Weekend Update 12/5/21

[Jim Starbuck]

A recently finished project, and my first successful attempt at locomotive weathering: the N scale version of Milwaukee Road VO-1000 #935.

During lockdown @Bryn and I found we had the same model but different sides of the ocean, and thought this would be a fun little project:





More details in the new thread:
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=53136.0

Lucas

Outstanding work Lucas!

Jim

[pmpexpress]

https://cs.trains.com/ctr/f/3/t/133041.aspx

A bit of internet research revealed that the New York Central owned and operated five shrouded Shay locomotives: Reporting numbers 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, and 1900, which became numbers 7185 (ex 1896), 7186 (ex 1897), 7187 (ex 1898), 7188 (ex 1899), and 7189 (ex 1900).

Replacing the ordinary side rod driven steam engines that were previously in service on Manhattan's West Side Line, set up with special controls that facilitated backwards operation, the delivery of the Shays took place in 1923.

According to New York Heritage digital collections:

"The New York Central owned five Shays for use in New York City because an old city ordinance required them to be shrouded to avoid frightening horses.
When most of the street trackage was removed and the West Side line was electrified around 1932, the Shays were replaced by box-cab diesels.
The Shays were transferred to New York Central subsidiaries Genessee Falls Railway in Rochester, and the Owasco River Railway around Auburn.
The Marcellus & Otisco Lake (M&OL) RR leased #7185 in 1942.
It was returned to the New York Central on 1943-01-13 with a broken frame and exchanged for #7187.
The Shays were scrapped in 1948."

[nkalanaga]

garethashenden and Maletrain:  Thank you!  And, yes, covering the moving parts would make it a lot safer for humans as well.  I wonder why NYC didn't give that as the reason for the law?

I've had almost no contact with horses, even though I grew up in an agricultural area, and my sister had a friend who owned one.  That was half a century ago, and I'm just as happy to keep it that way!  My Mom's father was the same way.  As a machinist, he liked machinery, and always dreamed of owning his own BIG diesel engine.  It didn't have to be in anything, he just wanted the engine.  Mom always preferred his workshop to "girl's things", and I think I got some of that.

My sister is more like my father.  He was born in 1913 (second marriage) and felt that anything newer than a steam engine was a waste of time.  That's how he ended up in yard work, eventually as retarder operator.  He absolutely hated diesel locos!

No pictures, but I put new NWSL wheels on an ancient Arnold/Rapido FA today.  No pictures because it looks exactly the same, but it now runs very nicely on code 40 flex track.  And I do mean nicely.  I have a Kato EF-58 as my main MILW motor, and the two run at almost exactly the same speed, at all throttle settings (DC).  Slow speed performance isn't bad at all, with a reasonably good pulse-width throttle.And it runs through my handlaid dual-gauge turnouts better than many newer models.

I won't post pictures if it, but I also tried something I've thought about for many years. With those oversized wheels, I've long thought that the Arnold FA looked more like a PRR E2b electric.  While testing the new wheels, I put a spare Overland Little Joe pantograph on it, just sitting on the cooling fan, and to my surprise, it reached my MILW wires fine.  Yes, I know, an abomination to both scale modelers and Pennsy freaks!

[John]

That thing looks like something from Mad Max ..

[brokemoto]

A bit of internet research revealed that the New York Central owned and operated five shrouded Shay locomotives: Reporting numbers 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, and 1900, which became numbers 7185 (ex 1896), 7186 (ex 1897), 7187 (ex 1898), 7188 (ex 1899), and 7189 (ex 1900).

I never knew that those things ran in New York City.  Some of them ended up working the Kodak plant in Rochester until diesels replaced them in the 1940s. 

[btrain]

That's a super nice model @milw12! The amount of talent around those who love the Milwaukee Road always surprises me and keeps me going.

This week I recently completed a reshelling of my Life Like ALCO PAs. I was getting sick of how finicky my BLI models were going, so I figured I'd pull these LL models out of storage and rework them. The shell is KATO with 0.015 brass wire for handrails, Tru-Color NKP Blue and Tamiya White for paint, and Micro-Scale decals applied. Just waiting on the mailman to deliver the DCC decoders and micro LEDs and these will be able to lead my passenger trains.

For those of you who have worked on these LL models before, what have you done for the Micro-Trains coupler conversion?

[Erik W]

I've made more progress on my HOn3 D&RGW Jordan Spreader OU.  My main efforts this week have been on the side blade and arm assemblies.  While I do enjoy working with white metal, that type of casting is typically nowhere near as crisp and precise as injection molded plastic, so getting everything symmetrical between the two sides takes some effort.  Especially since there are no locating pins, etc, to guide the exact placement of the parts.  The arm assemblies were a bit fiddly with a chain needing to be attached to a clevis and then routed around simulated pulleys in the arm a couple of times.  The kit came with a chain of around 40 links per inch, but at some point I acquired a chain of around 50 links per inch, so I used that instead.  I added some representative detail to the backside of the blade wing extensions using .020" x .040" styrene strip.  And I started cleaning up the parts for the front blade and flanger assembly.  Pardon the kitschy photos with the penny and pencil.    I share these photos with non model railroad friends as well, so that gives a good idea of actual size.  Incidentally, for you N scalers, the car body is almost exactly the same length and width as an N scale 60' boxcar.











Erik

[nickelplate759]

That's a super nice model @milw12! The amount of talent around those who love the Milwaukee Road always surprises me and keeps me going.

This week I recently completed a reshelling of my Life Like ALCO PAs. I was getting sick of how finicky my BLI models were going, so I figured I'd pull these LL models out of storage and rework them. The shell is KATO with 0.015 brass wire for handrails, Tru-Color NKP blue and Tamiya White for paint, and Micro-Scale decals applied. Just waiting on the mailman to deliver the DCC decoder and micro LEDs and these will be able to lead my passenger trains.
...

Very nice.  @btrain, what were your paint choices for the NKP PAs?
[never mind, I read too fast.. ]

[SP-Wolf]

I managed to complete another F7 set.
SP DF9 class.




Thanks,
Wolf

[Kentuckian]

Still slowly working on my micro layout. I like steam so a small layout needs a small steamer. I am trying to de-Percy the Bachmann Percy. A cut down Atlas Shay cab and a smoke box front from a Minitrix decapod are the extra parts so far.

[altohorn25]

I installed a "few" sets of windshield wipers this evening.....

[ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[Chris333]

Still slowly working on my micro layout. I like steam so a small layout needs a small steamer. I am trying to de-Percy the Bachmann Percy. A cut down Atlas Shay cab and a smoke box front from a Minitrix decapod are the extra parts so far.

Assume you are keeping it N scale, you might like this:
https://twitter.com/tomamodelworks/status/1461596575214407681/photo/1

[Kentuckian]

Assume you are keeping it N scale, you might like this:
https://twitter.com/tomamodelworks/status/1461596575214407681/photo/1

Yes, thanks!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That thing looks like something from Mad Max ..

You know, I don't think @mmagliaro has tackled a geared loco yet, has he?

[eja]

I installed a "few" sets of windshield wipers this evening.....
(Attachment Link)

OK, how did you do it?  The partially cleared window effect.