep tie to tie and runs a SCALE max speed of about 7 mph.  One day I'll paint it.

[u18b]

A couple of my children that have come back home to me.

Soo Line U30C.   I love modeling different phases of various locomotives- and published an article on that topic.  Kato made what is commonly called a phase 3 U30C.  Well, Soo Line had phase 2 U30Cs.  The phase is mostly identified by a little angled piece at the radiator section.   I made this many years ago and sold it to Pete Kruimer (sorry if spelling wrong).   Pete added it to his wonderful Soo Line layout- which was covered in N-Scale Magazine.  This loco appeared in that article.  So it appeared in two articles by two different authors.

Pete eventually got rid of all his N scale equipment and Bryan Bussey acquired this piece.  He held on to it for a while and told me he had it.  Bryan and I have exchanged a few pieces over the years and he graciously gave it back to me.  Thanks again, Bryan.

So it was nice to get this one back.  Especially since it is so different from most of my other equipment.



SCL U18B.  This one has a story.   As most of you know, I like the little U18B locomotives.  Always have.   I think they are so wierdly cool.  I've made a bunch.  Years ago, I made one for myself in SCL paint.... but as stated above, sold it around 1994 to raise money.  Sold it on consignment at a hobby shop in Montgomery, Al.

Fast forward 15 or 18 years.  I'm on ebay one night, and somehow come across a U18B.  Now understand, I write a lot of articles, and I know some people read them, but I always wonder if anyone out there actually attempts anything I've written about.

So I was excited when I saw a U18B on ebay.  And my very first thought was – wow.  Somebody out there read my article and made one.  Without reading anything, I went straight to the enlarged photos.   I looked at the photos and thought to myself..... Hmmmm.   This guy did a pretty good job.   Wow.  I'm impressed.

I then went down and read the text which said that it was made by ME!   LOL- I guess I meet my own standards.

So I contacted the guy.  He lived in Mississippi and was the one who bought it from me.  He chose to end the auction and simply sold it to me.  I drove to his house and picked it up.

Here is how it looked when I build and sold it.



After I re-acquired it, I put a modern low friction chassis under it, DCC, and updated the look  to CSX.  And this is the way it looks now.

I'm really glad to have this one back.

[u18b]

I'm interested in the GP-35 Ph-2 with the thinned sill and the dustbin hatch.
If you can point me to the N Scale Mag article, it's likely I've got it.

@wazzou
January of 2003, p 39

The hard part was thinning the walkway.  Back then, I had to superglue the walkway to the sill in order to give more stability.
The underside of the sill was pretty thin when done.

Today, there are more modern walkways with thin side sills that might work better.

[u18b]

I keep discovering more.
Amazingly, this takes me to about 70 pieces of equipment that have left the nest.


MKT RS3m.  The Katy took an RS3 and repowered it with an EMD prime mover.  They called it a "bison".  I made this with HO scale decals since there were none in N scale.  This is another that I have no personal photo of.  This photo appeared in N-Scale mag in two different articles.



SCL U18B.  This was my very first attempt as a U18B using Kato materials.  Chessie System Fan reminded me that @Csxmtsub  on Railwire bought it from me.  So it has found a wonderful home.

[cjm413]

@wazzou
January of 2003, p 39

The hard part was thinning the walkway.  Back then, I had to superglue the walkway to the sill in order to give more stability.
The underside of the sill was pretty thin when done.

Today, there are more modern walkways with thin side sills that might work better.

Shortened GP40 sill (original one with separate walkway) +  GP35 walkway might work...

[daniel_leavitt2000]

What's a good choice for a U18 chassis these days? I know the shell would be based on a U23B with proper door replacement.

[u18b]

Chassis is easy.  Rs1.  Low friction.  Takes all trucks you need (Bloomberg, fb2, and aar2)

Fuel tank is easy too.  Just cut down a u23 tank.

Shell is a bit tricky.
U23 is great for walkway. 

But the long hood Is problematic. 
U23 has 2 pair of 3 doors.

A u30 has 2 pair of 4 doors.

U18 needs 4 doors.
So chopping a u23 will have the doors and matching roof hatches not right.

At present the Kato u30c may still be best.

I've been waiting for atlas to make a u30b as the best starting point.

[central.vermont]

Heck Ron, I would have thought that someone would have made this already after all I think between you and myself there's at least a dozen or so in circulation. Ya know the old saying, you kitbash it and they will come out with it!! 

Jon

[u18b]

Heck Ron, I would have thought that someone would have made this already after all I think between you and myself there's at least a dozen or so in circulation. Ya know the old saying, you kitbash it and they will come out with it!! 

Jon

Well, actually, I consulted with Intermountain to give them some info on making accurate U18Bs.
They obviously have released a great one in HO scale.

I had hoped that they might do it in N. 
But who knows.

[coosvalley]

I have one of Rons children.....I had two but there was.....an "accident"....

This was an Undec shell and walkway, I replaced the walkway, cab and nose with U23b parts on both of them, then lost the shell due to an "accident", so I modified a U23b shell to fit the remains of that model, ....and it sits, waiting for Atlas to re-stock U23b handrails, which although they just released another run of these, still no handrails ..In fact, I doubt the parts are available to kitbash one of these using Atlas parts, so the U30C is still the best starting point. ..

[cjm413]

Chassis is easy.  Rs1.  Low friction.  Takes all trucks you need (Bloomberg, fb2, and aar2)

Fuel tank is easy too.  Just cut down a u23 tank.

Shell is a bit tricky.
U23 is great for walkway. 

But the long hood Is problematic. 
U23 has 2 pair of 3 doors.

A u30 has 2 pair of 4 doors.

U18 needs 4 doors.
So chopping a u23 will have the doors and matching roof hatches not right.

At present the Kato u30c may still be best.

I've been waiting for atlas to make a u30b as the best starting point.

MEC and PW U18B's had the same doors with centered latches found on Dash 7 production, e.g. B30-7.

Also see Mike Rose HO kitbash of MEC U18B using Atlas U23B and C30-7 shells before IMRC U18B (and probably Atlas B30-7 that would also work) were available:

https://issuu.com/mr-hobbyist/docs/mrh-2010-jul-aug-ol/57

[PAL_Houston]

Here's an unfinished project.   Many of you know that I'm a performance nut.  Something in my brain wants to figure out how to make something run better.   And if I can't tweak it, then repowering is an option.

If you study the photo, you'll see that this is the latter.  The shell is an ancient Atlas/Con Cor/Rivarossi calf from the cow/calf set from the days when Kato made a mechanism- which ran pretty good (the cow “SW1500”, the calf was a dummy).   So I powered the calf by placing the shell on a Kato mechanism so it would match the cow.   But I also figured out a way to get Life Like trucks in there! 

Similar deal: this is Ron's TR-3 version
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[u18b]

I have one of Rons children.....I had two but there was.....an "accident"....

This was an Undec shell and walkway, I replaced the walkway, cab and nose with U23b parts on both of them, then lost the shell due to an "accident", so I modified a U23b shell to fit the remains of that model, ....and it sits, waiting for Atlas to re-stock U23b handrails, which although they just released another run of these, still no handrails ..In fact, I doubt the parts are available to kitbash one of these using Atlas parts, so the U30C is still the best starting point. ..

Wow.  I love what you've done with it!   It looks great.

I REALLY hope Atlas makes a U28B or U30B so that I can more easily make more U18Bs.